‘A Beautiful Facility’: Officials Cut Ribbon on ‘Coppo Field,’ New Home of NCHS Varsity Baseball

Hundreds of New Canaan Baseball players of all ages, family, friends and supporters gathered at the new Coppo Field on Wednesday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting and inaugural game at the widely anticipated facility in Waveny.

Named for the late Joe Coppo, the turf field will serve as the new home of the New Canaan High School varsity Rams, whose first-ever game (also against Darien) had been played nearly 100 years ago when NCHS first played at Mead Park. 

Coppo himself “was a longtime resident of New Canaan and ardent supporter of New Canaan Baseball who graciously volunteered his time coaching and was an active board member,” the emcee of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Terry Dinan, told those gathered at the field on a comfortable, sunny day. 

He continued: “Joe Coppo tragically lost his life on Sept. 11, 2001. His spirit and legacy lives on in all who take the field to play. We know Joe would be excited, and proud, to see the unveiling of the renovated Coppo Field today.”

Those in attendance included municipal officials such as First Selectman Dionna Carlson, Selectman Steve Karl, Public Works Director Tiger Mann, Parks & Recreation Director John Howe and Superintendent of Parks Ryan Restivo, district representatives such as Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi, NCHS Principal Bill Egan and Athletic Director Jay Egan, and New Canaan Athletic Foundation founding Chair Mike Benevento and Board President Ian MacAllister. 

Also in attendance were members of the Coppo family, including Joe Coppo’s son John who threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

“It’s an honor,” John Coppo told NewCanaanite.com when asked how he felt on the special day. “The fact that they’ve kept my dad’s legacy around for 25 years. We grew up playing here, being part of the community, our whole family spent more time here than probably anywhere else. So it’s an honor that they continue to do it, that they’ve made it such a beautiful facility and we’re really thankful to New Canaan for keeping his legacy going.”

Dinan called it a “monumental day,” bringing “this modern, advanced, contemporary baseball facility to life.”

“For nearly a century. Mead Park was the proud home of New Canaan Baseball,” he said. “Today we turn the page to an exciting new chapter. This beautiful field will now serve as the home of the New Canaan Varsity Rams and support nearly 600 players across our town from tee-ball to high school. Just as Mead Park gave us unforgettable moments with legacy players and coaches like Gene Ready, Peil Pennington, Keith MacBain, Mark ‘2-5-0’ Rearick, Paul Devlin, Aaron Gallo and, of course, Curt Casali—Coppo Field will now become the stage where new memories are made and the next generation of New Canaan legends takes shape. This is truly a classic field, located right on the NCHS campus and within the confines of our town treasure, Waveny Park. From the brick backstop, expansive dugouts, double-barrel bullpens and state-of-the-art playing surface, we could not be more pleased with how every facet of the facility turned out.”

The new Coppo Field increases the turf footprint at NCHS athletic facilities by nearly 30%, “and will be a lasting and cherished town asset,” Dinan added. 

“The project is a great example of public-private partnership, and it is a testament to the hard work and dedication from invested stakeholders,” he said.

Others recognized on the day included Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll, Town Council Chair Mike Mauro, Board of Finance Chair Todd Lavieri, Parks & Rec Chair George Benington, landscape architect Mike Cegan of Richter & Vegan, general contractor Carl Rosa of H.I. Stone & Son Inc. and Scott Kesterich of Atlantic Sports Group. 

(Darien spoiled the inaugural event with an exciting 3 to 2 extra innings win over the Rams.)

The project itself cost about $5 million—$2 million of which came from the town, with NCAF funding the approximately $3 million balance. 

Despite a tough winter and spring weather-wise for construction, the field was ready for the Rams’ Opening Day and came in on budget. In introducing Mann, Dinan noted that the public works director was on site daily for the last six months, “solving issues, working through bottlenecks and ultimately bringing this project to a successful conclusion.”

In introducing Benevento, Dinan said that Coppo Field represents the eighth successful public-private project that the NCAF chair has steered in town. 

“Mike’s unwavering commitment to New Canaan athletics is unparalleled,” he said. “We are extremely fortunate to have Mike supporting the enhancement of our athletic infrastructure. Through Mike’s leadership, NCAF provides a seamless and structured platform to make transformational projects such as this a reality.”