{"id":2782,"date":"2012-10-22T10:13:09","date_gmt":"2012-10-22T14:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=2782"},"modified":"2012-10-22T10:13:09","modified_gmt":"2012-10-22T14:13:09","slug":"cash-hall-of-fame-honors-class-of-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=2782","title":{"rendered":"CASH Hall of Fame honors class of 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

Athletic heroes from Coatesville’s past feted at dinner attended by 300<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Kyle Carrozza<\/strong>, Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The newest honorees of the Coatesville Area High School Hall of Fame were honored Saturday night at the Coatesville Country Club. Top row, left to right: Clint Seace, Peter “Sonny” Gracia, Larry Lewis. Bottom row: Aja Anderson, Mike Emanuel, Gavin “Scotty” Beam, Becky Layfield, Christine Tobelman<\/p><\/div>\n

WEST CALN \u2013 In the competitive atmosphere of sports, where people go to witness athletic feats and success measured in victory, people often forget about the humanity of the players; they forget that athletes are people whose parents drove them to and from practice every day, people who have made human connections with teammates, coaches, and fans, bonds forged in camaraderie and respect.<\/p>\n

At the Coatesville Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held at the Coatesville Country Club on Saturday night, the athletes who were honored and the presenters who spoke about them showed some of this humanity, speaking with great respect for those who helped them achieve and the community that supported them.<\/p>\n

Hall of Fame president Greg DePedro hosted the evening, which honored athletes Peter \u201cSonny\u201d Gracia, Christine Toblemann, Gavin \u201cScotty\u201d Beam, Clint Seace, Kenneth Mateer, Aja Anderson, Ed Kovatch, Larry Lewis, and the 1952 Scott High School basketball team, football coach D. Victor \u201cVic\u201d Emanuel, and trainer Becky Layfield.<\/p>\n

Three hundred people attended the event, including, hall of fame members, their families, current athletic personnel, and teachers. The social that took place before dinner and inductions had the feel of a class reunion with members from past teams reminiscing about the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can remember every shot I missed,\u201d said 2006 inductee Paul \u201cHerky\u201d Rubincam, which was quite a few, according to Sam Arbuckle, a teammate on the 1951 basketball team.<\/p>\n

The evening took the air of a family reunion as well, with athletes from different generations showing admiration for each other, some of whom were meeting for the first time and others that were mentors and mentees for each other.<\/p>\n

Trophies from the 1952 basketball team were displayed, as well as year book pictures and newspaper clippings detailing the team\u2019s path to becoming the Coatesville\u2019s first regional champions. Presenters commended the athletic achievements of the inductees, recognizing their almost folkloric places in history of a town that has produced 11 Collegiate All-Americans.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst you were All-Ches-Mont. Then you were All-American. Now, you\u2019re all-time,\u201d coach Russ Jackson said honoring Aja Anderson, leading scorer for the 1994 state champion women\u2019s basketball team. During her acceptance speech, Anderson asked the coach to stand next to her, as she was nervous speaking in front of the crowd.<\/p>\n

Recognition was not limited to accomplishments on the field but also the impact that the inductees had on the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is anybody who can say she\u2019s a mother, it\u2019s Ms. Layfield,\u201d said current Coatesville Area School District Superintendent Richard Como, \u201ca mother of all the students of Coatesville.\u201d He spoke not just of her history as a trainer but also of her success as head of CASH\u2019s guidance department. Layfield, also the honoree of the 2006 yearbook dedication, was selected for the \u201cMac\u201d Stuber Memorial Award, given for special contributions to Coatesville athletics.<\/p>\n

Como also spoke on behalf of Ken Mateer, who he called \u201cthe greatest Coatesville athlete of all time.\u201d Recipient of an Old Timer Award, Mateer was a standout athlete in five sports and once scored 54 points for the basketball team in an era of five-minute quarters where entire teams often scored less than 40 points.<\/p>\n

A special moment happened when long-time CASH coach and principal Harry Lewis presented the hall of fame plaque to his brother Larry Lewis, Ches-Mont champion for both low and high hurdles in his junior and senior years. During the presentation, their brothers Glen and Doug Lewis stood beside them. All four are now Coatesville Sports Hall of Famers.<\/p>\n

While accepting the honors, a sense of humility prevailed in most of the inductees\u2019 speeches. They took time to thank the committee that chose them as well as friends, family members, coaches, and the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cEight of the greatest years of my life were spent coaching Coatesville football,\u201d said Vic Emanuel in a note from his first game against Coatesville as coach of William Penn High School. Mike Emanuel, Vic\u2019s grandson, accepted the Old Timers Award for the coach who led the football team to an undefeated 1922 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cBill Mendenhall made me an incredible gentleman because he\u2019s an incredible gentleman,\u201d Ed Kovatch said of his high school coach. Kovatch recorded 150 strikeouts and two no hitters pitching for Coatesville, as well as leading the Ches-Monts in hitting home runs in 1981.<\/p>\n

Christine Tobelman, who set multiple Coatesville field hockey records and struck out just three times in 225 at-bats for the softball team, also acknowledged the impact of Coatesville sports on her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of you guys have molded me into the person I am today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Many of the inductees shared a strong sense of family with fellow athletes and Coatesville as a whole.<\/p>\n

Clint Seace cited his mother, father, and his coach, Jack Helm, as the three people who have influenced his life the most. The All-Ches-Mont linebacker who led his team to three league titles also recounted the support his high school coaches gave him after he broke his leg while playing for Penn State. In particular, he remembered James \u201cSkoog\u201d Smith bringing cheesesteak strombolis to State College for him.<\/p>\n

Many of the inductees recalled memories with unwavering clarity. They shared anecdotes from games that happened decades ago.<\/p>\n

Peter \u201cSonny\u201d Gracia recounted the first time his dad took him to a Coatesville basketball game when he was seven or eight. \u201cThe guys looked like giants,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019ll never have to play that game,\u201d he told his father. Gracia would go on to become an All-Ches-Mont point guard, co-captaining his team to the 1972 league title.<\/p>\n

The induction ceremony, now in its 13th year, provided well-deserved recognition for figures who have reached near-mythical status in Coatesville sports. Committee vice president Bob Coulter compared the 1952 basketball team to Coatesville\u2019s version of the Hoosiers, saying that they took the community by storm. After being inducted, the team recognized one of their heroes, singing happy birthday to their coach, Walt Funk, who turned 90 last week.<\/p>\n

Southeast Regional District Champion and former Coatesville record holder for wrestling wins, Gavin \u201cScotty\u201d Beam summed up the evening\u2019s sentiments. He recently attended a wrestling invitational to reunite with some of his former opponents from around the area. \u201cEverybody looked different,\u201d he said, melancholy that no one remembered him. A few days later, the Coatesville Hall of Fame called to notify him of his induction. Grateful for the honor, he commented, \u201cAt least they remember me at home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Athletic heroes from Coatesville’s past feted at dinner attended by 300 By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times WEST CALN \u2013 In the competitive atmosphere of sports, where people go to witness athletic feats and success measured in victory, people often forget about the humanity of the players; they forget that athletes are people whose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[1006,592,568,29,1005],"class_list":["post-2782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-featured","tag-athletics","tag-cash","tag-coatesville-area-high-school","tag-coatesville-area-school-district","tag-hall-of-fame"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}