From William Morgan, who invented volleyball in 1895, to Jackie Smith, a 2006 football-basketball-softball star, Holyoke’s rich athletic history is well covered in the Holyoke Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame classroom. in 2021.

The class also includes four legends of the sport, two championship teams, two beloved coaches, the distinguished executive director of the Holyoke Boys & Girls Club, Nick Cosmos, and eight HHS athletes.

This impressive program will be dedicated on November 6 at a banquet at the Wyckoff Park Country Club in Holyoke.

The Legends category includes Dave Bennett ’62, Frank Leja ’53, Dan Cain ’63 and Bob Viamari ’48, all athletes from three sports who made a special impact during and after their HHS years.

Teams honored: 1978-79 ice hockey, Western Massachusetts Division I champions; and 1982 football, Super Bowl WMass champions. The coaches honored: Gerry Parenteau and Richard Peloquin of ice hockey.

Join Jackie Smith as Honored Athletes: Jamie Athas ’98, who played four sports; Trisha Camus ’83; Ramon Cosme ’93, Preston Hunter ’72; Steve LaPointe ’79; Beth Szotkiewicz ’85; and Ronnie Westbrook ’70.

The Hall of Fame Committee is made up of Co-Chairs Joe Dutsar and John Brunelle, Kelly Curran, Quentin Donohue, Lynn Dutsar, Mark Hickey, Thomas Hohol, Peter Leclerc, Rollie McCarter, Gloria Urbina and Jay Whelihan.

Banquet tickets, at $ 30, can be obtained from Eventbrite.com on the committee’s Facebook page. Proceeds will go to the school’s sports department to help defray the costs associated with the many programs, as well as providing college scholarships.

TOP JACKETS: The American International College Yellow Jackets are set to defend their Atlantic Hockey Association title for a fourth consecutive season. Coach Eric Lang’s team was unanimously chosen at the top of the AHA pre-season coaching survey.

AIC garnered nine first-place votes and the maximum of 90 points in the poll. Canisius was second with 72 points, followed by Army with 69.

The Yellow Jackets have compiled a 69-33-2 record over the past three seasons while winning the AHA Championships.

They open their 2021-22 season on October 9 by hosting Providence of Hockey East at their home at the MassMutual Center. They will then face reigning national champion UMass at home on October 15 and away on October 16 before moving to their AHA schedule on October 21, when they host the Army.

In football, AIC is playing its first home game today after a 3-0 start on the road. The Jackets host Bentley, also 3-0, in a noon kickoff at Ron Abdow Field.

AHMED INJURY: Nick Ahmed of East Longmeadow has missed the last seven games with the Arizona Diamondbacks with right shoulder pain. Manager Torey Lovullo told the D-backs website the condition is “very typical for this time of year.”

Ahmed tested the shoulder ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Braves, and Lovullo said there was “a bit of discomfort” on a few swings. But Lovullo said Ahmed remains available off the bench for an emergency.

It has been a very difficult year for the D-backs, with some long back-to-back losing streaks leading to the worst NHL record (49-104 before Friday night).

Despite this, the property remains with general manager Mike Hazen. Lovullo, is also safe after extending his contract on Thursday. (Hazen and Lovullo both came to D-backs after playing for the Red Sox).

Ahmed, who won two gold gloves on shortstop, has had a very slow start at batting this year but has improved steadily in recent weeks. On the pitch, he’s still a Gold Glove type, with just nine errors in 127 games.

He is currently in the second year of a four-year, $ 32.5 million contract extension, signed in February 2020.

RELIC ROLL: In the Cape Cod Softball Classic division for players aged 75 and over, the Western Mass. Ludlow’s Relics won the championship with impressive style.

The Relics have played six games in three days. On the last day, they beat Eastern Mass in the semifinals 18-12. In the championship game, they faced New Hampshire Nemesis, who beat them 11-10 in the classification round. With the title on the line, the Relics won 12-5.

They won with exceptional defense, combined with strikes from Fred Valanti, Jim Armstrong, Fred Nacewicz and Bill Freeman. Nacewicz had 11 RBIs in six games and Freeman 10. Ray Saccoccio Sr. and Jim Boice shared the shot.

On October 24, Nacewicz will be inducted into the Agawam High School Sports Hall of Fame. He was a star football, hockey and baseball player during his high school years.

Steve Lepow coached the Champions, who were sponsored by Tom Halloch of Ludlow’s Fish & Game Club. The tournament, played at Dennis, featured 11 Northeastern teams in the 75-up division.

INFO OF THE DAY: Noah Staub, 15, a very good junior tennis player, is the youngest entry to the men’s open division of the Robert Freedman Memorial Tournament, which is being played this weekend on the clay courts in Forest Park. Staub’s entry raises a question: who is the youngest player to win the Freedman tournament? Answer: Chris Mayotte, from the Springfield First Tennis Family. In 1970, when he was 13, Chris and his older brother John won the men’s doubles title.

BEST BET for the weekend: Midnight Bourbon, in the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing.

Garry Brown can be reached at [email protected]