Jim Brown is often lauded among the greatest athletes of all time, starring in five sports at Manhasset High School in the early 1950s before a stellar multi-sport career at Syracuse University and nine of the most celebrated statistical years in National Football League History.
Having been enshrined in the pro football, college football and lacrosse halls of fame, and honored two years ago with an Allstate “Hometown Hall of Famer” award in Manhasset, Brown was among the 28 members of the inaugural class of the newly established Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
The hall of fame was unveiled last Wednesday during a ceremony at its temporary site at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building rotunda in Mineola. It will be moved once a permanent location is determined.
“Sports provide our young people with important lessons, personal value, leadership skills, physical activity and social interaction skills that will benefit all involved for the rest of their lives,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said in a statement. “The Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame provides an avenue to honor the most gifted athletes, coaches, contest officials, administrators and related contributors while helping promote healthy competition here and strengthening interscholastic sports.”
Among the inductees, many of whom contributed to North Shore athletic programs, were former Miami Dolphins and New York Jets quarterback Jay Fiedler (Oceanside) and NBA forward Wally Szczerbiak (Cold Spring Harbor), who is now a basketball analyst with the MSG network and CBS Sports.
Inductees were chosen by a 10-member screening committee and then approved by a five-member selection committee. Nominees not selected for induction may be designated for consideration in the next two consecutive years.
To be selected, nominees must be at least 35 years old, made considerable athletic contributions within Nassau County and meet a range of ethical and moral criteria.
Here are some of the other inaugural hall of famers from north shore high schools:
• Marcus Martone: A 1944 Glen Cove High School graduate, Martone went on to coach football at Sewanhaka and Carey high schools, going undefeated with Sewanhaka in 1974 and winning the Rutgers Cup as the best team in Nassau County. The Martone Award for the county’s top offensive lineman is named in honor of his father, Al Martone.
In 1998, Sewanhaka named its football field in Marc Martone’s honor.
• James Tolle: A past president of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association from 1994-96, and member of its hall of fame, Tolle served the Uniondale, Garden City, Malverne and Roslyn school districts during his career as an administrator.
• Lorraine Hoffman: Hoffman graduated from Sewanhaka High School in 1950 and went on to teach physical education and coach field hockey, basketball, lacrosse and gymnastics at Massapequa High School for more than 30 years. A member of the Nassau County Field Hockey Coaches Association’s hall of fame, Hoffman was also heavily involved in the reorganization of Section VIII, which coordinates public school athletics in Nassau County, as well as the implementation of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on one’s sex.
•Rosalia Gioia: A former basketball, field hockey and lacrosse coach at New Hyde Park Memorial High School and in Great Neck, Gioia has also had a lengthy officiating career that began in 1952 and continues today.
