Hall of Fame Guidelines

Ohio State Horseshoe Pitcher’s Hall Of Fame

The Ohio Horseshoe Pitcher’s Association (OHPA) Hall of Fame was established in 1977. By that time, 8 Ohio horseshoe pitchers had been inducted into the National Horseshoe Pitcher’s Association (NHPA) Hall of Fame and became automatic inductees and charter members of the OHPA Hall of Fame. Since then, two pitchers inducted into the NHPA Hall of Fame have become automatic members of the OHPA Hall of Fame. Future NHPA Hall of Fame inductees will be automatically nominated to the OHPA Hall of Fame as long as they have established Ohio residency for a minimum of one year.

Guidelines For Nomination Into The OHPA Hall Of Fame

Anyone can nominate another person by completing a nomination form, available upon request from the Hall of Fame committee chairperson. The nominee should have been active in the sport for a minimum of 10 years.*

The information provided could include records of their pitching ability at national, state, and local events; offices or other leadership positions held by them at national, state, or local levels; books or articles they may have written; anything they may have done to promote or publicize the sport; pictures; and any other accomplishments, on or off the courts, which may pertain to the category to which they are being nominated.

Once a person’s name has been placed into nomination, it may remain there indefinitely. New information about the nominee may be added from year to year.

Individuals who have pitched in twenty (20) Ohio State Championship Tournaments will receive an automatic nomination to the Hall of Fame.

No individual will be considered for nomination who is, or has ever been, under suspension at the state or national level.

Completed nomination forms must be received by the OHPA Secretary-Treasurer no later than March 1st of the year of nomination.**

* If a majority of the committee members agree, this length of time could be less due to extenuating circumstances such as early or unexpected death, etc.

** The deadline will be July 15th.

Hall Of Fame Categories

PLAYER
Anyone who has brought prestige to the sport of horseshoe pitching through outstanding performance on the courts. The committee may select one (1) person per year from the nominees in this category.

PROMOTER/ORGANIZER
Anyone that, through his or her devotion to the game, has made a significant contribution through time and effort to the advancement of the sport of horseshoe pitching in an administrative capacity such as promoter or organizer of events, or an officer at the local, state, or national level. The committee may select one (1) person per year from the nominees in this category.

PLAYER/ORGANIZER
Anyone who has achieved both an outstanding pitching record on the courts and who has become a worthy administrator, promoter/organizer, or officer at the local, state, or national level. The committee may select two (2) people per year from the nominees in this category.

The OHPA Hall Of Fame Committee

The committee shall consist of eight (8) OHPA members: The Association President, the five (5) Vice-presidents, the Secretary-Treasurer, and the Hall of Fame Chairperson.
The annual duties of the committee members are:

1) To review the qualifications of all nominees in each category.
To independently vote for five (5) of the nominees in each category.
Send the ballots to the chairperson by the designated deadline each year.
If a committee member’s name has been placed in nomination, they:
– a) Cannot vote within the category in which their name was placed; or
– b) Can remove their name from nomination during any particular year and vote for others in their category; and
– c) Can vote for nominees in the other 2 categories.

The Selection Process

After reviewing the qualifications of all the nominees in each of the three categories, each voting committee member will cast votes of 5 points for their first choice, 4 points for their second choice, 3 points for their third choice, 2 points for their fourth choice, and 1 point for their fifth choice.

The formula for election is: Number of committee members voting multiplied by 5, multiplied by 0.6 or (# voting members X 5 X 0.6). This sum is equal to the minimum number of points required for the election of a nominee.

Example: If all 8 committee members vote, the maximum number of points any given nominee could receive would be 40 points (8 members X 5 points). To become elected to the Hall of Fame, a nominee must receive a minimum of 60% of the 40 points possible, or in this example, 24 points. If only 7 committee members voted, a nominee would require 60 % of 35 possible points, or 21 points, to become elected.

Since no more than 1 or 2 individuals per category can be elected each year, the individual(s) with the highest number of votes (above the 60 % required) in a particular category will be selected for that year. The committee chairman shall decide how any ties should be broken.

The Hall of Fame committee chairperson, or designate, will present the names of the elected nominees for each category to the members present at the annual convention.

Induction of the elected nominees into the OHPA Hall of Fame will require a majority vote of members in attendance, provided a quorum is present, at the annual convention.

Location of OHPA Hall of Fame

The current home of the OHPA Hall of Fame is the well-known Garst Museum located in the Southwest corner of the Greenville City Park in Greenville, Ohio; just a short distance from the horseshoe courts. Here the names of all Hall of Fame inductees can be found as well as a well-documented history of horseshoe pitching in Ohio and a complete display of horseshoe memorabilia. This Hall of Fame has been developed by and is currently maintained by members of the Darke County Horseshoe Club.