The nomination process is under way for the 2013 class of the Greater Mount Airy Sports Hall of Fame, which includes a rules change from previous years regarding coaches, administrators and others.

Established in 2003 with the induction of its first class, the recognition program annually honors the achievements of athletes and others who have made a mark on the city’s long and storied athletics history.

While the effort tends to honor sports figures from the past, a rules change effective this year will enable nominations of a coach, administrator, referee, umpire or other official in a sports program who are still active. However, they must have served in one of those capacities for at least 25 years.

The deadline for nominations for the 2013 inductees to be submitted, or postmarked, is Jan. 31.

Under the rules, nominees must hail from a defined area that includes the city limits, the Mount Airy school district and the one-mile extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction surrounding the municipality. Those inducted are required to have been a resident of the defined area by birth or relocation.

Despite the hall of fame being in effect since 2003, Mount Airy Parks and Recreation Director Catrina Alexander is continually impressed by the stature and accomplishments of those inducted. And there is no sign that the pool of worthy nominees is waning.

“I feel like there’s still some worthwhile folks out there to consider,” Alexander said when announcing the 2013 nomination process.

A selection committee for the hall chooses up to four people for each annual class, who can be living or awarded posthumously. The committee also may select one person each year for the Granite City Award. That individual is chosen on the basis of his or her contributions to the promotion of sports in the defined area other than as an athlete, coach or administrator.

Induction Criteria

Persons elected to membership are required to have a recognized career as an athlete, or in the coaching and other fields specified.

One’s career must have brought recognition to the individual and the area by their involvement, and contributed to the promotion and success of sports in the area through their actions.

A prospective inductee must be of good character and reputation, who has upheld the ideals of good sportsmanship. In order to be elected to membership a nominee may receive no more than one dissenting vote from the committee.

Nomination forms can be obtained at Reeves Community Center and the Municipal Building, or online at www.mountairy.org.

Along with supplying details about a nominee’s career on the forms, those submitting them also can include scrapbooks, which Alexander said will be returned at the conclusion of the selection process.

The selection committee typically announces the inductees after a meeting in March. Those picked for the Greater Mount Airy Sports Hall of Fame will have their names engraved on a monument near the Municipal Building and be recognized during a ceremony scheduled next spring.

The 2012 class included James Hayes, Elizabeth Bell Boyd, John J. Sanders Jr., Michael Patton and the late Griggs Hampton, who was selected posthumously for the Granite City Award.

Tom Joyce can be reached at 719-1924 or tjoyce@heartlandpublications.com.