Thomas Grimaldi – Bristol Police Chief

Local athletes gather for Hall’s leadership breakfast.

By Bob Montgomery      

The Bristol Sports Hall of Fame held one of its three annual Leadership Council breakfasts at Nuchie’s on Tuesday.

Sponsored by the Robert Fiondella Foundation and the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame, it brings school coaches, officials and selected athletes together to learn about being team leaders, both on and off the field.

Keynote speaker was Bristol Chief of Police-to-be Thomas Grimaldi, who is also a member of the BSHOF board of directors. A former athlete at Bristol Central, he spoke to the athletes about his high school experiences.

“I played football even though I didn’t have that large a physique,” the acting police chief said. “What did I have to do to get there? I worked a lot. I asked the coach if I could see films of our opponents and things like that.

“Sports gave me direction, honesty and discipline.”

He also mentioned how he learned the meaning of having “class” when it came to sports, cheering your teammates on and never belittling your opponents.

Bristol attorney Mark Ziogas, another BSHOF director who emceed the program, then posed questions to the students for them to discuss at their tables.

One question pertained to the tallest kid on the basketball team who played the center position. He knew he’d be playing the two-guard in college and wanted to play that position in high school, however, the team needed him at center. How should this be handled?

Answers were interesting, including the fact that he should do what’s best for the high school team and learn the two-spot outside of school play. Most agreed, though, he should be the team’s center to better the team.

The students attending the breakfast included:

Bristol Central — Lauren Bossi, Cynthia Bukowski, Melissa Cummings, Jodi DiSanto, Gretchen Edelman, Breanna Gagnon, James Glowa, Sean Heiser, Jonathan Jankowski, Spencer Johnson, Shane Kearney, Cy McIntosh, Emily McKenzie, Alexandra Peabody, Tevin Sampson, Matt Tabak and Evan Tavera;

Bristol Eastern — Kyle Caron, Ryan Chiasson, Nick Crowley, Bethany Cucka, Samantha Czertak, Stephanie D’Angelo, Alyssa DeSena, Lee Estrellado, Morgan Goodrich, Jessica Hubina, Gabe Kurasz, Mitchell Lipka, Jean-Claude Mouannes, Mariah McPhee, Amy Ozga, Nicholas Plachno, Nick Roberts, Diondrey Sapp and Karissa Smith;

St. Paul — Julia D’Abramo, Kyle Dube, Jackson Etting, Callie Laderoute, Jaclyn Latvis, Hailey Morneault, Simone Morin, Monica Palmieri, Geun Park, Tristan Petit, Matt Santovasi, Christina Scurto, Nick Shemkovitz, Mike Skorupski and Kimberly Szabo.