Branford’s Cole Snider won the Bob Casey Courage award at the recent Gold Key banquet. Snider is presented the award by TIm Jensen, president of the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance.
SOUTHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2022 — From the stands, you would never know there is anything different about Branford High junior Cole Snider.
But there are little, subtle clues.
In football, Snider wears a visor on his helmet when he lines up at fullback or at middle linebacker. On the wrestling mat, Snider wears headgear – like all scholastic wrestlers – but also wears a pair of goggles.
Snider helped the Hornets advance to the Class M semifinals a year ago, rushing for 249 yards and three TDs on 34 carries and pulling in five receptions for 49 yards. Defensively, he had 22 tackles and blocked a punt.
He was even better on the wrestling mat. As a sophomore, he won a Southern Connecticut Conference championship and a Class M title at 170 pounds to help Branford win their first-ever state championship in wrestling. He finished fifth at the State Open and went 2-2 at the New England championships.
Snider is 90 percent blind in his left eye due to an accident when he was born due a forceps that struck his eye. Through the years, multiple doctors urged his parents not to let Snider participate in contact sports. It’s advice that the Snider family has declined.
Snider was recognized earlier this month at the recent Connecticut Sports Media Alliance’s 80th annual Gold Key banquet with the Bob Casey Courage Award.
“From the moment I was born, God instilled in me the gift of courage and perseverance,” Snider said. “My parents were told by multiple doctors that I would never be able to participate or succeed in contact sports. I am happy to say I have proven them wrong.
“I have never let my disability negatively affect my life,” he said. ”In fact, I have used it to motivate me. It is a constant reminder that being surrounded by positive family, coaches and friends, you can accomplish anything.”
Snider wears the goggles in wrestling and the visor in football to protect his good eye.
At a young age, he began working out at Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts in North Haven, owned by his uncle Andrew Callandrelli. Snider competed in wrestling and jiu-jitsu. He also played baseball and tennis as he grew up.
“We never held him back,” his father, Brent Snider said. “He just played through. We told him to choose what you want to do.”
On the mat, Snider had an excellent sophomore season.
“Because of his jiu-jitsu background, he brings and extra set of tools to the table,” Branford High wrestling coach Kevin Kapushinski said. “He is very comfortable on top. He is someone very hard to shake off. If he is on top, he is going to be a leech and is not easy to get off.”
“I don’t treat him any differently,” Kapushinski said. “He does everything is supposed to. He is an extremely normal kid. He has a condition that he has overcome over the years and he is a better human being for it.”
The competitive juices were flowing in the Class M finals at East Haven. Snider’s special goggle snapped late in the third period. He didn’t flinch and finished the match – a 5-2 win over Bunnell’s Ryan McLaughlin — without them.
“He had that courage,” Kapushinski said. “He wasn’t worried about the eye. He wanted to wain that match. He had the courage to finish out the match and win a state championship.”
From left: George Crouse, Suzy Whaley, Rob Dibble and Tom Penders received Gold Key awards from the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance.
Former Cincinnati Reds reliever Rob Dibble, long-time Stonington High tennis coach George Crouse, former PGA President Suzy Whaley and former college basketball coach Rob Penders received Gold Keys at the event. UConn Associate Coach Chris Dailey wasn’t able to attend and receive her Gold Key in person.
Crouse, a former First Selectman in Stonington, has coached for 50 years at Stonington and has 847 career wins (boys and girls tennis) and five state championship trophies. He was named the 2019 national high school girls tennis coach of the year. Dibble, the afternoon drive-time host on 97.9 ESPN Radio, was the co-MVP of the 1990 National League Championship Series. The Reds beat the A’s in the 1990 World Series.
Penders, who competed in the NCAA basketball and baseball tournament in the 1960s as a student at UConn, was a successful college basketball coach at Tufts, Columbia, Fordham, Rhode Island, Texas, George Washington, Houston, taking four schools (URI, Texas, GW, Houston) to the NCAA tournament. He did coach high school basketball for three years in Connecticut including 1970 when his Bridgeport Central squad lost in the Class LL finals to Hillhouse, 80-78.
Whaley was the first female president of the PGA of America (2018-20). In 2002, she won the PGA Connecticut Section championship and earned an automatic bid to the Greater Hartford Open. She became the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to qualify and play in a PGA Tour event.
In 37 seasons, Daley and head coach Geno Auriemma have led the UConn women’s basketball team to 11 NCAA Division I national titles. They have led the Huskies to 22 Final Fours, including the last 14.
