Laura Heyboer is the first soccer player, man or woman to be inducted. A standout player at Unity Christian, set scoring records for the Saders, and was a three time all American at Michigan State.
The second woman to be inducted is Josette McCullough, who is an Ottawa Hills alumna. She played three sports for the then Indians, and then played basketball on scholarship at the university of Delaware. Both women are still very active in athletics and are coaches themselves.
"I love the game, I love every bit of it. I was a player, I was a coach, so just seeing the first soccer player is cool and it's opening up doors for other people, and I think that's huge, especially in West Michigan to see a girl like that," said Heyboer.
"I was excited and surprised. I had been away from Grand Rapids for a while. I live on the East Coast now. My family is all here and so when I got the call, I was like 'what?' and I was just so excited to hear that I was going to be inducted into the hall of fame," said McCullough.
Diane House is in the 2022 class and also honored as the Warren Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award winner for her work as a physical education teacher in Grand Rapids Public Schools and the founder of the local Special Olympics program, now called Area 11, serving with that organization for 50 years.
"We were working with child and adults that who had been told all their lives that they couldn't do anything, that they couldn't participate in sports. So it took a lot of praise, that all made up the difference," said House.
Former Jenison and U of M football player David Brandt was also honored. He was a four-year starter for the Wolverines, including the national championship in 1997. He also had a career in the NFL with stops in Washington and San Diego.
The late Fred Julian had his spot etched into history tonight after a 34-year span as a coach all over the Grand Rapids area, first at West Catholic High School, then at GRCC.
"He was all about loving the game of football and respecting it. And his emphasis was more about building character than it was on wins and losses," said Jim Schaak.
"It's an honor, just knowing what I accomplished here in Michigan, both at Jenison and at the University of Michigan. It's an honor to be coming up and be on one of these walls," said Brandt.
And finally, the line time head men's basketball at Cornerstone, Kim Elders. 1,000 wins and 30 years with the Golden Eagles. He helped guide the team to three national championships and countless conference titles in his tenure with the team.
"This is special because it's local. And a lot of these people that have been inducted I know personally and have coaches against or played against, so it's pretty special to be inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame," said Elders.
