Kendall Keith, Wake Forest HS Softball and Golf Banquet Host – John Watkins Nifemi Kalajalye, Athens Drive HS Indoor and Outdoor Track Banquet Host – Vince Matal Hayden Henry, Holly Springs HS Men's Baseball Banquet Host – Carol Pope Madison Solomon, Millbrook High School Cheerleading Banquet Host –Rob Turner Coach of the Year, Ned Gonet, Ravenscroft High School AD, Football, Baseball, Girl's Basketball Coach Banquet Host – Rick Ulasewich
Our banquet program began with a stunning presentation of the National Anthem performed by local mother and daughter singers Charlena Lee and Albany Hooper. Following the delicious dinner and the presentation of awards to our student athletes and coach, we all enjoyed the heartfelt comments of Dereck Wittenburg who was introduced by his lovely wife, Jacqueline, a delightful speaker in her own right.
We know that all who attended enjoyed this wonderful season ending celebration!
The 2022-23 Season has scored points with members
We have completed our 59th season as a club with 29 weekly luncheon programs, a flock of weekly student-athletes, and an outstanding banquet. It was clear that everyone had been ready for sports talk and camaraderie! Attendance was been up. We got positive comments about something brand new this year, featuring current college athletes as our speakers. We appreciated hearing them share their first hand experiences, achievements, and future plans. The Forks Cafeteria made sure that our food was delicious as always. The full list of speakers for the past season may be found by clicking on the Speakers Tab. Our 60th Sports Club season is being planned right now and will kick off with football in the fall. Check this website for details as they are ready to be published. We wish you all a happy and rewarding summer.
Upcoming RSC speakers are publicized in our weekly newsletter to members. These detailed descriptions of our meetings may be reviewed by using the links to past newsletters under the Archive Tab. The Speakers Tab also has a listing of last year's speakers along with names of the some of the famous speakers who have graced our stage during the past 58 years. We hope to have you join us soon for lunch and sports talk!
Club president, Robert Hinson, welcoming members as we began our 59th season of enjoyable Wednesday lunchtime gatherings.At the final luncheon of the 2023 season, Pat Holcomb, the Club's longtime bookkeeper, friendly weekly greeter, and living "historical database," was honored and thanked with the presentation of flowers from both current and future Club presidents, Robert Hinson and Ken Updegrave.The Raleigh Sports Club program is always preceded by a delicious luncheon prepared weekly by the very capable staff of the Forks Cafeteria.Our speaker on Feb 15, 2023 was Debbie Antonelli, ESPN basketball analyst
extraordinaire. She was terrific and shared many engaging stories. One was about the time she shot 100 free throws for charity every hour for 24 hours straight. For the four most difficult hours from 2am to 5am she was able to hit 400 out of 404 attempts! She said it's all muscle memory and concentration. With her as guests last week were Debra Morgan, WRAL news anchor, and Sylvia Hatchell, former women's basketball coach at UNC and long time Raleigh Sports Club member.Our speaker for Feb 8, 2023 was Randy Hood, head baseball coach at UNCW.Randy entertained the crowd with many wonderful stories including those from his year as a teammate of Michael Jordan when both played minor league
baseball for the Birmingham Barons in 1995.Lindsey Drew, an outstanding student and softball athlete from Millbrook High School, was the honoree on January 25, 2023. She is shown her with her proud parents following the meeting.Nifemi Kalejaiye was our first recognized student-athlete of 2023. She has
excelled as a student at Athens Drive High School as well as with indoor and outdoor track and field.Tanner Thorson, Student-Athlete of the week for Dec 7, 2022, was recognized for his achievements in the classroom at Wakefield High School as well as soccer and golf. With Tanner is Jeff Gravely, the informative and entertaining speaker for our luncheon.Luke Jackson was recognized as the outstanding Student-Athlete of the week for Nov 9, 2022. He is seen here after the meeting flanked by our informative luncheon speaker, Graham Boone, Executive Director of
Heels4Life, a new nonprofit organization that facilitates NIL (Name-Image-Likeness) opportunities for UNC football players. On the right is the Athens Drive High School head football coach, Tommy Smith, Jr., who introduced Luke and described his gridiron and classroom accomplishments.Wade Warren, student-athlete of the week, is the Broughton HS quarterback and pole vaulter who was recognized by Rick Ulasewich and the entire club for his outstanding accomplishments.Speakers Hayden and Trent Hidlay, brothers who are All American wrestlers at NC State, entertained and enlightened us on the dedication required by their sport.The student-athlete for September 7 was Jenna Van Matre, cheerleading captain for Wake Christian Academy. She is shown here flanked by her parents and our knowledgeable and entertaining speaker, Joe Giglio.
