Rome Sports Hall of Fame and Museum

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HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS

Online nominations being accepted for Rome Sports Hall of Fame

For the first time, the Rome Sports Hall of Fame selection committee is accepting online nominations until April 1 for individuals to be honored at the annual awards dinner to be held in the summer.

Online applications are preferred and are available at: www.romenewyork.com on the Parks and Recreation Web site. Applications can be submitted electronically by e-mailing completed applications to: rmiller@romecitygov.com and then sending any supporting information such as news clippings by regular mail to: Rome Recreation Department, 198 N. Washington St., Suite 2D, Rome, N.Y., 13440.

Applications will also continue to be accepted by regular mail. Nomination forms are available at the Recreation Department.

Nominations will be accepted for induction into the Hall of Fame.

Nominations will also be accepted for the service award and for awards honoring 2011-12 sports personalities.

As listed on the nomination form, "in order for an individual to be nominated to the Hall of Fame, the individual must either have been from Rome or have a long-term association with the area to be considered "home town" and commonly associated with Rome by the general public. He or she must also meet one of the following criteria:

• Is or was an outstanding athlete in high school, college, amateur or professional sports;
• Is or was a coach, manager or an administrator who has made a significant contribution to sports;
• Is an individual who is performing or has performed unusual or distinguished service in fostering, developing or effectively helping a sport to prosper."

In addition, nominations will be taken for honorees for the William J. Coughlin Memorial.

The memorial, which honors deceased individuals who excelled in local sports, is named in honor of the longtime Rome Free Academy coach and athletic director who died after being struck by a car while training for a marathon.

The Coughlin Memorial was established to recognize Rome athletes whose "light shined far too briefly."

It is not necessary to re-submit nominations for the Hall of Fame or the Coughlin Memorial, as previously submitted nominations are kept on file. Additions or addendums to nominations are welcome.

Nominations will also be taken for the Ellie Bruce Exceptional Team of Excellence Award which salutes a standout team from the past. The award is sponsorerd by Bruce, a member of the Hall of Fame selection committee.

Selection committee members are co-chairmen Bill Fleet and Joe Silkowski along with Hall of Fame executive director Ruth Demers and Fran Lisewski, Carl Eilenberg, Bruce, Joe Ryan, Paul Gigliotti, Bob Ryan and Rich Miller.