‘Standing on the shoulders of those who came before them,’ the current coaches and players are hoping to recognize previous coaches and players.

Submitted

The Conard and Hall girls lacrosse teams will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of girls lacrosse at the West Hartford high schools during their cross-town rival game on Thursday, May 21, at 3:30 p.m. at Hall High School.

The current coaches and teams, who are proudly “standing on the shoulders of those who came before them,” are eager to recognize and thank all previous players and coaches from the past 40 years during halftime of their game on Thursday, May 21 at Hall.

In preparation for this halftime recognition, current coaches, Meg Cersosimo (Conard) and Kristen Mullady (Hall) are requesting you register your attendance with them so they can recognize players at halftime.  Please send to:

• Conard lacrosse alumni and coaches: [email protected]
• Hall lacrosse alumni and coaches: [email protected]
• Or, reference their respective Facebook page.

As recorded in Passing the Torch, the book that chronicles the 50th Anniversary of Title IX (1972), Dr. Suzi D’Annolfo, who was the Athletic Director for Conard and Hall at the time, wrote, “With a Girls’ Lacrosse league forming in town for young girls, I knew it was time to put the process in motion to add Lacrosse for girls at Conard and Hall for the 1986 season. The response was immediate. Girls were excited to learn this relatively new game and add it to the repertoire of Spring sports offerings for girls. As was the history at both schools, when opportunities knocked, the girls always answered! … and Lacrosse was no exception.”

Conard High School girls lacrosse team, 1986. From “Passing the Torch,” page 315

D’Annolfo went on to write that “Coach John Benyei was tapped to be the first coach of the Conard Girls’ Lacrosse team and Coach Kathy Walling as the first coach for Hall. Coach Benyei recalled, ‘We had 50 girls tryout for our varsity team and were only able to keep 30 as there was no JV team at the start. Practicing and playing were a challenge because of lack of field space, so Wolcott Park became our first home, just as it was for Girls Soccer in 1980.’ Luckily through collaboration and teamwork, that quickly changed. Conard’s original 30, led by captain Kathy Horner, Kathy Brown, Jenny Klein and Mardie Hinkle, were a strong willed and determined group of players who quickly let me know how hard they would play and prided themselves doing things the right way. We finished our first season 3-8.”

The write-up also noted:“The Hall yearbook, ‘Hallmarks,’ recorded the history as follows, The girls’ lacrosse team, finishing 3-8, started a new tradition at Hall with an abundance of spirit and talent. Under Coach Kathy Walling and captains, Beth Altman, Sherral Austin, and Ingrid Wertz, the team organized itself for its first year as a varsity sport. Their mantra was ‘Determination will get you everywhere!!’”

Hall High School girls lacrosse team, 1986. From “Passing the Torch,” page 316

Over the past 40 years, each girls lacrosse team at Conard and Hall “passed the torch” to their underclass student-athletes to carry on their rich and storied traditions. These last 40 years continues to reinforce that in 1986 we did the right thing, at the right time, and had all the right people in place to “stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.”

We look forward to a great turnout to cheer on our girls lacrosse teams at Conard and Hall as we celebrate our 40th Anniversary on Thursday, May 21, at Hall High School. Game time is 3:30 p.m., and at halftime there will be the recognition of lacrosse alumni and coaches.

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