Lexington has a unique sports history that has been articulated in many forms. However, contributions made by the African-American community have never been fully appreciated nor honored as they should. For many, the high school sports teams and legends from the segregated and early post-segregated eras are now vague memories and, for today’s sports enthusiasts, totally unfamiliar.
Back in the day, local youths spent countless hours competing at iconic neighborhood hubs such as South End’s Carver Center, East End’s Charles Young and Dunbar Centers, West End’s Douglass Park “Dirt Bowl,” Downtown’s Salvation Army and Second Street YMCA, and North End’s Green Acres and Hollow Creek Parks, just to name a few. These same young athletes would one day thrill us on Friday nights in overcrowded high school gymnasiums and stadiums with thundering slam dunks, end-zone celebrations, out-of-the-park grand slams, and exhilarating photo finishes at rival track and field meets.
Some of these sports stars would go on to compete at the college and professional levels and beyond. As we watched them on television, and other forms of media, again we felt a sense of amazement, pride, and a connection to these home-grown sports stars and now … legends. Soon these sports stars and teams will, too, become faded memories unless our own African-American community makes a concerted effort to pay homage to our local sports heritage.
You can assist in this effort by nominating your favorite sports phenoms, coaches, officials, contributors, and teams for induction into our hall of fame. Please share with us their stories and successes so they can be recognized and celebrated for generations to come. Also, your nominee will remain eligible for induction for five years before having to be nominated again. If selected for induction, your nominees will be honored at our grand gala event.
All who are worthy of this prestigious honor cannot be selected for induction all at once. Therefore, we ask for your patience as we make our way through the annals of our forgotten sports history to identify, reward, recognize, and celebrate our legends from the segregated era to our current stars and contributors.
You can help support our efforts by purchasing a gala program ad, memorabilia from our website store, or by making a donation, all of which can be done on our website at www.LAASHOF.com. We are a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and your donations are tax-deductible.
Along with our board of directors and more than 40 founding team members, we hope to see you at our next hall of fame banquet and induction gala. It will definitely be a night to remember.
LAASHOF . . . Where Legends Shine!
Bobby and Jennifer Jones
Co-Founders
[email protected]
859-608-2175
1588 Leestown Road
P.O. Box 130-312
Lexington, KY 40511