The Connolly Cup

 Since 1972, the Connolly Cup Committee has recognized Western New York’s top high school football players. Over more than five decades, the William R. Connolly Memorial Cup has become one of the region’s most respected honors in the sport.

The game has changed. The standard has not. Each week of the season, the Committee honors the area’s standout players. At year’s end, the ten most outstanding athletes are invited to our awards banquet, where the Connolly Cup is presented to the Most Outstanding High School Football Player in Western New York.

The award is well known. The man behind the name is less so.

William R. “Bill” Connolly devoted his life to service. He volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America and the American Red Cross, officiated youth and high school football, and supported families in need through his work with the United Way. When health issues ended his days as an official, he continued to serve as a volunteer trainer for the Riverside High School football team and the Riverside Athletic Club in the JFK Touch Football League.

That commitment traveled with him. During family summers in Canada, he organized a softball league for local boys. When his daughter Molly wanted to play, he started a junior co-ed league so younger children could join. In 1971, the ball field near the Connolly summer home was dedicated in his honor. Improvements in 2008 renewed that tribute.

The award itself grew out of a football argument among friends. In 1971, Auburn quarterback Pat Sullivan won the Heisman Trophy over Cornell’s Ed Marinaro, a favorite among many fans. Members of the Riverside Athletic Club—passionate students of the game—debated the result and resolved to create a local honor for exceptional high school talent in Western New York.

After Bill’s untimely passing, the club named that award for him. Today, the William R. Connolly Memorial Cup continues that purpose: celebrating excellence on the field and carrying forward a legacy of service to young people and the community.