THEY have conquered Grand Slams, worn the green and gold, captained their country and carried Ipswich onto the world stage.
Now it is time to give the city’s sporting heroes a permanent home.
Local Ipswich News is launching a campaign to establish an Ipswich Sports Hall of Fame – and we want the whole city behind it.
From Ash Barty and Allan Langer to Mollie O’Callaghan, Ali Brigginshaw, Roy Emerson and Gout Gout, Ipswich has produced champions who have thrilled crowds across Australia and around the world.
HONOUR OUR SPORTING GREATS
But there are also sporting pioneers whose remarkable stories risk being lost in old club records, fading newspaper clippings and family photo albums.
That is why Ipswich needs a Hall of Fame.
A place to honour the superstars everyone knows and the forgotten champions who helped put this city on the sporting map.
Ipswich has every reason to be proud.
Alec Gibb was Australia’s first national football captain and Socceroo No.1.
Clarence “Clarrie” Shenton, an Ipswich Grammar old boy, became Socceroo cap No.9 when representing Australia in the nation’s first football team in 1922. He also founded the Ipswich Tennis Association.
Ash Barty rose from Springfield to become world No.1 and a three-time Grand Slam singles champion.
Ipswich Grammar old boy Roy Emerson became one of tennis’s all-time greats, while fellow old boy Shane Watson starred for Australia on the international cricket stage.
Then there is rugby league. Allan Langer, the Walters brothers (Steve, Kevin and Kerrod), Noel Kelly and current representative star Ali Brigginshaw are just some of the names showing Ipswich’s extraordinary contribution to the game.
In the pool, Mollie O’Callaghan and Heath and Ella Ramsay have represented Australia. Paralympic canoeist Susan Seipel and archer Taymon Kenton-Smith have taken Ipswich pride onto the international stage.
And Gout Gout’s rise through Ipswich Grammar has given a new generation of young athletes someone to chase.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the city’s sporting success deserved permanent recognition.
“Ipswich has always excelled when it comes to sporting success, so it would be wonderful to have a place in our city where we can honour and celebrate these achievements,” Mayor Harding said.
Cr Harding said the honour should extend beyond athletes.
“This success of course is broader than just players and athletes, it takes the commitment of a community to bring this success to fruition,” she said.
Local Ipswich News spokesman Rabieh Krayem said it was time our city had a place to recognise those who had made a mark throughout sporting history.
“Our city continues to deliver when it comes to sporting talent and it deserves a Hall of Fame,” he said.
A Hall of Fame could salute the coaches, volunteers, officials, administrators and families who have spent countless hours helping local athletes chase their dreams.
Mayor Harding said she would like to see the idea considered as part of future stages of the North Ipswich Sports and Entertainment Precinct.
Local Ipswich News is also proposing a community-voted Clarence Shenton Medal, putting the power in the hands of readers and sporting fans to choose Ipswich’s most popular current athlete.
It would celebrate today’s champions while carrying forward the name of a trailblazer whose story shows how easily an extraordinary achievement can disappear from public view.
Our reporting helped trace Clarrie Shenton’s descendants, allowing them to discover the sporting legacy of a man whose name had become little more than a line in an old team list.
How many more Ipswich champions are sitting unnoticed in clubrooms, family albums and boxes of yellowing photographs?
It is time to find them, it is time to honour them.
HELP US MAKE IT HAPPEN
Email Local Ipswich News at news@localnewsgroup.com.au and tell us who belongs in an Ipswich Sports Hall of Fame and why.
Nominate a household name, a forgotten champion, a trailblazing volunteer, an outstanding official or someone whose sporting achievements deserve a wider audience.
If your family has photographs, medals, results, representative records or newspaper clippings, help us bring their story to light.
If your club has a history worth sharing, open the books and let us tell it.
Our sporting greats have earned their place in history. Their stories belong here at home.
