By Michael Letendre
CHESHIRE – In celebration of the exceptional careers of service to the CIAC, seven distinguished honorees will be recognized as the fifth class in the CAS-CIAC Hall of Honor at the end of May.
Those to be honored include Earle Bidwell, Harold Goldberg, Art Kohs, Tom Murray, Aran Regalbuti, Margaret Williamson, and George Synnott.
Synnott is steeped in the history of Mum City Athletics as a teacher, mentor, and coach.
He was a teacher at St. Paul High School and the baseball coach of the very successful Falcons’ programs in the early-to-mid 1970s.
Snynnott helped take the program to two state championships in 1971 and 1972.
In 1971, the Falcons defeated Valley Regional, 4-3, and one year later, St. Paul roped up that same score in the Class M title game against Gilbert of Torrington.
During the summer months, Snynnott was the coach of the Bristol American Legion baseball team – scooping up Connecticut, Northeast Regional, and National Tournament victories in 1974.
That 1974 squad was an American Legion World Series participant.
He also helped guide the program to several zone titles.
Years later, Synnott was the Director of Unified Sports® for the CIAC and Connecticut Special Olympics.
He worked with the Unified Sports division for nearly a decade and served as its director for five years.
“George first became active in CAS-CIAC in 1994 when, as an assistant principal at Berlin High School, he joined the CAS Legislation Committee,” according to a release from the CAIC. “Over the years, despite the increasing demands of school administration, his commitment to and involvement ninth association steadily expanded and he went on to serve in several of our most challenging and important leadership roles, including the chair of the CIAC Board of Control. At the time of his retirement from public education in 2010, George was a member of ten committees and boards while also serving as a UCAPP mentor.”
In 2021, the CIAC state baseball tournament was dedicated to Synnott – a mentor who taught at both St. Paul and Berlin High Schools.
The CAS-CIAC Hall of Honor was established to honor individuals who have made significant long-term contributions to the CAS-CIAC.
The class will be honored at the induction ceremony being held on Thursday, May 26 at the AquaTurf Club in Southington.
This class of honorees was originally scheduled to be recognized in the spring of 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Tickets for the event honoring the inductees can be purchased at https://gofan.co/app/school/CIAC.
Additional information about the Hall of Honor is available at http://CIACsports.com/hallofhonor.
Here is the CIAC’s bio of Synnott for the event:
George Synnott (will be honored posthumously) made his mark in several roles through the course of his career both as a fixture on CAS-CIAC boards and committees and as a staff member for CIAC Unified Sports. As a principal at Berlin High School, he served as chair of the CIAC Board of Control and earned CAS Citation and letter of commendation. He then joined the Unified Sports staff and helped foster great growth and success for the organization during his tenure as Assistant Director and Director.