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08/18/2024 10:08 PMEight deserving individuals will be celebrated as the Class of 2024 at the 24th annual Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Dinner on Sunday, Sep. 8.
Old Saybrook’s Nancy Shepard Gatta, who was a standout field hockey player at Old Saybrook High School (OSHS) for four years, will be one of the inductees. While at OSHS, Gatta was selected for the All-Shoreline field hockey teams her junior and senior seasons, as well as being named to the First Team All-State her senior year. In Gatta’s junior and senior seasons, Old Saybrook was Shoreline and state Champions in 1987 and 1988.
Gatta played field hockey as a college freshman at UMass, Amherst, and then she transferred to Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), where she also played field hockey for three years and was on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II Second Team. Additionally, Gatta was an All-American and captain of SCSU’s team her senior year.
Gatta has also coached field hockey at Mercy High School, Valley Regional Middle School, and Old Saybrook Middle School, and since 1988, she has been the varsity coach at Old Saybrook High School. Gatta was also a Connecticut Field Hockey official from 2006-2021, serving as Secretary, and she was the 2017 Connecticut Field Hockey Official of the year. Gatta was also Shoreline Co-Coach of the Year in 2023 and Class S Coach of the Year for field hockey in 2023.
Gatta has been a member of the Old Saybrook Parks & Recreation Commission for six years and served on the Turf Lights Committee. She is married to Michael Gatta and has a son who is a senior at Quinnipiac University. Gatta is also an Enrolled Agent at H&R Block in Old Saybrook and has worked there for 34 years.
Other inductees include Leah A. Helm, Haddam-Killingworth (high school player), Caroline Schaefer, Avon (high school player), Kristen Kilburn, North Branford/Mount Holyoke College (college player), Courtney Watts Russo, Cheshire/University of Rhode Island (college player), Kyle B. Seaburg, Norwalk (high school coach), Deb Stolle, Wallingford (umpire), and Dawn O'Neil, Willington, former Somers coach (honorary).
The dinner is scheduled for Sunday, Sep. 8 at 3 p.m. at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. Tickets are $65 and may be reserved no later than Thursday, Aug. 29 by contacting Terri Ziemnicki, 2 Halwood Drive, Granby, CT 06035; email HockeyCoachTAZ@cox.net; phone 860-212-2299.