CREATING A HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME.

YOU HAVE HAD MANY outstanding teams over the years. You have banners commemorating state and regional championships hanging on the walls of your gymnasium. You have trophies stuffed into display cases as reminders of great victories.

But something is missing -- the names and pictures and records of the heroes who played on those teams, or who played magnificently in losing causes.

They are missing because you have no showcase: a hail of fame that would perpetuate the memory of the special people who brought honor to the school and who can serve as role models for present and future generations.

So how does one acquire a hall of fame? Who should assume the responsibility? Organize it? Get people interested in it? Publicize it?

You may be interested in the way Eastern Tech went about it. We started by forming a committee to consider the possibility and (later) formulate a plan. Our committee consisted of the AD, two current coaches, the booster club president, and our principal.

One of our first challenges was to develop the criteria for nomination. After considering several approaches, the committee came up with the following:

1. The hall of fame will recognize outstanding athletes, coaches, and significant contributors, which would allow us to include worthy booster club presidents, parent volunteers, team doctors, and other individuals who contributed significantly to the athletic program.

2. Athletes will become eligible at least five years after graduation and coaches five years after retirement from coaching. (To be consistent, the same time frame should exist for contributors.)

3. The nominee must make an outstanding contribution to his or her sport. Typically, this may include the attainment of all-county or all-state honors, all-time leading scorer, winning a state championship, etc.

The nominee must also exemplify character while representing E.T. and also afterward. In short, he must be a positive role model, worthy of being emulated by current and future students.

After determining the criteria, the committee had to decide upon the actual election process. It established the following five considerations:

1. The nomination form should include the year of graduation, the sport(s) played, and a list of the outstanding contributions made to his or her sport(s). The name of the person making the nomination and the date of the submission will also be required.

2. The completed forms should be sent to the AD, who will keep them on file.

3. Applications should be kept on file for five years. By keeping all nominations, you will be able to reconsider worthy people who were not selected previously. After five years, a person may also be renominated.

4. All nominations will be reviewed by the Hall of Fame Committee by December 15 of each year -- leaving ample time to order the plaques for the inductees. (E.T.'s induction ceremony usually occurs at a home basketball game in mid-February.)

5. Selection and induction into E.T.'s Athletic Hall of Fame will be limited to five individuals per year because we want the induction to be something special, and from a practical standpoint, our lobby area can handle just so many plaques and displays. We didn't want to fill all of the available space in the first few years. (After 15 years or so, E.T.'s next AD will have to solve the space problem.)

Creating and maintaining a hall of fame is not extremely expensive, but there are some costs: plaques, receptions, ceremonies, refreshments, etc. In our case, the booster club agreed to underwrite the costs.

It is also possible to obtain sponsorships for a hall of fame, in much the same manner as for a scoreboard in the gym or stadium. A special, annual fund-raising effort could also be used to support the effort. The cost should not discourage anyone. Creative solutions can be found for every setting.

When and where should the inductions be made? Our initial inductions were made at our spring awards banquet. The ceremony was subsequently moved to the halftime of a home basketball game, because it represented an opportunity for more people to be actively involved. A small reception was held after the game for the inductees, their families, coaches, administrators, friends, and press.

At some schools, the induction ceremony would make the best sense in connection with the fall homecoming activities. The induction could be announced at halftime of a football game or soccer match and the reception held after the contest.

Other thoughts and tips that might be helpful in creating a high school hail of fame:

1. How do you solicit (get the message out) that you are looking for nominations? We place notices in the two weekly newspapers in our area, in the PTA newsletter, and in our Booster Club Newsletter. We also contact the president of our alumni group, the president of our booster club, and our current coaching staff. In our latest effort, we published our nomination form under the "Athletics" link on our web page. We try to use every possible avenue to reach parents, alumni, and friends of the school.

2. Our nomination form is only one page in length. It lists the criteria and the procedures to be followed, including the cut-off date and where the nominations should be sent. The form must be clear, concise, and easy to complete.

3. Why is there a five-year wait after graduation or retirement for an individual to be nominated? Answer: To determine whether the person is indeed a good role model. Each school will have to make this determination individually.

4. Can someone be removed from the hail of fame? We do it. We expect everyone in our hail of fame to remain a positive role model for our students. We believe it is our responsibility to maintain a watch over all our Hall of Fame members and to remove any member who fails to maintain our standards.

5. Obviously, the introduction of the inductees can pose a problem in that there will always be a few inductees who will overwhelm the others. To be fair to everyone, we have created a standard opening paragraph:

"Having met the criteria for nomination and in recognition of the following accomplishments (listing), (insert name) is inducted into Eastern Tech H.S. Hall of Fame on (insert date)."

The accomplishments are listed briefly as follows:

* 1st Team All-County basketball in 1991

* Eastern Tech's all-time leading rebounder

* Captain of 1990-91 basketball team

* Two-time captain of lacrosse team With a little though and effort, it is possible for practically any school to create a Hall of Fame that will provide real role models for the athletic program as well as serve as a promotion and marketing tool for your program and school.