Southington, Conn. – Deputy Sports Director of Quinnipiac Senior Bill Mecca was honored at 39th Annual Franciscan sports banquet and silent auction on Tuesday evening at the Aqua Turf Club.
The Mecca received the Dean of Sports Award – which was created in 2013 to honor the memory of Arnold Dean, animator of “Sports Talk” from WTIC.
It was presented by the former Delnipiac baseball director, Dan “Skip” Gooley, the leader of all time of Quinnipiac Baseball as manager. Sister Sanne Gross, Fse., Administrator, Franciscan Home Care and Hospice Care, gave Mecca the dean of sports Award.
Member of the Quinnipiac sports department since 1978, Bill Mecca has fulfilled various roles in his mandate over 40 years old in Hamden. Mecca is in its 27th year as a senior associate sports director. He is responsible for all internal operations in the department, including, but without limiting himself, planning supervision, facilities, game managers, playing operations, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and strategic planning.
From 1978 to 1991, he was assistant coach of male basketball, male tennis coach and deputy director of athletics under the legendary Burt Kahn. In 1991, Mecca was appointed main male basketball coach and served five seasons before being promoted its current role. He was also acting sports director during the respective transitions in the summer of 1995 and 2015.
For its continuous success as the leader of the Athletics Department, Mecca was inducted at the Temple of Sports Fame of the University of Quinnipiac in 2009 and was presented with an honorary subscription to Maac Honor to young people of this country at that moment, President Barrack Obama.
A completed speaker and diffuser, the Mecca has provided a radio and television color analysis for basketball games for men and women Quinnipiac in the past 30 years on a variety of platforms, including AM-1220 Wqun, Nesn, SNY, ESPN3 and ESPN +. The Mecca was also co-scriptwriter and co-host of the immensely popular and triple nominated at the Emmy, “unleashed Bobcats in HD”.
On the Franciscian sports banquet
In 1986, Father Douglas Mosey, CSB; Anthony Giampietro, Thomas Elliott, Martin Grealy, John Rossi and John Hiller gathered to help the Franciscan sisters of the Eucharist fundraising. These men organized the first Franciscan sports banquet for the benefit of the Franciscan Life Center. This event honors, in the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi, people who combine excellence in athletics with a joyful service to the community.
All profits from the event benefit Franciscan Life Center and in Franciscan home care and palliative care