Tamalpais inducted their first ever class into Tam High Sports Hall of Fame this Saturday night at the Tam Valley Community Center. From inductees who graduated from 1972 to 2014 this first ever class of nominees built bridges connecting generations of Tam high success.
Many names on the Tam Boosters and the School Board such as Andy Hatch, Eleanor Murray and Derek Scobie helped with completing the historical night but one name was in charge of the operation, and he had a vision of this since 2 years ago. Mill Valleys one and only, and Tam Alum, Brian Murphy. Murphy saw other schools create Sports Hall of Fames, but that was not the real reason he was inspired to step into the role: “It was about the fact that we have such an incredible history, and it was time to recognize it more formally and as a community,” Murphy said.
After years of planning, a committee was formed including coaches, alumni and boosters from Tam. Murphy said a difficult part of the process was definitely not finding names but narrowing them down. After multiple meetings, the committee narrowed their list down to 12 people and the first ever class was formed, which cemented their legacies into Tam history forever. These names include Will Garner (Basketball ‘72), Clifford Hall (Baseball/Basketball/Football ‘72), Linda Broderick Gill (Track ‘76), Julie Lanzarin (Basketball/Volleyball ‘76), Bryan Price (Baseball ‘80), Alesia Sweeney Woods (Track and Field ‘80), Sam Schwartz (Swimming ‘86), Jerry McIntosh (Basketball ‘86), Blake Wellen (Water Polo ‘96), Fred Mack (Baseball/Football Coach), August Kiles (Track and Field ‘14), the legendary 2000 state champion boys basketball Team, and an important member of Tam’s current campus staff, Ralph Wilson, as one of the coaches of the 2000 boys basketball team.
The next challenge Murphy highlighted was making the event special. “Finding athletes and stories at Tam? Not a problem,” Murphy said with a laugh. “The hard part was pulling off the night. How do you honor 117 years in one night?”.
To help with this surplus of talented athletes the committee formed a Legends Class. This Class automatically introduced every Tam alum already in Marin County Hall of Fame who had graduated from the year 1970 and before. Many family members of these Legends were in attendance on Saturday night.
From when the night started at 5 p.m until it ended at 9 p.m the room was filled with excitement and emotion. “There was an overwhelming sense of energy and love in the room,” Murphy said. One moment Murphy cited as being special to him was when Class of 1972 Basketball Superstar Will Garner accepted his award. “When Will Garner got up there, I saw tears rolling down his face. That’s when I thought, We’re really tapping into something good here”
The night was one to remember. Many alumni caught up with each other after years of separation. Tam plans to induct more athletes every year: “It’s going to be really hard to replicate the magic of that first night,” Murphy said. “But that’s the beauty of it, now the story keeps growing”