Four added to Community Coaches Honor Roll
With an eye toward those who serve the community — through long hours and for no pay — the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame once again announces its Community Coaches Honor Roll.
Four honorees, from four corners of Montgomery County, will be in the spotlight at the 16th annual induction banquet on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at Normandy Farm in Blue Bell.
The newest class of honorees are Ralph Panzullo of West Norriton, Sam Gallen of New Britain, Rob Bond of Glenside and Rod Vaughan of West Norriton.
They will join the newest class of Hall of Fame inductees: Jim Donofrio, who has won more than 400 games and a state championship as basketball coach at Plymouth Whitemarsh High; Will Lapp, who amassed an overall game record of 1146-304 and won
a state championship as volleyball coach at Souderton High; Gwynedd Mercy Academy’s Tom Lonergan, who has coached a number of girls’ basketball programs and compiled a 662252 record over 33 years; and Cathy Miller, who put together a 485-211 record as softball coach and a 10721 record as girls’ tennis coach at Methacton High.
In addition, former North Penn High football coach and Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine Jr. will be honored as the Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
The new class of Honor Roll honorees brings a long list of accomplishments to this year’s banquet.
RALPH PANZULLO » The West Norriton community has been served admirably by Panzullo in two different sports, and with two different organizations in each.
For nine years he was the Junior American Legion coach in West Norriton. Then he served five more years as the Mascaro American Legion coach.
On the football side, he began with two years of coaching St. Francis CYO. He followed that by coaching the Visitation CYO team from 2005 to 2014.
SAM GALLEN » Aside from his job as the Chief County Detective for Montgomery County, Sam Gallen served the community with 25 years of coaching youth ice hockey. His work with
the traveling teams of kids from Bucks and Montgomery County, plus coaching at higher levels, has earned him the utmost respect throughout the ice hockey community.
ROB BOND » For the last 15 years, Rob Bond has been an active volunteer in Springfield Township in the sports of ice hockey and baseball. He coached the club team from Wissahickon Skating Club, made up mostly of Montgomery County players.
Bond also served as the varsity coach of the Springfield (Montco) High team, a volunteer position. Tragically, Bond’s son died after suffering a head injury in which he was coaching. Bond continues his coaching efforts in memory of his son.
ROD VAUGHAN » For the first time, a member of the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame advisory board, is being honored by his peers. And the honor is most-deserved.
Over the last 25 years, Vaughan has done just about everything imaginable for West Norriton Little League. He is most noted for his coaching expertise, but he also has umpired, prepared the fields, manned the refreshment stands and served as a league officer.
Tickets for the banquet are available for purchase by contacting any member of the Hall of Fame Advisory Board. Additional information can be obtained by going to the website – www.mcchof.com or by calling the banquet management office at 610-279-9220.