San Jose honors another class of sports heroes
Soccer star Aly Wagner, who got her South Bay start playing for Presentation High and Santa Clara University, joked that with her induction, the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame must be scraping the bottom of the barrel. As Wednesday night’s 22nd annual ceremony at SAP Center proved, that’s far from the case.
Along with Wagner, who had a significant presence on the U.S. women’s national team and later played pro, the evening’s other inductees were San Jose native and 1970s War- riors player Raymond Townsend, Olympic gold medal swimmer Mike Bruner and Doug Wilson, the San Jose Sharks’ first captain and now the team’s general manager. The South Bay has a deep well of talent, with no bottom in sight.
The San Jose Sports Authority event always draws a big crowd, and there were more than 600 people having dinner on the covered ice at the Shark Tank. And while no baseball players were being honored, Game 7 of the World Series was on everybody’s mind and most people’s phones. Emcee Randy Hahn provided regular updates to the crowd, but the game was still going when the evening concluded.
Special Olympian of the Year Jennifer Hall received the night’s first standing ovation after her speech about why she loves sports. Elena Bruckner, a Valley Christian High grad, and Bellarmine College Prep grad Troy Martig were honored as high school athletes of the year, and Stanford athletes Simone Manuel and Maverick McNealy were recognized as Amateur Athletes of the Year.
McNealy, the top amateur golfer in the nation and son of Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy, got a big laugh when he addressed his future after he leaves Stanford: “If I had one dollar for every time someone asked me if I was going to turn pro, I wouldn’t have to.” GOLDEN YEAR FOR JUNIOR
LEAGUE: The Junior League of San Jose will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a dinner Saturday at the Children’s Discovery Museum, but you’d be wrong to dismiss it as an organization that’s past its prime.
“The Junior League mission is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago,” said Mary Werthman, president of Junior League of San Jose. “Our mission speaks to any woman who wants to give back to the larger community, make the world around her a better place and stretch her own potential.”
That has translated into real financial support as the Junior League has given back more than $5.4 million to the community. Some of the issues its members have tackled include homelessness, early childhood education and health and protective services for atrisk families. Most recently, the Junior League has turned its focus to supporting foster youth.
Much of that work will be celebrated at Saturday’s event, but they’re also looking ahead to two big events coming up in 2017: the return of its massive rummage sale at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds on March 18 and its 48th annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon on April 28.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the organization and its work, go to www.jlsj.org.