By TOM WILLIAMS

Back in the 1960s and 1970s high school sports play-by-play was presented on live radio.

There was Jim Quinn at WMVB in Millville, Ray Martin at WCMC in Wildwood, Gene Hart (later one of the top announcers in the NHL) at WMID in Atlantic City, Ralph Glenn followed by Tom Lamaine and me at WOND on the Mainland, Tony Blum at WSLT in Ocean City and Jim Rodio and Bob Canavan at WRDI in Hammonton.

Then, a couple decades ago, Matt Ulmer got his first camera.

It was a slow process but technology continued to advance and the public’s familiarity improved with it. At first, games were only available on traditional TV sets. Now, you can watch a game on your cell phone and just about any screen you can imagine.

Others eventually decided to follow Ulmer’s lead and there are now many live streams of high school sports throughout the year. The others have learned from Ulmer and, though he is proud of the quality of his presentations, he is happy to work with others to make their streams better. Groups like Quinn Broadcasting, BFA Productions, Half-Pint Video Productions and schools from Holy Spirit to Wildwood Catholic have benefitted from that cooperation.

But it all started in Ocean City.

Which is where Bill Shallcross comes in.

A former OCHS athlete from a very sports-oriented family, Shallcross has been recording Ocean City football for more than 30 years – at first, mostly for the coaching staff. He still is like a video assistant in football but he has expanded his involvement.

Ulmer and Shallcross work together frequently. Sometimes they are at the same game, putting together a special production. But even when they usually are working separate games, they have discussed their approaches in advance and made sure they both have the right equipment.

Shallcross has advanced from a guy doing game films to a camera operator and producer who not only streams the live games but use his skills to create graphic production to go with it.

The COVID-19 restrictions a few years ago that kept the public out of the gyms and limited their attendance at arenas increased the interest in the live streams. And the interest has remained, with most streams getting thousands of views.

The Ocean City Sportsperson of the Year started in 1963 in the Sentinel-Ledger with the selection of Bob French, a strong supporter of youth sports. Others in that category – like Chet Wimberg, Bill Gans, Harry Vanderslice, Rich Tolson, Naz Costanza, Greg Donahue and Joe Fagan – would follow over the years.

There have been remarkable athletes (Jack Neall, Pat Lynch, Kevin Sinclair and Chad Severs) and administrators (Don Pileggi, Mike Allegretto, Paul LeFever, Walt Tucker and Geoff Haines).

And many high school coaches – from Kelly Halliday, Andrew Bristol, Kevin Smith, Joe LaTorre, Aaron Bogushefsky, John Bruno, Matt Purdue, Trish LeFever and Paul Baruffi, back to Dixie Howell, Fenton Carey, Jack Boyd, Pat Dougherty, Mike Slaveski and Phil Birnbaum – have been recognized.

This year the salute goes to a pair of guys who have brought quality live video of high school games into your lives.

For devoting thousands of hours to quality streaming of high school sports, using the best equipment and creating a professional look to the game that will give today’s athletes memories greater than the newspaper clippings and audio cassettes of the past, Matt Ulmer and Bill Shallcross are the 64th and 65th persons to be chosen Ocean City Sportsperson of the Year over the last 60 years.

SPORTSPERSONS OF THE DECADE

2010s JOHN BRUNO

2000s PAUL BARUFFI

1990s PAUL LeFEVER

1980s MIKE ALLEGRETTO

1970s HARRY VANDERSLICE, SR.

1960s RICHARD B. FOX, JR.

SPORTSPERSONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

FENTON CAREY & DIXIE HOWELL

LAST 20 SPORTSPERSONS OF THE YEAR

2022 BILL SHALLCROSS…MATT ULMER

2021 JOE LaTORRE

2020 GEOFF HAINES

2019 KELLY HALLIDAY

2018 ANDREW BRISTOL

2017 KEVIN SMITH

2016 SEAN MOONEY

2015 KRISTIE MILLER FENTON…WENDY BURMAN MOYLE…LISA RUMER

2014 DEVOIN GRISBAUM

2013 AARON BOGUSHEFSKY

2012 CORY PICKETTS TERRY

2011 MILES SCHOEDLER

2010 MATT PURDUE

2009 CRAIG MENSINGER

2008 BRETT JOHNSON

2007 DICK GRIMES

2006 PAUL BARUFFI

2005 BRITTANY SEDBERRY

2004 WALT TUCKER

2003 TRISH HOPSON HENRY

*********

As we get used to our new calendars it is always a good time to look back on the top local sports stories of the previous year. As is our custom, the 10 sports stories that seemed to generate the most interest throughout Ocean City in 2022 are gathered:

As always, some members of the sports community died during the 12 months of 2022. That includes OCHS Sports Hall of Famer Joe Kennedy and multi-sport athletes Ray Rogers, Mikenzie Helphenstine, Vic Humphrey, Harry Bakley and Bud Swan.

Now, about the year’s top stories-

1. The controversial decision by the Board of Education to remove long-time respected coach and teacher Mike Cappelletti and his assistant, Tim Kelley, as girls basketball coaches despite an independent investigation that found no misconduct and the support of the two coaches by Dr. Tom Baruffi, the district’s highly respected superintendent.

2. The flooding of Ocean City High School during the holiday break causing significant damage to the auxiliary gymnasium and damage to the Hughes Auditorium, weight room and Dixie Howell Gymnasium. The auditorium is available for use with precautions but all basketball games and practices have been moved to other buildings. Wrestling matches will be conducted on the east half of the Dixie Howell Gym, which was not damaged.

3. The return of Stephanie Vanderslice Gaitley to her alma mater. After winning more than 600 games at five different colleges, the member of the OCHS Sports Hall of Fame is back as the Raiders head girls basketball coach.

4. The South Jersey championship won by the boys swim team. Coach Shane McGrath guided the Raiders to a 13-3 season including NJSIAA Tournament wins over Cherry Hill West and Moorestown to win the first South Jersey title in OCHS boys swimming history.

5. A third straight outstanding season in girls soccer. After this year’s 15-0-4 season, Coach Lisa Cuneo is 47-1-6 in her three seasons. The 2022 team, led by Riley Fortna, Tori Vliet and Naomi Nnewihe had 15 shutouts among its 19 games and allowed only four goals all season.

6. A half-dozen Ocean City teams won Cape-Atlantic League Tournaments. That included the boys cross country, girls cross country, field hockey, girls soccer, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse teams.

7. The selection of eight individuals and one team into the OCHS Sports Hall of Fame, highlighted by former athletics director Paul LeFever and retired coach Paul Baruffi. The induction will actually take place on Jan. 22 in the Hughes Auditorium at the high school.

8. Continued success of The Battle at the Beach, the high school football event produced by the West Jersey Football Coaches Association at Carey Stadium. It has developed into the biggest regular season football showcase in New Jersey and, in 2022, featured two eventual state champions – Toms River North and Millville. Incidentally, those two teams will play each other during the 2023 event in August.

9. Conference championships by OCHS teams in baseball, boys cross country, girls cross country, field hockey, girls soccer, boys soccer and girls basketball.

10. New school swimming records by relay teams featuring Nick Bianchi, Gavin Neal, Pat Armstrong, Jackson Agnellini and Matt Woodside.

It was a great 12 months and let’s hope 2023 provides as many great memories.

Coming next week – the Cape-Atlantic League Sportsperson of the Year.