Carolyn Bell, 40, pro football player; was killed by car

HARTFORD -- Carolyn Bell, a star for the Connecticut Crush women's professional football team, was struck and killed by a car Friday night.

Ms. Bell, 40, had just parked her motorcycle near her home when she was hit. Hartford police have charged the car's driver, Eugenio River, 24, of Hartford, with drunken driving.

Ms. Bell, who joined the Connecticut Crush in 2001, was named the team's most valuable player in 2003 and 2004.

The Crush, a member of the National Women's Football Association, was to have begun preseason training Sunday, but canceled it upon learning of Ms. Bell's death.

''Stepping out onto the field without Bell is going to be the hardest thing for the team to do," team owner Melanie DePamphilis told The Hartford Courant.

An all-around athlete, Ms. Bell played on the University of New Haven's Division II national championship basketball team in 1987. She also was a teacher at the Institute of Living in Hartford and active in a number of civic organizations.

She leaves her parents, a brother, and two sisters.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete yesterday.