Paul Camitsch Inducted
by Pat Goodwin
Paul Camitsch, a Courage
Center volunteer with the Sports & Recreation
Program, was inducted into The Boys’ Club of New York (BCNY)
All Sports Hall of Fame.
Camitsch, of Maple Grove,
MN, is one of 15 honorees/inductees who was honored at the BCNY
Hall of Fame Dinner in New York City on November 2, 2005. Along
with Camitsch, some of the other honorees—who
represent a variety of sports—include Jim Brown, Frank Gifford,
Dan Jansen, Carly Patterson, Dot Richardson, Gayle Sayers and Frank
Shorter.
This year’s event,
put on by the BCNY which was founded in 1876, marks the 30th anniversary
of the All Sports Hall of Fame Dinner. Honorees are individuals
who have recognized the importance of sports in contemporary American
society and its influence on children as a vehicle to promote and
develop character, community and civility. The dinner is attended
by more than 1,000 business, community and sports leaders.
Camitsch, who began
his sports volunteer career in 1985, has refereed wheelchair basketball
in the Minneapolis area for 30 years. During that time, he traveled
throughout the North Central and adjacent conferences to recruit,
train, evaluate and approbate referees and officials. In 1976,
he started working at a number of National Wheelchair Basketball
Tournaments and earned his International Wheelchair Basketball
Federation License in 1981. Since then, he has refereed the 1988,
1991 and 1996 Paralympic Games and the 1986 and 1990 Men’s
Gold Cup and 1994 Women’s Gold Cup.
In the last few years, he was acknowledged for his accomplishments:
1999—honored for his contributions to the NWBA Women’s
Division;
2004—recognized by the Minnesota State High School League for
his service to the sport of basketball; and,
2005—inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Association
Hall of Fame.
Courage Center is a non-profit
rehabilitation and resource center for people with physical disabilities,
brain injuries, speech or vision impairments, or hearing loss. For
more info, visit
www.courage.org.
