Staff photo / JT Whitehouse Polish Seminary High School athletic director Brian Banfield displays the first PSHS Hall of Fame team winners in one of the many display cases throughout the high school. Nominations are currently being solicited for the 2025 Hall of Fame.
POLAND — “Honoring, remembering and celebrating the past is just as important as the future,” Poland Superintendent Craig Hockenberry said of the Poland Seminary High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
“We have a long tradition of success in both athletics and academics that dates back to the 1800s and we are very proud to be able to continue that.”
The PSHS Hall of Fame began with 12 inductees in 1988. Since then, between 2 and 14 individuals have been inducted each year, including players, coaches and, for the first time this year, teams. Currently, the limit on the number of inductees is set at seven.
On Wednesday, commemorative plaques from the 1999 Division III state champion football team and the 2000 Division II state boys track and field team were installed in the PSHS Hall of Fame display cases.
“This is the first year for the team,” Athletic Director Brian Banfield said, “We plan to induct a team every other year, and next year we will be recruiting individuals.”
Nomination forms are available on the school’s website and on the Poland All Sports Boosters Facebook page.
Nominations for candidates will be accepted through February 28, 2025. After that date, a list of nominated individuals or teams for the applicable year will be sent to a selection committee, which will consist of the Booster Club President, who serves as chairman, the Athletic Director, Superintendent, high school principal, one representative from the Booster Board of Directors, and seven at-large members of the Booster Club.
Banfield said the committee will meet in March to vote on who will be inducted that year. The results of the vote will not be announced until the All Sports Booster Club golf tournament in May. Inductees will be inducted at the annual football game. The 2025 induction will take place at halftime of the Poland vs. Canfield football game on Sept. 12, 2025.
For individuals, Banfield said, each person will be presented with a plaque during the ceremony. A second plaque will be made for the PSHS Hall of Fame display case, which fills the hall in front of the gym. For teams, if team members want a plaque, they must purchase one. Only one plaque will be ordered for the display case, and they fill up quickly.
“We are quickly running out of space in the hall,” Banfield said. “We only have room for one more.”
For individual inductions next year, athletes must have graduated at least five years ago. There is no waiting period for coaches and honorary inductees.
Banfield said all nominated works will remain on the list, even if they weren’t selected in the year they submitted.
“What makes our Hall of Fame so special is the amount of time and effort (the committee) puts into the important task of selecting our student-athletes and how organized and structured the entire process is,” Hockenberry said. “When you’re dealing with top-level talent going back more than a century, the choices can be very difficult. We are fortunate to have people committed to preserving our accomplishments and an athletic director dedicated to honoring them.”
