Field Hockey Teams Headed To Enfield For Amy Romano Memorial Scrimmage

ENFIELD, CT — For the 14th time, high school field hockey teams from all over New England will converge on Enfield High School Aug. 25 to support a benefit honoring one of the town's most beloved athletes and coaches.

The annual Amy Romano Memorial Scrimmage Day will feature teams representing four states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Cookie Bromage Field will be filled with Tigers and Bears (but no Lions, oh my!), Blackbirds and Falcons, Warriors and Knights, and many others.

A total of 14 teams representing a dozen schools will gather for the scrimmage day. The event kicks off just prior to 10 a.m. with a brief ceremony honoring Romano, a beloved athlete, coach and teacher who died unexpectedly at age 40 on Jan. 11, 2007.

Romano, who in 1997 joined her dad Tony as the first father-daughter Hall of Fame duo in Enfield, was a standout multi-sport athlete at Enrico Fermi High School. She was an All-State selection in both field hockey and softball, compiling an 18-0 regular season record as a softball pitcher in her senior year.

She continued to play both sports at Assumption College (now University) in Worcester, Mass., earning All-Northeast Region honors three times in field hockey and compiling 40 collegiate wins in softball, including a no-hitter against Winthrop College. She was inducted into the Assumption Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001, and is also a member of the Connecticut Softball Hall of Fame.

Romano was an elementary educator, serving as head teacher at the former Thomas Alcorn School in Thompsonville. She also coached field hockey at her old high school in the early 2000s, and was a member of the Hall of Fame board of directors.

Following her passing, the Hall of Fame board established an annual $1,000 memorial scholarship in her name. The Friends of Amy Romano Sports Committee was formed in 2009, and the inaugural event was celebrated late that summer.

Each team plays three 7-on-7 games on half-size turf fields and an 11-on-11 contest on a regulation-size grass field. Games are 20 minutes in duration.

Team entrance fees and fan donations support the scholarship, awarded to a deserving student-athlete from Enfield High School. The scholarship is administered by the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame.

Participating out-of-state schools include three from Massachusetts: Longmeadow, Minnechaug Regional and Tantasqua. East Greenwich will be traveling from Rhode Island, while Keene will represent New Hampshire. In addition to host Enfield, Connecticut teams will come from Granby, Guilford, Mercy, Newington, Suffield and Westbrook.

Concessions will be available throughout the day. There is no admission charge to attend the games, but free will donations will gladly be accepted at the door. All proceeds benefit the scholarship fund.