You don’t have to be a baseball fan to understand the grip Ichiro Suzuki had on the rainy city of Seattle. The Japanese-born ballplayer’s induction to the Major League Baseball hall of fame in August sparked city wide pride, emotional tributes, and reminders of how deep the legends’ history ran within the organization.
Tamalpais swimming legend and one of 12 inaugural inductees Sam Schwartz hopes the Tamalpais Sports Hall of Fame fosters a similar sweeping sense of pride: “I would hope the same thing for anyone in attendance on Saturday – to look and say ‘Look at these people, they were high school kids one day just like us’”.
The Tam Sports Hall of Fame kicks off Saturday night.
Kickstarted by the Tam Boosters, the event aims to connect generations, and showcase Tam’s deep historic athletic roots. The Tam Hall of Fame decided to automatically induct any athlete from before 1970 that is in the Marin Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame, and vote on 10 select inaugural athletes from beyond 1970. The Boosters goal is to elect one team and one coach every year going forward.
The 12 inductees are as follows. Fred Mack (Baseball/Football Coach), Clifford Hall (Baseball ‘72), Sam Schwartz (Aquatics ‘86), Linda Broderick Gill (Track ‘76), Jerry “Air Mac” McIntosh (Basketball ‘86), Julie Lanzarin (Volleyball/Basketball ‘76), Blake Wellen (Water Polo ‘96), Bryan Price (Baseball ‘80), the 2000 State Champion Basketball Team, August Kiles (Track and Field ‘14), Will Garner (Basketball ‘72), and Alesia Sweeney Woods (Track and Field ‘80).
Schwartz sees the Hall of Fame as a great place to not only honor achievement, but also a place to recognize the struggle of athletes, and the strength asked of them to succeed.
“Athletes… it’s a roller coaster,” Schwartz said. “It’s not like everybody’s winning all the time. People get injured–I had my own injuries– and the lesson is in navigating the challenges and enjoying the moments of success”.
Beneath the triumph is the overwhelming sense of Tam spirit. Each athlete selected has tremendous pride for Tam, and national champion water polo player Blake Wellen believes that’s a big reason why the Hall of Fame will be a success. “Tam was a special place, it has a special place in my heart,” Wellen said, “We had such a diverse crew of friends as different athletes in different sports, but the one thing we always had was Tam High School”.
The event sold out over a week in advance, and is being hosted at the Tam Valley Community Center. Tam athletes, families, students, and alumni from all over the country will flock to the ceremony to celebrate Tam spirit, and the athlete’s remarkable achievements.
And for the youngsters in attendance, Schwartz has a message: “Not everyone is able to accomplish things that are going to put them into a Hall of Fame. But I think we all can think about what is important to us, and apply ourselves to a cause and work hard at it. That’s all you can do. And if you end up in that Hall of Fame, well, you’ll realize the power is in the journey”.
