The Florida Sports Hall of Fame (FSHOF) is an association dedicated to honoring athletes, coaches and other non-athletes with outstanding achievement in sports in Florida.[1] It has expanded its goals to include encouraging physical fitness among Florida's citizens through the example of its honorees.[2]
The FSHOF was founded by the Florida Sports Writers Association and the Florida Sportscasters Association in 1958,[3] but first opened in 1977 at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. It closed in 1985, then moved north to Lake City, Florida in 1990.[4] Attendance there was never high enough to support the operation, and Florida governor Jeb Bush vetoed state funding in 2002, leaving the Hall $90,000 in debt.[3][5] Hall of Fame exhibits and memorabilia were placed in storage while the board of directors tried to find a home.[3][6] The FSHOF considered building a location in St. Petersburg, but was unable to reach an acceptable arrangement.[7] The Lake Myrtle Sports Complex, which began construction in Auburndale, Florida in August, 2008 offered a home to the facility,[8][9] and on June 22, 2010, the facility reopened and inducted four new members: Catie Ball-Condon, Jack Hairston, Pat Borders and Hubert Green.[4]
The Florida Sports Hall of Fame has broadened its mission in not only properly recognizing and honoring Florida's greatest sports figures, but in using the collective acclaim of the honored inductees to promote fitness awareness and activities among our state's youth as well as adults.[dead link]
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Sports halls of fame by state in the United States
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