By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Nominations for the second annual St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Fame induction class have been coming in steadily since the first class was enshrined last September.
Now, the St. Joseph Sports Commission is encouraging everyone to get their submissions in for this year's class by Thursday, March 31.
Brett Esely, director of the St. Joseph Sports Commission for the St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau, says nominations will be taken all year round, even if submitted after the 31st.
He says there's about 50 combined individuals and teams who have already been nominated and are in the database.
"That submission window is open 365 days a year," Esely said. "So, if you submitted somebody in the middle of the summertime, that nomination would go right into our database and that person would be eligible for next year."
Anyone is eligible to nominate an individual or team, and those nominations are active for five years. A nomination form can be filled out online here.
People can also pick up a nomination packet from the St. Joseph CVB's main office at 911 Frederick Avenue during regular business hours.
Nominees must either be born in Buchanan County, accomplish their sports feat in the county or be contributing to sports in the county at the present time.
Esely says starting the Hall of Fame induction process last year drew a lot of attention to sports achievements in the area that may have been forgotten about, or just not as well known.
"We wanted people to not only take note about our inaugural class," Esely pointed out, "but we were hoping people would say, 'Well, golly. I know an individual that's worthy of nomination, or I know a team.' In some cases, those inductions were folks or accomplishments that we knew about. But, in some cases they were folks or accomplishments that we didn't know about, and that's why it's so crucial."
Nominees will be considered but not limited to athletes, teams, coaches, administrators, officials and referees, media members, sports medicine, trainers, support staff and beyond.
The second Hall of Fame Class will consist of up to ten individuals and one team. The enshrinement ceremony is set for September at the Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center in St. Joseph.
Esely says the exact date is to be determined, but it'll be on a Sunday and it will depend on the Chiefs schedule, which will be announced along with the rest of the NFL schedule in either late April or early May.
"What Friday or Saturday evening at any time of year, let alone in the fall," Esely asked, "are you going to find a date that the schedule works for almost everyone involved? So, we found that Sunday worked very well last year."
Esely, who was integral in starting the St. Joseph Sports Hall of Fame in November 2020, says having this Hall of Fame and annual enshrinement ceremony are critical for preserving the history of sports achievements in the city and county.
"Our sports history in St. Joseph and Buchanan County stretches 150-200 years," Esely said. "There's a lot of that history that's obvious, but realistically, there's a lot more of that history that's not obvious."
The 2022 St. Joseph Sports Hall of Fame Class will be announced in early-mid June.
Last year's inaugural St. Joseph Sports Hall of Fame class included Lafayette graduate and legendary Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder, Benton graduate, Nebraska football legend and former Carolina Panther Mike Rucker, MLB veteran and Central alum Byron Browne, two-time Olympic team weightlifter and Benton alum Wes Barnett, and more.
The full 2021 class can be seen here.
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