Maryland Humanities Council’s Coach of the Community Contest Recognizes Local Mentors While Smithsonian Institution Hometown Teams Exhibition Tours Maryland
They encourage us. They guide us. They support us. They challenge us.
Coaches do much more than develop athletic skills in their players; they are an integral part of the sports loving experience and there is no game without them. To recognize and celebrate the contributions of coaches in local communities across Maryland, the Maryland Humanities Council (MHC) encourages Marylanders to nominate their local sports mentor for a Hometown Teams “Coach of the Community” award.
An award and a set of 25 t-shirts, donated by contest sponsor Nightmare Graphics, will be given to one selected individual at each of the five Hometown Teams host sites. One awardee will also win a grand-prize of a two-night stay and two tickets to the Army-Navy football game in December 2015. The public is encouraged to nominate their favorite local coach at mdstories.com and complete the phrase “My coach is my hometown hero because…” Collegiate and professional league coaches are not eligible for awards.
About Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America
Hometown Teams is the fourth Museum on Main Street (MoMS) project brought to our state by the Maryland Humanities Council. The traveling exhibition explores our nation’s love of sports and its connection to American culture and identity. The interactive exhibit celebrates the history of sports in our nation, breaking color barriers, fans and fandom, sports in film and literature and more. Each host site will tell local sports stories by developing a companion exhibit and educational programs for their communities for a seven-week period. Local host sites unearth stories, including the Hot Sox ball field in Galesville, soapbox derby champions hailing from Federalsburg, Cumberland’s Pig Tail and Queen City softball leagues, and athletes who rose to fame at the state’s many HBCUs. Howard county resident and Paralympian athlete, Tatyana McFadden, who has made a lasting international impact on her respective sport, is also part of the national Smithsonian exhibition. Hometown Teams is a program of The Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Maryland Humanities Council. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.
Hometown Teams is currently on display at the Banneker-Douglass Museum, along with their companion exhibition entitled Untold Stories: Athletes of Maryland’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, running now through March 28, 2015.
Hometown Teams Maryland Tour
Banneker-Douglass Museum February 7 – March 28, 2015
Federalsburg Historical Society April 4 – May 23, 2015
Allegany Museum May 30- July 18, 2015
Galesville Community Center July 25 – September 12, 2015
Howard County Historical Society September 19 – November 7
MdStories.com Highlights Maryland Sports History and Culture in 2015
The Maryland Humanities Council created mdstories.com to promote Hometown Teams and to celebrate our state’s unique sports culture and history. Follow the blog online or via twitter at @MarylandStories. Visitors are welcome to share content, learn more about Hometown Teams, and enter the “Coach of the Community” contest.