Poland Sports Hall of Fame seeks nominees for 2025

Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse
Poland Seminary High School Athletic Director Brian Banfield places the first PSHS Hall of Fame team honorees in one of the many display cases at the high school. Nominees are now being sought for the 2025 Hall of Fame.

POLAND — “Honoring, remembering and celebrating our past is as important as our future,” Poland Superintendent Craig Hockenberry said regarding the Poland Seminary High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

“We have a long tradition of both athletic and academic success that dates back to the 1800’s and we are very proud that we are able to keep it alive.”

The PSHS Hall of Fame began with a dozen inductees in 1988. Since that time, between two and 14 inductees have been added every year, including athletes and coaches, and this year for the first time, teams. At present, the maximum number of inductees has been set at seven.

Plaques were placed in the PSHS Hall of Fame display case on Wednesday for the 1999 Division III State Champion Football Team anad the 2000 State Division II Boys Track and Field Team.

“It’s our first year for teams,” said Athletic Director Brian Banfield. “We are planning to induct teams every other year. Next year, we will seek individuals”

Nomination forms are available on the school’s website and on the Poland All Sports Boosters Facebook page.

Nominations are open until Feb. 28, 2025. After that date, the list of nominated individuals, or teams in appropriate years, head to the selection committee. That committee is comprised of the Booster Club president who serves as chairman, the athletic director, the superintendent, the high school principal, one representative from the Boosters Board of Trustees, and seven at large Booster Club members.

In March, Banfield said the committee meets and votes on who will be inducted in that year. The results of that vote are not revealed until the All-Sports Booster Club golf outing in May. The inductees are then inducted at an annual Hall of Fame football game. The 2025 induction will be at half time of the Poland-Canfield football game on Sept. 12, 2025.

For individuals, Banfield said each will receive a plaque during the ceremony. A second plaque is made for the PSHS Hall of Fame display cases that fill the halls in front of the gym. As for teams, if any team member would like a plaque, they would have to buy it. Only one plaque is ordered for the display cases, which are filling quickly.

“We’re quickly running out of hall space,” Banfield said. “We have room for one more case.”

For individuals next year, the athlete would have to have graduated at least five years ago. Coaches and honorary inductees don’t have a waiting period.

Banfield said all nominations remain on the list, even if they are not selected the year of submission.

“What makes our Hall of Fame so special is the amount of time and effort (the committee) puts into the important work of selecting our students/athletes and how organized and structured the entire process has become,” Hockenberry said. “When you are dealing with such top level talent that has spanned more than a century, the choices become very difficult. We are lucky to have people committed to preserving our accomplishments and an athletic director dedicated to celebrating them.”