Celebrating Yarmouth area’s sports history
Local sports heritage association accepting nominations for next Hall of Fame ceremony
Two decades ago – on a Saturday evening in March 1998 – the Yarmouth Town and County Sports Heritage Association held its first Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Nine individuals and two teams were honoured that night for their achievements and for their contribution to the local sports scene.
The Hall of Fame’s ranks have grown considerably since then. More than 100 people have been inducted as individuals – including athletes, coaches, officials and media – and more than 30 teams have entered the hall as well.
The many Hall of Fame plaques, along with photos of the inductees and information on them, can be found at the sports heritage association’s museum at 435 Main St. in Yarmouth, where visitors will find many other items related to local sports.
“Yarmouth is a rich area in sports (history), at all levels, from little ones to the older ones,” said Gloria Goodwin, one of the sports heritage association’s directors and a former president.
The association is accepting nominations for its next Hall of Fame ceremony, which will be held next May. Goodwin encourages anyone who would like to nominate someone for the Hall of Fame to pick up a form and gather material to support their nomination.
Goodwin recalls one woman in particular – the mother of an athlete who was inducted more than a decade ago – who did a great job saving press clippings and the like in support of her daughter’s nomination.
“It was amazing,” Goodwin said. “And that’s what you need to do. You need to put things away. You need to cut out newspaper clippings or anything like that.”
Once the sports heritage association closes its museum for the season in October, Hall of Fame forms will be available at City Drug Store. Nominations will be accepted until Dec. 31, Goodwin said, and the selection committee will go over them and pick the next slate of inductees.
As for the sports museum, Goodwin said they had a pretty good season.
“We seem to have had more people this summer, but we didn’t have a summer student,” she said. “We were late in applying, so we didn’t have a summer student, but then we had a gentleman who had been our summer student last year who came back on a work term for five weeks so that helped us a lot.”