The 2014 Class of the Montgomery County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame contains numbers members who have SOL ties.
PRESS RELEASE:
An even one dozen individuals, whose athletic-related career accomplishments have clearly warranted their renown and longtime sports page recognition, will be joyously welcomed by the Montgomery County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, September 26, 2014 at the chapter’s fifth annual induction ceremony at the Valley Forge Radisson Hotel, 1160 First Avenue, in King of Prussia.
This year’s honorees, comprising the Hall of Fame Class of 2014, are Sheldon (Shelly) Chamberlain...Unsung Hero Jim Church...Glenn Fine...Randy Garber...Jim Gibbons...Tameka (Tammy) Greene...Gerry Hunsicker...Craig Littlepage...Amanda O’Leary...John Rienstra...Clarence (Scotty) Scott... and Alvin Williams.
Virtually all of these 12 luminaries have been previously installed in various Halls of Fame over the years. Many excelled in multiple disciplines, some well beyond their scholastic and collegiate endeavors to careers as prominent professionals. The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame encourages your Awards Dinner attendance in King of Prussia on September 26 to heartily salute these deservedly-honored inductees:
.......Craig Littlepage initially made basketball headlines at Cheltenham High School before earning college prominence as player, coach, and athletic administrator. He led Cheltenham to a 26-0 record, a State Finals runner up finish, and was a high school All- American prior to sparking the University of Pennsylvania to three Ivy League crowns and 26-0 1970-71 regular season log before falling to Villanova in the March Madness tournament. Basketball coaching would follow: a Villanova assistant; head coaching posts at Penn and Rutgers. Then, since 2001, University of Virginia Athletic Director. During his tenure Virginia won eight team and 13 individual NCAA titles and is among America’s top public universities in graduation rates. Craig headed the 2006 committee choosing teams for men’s NCAA tournament play, has been a Board member of the Philadelphia Police Athletic League and Charlottesville’s Ronald McDonald House, and was on Sports Illustrated’s 2003-04 list of 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports.
------- Glenn Fine, a Cheltenham High three-sport standout in the mid-1970s who led the Panthers in scoring 
and assists while averaging almost 20 points in his senior basketball year, was regularly featured on local and regional media during his noteworthy scholastic career. He would later earn national headlines -- both as a collegian, and then as Inspector General of the United States as confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2000 following nomination by President Clinton. He held that post under Presidents Bush and Obama for 11 years. In high school he was twice All-Conference and was instrumental in an upset basketball win over PIAA champion Abington. Then on to Harvard to become the school’s all-time assists leader as a three-year basketball starter, a co-captain, and Magna Cum Laude graduate in 1979. Glenn was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, but chose instead to pursue a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford. He is a proud member of the Cheltenham High and Jewish Sports Halls of Fame.
.......Amanda O’Leary, a Spring-Ford High standout who rose to national prominence for her Lacrosse and Field Hockey brilliance, was awarded a scholarship to Temple where she later entered its Hall of Fame. At Temple Amanda was a two-time All American in both of her specialties. She led Owl lacrosse to a national title with a 19-0 record in 1988, the year she was NCAA MVP and Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Year. She was leading scorer for the US World Cup team, 1993 IFWLA champion. After serving as assistant coach of University of Maryland’s successful 1992-93 team, Amanda was Yale University head lacrosse coach for 14 seasons (’93 Ivy co-winner), and later coached 19 All-Americans at the University of Florida. Her Gators advanced to the 2012 NCAA Final Four when Amanda was Women’s Lax Coach of the Year. Among her other honors are NCAA Women’s Lacrosse 25th Anniversary team, 2006; Beth Allen Lifetime Achievement Award, 1997; Southeastern PA Hall of Fame, 2007; National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, 2005.
------- Gerald (Gerry) Hunsicker, captain of Collegeville-Trappe (now Perkiomen Valley H.S.) football, basketball, and baseball teams during the 1966-68 seasons, established his acclaimed baseball credentials further at the collegiate and national professional levels. A 3- year outfielder and pitcher, he led St. Joseph’s University to a .704 record before earning a Masters Degree and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Florida International in 2001. Then it was on to major league baseball, and Houston Astros GM duty from 1995 through 2004 as Houston won three straight division titles, including a team record 102 regular season victories in 1998 when Gerry was named Sporting News Executive of the Year. Following his Astros’ tenure Gerry served as a vice president with Tampa Bay’s Rays, and has held executive posts with the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s a member of the St. Joseph’s University and its Baseball Halls of Fame, and the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.
------- Tameka “Tammy” Greene will enter Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame’s Montgomery County Chapter for her brilliant basketball accomplishments at Plymouth Whitemarsh High and at nearby Textile Institute (now Philadelphia University). A Hall of Famer at both schools, Tammy finished her scholastic career as PW’s all-time women’s point leader. She went on to earn regional and national honors as National Collegiate Women’s Player of the Year and Kodak All-American, both in 1994. She was Textile’s all-time steals leader and was in its top tier in rebounds, assists, and three-point goals. A league Rookie of the Year, she was conference MVP three straight years and was twice the ECAC Player of the Year. Tammy Greene led Textile to three successive post-season tourneys, and twice to the NCAA tournament. She became the first athlete, male or female, to have a uniform number retired by Philadelphia University.
------- Shelly Chamberlain, with four successful decades as Soccer coach and administrator, was a standout player at Bethlehem High who later sparked East Stroudsburg College to the 1962 NAIA national crown. Following service with the Philadelphia Atoms pro soccer team, Shelly began his scholastic coaching in our region with Springfield (1965-67), Plymouth Whitemarsh, Notre Dame (girls), and the Spring-Ford High girls team, a PIAA finalist. He would soon start a 40-year career at Montgomery County Community College where his soccer team won league flags from 1970 to ’76. He also served as Athletic Director there. An inductee of three Soccer Halls of Fame in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Chamberlain organized the Montco Indoor Soccer League, and the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Assn. camp where he coached Olympic development programs. Shelly’s impressive resume also includes coaching Philadelphia’s LaSalle University soccer men to the ECAC 1977 championship prior to his leading the 1992-96 Villanova University women to three Big East title round appearances.
.......John Rienstra, one of a select few former Montgomery County High School All- Star Football Game (1981) performers to be inducted to the Montgomery County Chapter of the PA Sports Hall of Fame, parlayed his Academy of the New Church scholastic letterman skills into collegiate and NFL renown. The 3-year high school defensive end won the All Penn Jersey Conference Football Coaches Award, and is the only Academy of the New Church athlete in history to have his football number retired. Beyond scholastic football, John, also a baseball letterman, was an All Penn Jersey unlimited weight class champion, was All Area Wrestling second team (1980-81), and was the Sam Croft Cup Winner of most falls, 1980-81. John became a 1985 consensus football All-American at Temple University as offensive guard in 1985. He is now a proud member of the Temple Univ. Hall of Fame. After his Owl gridiron accomplishments, John was a five-year starter with the Pittsburgh Steelers and two-year
------- Soccer’s Randy Garber, representing Abington High School, was a 1971 scholastic All- American. That notable status continued the next two years at Mercer County Community College (Jr. College All-American twice) and then at Penn State,(1974 All-American). He later played professional soccer (1974 – 1980) with Tampa Bay, Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Philadelphia Fever, and Cleveland Force. He was also a member of the U.S. National team. Following his playing exploits Randy embarked on a soccer coaching career. It began as Penn State assistant(1977-79), continued as aide at our county’s Lower Moreland and Abington high schools, and has proceeded to a head coaching post from 1994 to the present at Abington, which won the 2012 PIAA District One title. Olympic Development coaching, a US Youth Region One crown, several Coach of the Year salutes, and Mercer County College and Abington High Halls of Fame help illuminate Randy Garber’s impressive soccer resume.
.......Clarence (Scotty) Scott was yet one more member of the Scott family contingent of outstanding Upper Merion High School athletes in the 1950s and ‘60s. Known as Scotty, as many of his siblings also were, “Clarence” was a four-sport standout in football, basketball, volleyball, and track at Upper Merion High. His athletic talent and leadership ability prompted teammates to elect him Captain of all four of those squads in his Junior and Senior scholastic years. It was surely no coincidence when his Morgan State College teams would also name him team captain for the final two seasons of his four-year football career there. Another ironic coincidence: Scotty’s induction to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame – Montco Chapter will
be conducted in the same region where the Scott family of remarkable athletes excelled over many decades – right there in Upper Merion at the Valley Forge Radisson on September 26th. His stellar grid career culminated with four solid years as defensive back with the Boston/New England Patriots.
.......Alvin Williams enters the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame’s Montgomery County Chapter based on the basketball achievements he produced in scholastic, collegiate, and professional categories. Locally, at Ft. Washington’s Germantown Academy, Alvin was twice InterAc League MVP, was an All City, All State, and All American selection, and ranks as Germantown Academy’s leading all-time men’s team scorer. Then, at Villanova University from 1993 through ’97, he earned All Big East and All American honors while sparking the Wildcats to four post-season appearances. As his Villanova days ended he was a second round choice of the NBA’s Portland club, making the 1997 All Rookie team. Alvin later starred for the 1998- 2006 Toronto Raptors. Following his NBA playing days his career evolved into professional basketball administration with the position of Toronto’s Director of Player Development from the 2010 season through 2013.
------- Jim Gibbons, the deceased member of this 2014 Hall of Fame induction class, was an outstanding coach and athletic administrator who was a key figure in establishing indoor track in Eastern Pennsylvania, and was co-founder and first executive secretary of the Track & Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia. He was a longtime Athletic Director at Montgomery County’s Bishop McDevitt High School, assistant track coach at the University of Pennsylvania, and an administrator at Lehigh University. Jim was highly regarded for his influence that led to the acceptance of Girls’ championships in the Philadelphia Catholic League where he was the league’s first championship meet director. Beyond coaching, and orchestrating track & field competitions and special exhibitions, the late Mr. Gibbons was also the technical director behind numerous meets, including the Philadelphia Catholic League, the Philadelphia Coaches League, and the Penn Relays.
------- For nearly 45 years Jim Church, Our Class of 2014’s UNSUNG HERO, has delivered a sports announcing talent that’s widely recognized via radio air waves that often carry well beyond our county’s borders. A 1950 graduate of Lansdale High School, (now North Penn H.S.), Jim was a three-sport athlete there, and would extend his interest in athletics to a media career that provided him a microphone opportunity that has focused directly on sportscasting for which he’s landed numerous awards. Among them are Associated Press laurels for high school football and basketball play-by-play including several State finals, along with accolades for other community-related showcase events. Closely associated with Lansdale’s WNPV Radio since 1970, he has broadcast more than 600 football, basketball, and baseball games in addition to hosting a regular series of sports wrap-up and call-in programs. This most-recent addition of sports media inductees to our Hall of Fame, Jim Church has been Montgomery County All-Star Football chairman for two decades, served as a Montco Coaches Hall of Fame and Triangle Club Board Director, and is a Souderton and North Penn Sports of Hall of Fame member.
Tickets to the Montgomery County Chapter of Pennsylvania’s Sports Hall of Fame September 26th awards dinner are available at $70 each ($700 for a 10-person table) from Chapter president David Ritting at 476 Brookwood Rd., Wayne, PA 19087; phone 610 256- 0300. Tickets, Tables and Ads are also available on the Website: http://www.montcosportshof.org/2014inductionbanquet.html
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