Sports Hall of Fame Moving to EFSC

Eastern Florida State College’s gymnasium building on the Melbourne campus will be the new home of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.

"The Local Organizing Committee of the Space Coast Sports Hall Of Fame is pleased to showcase the hall at its permanent location at Eastern Florida State College," said committee member Giles Malone.

"This is an excellent location where the profiles of our most outstanding sports personalities will be displayed, our local heroes who have left such an indelible mark on the world of sports. This will be inspirational to all those who visit it."

The installation of the portraits of the first three years of inductees will be completed in January. The 2014 class will be honored at the May 9 Induction Ceremony and Banquet, and their portraits will be installed shortly thereafter.

Building 6 on the Melbourne Campus will host the 55-member Hall of Fame. Photos of the Hall of Famers will be hung on the wall in the building’s main hallway that runs parallel to the gym and outside the Athletic Department offices.

“We are very excited about another opportunity to assist the sports community and showcase some of our own former players and coaches who are members of the Hall of Fame and also to recognize those who have made an impact in our community through athletics,” said Jeff Carr, Eastern Florida’s Director of Athletics. “This would not be possible without the support of our college President Dr. Jim Richey.”

Athletes who competed or coached at Eastern Florida’s predecessor Brevard Community College are among the Hall of Famers. They are former BCC baseball player and current San Francisco Giants Manager Bruce Bochy, former longtime BCC head baseball coach Ernie Rosseau, former seven time national-championship winning golf coach Floyd Horgen and former BCC cross country runner Doug Butler who is the all-time state championship winning cross country coach in Florida at Melbourne’s Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy.

Maverick Multimedia, the parent company of “Space Coast Medicine & Healthy Living” magazine, created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, with support from Space Coast Sports Promotions and Bright House Networks.

“Athletes from Brevard County have been considered among the finest in America and their accomplishments are honored and immortalized by the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame,” said Malone who also is Maverick Multimedia’s vice president.

“Athletes from the Space Coast are woven into the fabric of our lives. We have grown up with them. We’ve gone to school with them and watched them stand out in sports arenas and stadiums throughout the world. It makes sense that finally there will be a place to acknowledge what they have done and how proud we are of them.”

Nominations for the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2014 are now being accepted. They can be made by e-mailing MaverickMultimedia@gmail.com or calling 321-615-8111.

Nominees are chosen in four categories: professional sports, college sports, high school sports and amateur sports. Special honorary recognition will be given to individuals and groups who have made significant contributions to sports on the Space Coast.

A committee will select the Class of 2014, and the inductees will be enshrined in the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame on May 9.

Committee members are Maverick Multimedia President & CEO Tom Palermo, Malone, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Jim Palermo, Digital Editor Matt O’Hern, local youth sports advocate and promoter Mike Cadore, former Health First COO Larry Garrison and Space Coast Sports Promotions President Rusty Buchanan.

“The list of potential and deserving candidates for 2014 induction include athletes and coaches everybody knows, and some who may have been forgotten with the passing of time,” said Tom Palermo.