Special Olympics Sports Person of Year
To Be Honored at Sports Night
Patriot National Bank Sponsors New Award;
Trumbull Resident Nancy Dennin is First Honoree
Release Date: July 2007
As part of the Fairfield County Sports Commission's 3rd Annual Sports Night awards dinner, the Commission and Patriot National Bank have jointly created a Special Olympics Sports Person of the Year award that will be presented annually to a county resident at the Sports Night event. The first recipient is Trumbull's Nancy Dennin, a longtime volunteer and Special Olympics board member.
This award goes to the person who consistently works to further the mission of Special Olympics in Fairfield County. Patriot National Bank will sponsor the award, which coincides with the Commission's 15 Sports Persons of the Year that are handed out at Sports Night each year to recognize one person in each of the communities the Commission oversees for having a positive impact on that town's sports activities.
"Adding the Special Olympics Sports Person of the Year to our Sports Night program is a natural fit for the Commission's role in supporting and honoring outstanding and dedicated work in our sports communities," said Tom Chiappetta, Executive Director of the Commission. "It is also a perfect complement to our Chelsea Cohen Courage Award. Having Patriot National Bank sponsor this award each year ensures that a very special effort for Special Olympics will be properly recognized."
Dennin has been a volunteer for Special Olympics Connecticut since 1985 and in 1999 she was inducted, along with her family into the Special Olympics Connecticut Hall of Fame as Family of the Year. Nancy currently serves on the Special Olympics Connecticut Board of Directors and is the chairperson of the Program Committee. In the past she has served as Assistant Director of the Southwest Area Games, the golf coach for the Trumbull team, and the State Golf Tournament Director of Scoring.
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Nancy Dennin |
She has also served on the committees for the Penguin Plunge, SOCT's largest fundraiser, the Kristine Lilly Awards which honor women of distinction in different fields, and the Southwest Golf Tournament. Special Olympics are a family affair for the Dennins. Nancy's husband Joe is a former board member and runs the State Golf program and their son David is a Special Olympics Athlete who has competed at both National and World Games Events. The Dennins' devotion to individuals with intellectual disabilities extends beyond Special Olympics and they were recently honored as Volunteers of the Year by the Kennedy Center in Trumbull.
Special Olympics are the world's largest program of sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Their programs provide the athletes with continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.
Participation is open to all individuals eight years of age or older. Special Olympics have local programs in 15 Fairfield County communities and the Southwest Region has nearly 2,000 athletes. For more information, visit www.soct.org.
For more information about SportsNight, please call 203-251-8481.