New Sharpsburg Sports Hall of Fame in the works; nominations sought for inaugural class

Nominations are being sought for the inaugural class of Sharpsburg’s new Sports Hall of Fame.

Launched this year by Councilwoman Kayla Portis, District Judge Matthew Rudzki and volunteers with the Sharpsburg Historical Commission, about 14 nominations had been received as of June 14.

There is no deadline for submissions.

The committee hopes to have the first round of inductions sometime in the fall during a Sharpsburg Wolves youth basketball game at the Linden Gymnasium.

“We want the community to help us out with this,” said Portis, a 2003 Fox Chapel Area graduate who played softball. “This is long overdue. It’s been a very long time since we had the Sharpsburg High School. I’m overjoyed that we are finally doing something like this.

“We’re really leaning on the community and their history and any archives that the Sharpsburg Historical Commission has as well.”

Nominees can be for any player, team or team builder such as a coach, equipment manager, broadcaster or someone who made a significant impact on a team. It is open to all sports.

The only concrete rule is the nominee must have lived in Sharpsburg at some point in time.

The inaugural class is expected to be four individuals and one team.

Frontrunners include the 1941 boys basketball team that won the WPIAL championship and the late Ronald “Bumpy” Powell, a coach and football star.

The Sharpsburg School District merged with Fox Chapel Area in 1970.

Portis has another personal connection to the project. Her uncles, Alan Smith, Ernie Smith and Charles “Chaz” Smith, all played sports for Sharpsburg before the merger.

The new Hall of Fame would be located at the Linden Gymnasium/Sharpsburg Recreation Center.

Rudzki, a 2004 Fox Chapel Area graduate and one of the most decorated distance runners in school district history, is a member of the Fox Chapel Athletics and Washington & Jefferson College halls of fame.

He said the push to have one in Sharpsburg was from online residents.

“There’s always been a call from the residents on the social media platforms to create some sort of way to honor them, as a lot of local communities do,” Rudzki said. “Luckily, we have the historical commission in place that can take on a project like this. … It’s definitely a way to recognize some of the great athletes that have come through the community.”

The nomination form is a Google document posted on the historical commission’s Facebook page.

For more information, email history@sharpsburgborough.com.