The Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame celebrates its 5th anniversary today with the announcement of its new class of inductees, naming six prominent sports figures into its three wings. The Hall of Fame, which is overseen by the Fairfield County Sports Commission, Inc., will honor the newly elected Hall of Famers with an induction ceremony at the Commission’s 5th Annual Sports Night awards dinner, Monday, Oct. 19 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich. With the six new inductees, the Hall of Fame has now recognized 33 county sports legends.
Two Hall of Famers were selected in each of the three HOF Wings: Jackie Robinson Professional, James O’Rourke Amateur and J. Walter Kennedy Community Service. In the professional category, the new inductees are JENNIFER RIZZOTTI (New Fairfield) and CHARLES SMITH (Bridgeport). The amateur wing selections are PETE DEMMERLE (New Canaan) and DICK SIDEROWF (Westport). Community service winners are JOE BENANTO (Shelton) and TERRY LOWE (Greenwich).
Rizzotti’s college basketball career at the University of Connecticut thrust her into the national spotlight, and the fiery point guard continued her winning ways in a professional career that spanned eight seasons. She spent the first three in the same arena in Hartford where she led the 1995 Huskies to an undefeated 35-0 national championship season, playing for the New England Blizzard of the ABL, where she was a two-time all-star. The New Fairfield High graduate then played five years in the WNBA, two in Houston where she won a WNBA championship with the Comets in 1999. Her final three pro years were with Cleveland. Rizzotti, who was a two-time All-American and the national player of the year in 1995-96, is now heading into her 10th season as the very successful women’s basketball coach at the University of Hartford. She was elected to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Charles Smith
Smith played in the NBA for 10 seasons. The 6-10 Harding High alum was the third overall draft pick in the 1988 NBA Draft by Philadelphia, which immediately traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers. Smith spent five seasons in LA (1988-1992) before being dealt to the New York Knicks. He played in NY from 1992-1996 and ended his career in San Antonio in 1997 with a 14.4 scoring average. As a collegian, Smith is the University of Pittsburgh’s all-time leading scorer and a two-time
All-American and won the Big East Player of Year in 1987-88. He was also a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team, which won the bronze medal. Since 2008, Smith has been the executive director of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA).
The late Pete Demmerle was one of the county’s greatest football players. As a wide receiver at New Canaan High, he was one of the key components in a Ram offense and passing game that was one of the highest scoring and most successful in state history and produced both FCIAC and state titles in 1969 . Demmerle was a two-time all-state and all-FCIAC selection (1969 & 70). In his senior season he caught 102 passes for 1,419 yards and 15 touchdowns, including an 18-reception, 316-yard game. For his career, he caught 165 passes for 2,550 yards and 28 TDs, all still standing school records. Demmerle then continued a family tradition started by his grand father and father and attended the University of Notre Dame, where he was both an All-American and Academic All-American and starting receiver on the Irish’ 1973 national championship team. In 1999 he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and passed away in May 2007.
Siderowf’s amateur golf career was not only storied in the county, state and region, but across the world as well. Playing out of Westport’s Birchwood Club, he was twice the British Open amateur champ (1973 & 76), played on four Walker Cup teams (69, 73, 75, 77) and was captain of the 1979 team, all of which were victorious. Siderowf amazingly won major amateur tournaments over a 40-year span from 1955-1996. After winning the state junior title as a 16-year-old in 1954, Siderowf then started his long succession of tournament victories by capturing the 1955 state amateur. He then played golf at Duke University, where he was named to Duke’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1958 at Brooklawn in Fairfield, he became the youngest winner of the Connecticut State Open at 20 years old. He went on to win five Connecticut State Amateurs (55, 60, 65, 84, 85). Other notable accomplishments include playing in eight Masters and four U.S. Opens, where he was the low amateur at the 1968 event at Oak Hill in Rochester and being elected to the CT Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
Benanto was both a very successful high school and college coach in a career that saw him coach three different sports and total 694 victories. At Shelton High, his baseball teams from 1964-78 went 214-85 with eight Housatonic League and four CIAC state championships, including three in a row (1972-1974). He coached the Gaels’ boys’ basketball squad for eight years and posted a 106-66 record with a Housatonic League title and an undefeated regular season. In football, he led Shelton to an 85-24 record in 10 years with five league and three state titles. When he moved up to the college ranks, he spent 10 seasons as the Yale freshmen football coach and had a 41-24 mark. He also was the head baseball coach for the Bulldogs from 1979-1991 and posted 248 victories in that time. In 2006, Benanto was inducted into the Connecticut High School State Coaches Hall of Fame.
Terry Lowe
Lowe’s swimming and water polo programs at Greenwich High are the model of consistency and success. Their dominance throughout the county and state is unparalleled. In the FCIAC, the boys swim team has won 38 of the last 39 titles, including a 36-year streak that was finally ended in 2007. In state competition the Cardinals have won 17 straight Class LL state titles, and a total of 26 state open titles in the 38-year history of the event. Under Lowe’s tutelage the last 35 years, the Greenwich water polo program has produced 656 wins and a .818 winning percentage and 14 championship teams. Lowe’s incredible success was recognized nationally when he was named the National High School Water Polo Coach of the Year in 1983. In 1993, he was inducted into the Connecticut High School State Coaches Hall of Fame and in 2002 to the FCIAC Hall of Fame.
The list of previously enshrined FCSHOF inductees follows:
JACKIE ROBINSON PROFESSIONAL WING
2005-Julius Boros (Fairfield), Kristine Lilly (Wilton), Calvin Murphy (Norwalk), Steve Young (Greenwich)
2006-Bobby Valentine (Stamford), Mo Vaughn (Norwalk)
2007-Mike Gminski (Monroe), Charles Nagy (Fairfield)
2008-Chris Drury (Trumbull), Tim Teufel (Greenwich)
JAMES O’ROURKE AMATEUR WING
2005-Dorothy Hamill (Riverside), Bruce Jenner (Newtown), Bill Toomey (New Canaan)
2006-Joan Joyce (Stratford), Walter Luckett (Bridgeport)
2007-Jerry Courville, Sr. (Norwalk), Donna Lopiano (Stamford)
2008-Gary Liberatore (New Canaan), Lou Saccone (Bridgeport)
J. WALTER KENNEDY COMMUNITY SERVICE
2005-Dave Bike (Bridgeport), Jerry McDougall (Trumbull)
2006- Ray Barry (Norwalk), Frank Vieira (Bridgeport)
2007-Nick Koules (Stamford), Bruce Webster (Bridgeport)
2008-Ralph King (Norwalk), Tom Penders (Stratford)
The Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame is housed at the University of Connecticut Stamford Campus in downtown Stamford. The Hall of Fame is open 6 days a week from 9 am-5 pm.
The Fairfield County Sports Commission, Inc. is a 501c(3) non-profit organization that promotes fitness, an active healthy lifestyle and personal development through sports. The Commission, other than the executive director position, is an all-volunteer group dedicated to creating and supporting programs for fitness awareness education, primarily centered on the 110,000 school age children in the 15 communities it serves. For more information, go to www.fairfieldcountysports.com.
