WESTERN NEW YORK'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL AWARD - EST. 1972
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Since 1972, the Connolly Cup Committee has honored Western New York’s finest high school football players. For more than fifty years, The Connolly Cup has become one of the region’s most respected awards in the sport.
The game itself has changed. The standard has not. Each week of the season, the committee recognizes the area’s top performers. At season’s end, ten outstanding players are invited as Finalist to the Annual Awards Banquet, where the William R. Connolly Memorial Cup (a.k.a. The Connolly Cup) is presented to the most outstanding high school football player in Western New York.
How the Award Began
In 1971, Auburn’s Pat Sullivan won the Heisman Trophy over Cornell’s popular Ed Marinaro. The result sparked a lively debate among members of the Riverside Athletic Club, a group of dedicated football fans.
After Bill’s untimely passing, those friends chose to honor him by naming their award the William R. Connolly Memorial Cup. It is presented each year to the most outstanding high school football player in Western New York—an enduring way to keep his example of service and community alive.
The Man Behind the Cup
The award is well known. The man it commemorates is less so.
William R. “Bill” Connolly lived a life of service. He gave his time to the Boy Scouts of America and the American Red Cross, officiated youth and high school football, and found ways to help others through his work with the United Way. When health issues ended his days as an official, he became a volunteer trainer for the Riverside High School football team and the Riverside Athletic Club in the JFK Touch Football League.
That same spirit followed him on family vacations to the Connolly summer home in Canada. There 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 family’s summer home was dedicated in his honor. Improvements to the field in 2008 renewed that tribute.
