The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1973 to honor and recognize outstanding American athletes, both amateur and professional, of Polish descent.
Its mission is to recognize and preserve outstanding achievements by individuals of Polish Heritage in the field of sports and to educate the community with the hope of encouraging and inspiring personal excellence. Each year, inductees are elected in a nationwide vote among NPASHOF officers, Hall of Fame inductees and more than 500 members of the Sports Panel Council. With over 100 inductees, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame has an outstanding collection of historic artifacts on display at the American Polish Cultural Center in Troy, Michigan. Stan Musial, the first inductee is represented with items worthy of being in Cooperstown. Visitors can also see uniforms worn by greats such as Steve Gromek, Carol Blazejowski, Mark Fidrych and Ed Olczyk; the boxing gloves used by 1940s heavyweight champion Tony Zale; basketballs, baseballs, footballs, and bowling balls used and signed by Mike Krzyzewski, Whitey Kurkowski, Ted Marchibroda, and Ed Lubanski. Among other items is a football signed by Bob Skronski, Vince Lombardi and other members of the 1967 Super Bowl I Champion Green Bay Packers.
The most recent induction took place June, 2010 at The American Polish Cultural Center in Troy, Michigan. Kristy Kowal, the late Danny Ozark and Jane (Peaches) Bartkowicz were among the new honorees.
The 2012 Class of Inductees are Greg Landry from the “High Visibility Sports” and June Olkowski from the “All Other Sports” category. Tom Lysiak is the selection of the Veterans’ Committee. The Induction Ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 21, 2012 at the American-Polish Cultural Center.
Read more about National Polish-American Sports Hall Of Fame: Auto Racing, Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Boxing, Figure Skating, Football, American, Golf, Gymnastics, Ice Hockey, Softball, Sports Journalism, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)