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NILES—As celebrations for current Brandywine High School graduates are being planned, the Brandywine Community Schools Development Board is seeking nominations for its athletics Hall of Fame.

Celebrating the achievements of the teams, athletes and coaches that were a part of some of the Bobcats’ athletics most impressive moments on the court and on the field is what the development board is hoping to do in the ceremony’s third year of awards.

A form is live on the Brandywine Athletics website for nominations for the Brandywine Bobcats Athletics Hall of Fame, with a deadline of May 31. Rod Runyan, president of the development board overseeing the awards ceremony, encourages the community to send their nominations in for consideration.

“We’ll announce the nominations in July,” Runyan said. “Right now, our intention is to move forward with the Hall of Fame ceremony and awards for this fall as normal.”

Celebrating the legacy of the exceptional feats athletes achieve both on the court and in the field, and bringing that celebration to the community, is what Runyan hopes to continue with awards.

The hall of fame induction ceremony coincides with the Bobcats homecoming game.

“Of course, that is going to depend on what is going on with COVID-19 and what the social distancing rules may or may not be,” he said.
The Brandywine Athletic Hall of Fame is an effort to highlight the accomplishments of Brandywine graduates, and to especially honor those who helped create a legacy of exceptional athleticism at the school and beyond. Keeping graduates connected to their hometown helps create a sense of pride for the community.

Runyan, a Brandywine graduate from 1975, sees some classes sticking together more than others. He hopes that the nominations bring graduates back together to celebrate the achievements of their peers.

In order to be recognized by the Brandywine Bobcats Athletics Hall of Fame, nominees need to have graduated from Brandywine at least 10 years ago. The nominations may be for coaches, teams and male and female athletes. The submissions do not need to be made by Brandywine High School graduates to nominate a Brandywine athlete. Both the development board and past inductees into the Hall of Fame will then choose those to be awarded with the honors this fall.

This year, the Brandywine Development Board was to debut a second award category: Distinguished Alumni.

This award category would honor those who had done extraordinary work both during and after their experience at Brandywine High School. The inaugural ceremony for this award has been postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19.
The awards are made possible by both the work of the Brandywine Development Board and the United Federal Credit Union.