Ten to be inducted at Winder-Barrow

By Chris Starrs
sports@onlineathens.com

When Winder-Barrow and Apalachee engage in their second and final regular-season basketball encounter tonight, supporters of both schools will bear witness to the recognition of a new class of inductees in the Winder-Barrow High School Sports Hall of Fame.

"We like to have the induction ceremony when Winder-Barrow and Apalachee play because they are county rivals and it gives everybody in Barrow County a chance to be part of the event," said Jerrie Hulsey, who teaches business and information technology, is the competitive cheerleading coach at Winder-Barrow and serves as chairperson of the hall of fame committee.

"We had planned to do this in January, but the game was rescheduled due to the weather."

There are 10 former athletes set to be inducted during a ceremony that will take place at halftime of the boys' game.

The hall of fame was established in 2007 when the school's gym was rebuilt, and previous inductions were held in 2008 and 2009.

Hulsey said there are three criteria inductees must meet before being considered by the committee: personal excellence in athletics and academics at Winder-Barrow High School; accomplishments after high school; and community involvement.

"We're very focused on those three things," said Hulsey, whose husband Jeff will serve as emcee for this evening's event.

"There are some great athletes who haven't given back to their communities, and that's one of the main things we look for for hall of fame selection."

During the first hall of fame ceremony, the school honored its seven state championship teams, 21 individual state champions (in either track and field or wrestling) and 22 hall of fame inductees. Nine inductees were recognized in 2009 and this year's class will bring the number of hall of fame members to 41.

"We've never had a set number of people to induct each year, but we had a lot that first year because we wanted to make up for lost time," said Hulsey.

"Eventually we'll get to the point where we'll be inducting fewer people each year."

Each inductee will be recognized with a shadowbox that contains their jersey (or a suitable replica) and photos. The shadowboxes will then be hung in the gym's hall of fame section.

This year's class includes one representative from the 1940s, one from the 1950s, two from the 1970s, two from the 1990s, three from the 1980s and one whose service to the school spanned four decades.