2006 ICSA HALL OF FAME
INTER-COLLEGIATE SAILING ASSOCIATION INDUCTS
KLEINSCHRODT, WHITE, CHURCHILL AND LEGLER
Charleston, South Carolina (July 11, 2006) - The
Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) recently acknowledged the
contributions of four individuals to the sport of college sailing by inducting
them into the ICSA Hall of Fame. Karl
Kleinschrodt (Mobile, Ala.) received the Student Leadership Award; Lawrence A.
White (Niantic, Conn.) was presented with the Lifetime Service Award; and Brad
Churchill (Boston, Mass.) and Ken Legler (Redding, Mass.) were recognized for
their professional contributions as coaches.
Churchill and Legler are recipients of the Graham Hall Coaching Award,
which was re-dedicated to honor the recently deceased Hall whose coaching
career had spanned four decades - including stints at the U.S. Naval Academy,
the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and SUNY Maritime. Hall coached teams and individuals to ICSA national titles,
national and world championship titles, as well as a number of Olympic and
America's Cup campaigns. In 1969 Hall
was one of the inaugural inductees into the ICSA Hall of Fame. He died in the fall of 2005, less than a
year after being diagnosed with skin cancer.
The ICSA Hall of Fame was established in 1969 to acknowledge
the competitive achievements of undergraduates as well as the service
contributions of individuals whose efforts helped in the establishment, growth,
and development of college sailing. In
recognition of their significant service to the organization, the names of
these inductees will be added to the permanent ICSA Hall of Fame display
located in the Robert Crown Sailing Center at the U.S. Naval Academy
(Annapolis, Md.).
Presented annually to an individual who has rendered
exceptional service to the sport of inter-collegiate sailing and who has passed
his/her 60th birthday, ICSA recognized Larry White (Niantic, Conn.) with its
2006 Lifetime Service Award. White's
service to the organization began while he was an MIT undergrad in 1943 and
continued while he attended the US Coast Guard Academy where he was captain of
the sailing team. After graduating in
1951 he then spent four years at sea before returning to the Academy as an
instructor and coach of the sailing team.
He continued to be involved with college sailing through participation
on a number of committees before his military career took him away from college
sailing until his retirement from the service in 1979.
Beginning in 1980, White was back to college sailing,
judging at events regularly. In 1986 he
accepted the charge to revive the Afterguard - inter-collegiate sailing's
alumni association. White organized
members of the Afterguard to aid in the development of college sailing through
hands-on involvement and also directed an annual contribution to ICSA from
membership dues and fundraising efforts.
That same year, he was also lured back to the Academy with the task of
reinvigorating that sailing program, which, despite a new facility, had
declined. For the next five years his
efforts in recruiting and developing sailors, hiring coaches and acquiring new
equipment made the Academy into a premier site for college regattas. White then turned his attention to high
school sailing, which became another beneficiary of his expertise. From 1989 to 2005 he served as President of
the Interscholastic Yacht Racing Association, now known as the Interscholastic
Sailing Association, leading that organization through a period of dramatic
growth and extending his efforts to coordinate the scheduling of high school
and college championships.
White was previously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980
for meritorious service.
Brad Churchill (Boston, Mass.) was recognized by ICSA with
the Graham Hall Coaching Award in celebration of his 21 years as Boston
University's sailing coach. Under
Churchill's guidance, the BU teams have won several NEISA (New England
Intercollegiate Sailing Association) championships, the 1997 ICSA Sloop
Championship and the 1999 ICSA Dinghy Championship. When not coaching, Churchill handles the boat and facility
maintenance, teaches sailing, and runs BU's recreational sailing program, all
the while making the facility and boats available to local high school
programs. Active on the administrative
end of NEISA, Churchill was Graduate Secretary from 1998-2004 and was awarded
its Rob MacArthur Award in 2005 for distinguished service.
One of eight children, Churchill grew up in Lexington,
Mass. Following in his father's
footsteps, he learned to sail through Boston's Community Boating and made the
one-hour "T" ride for seven years just to spend every summer day
there. Upon graduating from Westfield
State in 1980, he accepted a summer job running Community Boating's junior
sailing program and that turned into a full-time job which lasted five years. When the coaching position at BU became
available in 1985, Churchill made the move there and for much of his tenure BU
has been ranked in the top-20 nationally.
He is very proud that sailors he coached have gone on to have their own
notable college sailing coaching careers - including Mike O'Connor at Harvard,
John Mollicone and Dan Rabin at Brown, Brian Stanford at Dartmouth, Jeff
Bresnahan at Connecticut and Stan Schreyer at BU.
"ICSA is a fantastic organization and the member's
hearts are really into the organization," said Churchill. "Long before I got involved with ICSA
there were great people who cared about the sport, and I learned by the example
of Stu Brown, Hatch Brown and Mike Horn.
The effort goes beyond your job when you care about the sport - beyond
just your team - you work to improve the quality for all participants, and I'm
proud and honored to be recognized for doing something I love."
Ken Legler (Redding, Mass.) was honored by ICSA with the
Graham Hall Coaching Award in recognition of his extraordinary devotion to
college sailing. Legler was a protégé
of Hall's and had his first coaching job under him at the U.S. Naval Academy. Ironically, like Hall, Legler also has had
to battle cancer. He finished treatment
in May for throat cancer and has now recovered well enough to get back out on
the water.
The committee that determines the honorees for the Graham
Hall Coaching Award wanted Legler to be its first honoree. Previously, coaches were recognized and
inducted into the ICSA Hall of Fame in the category of Outstanding
Service/Professional. "Although
Legler had already received that recognition, it was his accomplishments this
year in spite of being ill that ICSA wanted to recognize, and that we felt was
a testament to his persistence," said ICSA President Mitch Brindley. "The success of the Tufts team this
year was tremendous, especially considering the turmoil they were in with
Legler in and out of the hospital."
During the college national championships this spring, Tufts held the
lead in the ICSA/Layline National Team Race Championship until the last half of
the last leg of the last race, ultimately finishing second to Georgetown.
Legler was previously recognized by ICSA in 2002 for
Outstanding Service/Professional recognizing his work as the Schedule
Coordinator for NEISA; participation on Sailing World's college ranking panel;
and his regular "Coaching Tips"
contributions to the ICSA membership list.
In 1977, as a senior at the University of Rhode Island, Legler was named
an All-American after he led the Rams to claim the ICSA North American Dinghy
and Team Race Championships. During his two-year coaching stint at Kings Point,
his athletes won the ICSA dinghy and singlehanded nationals. Since 1980 Legler has been the head sailing
coach at Tufts and under his direction, Tufts has won eight ICSA National
Women's Dinghy Championships, five National Team Race Championships, three Coed
Dinghy Championships and three National Singlehanded titles.
University of South Alabama (USA) graduating senior Karl
Kleinschrodt (Mobile, Ala.) has been recognized with the ICSA Student
Leadership Award for 2006. Kleinschrodt
comes from a sailing family and learned the ropes through the junior program at
Buccaneer Yacht Club (BYC). He competed
on the Opti circuit with his brother, and raced with the Southern Yacht Club
(New Orleans) program.
As a freshman at USA, Kleinschrodt started the sailing team
with three skippers and four crew using 25-year old 420s borrowed from
BYC. When Hurricane Katrina hit last
year, a 15' storm surge wiped out the student-built USA sailing site. While their fleet of FJs was intact and they
were back out practicing four days after the storm, the USA sailors needed to
replace gear that had been lost or destroyed.
As a result they only made four regattas during the fall semester. With lots of fundraising, and incredible
support from the BYC membership, half of whom had suffered damage to their own
homes, the USA sailing team was able to make it to 10 regattas this spring and
as a result competed for the first time at Nationals - in the ICSA/Gill National Coed Dinghy Championship.
"It's a great honor and nice to receive
recognition," said Kleinschrodt who currently manages the family cabinetry
business, and would ultimately like to coach sailing while remaining on the
Gulf Coast. "It's more of an award
for USA though -- since nothing falls into place without a dedicated
team."
Intercollegiate Sailing Association
ICSA is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities in the U.S. and some parts of Canada. It is divided into seven conferences that schedule and administer regattas within established geographic regions: Middle Atlantic (MAISA), Midwest (MCSA), New England (NEISA), Northwest (NWICSA), Pacific Coast (PCIYRA), South Atlantic (SAISA), and Southeastern (SEISA). For more information, please visit www.collegesailing.org