Riverhead Athletic Club seeking Hall of Fame nominees

When the Riverhead Athletic Club formed, one of its main courses of action was to bring back the Hall of Fame induction ceremony to honor those who were a major part of the sports world at Riverhead. A full 20 years passed between selections before four former Riverhead athletes were inducted last fall.

The committee has a lot of catching up to do, and in order to do that, it needs the public’s help.

“We want to recognize those alumni, coaches and other honorary members of the athletic community who have not only served Riverhead but also helped promote Blue Waves athletics,” RAC president Quinn Alexander said. “We want to reignite that tradition that is a crucial part of the community, and I feel like we’re taking the right steps to do so.”

At the Riverhead varsity football game last fall, Ellen Dougherty Hughes (Class of 2005), Jalyn Brown (Class of 2012), Jacob Robinson (Class of 2015) and Katherine Goodale (Class of 2020) were recognized and inducted into the Riverhead Athletic Club’s inaugural Hall of Fame.

“The first go-around was nerve-wracking because you want to get everything right,” Alexander said. “We had a good amount of submissions, and it definitely made the decision-making process that much harder. Our first class was phenomenal. It was such a spectacular event.”

Though there were a lot of comments and public input on past Riverhead athletic greats when the idea of bringing back the Hall of Fame came about, far fewer actual applications were submitted. The only way to get someone considered for the Hall of Fame is to formally submit an application on the club website at Riverheadathleticclub.com.

“It doesn’t have to come from the athlete or coach themselves; anyone can submit a nomination,” Alexander said. “We want to urge the public who have strong feelings on who should be inducted next to submit an application on our website. It only takes a few minutes. I think having done the Hall of Fame last year and now having some level of public awareness out there in the community, we’re hoping to improve the amount of applications that come in.”

Hall of Fame applications are due by July 27, and the next inductees will be honored at homecoming in the fall. Any applications that were submitted last year do not need to be resubmitted; they will roll over.

There are certain criteria that an athlete must meet to be considered, including being at least five years out of high school and having attended Riverhead for a minimum of three years.

They also need to have had significant accomplishments not only during their high school years but beyond them as well. But most importantly, a candidate has to have gone above and beyond normal expectations to contribute to the legacy of the sports programs and have left them better than when they found them.

“We want to show the community that we care,” Alexander said. “We not only care about those athletes, coaches and individuals that are out there on our fields now, but we care about those who came before us as well.”

The club will announce its next four or five inductees in late August.