In Fairfield County sports his name is synonymous with success as both a player and a coach. Mickey played on four World Championship youth baseball teams (1951-1954), as well as coaching two Babe Ruth World Championship teams (1968 & 1971). In a career spanning 29 years, he went on to coach six Connecticut State Championship teams at Trinity Catholic High School in baseball and hockey, for an extraordinary record of 731 wins vs. 413 losses. At the same time, as an Assistant Football Coach at Trinity Catholic and later at New Canaan High School he contributed to three Connecticut State Football Championships. He was a two-time recipient of the Connecticut Coach of the Year Award and was posthumously awarded the prestigious New York Metropolitan Area Frank McGuire Award by the Frank McGuire Foundation.

The Stamford Advocate, however, put this all in clear perspective upon his passing, choosing to focus not on the record, but on the man “….There are numbers to measure Mickey Lione’s success as an athlete and coach and plenty of stories involving him, but it was his perspective on life that made this Stamford native so exceptional. Friends and associates said that his success stemmed in part from purity; he not only believed what he told his players, but he also lived it. His commitment to find time for anyone who needed it underscored his genuine nature. Yet he was also a tough disciplinarian who relished competition. In a world of cliché and artifice, Mickey Lione Jr. stood as a welcomed contrast. Stamford is a better place because he grew up and made his life here.”

In 1999 the Mickey Lione Jr. Trinity Scholarship Fund was established by friends and family at Trinity in his honor. The purpose of this Fund is to perpetuate a meaningful memorial to Mickey, who by his instruction and example, taught and encouraged young people to strive for personal excellence and to use their strengths to make a positive impact on their peers, their community and the world around them. Since 1999 the Fund has recognized Trinity Catholic High School youths who reflect these values, by the award of annual high school tuition grants.

Contributions in support of this effort may be made to

“Mickey Lione Scholarship Fund”

c/o Trinity Catholic High School.

926 Newfield Ave.

Stamford, CT 06905