Athletic Hall of Fame

Coach Frank Decker was the face of Fairfield Prep’s rugby team from 1984 until his retirement in 2022, a total of 38 seasons. He helped transition the program from club to varsity status and along the way compiled over 400 victories as well as coaching six Prep All-Americans. Under his leadership, the Jesuits appeared in 11 state championship games, won five New England championships and made two appearances in the National Championship tournament.

Decker was a standout rugby player himself, competing for 10 seasons with the Essex RFC. He was a four-time Met Union All-Star and three-time Eastern Rugby Union All-Star.

He also played for the USA Eagles, a national team which represented the country in international play.

The late Frank Robotti was an All-District and All-State fullback and co-captain of Fairfield Prep’s undefeated team of 1956 (8-0). He and fellow co-captain Joe Sikorski hold the distinction of being the first Prep players to be named all-state. The Stamford native attended Boston College after graduation, where he played football and baseball. On the gridiron, he was a two-way player at fullback and linebacker. On offense, he gained 688 yards on 181 career carries and added 151 yards on 15 catches.

The six-foot, 220-pound Robotti was signed to a professional contract by the AFL’s Boston Patriots in 1961 and started seven of 12 games at linebacker in his only pro season, recording a pair of interceptions. He did go to training camp with the New York Titans (forerunner to the Jets) as a running back and linebacker in 1963, lasting six weeks before being cut.

Robotti was tragically killed in an auto accident in 1971 at the age of 32. Following his death, a trophy that bears his name was created and awarded to the Most Valuable Player of the annual Thanksgiving Day game between Fairfield Prep and Stamford High until that series ended after the 1977 season.

The trophy is still awarded today to the MVP of the Turkey Day game between inter-city rivals Stamford and Westhill.

The late Hal Smith was a co-captain and formed a lethal one-two punch with All-American and Fairfield Prep Athletic Hall of Famer Jim Fitzsimmons on the Jesuits’ basketball championship team of 1969 under Hall of Fame coach Bob Sylvester. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Smith was an all-MBIAC and all-State selection that season when he averaged 22 points per game, including a career-high 41 against Law of Milford. He also netted 29 points in Prep’s win over Harding, which handed Prep its only loss earlier in the season.

Smith was also a standout on the baseball diamond, manning third base for AHOF coach Ed Rowe. He was also a co-captain for the Prep nine his senior season when he hit .368 and was an all-MBIAC selection.

Following graduation, Smith played 53 games over three seasons as a reserve guard on the Harvard basketball team as well as four seasons as a slugging outfielder/first baseman on the Crimson baseball squad, which played in the College World Series in both 1971 and 1973. Smith led the team with a .353 average in 1973.

Frank Dully has made his mark on the game of golf almost from the minute he teed it up for Fairfield Prep AHOF coach Roger Ratchford. The Bridgeport native was a four-year standout from 1981-1985, with the Jesuits winning Class L state championships in 1983 and 1985. Dully served as team captain in 1985, was a three-time all-MBIAC performer (1983-1985), made the CIAC Division I All-State team and was named to the CSGA Junior Ryder Cup team, also in 1985.

Dully played collegiately at Holy Cross, where he made the All District New England team in 1988 and 1989. He also won the New England Division I NCAA title as well as the Dartmouth Invitational in 1989, and was captain of the Crusaders his senior season.

After graduation, Dully turned pro and has been a standout club professional ever since. He won the 2006 New England PGA Championship with a record score of 14-under-par. Dully is also the youngest player to be enshrined in the PGA of America New England Hall of Fame, inducted in 2023 at the age of 56.

Dully and his brothers Bob (Class of 1978) and Bill (Class of 1981) have served as title sponsors of the Fairfield Prep Alumni Golf Tournament for the past four years.

One of the finest lacrosse players to play for Fairfield Prep, goalie Chis Surran was a co-captain his senior year, but found even greater success at Syracuse after graduation. In four seasons with the Orange, Surran participated in three Final Fours and two national championship games, winning it all in his final season (1993), when he made 20 saves in a 13-12 victory over top-seeded North Carolina. He was named Final Four MVP that season and ended his collegiate career with 476 saves.

Surran then became a successful head coach, spending three seasons at the Naval Academy Prep School in Rhode Island before moving on to Dallas Jesuit Prep in Texas. Surran will begin his 19th season at the helm and has an impressive career mark of 226-74 with four state championships, three runner-up finishes and 15 appearances in the state playoffs.

Surran owns a successful lacrosse business and is also an attorney in Plano, Texas.

Fairfield native Craig Kinsley got a break – literally – that turned his athletic fortunes around. Unable to play baseball for Fairfield Prep because of a fractured hand, he turned to track and field and everything fell into place. He exceeded a fine career with the Jesuits with an even better one for Brown and then trumped it all with a berth on the 2012 Olympics as a javelin thrower.

At Prep, Kinsley ran hurdles and did the high jump, but later added the javelin after his hand had healed. He was named all-state in the decathlon, high jump and javelin throw. Kinsley became a four-time Ivy League champ and a three-time All-American in both the high jump and javelin throw for Brown. He also won the 2010 NCAA title in the javelin.

An injury prevented him from defending his title in 2011, but he wound up qualifying for the Olympics the following summer by excelling at the Olympic trials. He made it to the Qualification round of the Men’s Javelin, but although his toss of 78.18 meters was the longest by any American, he did not advance to the next round. 

Kinsley was named the head women’s track coach at Brown in 2023.