By JESSICA HARDING
Staff Writer
LITTLE SILVER — Now that the Red Bank Regional High School has turned 100 years old, it was time to create an athletic hall of fame.
That was the thinking of Charles Taylor, a resident of Red Bank and a graduate in 1970 of Red Bank Regional High School (RBR).
He introduced the idea of an athletic hall of fame during a recent board of education meeting.
“I was looking around the area and noticed that RBR was the only school that did not have an athletic hall of fame and thought this might be the perfect time to start one.” said Taylor, who served as team captain for his football, basketball and baseball teams at RBR.
Taylor and the high school’s athletic director, Del Dal Pra, will be joined by other RBR graduates and officials on the selection committee.
The committee will seek to induct student athletes, teams and coaches for their significant contributions to the RBR athletic program. Alumni nominees must have graduated at least 10 years ago and faculty nominees must be retired.
The committee will welcome nominations from former coaches, students, alumni, and faculty and the process will go until May 1, 2017. The Inaugural induction will be in October of 2017.
“This is a daunting undertaking,” Dal Pra said. “But, we have a wonderful committee that has been enthusiastically working on this endeavor doing research through our yearbooks and press archives.”
The committee is comprised of Del Dal Pra; Taylor; athletic trainer and RBR grad, Christina Emrich;, RBR grad and retired educator/coach, Bill Galatro; former RBR teacher and athletic director/coach, Nick Pizzulli, and retired RBR vice principal and basketball official, Lou DeGeorge.
Presently, the school district has its RBR Alumni Hall of Fame, which honors past alumni for professional achievements and community service.
The RBR Athletic Hall of Fame will pertain to athletic achievement in high school, college and professional athletics.
The induction ceremony will be held during a dinner on Oct. 28, 2017, which is the eve of the football game between RBR and Red Bank Catholic High School. The inductees will be introduced during halftime of this football game.
“The great thing is we have accumulated information to meet the people who know the stories of these athletes.” Dal Pra said. “For instance, we have an athlete playing for us now whose great-grandfather played for the original, undefeated football team in 1922. Our goal is to create this for the next generation to continue.”
Nominations for the RBR Athletic Hall of Fame can be made by emailing Del Pra at Idalpra@rbrhs.org or by calling 732-842-8000 ext. 1-233.
