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The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1973. The mission of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame is to recognize and preserve outstanding achievement by individuals of Polish heritage in the field of sports and to educate the entire community with the hope of encouraging and inspiring personal excellence. The hall is located in Troy, Michigan.[1]
Each year, inductees are elected in a nationwide vote among NPASHF officers, Hall of Fame inductees and more than 500 members of the Sports Panel Council. With over 150 inductees, the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame has an outstanding collection of historic artifacts on display at the American Polish Cultural Center in Troy, Michigan. Stan Musial, the first inductee, is represented with items worthy of being in Cooperstown. Visitors can also see uniforms worn by greats such as Steve Gromek, Carol Blazejowski, Mark Fidrych and Ed Olczyk; the boxing gloves used by 1940s heavyweight champion Tony Zale; basketballs, baseballs, footballs, and bowling balls used and signed by Mike Krzyzewski, Whitey Kurowski, Ted Marchibroda, and Eddie Lubanski. Among other items is a football signed by Bob Skoronski, Vince Lombardi and other members of the 1967 Super Bowl I Champion Green Bay Packers.
In 2013, the Hall of Fame instituted its NPASHF Excellence in Sports Award and race driver Brad Keselowski was the initial recipient. Other winners include Liz Johnson, Frank Kaminsky, Gary Kubiak, Joe Maddon, Dave Dombrowski, Sam Mikulak and Natalie Wojcik.
The Hall of Fame on June 20, 2019, named its inaugural Excellence in Media Award the Tony Kubek Award and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was the inaugural recipient. Sportswriter Joe Posnanski won in 2021.
At the Avenue of Stars, "Aleja Gwiazd Sportowców Polonijnych", of Rzeszów, Poland, bronze plates with handprints of outstanding sportsmen of Polish origin were unveiled July 15, 2023, including NPASHF inductees Bob Brudzinski and Ann Meyers Drysdale.
The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame held its 49th Annual Induction Banquet in June 2022, inducting Mark Dantonio, Mark Gubicza, Loree Jon Hasson and John Danowski.[2] Celebrating 50 years, the NPASHF hosted a gala banquet with almost two dozen inductees on hand. Ann Meyers Drysdale served as keynote speaker and Jon Paul Morosi as master of ceremonies.
- ^ Honoring Ethnicity
- ^ "NPASHF Awards". Retrieved October 24, 2021.