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SCHA Handball Hall of Fame1983 - 2006Members are inducted at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club |
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The SCHA recently inducted two of its finest to the SCHA Hall of Fame. The dinner event was held at the prestigious Los Angeles Athletic Club and was attended by 100 handball friends and family.
Gary Cruz was inducted as a Contributor... but as far as this writer is concerned he should be bronzed and worshiped by all. Gary has done so much for handball... not just in Southern Ca. He has also been the "Player Development Coordinator" for the USHA and a USHA board member for the last 8 years. In addition to be inducted to the Hall of Fame that evening he was also honored by the LAAC for his great contributions and given an honorary membership to the Los Angles Athletic Club.
Jerry Conin besides being one of the biggest studs in handball was one of the greatest handball players Southern California has ever produced. Back in the 1970 and 1980's he was one of the top elite player in a decade of elite players. As part of the Championship Riverside Handball League team Jerry was a dominant player and had a reputation as "The player" to beat.
He was also inducting into the Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006. A truly versatile athlete.
by Stephanie Hathaway
Jim Ryan (left) and Jim Vandenbos (right) were inducted into the Southern California Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 22, 2006 at The Los Angeles Athletic Club. Both of these players exceled during the 80's.
Skip McDowell, Bill Cimarusti and Randy Budihas spoke to Jim Ryan's accomphlishments and Stuffy Singer and Jim Barnett addressed the career of Jim Vandenbos.
Both players crossed paths many times at the Long Beach Athletic Club when that club housed some of the top players in the country.
Jim Ryan had some victories over some of the legends of handball. Jim Vandenbos established an incredible string of victories at the South End Rowing Club in San Francisco when that tournament fielded a powerhouse of talent.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club was also honored as the SCHA Club of the Year for their long time support of handball in Southern California.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club was filled with almost 100 people to honor three of Southern California’s finest on Sunday, April 17, 2005. Skip McDowell and Stuffy Singer emceed the evening that featured some outstanding video clips, great photos and stories from the golden age of handball.
Isadore “Izzy” Mankofsky, a renowned Hollywood cinematographer, can add a SCHA Hall of Fame statue to the multiple Academy Awards that sit on his mantle. “Izzy” was the first to bring handball to the wide screen. He brought two of his works (Jimmy Jacobs, the Legend, and the USHA Championship held at LAAC) to the club for viewing. While “Izzy” commented on the difficulty of shooting handball he also expressed how much he loved to play and how much he was in awe of the top players he was filming. His contributions also included submission to the USHA of multiple still shots that he has compiled in a photo album that was also available for viewing.
Testimonials and stories about the exploits of Tom McKnight were detailed by friends Arnie Aguilar and Wafe Risner. Both not only spoke of Tom as a player, where he dominated local handball in his age class during the 1990’s and with a variety of doubles partners on the national level, but also about the friendships all have had with Tom over the years. Flanked by friends and family, Tom’s acceptance speech was a heartwarming recollection of friendship.
More video clips were supplied by Dennis Haynes. The 1988 Open Doubles Championship that Dennis and Doug Glatt won over Dave and Randy Morones and the 1989 Open Doubles that Dennis and Randy Morones lost to Doug and Rod Prince were excellent examples of Dennis’s unbridled play. Long hair flowing, big moustache, diving on to the floor and into the walls was classic Haynes. Tom Gilbert spoke of the days on the local handball scene and with Equitable Insurance where Dick Pohlmann assembled an all-star insurance/handball team. Jaime Paredes spoke of the years that Dennis and he “locked horns” until they teamed up to dominate local handball competition. On the national level the road to the finals was through the formidable Naty Alvarado and Vern Roberts but Jaime and Dennis had their share of victories including a World title in the 1980’s. Dennis told of how serious he took the game and how competitive he was. He also spoke of the many friendships and family support he has received. Dennis called his baseball coach at Pacifica High School to thank him for introducing him to handball. Dennis was the classic example of being introduced to the game for cross-training purposes then when exposed to 4W handball by a player (Johnny Sloan) the game became a part of his life.
Emcees Stuffy Singer and Skip McDowell orchestrated the evening. There were 100 in attendance to hear Stuffy and Duke Llwellyn honor Winnie McCoy as an "Ambassador" for her service at LAAC and as a friend of handball. Jaime Paredes and Dennis Berger detailed Tom's days running tournaments. Jim Barnett and Joe Harris chronicalled Bob's acheivements both as a player and as founder of the Royal Flush tournaments in Las Vegas.
Tom Gilbert and Bob Harris-2004 SCHA HOF
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HOF members (left) Doug Glatt, |
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HOF members (back row) Fred Chapman, John Blair, Byron Ishakanian, Len Rosen, Ted Topoleski, Lou Marquez, Don Chamberlin, Skip McDowell (front row) Arnold Aguilar, Jerry Goldstein, Gabe Enqriquez, Irv Simon, Jim Barnett, Lew Morales, Naty Alvarado. |
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In 1999, three players were inducted into the SCHA Handball Hall of Fame: (right) Jim Barnett, |
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Members of the SCHA Handball Hall of Fame attending the 1998 banquet were (back row) Dell Mora, Gabe Enriquez, Morrie Singer, Byron Ishkanian, Arnold Aguilar, Naty Alvarado, John Blair, Skip McDowell, Leonard Rosen, (front row) Irv Simon, Tony Huante, Jerry Goldstein, Joe Shane, Matt Kelly, Stuffy Singer and Ted Topoleski. |
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In 1998, four players were inducted into the SCHA Handball Hall of Fame: (left to right) Morrie Singer, John Blair, Ted Topoleski and Matt Kelly. |
| In 1997, eleven players and contributors were inducted into the SCHA Handball Hall of Fame. | ||
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| Richard "Duke" Llewellyn, longtime athletic director for the LAAC, was honored for his contributions to the game. | Ben Agajanian, former NFL place kicker and coach, opened the Long Beach Athletic Club in 1972 and made it the place to play. | Rod Rodriguez, LAAC handball commissioner for two decades, credited for the architectural design and consistency of court sizes throughout the nation. |
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| Al Gracio, Rod Rodriguez | Al Gracio |
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| Al Gracio, who directed more tournaments than anyone else in Southern California, was honored posthumously. His children Diane (Gracio) Del Prete and Steven Gracio accepted the award on his behalf. | Vito Maggipinto is generally considered one of the best firemen to have played the game at the national level. |
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| Vito Maggipinto | Tom Rohrback |
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| Tom Rohrback has won nine National USHA Masters titles leaving him just one short of induction into the National Grand Masters Hall of Fame. | Don Chamberlin has won 13 national titles and is already a member of USHA's Grand Masters Hall of Fame. He has won more than 100 singles and doubles tournaments in his career. | Harold Price, holder of numerous local, state and regional singles championships, beat Pat Kirby in the Nationals and Stuffy Singer in the 1965 Western Regional Singles. |
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| Harold Price | Leonard Rosen, John Bart |
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| Leonard Rosen has won the Southern California Open Singles twice and local Masters tournaments many times. He placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the National Masters Singles. | John Bart teamed with Dave Graybill, Matt Kelly, Mel Sandland and Dave Lynch to win four Regional Doubles titles. He won the Canadian Open with Kelly and was runner-up in the 1976 National Open Singles. | Dick Weisman has three USHA National Open Doubles Championships and one World Masters Doubles title among a multitude of Southern California wins in singles and doubles. |
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| John Bart, Stuffy Singer | Dick Weisman, Stuffy Singer |
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| In 1996, four players were inducted into the SCHA Handball Hall of Fame. Larry August gave a moving recollection of he and his brother, Steve August, playing handball in the 60's under the tutelage of their father. Byron Ishkanian thanked Dell Mora for representing the community of Santa Barbara so well on both local and national levels. The presentation for Stuffy Singer was handled eloquently his teacher, Pete Tyson. Skip McDowell was inducted by Jim Ryan who had teamed with Skip to win many national titles. Stuffy accepted on behalf of Jimmy Jacobs. |
| In 1995, the SCHA Board of Directors brought the Hall of Fame Banquet to the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Three players were inducted into the SCHA Handball Hall of Fame: Tom Fitzwater, Ben Glenner and Jerry Goldstein. |
1983 Alex Boisseree.....Frank Coyle.....Joe Galante.....Byron Ishkanian.....Ed Kelly.....George Poloynis
1984 Henry Burke.....Bill Feivou.....Joe Goldsmith.....Marty Singer
1985 George Brotemarkle.....John Gonzales.....Earl Russell.....Joe Shane
1986 Nacho Brocamontes.....Joe Kaloustian.....Irv Simon
1987 Bill Badham
1988 Arnold Aguilar.....Gabe Enriquez
1989 Tony Chavez.....Mike Chitjian
1990 Tony Huante.....Luis Marquez
1992 Naty Alvarado.....Fred Chapman
1995 Tom Fitzwater.....Ben Glenner.....Jerry Goldstein
1996 Steve August.....Jimmy Jacobs.....Skip McDowell.....Dell Mora.....Stuffy Singer
1997 Ben Agajanian.....John Bart.....Don Chamberlin.....Al Gracio.....Duke Llewellyn.....Vito Maggipinto.....Harold Price.....Rod Rodriguez.....Tom Rohrback.....Leonard Rosen.....Dick Weisman
1998 John Blair.....Matt Kelly.....Morrie Singer.....Ted Topoleski
1999 Jim Barnett...Lew Morales...Chuck Schildmeyer
2000 Don Duarte.....Dave Morones
2001 Doug Glatt
2002 Rick Christian
2003 Jaime Paredes
2004 Bob Harris....Tom Gilbert
2005 Isadore 'Izzy' Mankofsky....Tom McKnight....Dennis Haynes
2006 Jim Ryan....Jim Vandenbos
2007Jerry Conine....Gary Cruz
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