Brian Bill Named Chelsea Cohen Courage Award Winner

The Fairfield County Sports Commission announced on Sunday that SOC (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, United States Navy is the 2011 Chelsea Cohen Courage Award winner.

Bill, a Stamford native, was killed in action on Aug. 6 in Afghanistan. He will be honored at the Commission’s 7th annual Sports Night awards dinner, Monday, Oct.17 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich at 6 pm.

The Cohen Award is sponsored by the Forever Young Foundation, the charitable giving entity of Greenwich native and NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young.

In 2006, the Commission created the Chelsea Cohen Courage Award, named after the late Cohen, a former Norwalk High soccer star who was the Commission’s first Courage Award recipient in 2005. She passed away in Aug. 2006 after a courageous bout with a rare form of cancer of the nervous system. The award recognizes the person in the sports community who has shown inspirational strength in battling life-altering obstacles.

In Bill’s name, Forever Young will make a donation of $2,000 to the newly created Chelsea Cohen Fitness Academy.

Bill enlisted in the United States Navy in June 2001. He was a graduate of Norwich University and Trinity Catholic High in Stamford (1997). Bill played soccer and hockey at Trinity, and was a co-captain in hockey under FC Sports Hall of Fame coach Mickey Lione, Jr. He was an avid sportsman as a skilled fly-fisherman, skier and skydiver, and also was an accomplished mountaineer and tri-athlete, who completed several marathons.

"We are extremely honored to accept this award on Brian's behalf," said Bill's mother Pat Parry. “Personal fitness, sports competition, mental and physical toughness to conquer ever greater challenges in life were central to Brian’s character. We are very proud of the daily courage he displayed in his military career, and being recognized with the Chelsea Cohen Courage Award by his home community is a truly special way to honor his legacy."

Last year’s Courage Award was presented to professional golfer Ken Green, a Danbury native who was involved in a tragic auto accident that caused his lower right leg to be amputated.

Previous winners are: 2009 - James Hilaire of Stamford, a soccer goalie at the University of New Haven who suffered a traumatic head injury; 2008 - Mike Myers-Keitt, a Norwalk native and Fairfield Prep graduate, who now attends Monmouth University on a basketball scholarship; 2007 - John Tartaglio, a Milford resident and Fairfield University graduate, who as a double amputee has competed in triathlons and road races; 2006 - Jason Maiella, a standout baseball player at Sacred Heart University, who was the first winner of the award in Cohen’s name.

The primary goal of the Cohen Fitness Academy (www.chelseacohenfa.com) is to create a year-round vehicle that will offer Fairfield County youth access to the best available fitness trainers, coaches, and health and wellness programs that provide opportunities to be active daily. The academy is designed to be the rallying point to engage all important community stakeholders in children’s health, nutrition and in the fight to combat childhood obesity. Also to take that information and extend it’s reach throughout the entire area via the Sports Commission’s web site (www.fairfieldcountysports.com).

Forever Young Foundation is a non-profit, public 501(c) (3) organization whose mission is to pass on hope and resources for the development, strength, and education of children.  Each year, through the efforts and vision of Steve Young, thousands of seriously ill, underprivileged, and at risk children are given therapeutic, academic, and athletic opportunities they would otherwise never receive.  For more information, visit www.foreveryoung.org.

The Fairfield County Sports Commission is a 501c (3) non-profit organization that promotes fitness and an active lifestyle, and personal