Scholarship Recipients Selected by Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance
Three talented high school seniors have been named the 2021 recipients of Bo Kolinsky Memorial Sports Journalism Scholarships from the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance (CSWA). They will receive their awards, named after a longtime Hartford Courant sportswriter and past CSWA president who died unexpectedly in 2003, at the 79th Gold Key Dinner on Sunday, Oct. 17 at the Aqua Turf Club in the Plantsville section of Southington.
CSWA vice president John Holt, chair of the scholarship committee, said, “We had 12 applications this year from all over the state, and it was as competitive a group as I can recall in four years as Kolinsky chairperson.”
Jack Cote of Hall High School in West Hartford ($3,000) will be attending Indiana University next fall. He has been playing sports his entire life, so he decided to make an impact not only on the field, but off the field with his voice. He was a contestant in the Big Scribble Writing Competition last March and ran his own media company for a local travel baseball program. He is excited to see where the future takes him and is ready to take on the challenge of becoming the best journalist he can be.
Ian Nicholas of New Canaan High School ($2,000) will be attending Syracuse University this fall as a Broadcast and Digital Journalism major. He is the station manager of NCTV 78, the school’s television station, where he serves as the play-by-play voice for New Canaan Rams football, basketball and other sports. He also has three years experience as an in-studio sports reporter and news anchor for NCTV's live student-run broadcasts, and was named sports editor of the school newspaper, the NCHS Courant, last fall. He is also an active member of the school’s student coalition, being voted Senior Class President last June.
Annabelle Watson of Manchester High School ($1,000) will be majoring in Journalism in college this fall, likely at Fordham or Syracuse. She has participated in The Pulse Student News Program for three years and been a director of the program for two years. She hopes to continue the legacy of Bo Kolinsky and inspire generations of sports journalists to come.
Gold Key Award recipients for 2021 are five legendary scholastic coaches: Cookie Bromage (Enfield field hockey), Joe Grippo (Morgan girls volleyball and girls basketball), Lou Milardo (Hale-Ray softball), Ricky Shook (Danbury wrestling) and Angela Tammaro (Greenwich Academy field hockey and lacrosse). Baseball Hall of Fame honoree Claire Smith, 2017 recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, will be presented the President’s Award.
The Gold Key Dinner was inaugurated in 1940, with baseball legend Connie Mack and golf superstar Bobby Jones among the initial recipients. The roster of honorees since then reads like a Who’s Who of Connecticut sports – Joe Cronin, Julius Boros, Willie Pep, Lindy Remigino, Floyd Little, Joan Joyce, Otto Graham, Calvin Murphy, Gordie Howe, Bill Rodgers, Geno Auriemma, Rebecca Lobo, Brian Leetch, Kristine Lilly, Marlon Starling, Dwight Freeney and ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen are just a few of the past Gold Key winners. A complete list is available at www.ctsportswriters.com.
Tickets to the Gold Key Dinner are $75 apiece, and may be reserved by contacting CSWA President Tim Jensen of Patch Media Corp. at tim.jensen@patch.com. Proceeds from the event benefit the scholarship fund.
Photo caption: From left, Jack Cote, Ian Nicholas and Anabelle Watson
