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Sussex County Sports Hall of Fame

By VERN MILLER, JR. 6/26/06

Herald Sports Writer

Six weeks ago the Sussex County Sports Hall of Fame put out a call for help.

It needed the friends of Sussex County sports to step up and be counted.

With a June 17 deadline for 2006 nominees approaching, it was up to the public.

And did they ever.

In an outpouring of careful consideration, fans expressed their opinion in record numbers, providing the Hall with an all-time high count of 28 nominees.

And Hall directors couldn't be happier, and thankful, even with all the extra work involved.

"The public responded overwhelmingly, nominating 28 outstanding individuals for the Class of 2006," Hall of Fame Director of Public Relations Bob Hopkins said. "Thank you, Sussex County! The public is truly the nomination and selection committee for the Hall, with our organization only serving as the mechanism to count the votes.

"But only half the job is done. People need to join the Hall, vote for their choices for induction and become active members."

With membership costs at $15, Hopkins said he hopes the public will take the next step. Only members can cast votes for inductees.

Because of the record number, the SCSHOF has decided to induct the top nine vote-getters.

The 30-year average is six, but was 12 in the Hall's first three years, with no one inducted in 1992 and 1996.

With the huge influx of public support, Hall directors hope those dark days will remain a thing of the past.

Hopkins recounted a 2004 meeting where longtime inductee and Hall stalwart John Zamos showed him a New Jersey Herald article questioning how long the Hall might have left.

He has since worked tirelessly to bolster the efforts that Zamos, Gene Conquy, Ken Benson and Doc Ayers made to keep the Hall alive and kicking through some low points.

"It's heartwarming to see how Bob has stepped in and taken the bull by the horns to help get things turned around," Zamos said. "He's done wonders, really more than one person should have to do.

"He's been an amazing addition and has truly made a major difference for us."

But Hopkins is the first to say that the Hall's future depends on the continued interest and attention of the public.

He said he's thrilled that the 2006 nominee list has individuals from nine different high schools, and athletes and coaches from a wide range of sports, including tennis, women's wrestling, karate, lacrosse, boxing and professional scouting.

All would be represented for the first time.

President Mike Caldarella said he's excited by the public's response, and hopes that their energy and interest will be reflected in a mini-membership drive before ballots go out July 10.

After voting is completed, the Class of 2006 will be introduced to the public on Aug. 29, at "SCSHOF Night" at Skylands Park before the Skyhawks game.

The Hall's Induction Dinner will take place Nov. 18 at Farmstead Country Club in Lafayette, where the top-nine vote-getters will join the 153 individuals already honored for their achievements.

2006 nominees

Vickie Ann Zummo (Wallkill Valley Regional).

Nominated for wrestling. First female wrestler to become a Sussex County Champion in a league of 650 wrestlers. Won two National titles at 97 pounds and qualified for the US National Team. Named Outstanding Wrestler in US Nationals, won Gilbert Schaub Open in France, Michigan International Open and other numerous tournaments. Won a bronze medal at World Championships, only US wrestler to win a medal.Xxxxx

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Not female wrestling but a great story

Learning to wrestle Indian boy's dream

By MUNEEZA NAQVI 6/25/06
Special to The Washington Post

NEW DELHI, India - At 5:15 a.m., when most little boys are still curled up in bed, 11-year-old Amit Kumar is already dressed in his workout uniform -- a worn-out blue T-shirt and shorts. First he splashes his face with cold water and brushes his teeth. Then he gulps down a tumbler full of warm buffalo milk and a handful of almonds. It is a ritual he has followed for three years.

Half an hour later, with the sun beginning to peep out from behind the tall eucalyptus trees that edge his riverside tent, Kumar tightens the laces on his knockoff Reeboks. He runs a damp hand through his curly hair, takes a quick look in a mirror, and he's ready.

With just the slightest swagger, he walks onto a sandy field where several older boys toss a soccer ball around. He touches the ground with his right hand and then touches his chest, a mark of respect, much the way a traditional dancer would start a performance.

All of this is part of the regimen for a pehelwan -- a trainee in traditional Indian wrestling.

The sport has a long history in India. Temple carvings and ancient paintings depict it. Ancient Hindu texts such as the Mahabharata mention it. And variations continue to be practiced in neighboring Pakistan, as well as Turkey and Iran.

Once, the sport enjoyed royal patronage and immense popularity. Whole villages would turn out to watch local tournaments. But over the past few decades, it lost ground to cricket -- an obsession in this country -- as well as soccer and tennis.

But for young Kumar, wrestling has been a childhood dream. ''This is a sport that our ancestors played. Cricket only came here with the British,'' he says.

When he was 8, he asked his parents for permission to join a wrestling gym known as an akhada. His 20-year-old brother was already training, so they agreed. ''I'm so happy here. I get to play sports all day,'' he says. ''I still have to go to school, though.''

In his years of training, Kumar has lived away from his home and family in a motley collection of khaki tents on the banks of New Delhi's Yamuna River. This is the akhada -- part stadium, part temple and part hostel. In the old days, wrestlers slept on dirt floors; Kumar at least has a thin, cotton mattress.

This summer morning, some of the pressure is off. The chief coach is away for a tournament; the older trainees are in charge. Boys are getting away with close to no warm-up exercises or stretching. One senior boy, Sonu, who goes by one name, tries half-jokingly to cuff Kumar in the ear. Kumar ducks and runs to join the others on the field.

Forty minutes of a fast-moving game of soccer are followed by 30 minutes of short sprints between two clumps of trees about 50 yards apart. Then the young pehelwans flop on the field or gulp freshly squeezed orange juice. The older boys train with weights; the younger ones do flexibility exercises. A thick rope hangs from a banyan tree -- Kumar grabs the rope, tugs it once and then starts crawling up, his legs wrapped around the rope as he inches up.

When he comes down, he vanishes inside one of the tents, emerging in a langot, a loincloth of sorts that pehelwans wear in the wrestling pit. After the long warm-up, it's 7:40 a.m. and time for some wrestling.

Young pehelwans learn two basic techniques: Greco-Roman, in which they can grip their opponents only from the waist up, and Kumar's favorite, a no-holds-barred technique. People here say their sport was the precursor to the freestyle wrestling that is practiced around the world today.

Like generations of Indian wrestlers, Kumar has been taught to treat the sport almost as a form of worship. Before entering the pit, he takes off his shoes.

There he joins Sonu, who, though slightly older than he is, weighs about the same, between 100 and 110 pounds. In the old days, both boys would have been slathered in oil, making it nearly impossible for them to get a grip on each other until both had fallen in the dirt. Now they're wet only with their sweat.

''I like moving fast. Sometimes I get thrown, but not too often,'' Kumar says upon coming out of the pit. Today, he hasn't been thrown at all. ''Lucky day,'' he mumbles.

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