Superintendent Scott Hunt and Athletic Director Andy Cardinal are relatively new in their administrative roles at Cardinal Schools.
But that doesn’t keep them from focusing on the school’s legacy and past.
Varsity pursuits have long been fodder for stories about the glory days. Now the school will do the hard work of comparing athletes of different eras and balancing inductees among sports and gender.
Because of their efforts, the Cardinal School Board OK’d the Cardinal High School Hall of Fame in December.
However, there will be a twist to this hall: it will have two wings, one for athletics, one for other distinguished alumni.
“Our district has a long history in the county,” said Hunt. “This will have a big impact.”
“One of the first things I look at when I go to another school is their hall of fame areas,” Cardinal said. “I look at their athletes and what they did. We want to make sure our alumni have that kind of recognition.”
Organizers looked at other schools’ models, like Berkshire’s, which formed its athletic hall of fame three years ago.
Cardinal’s process, as most do, will begin when the community or former players and coaches submit nominations.
What comes next are details still to be worked out, but here’s the gist:
A committee — made up of Hunt, Cardinal, another administrator, a school board member, a booster club member and a few people from the school community — will decide on inductees.
About five athletic alumni and one distinguished alumni will be chosen per year.
The first class should be inducted this fall, organizers hope.
“I’m excited to see what comes in,” said Katie Thomas, a school board member who was born and raised in Middle- field. Her father and her three children also graduated from Cardinal.
Thomas said she knows a Cardinal and West Point graduate who is a lieutenant colonel in the army — a potential inductee.
“It’s not just being a really great athlete in high school,” she said. “It’ll be interesting.”
Among other candidates are doctors, lawyers and people who are on TV, Hunt said.
Cardinal Schools serve Middlefield Village and Middlefield, Parkman and Huntsburg Townships.
Bringing alumni back into the fold is especially important because it rebuilds bridges and stirs community togetherness, Hunt said.
“Not only should we recognize those people, but we should build some programs around them, have them speak to the kids, how it benefitted them,” Hunt said. “It’s important because they can provide some of the support we are looking for, how can we improve our facilities, specifically for our sports fields. You need that kind of endorsement from your alumni.”
“It’s nice to bring attention to the community here,” said Andy Sefcik, a school board member and sports commentator from 1996 to 2006, including many years with Geauga Local Access Cable. “There’ve been a lot of lean years out there, too. I hope it goes well.”
While nobody really wanted to speculate as to the first inductees, Sefcik was already making a case for his wife, Shannon (Parnaby), a 1999 graduate who played girls basketball. He believes she still holds some school records and was a multiple all-conference selection.
Some preliminary crowd surfing on Facebook pulled in informal nominations for Joyce Tudor and Paul Verno, former coaches.
They, along with Dick Moss and Bill Fisher, are members of the school’s Wall of Fame. Andy Cardinal believes they will become automatic members of the Hall of Fame and not need to be re-inducted, but that vote hasn’t been officially taken yet.
One thing is for certain: Those athletic years are priceless.
“Those are the things I still talk about — playing football, how great it was to be part of that,” said Hunt, himself a lineman and all-league punter at Girard in his day. “It is good for kids, that’s what the research says.”