FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

National Association For Sport and Physical Education To Induct Olympian Dot Richardson Into Hall Of Fame

RESTON, VA, March 24, 2009 – Dot Richardson, M.D., legendary softball player and director/medical director of the National Training Center in Clermont, FL, will be inducted into the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) Hall of Fame on Friday, April 3, at the national convention of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) in Tampa, FL. Richardson is also the co-founder and commissioner of the ProFastpitch X-treme Tour, the professional tour that brings amateurs and professional athletes in the sport of past pitch softball together to meet and compete.                

         Past inductees of the NASPE Hall of Fame include University of Tennessee Women's Basketball Coach Pat Summitt, tennis greats Billie Jean King and the late Arthur Ashe, NFL Hall of Famers Nick Buoniconti and Anthony Munoz, Olympians such as the late Wilma Rudolph, Anita DeFrantz, Rulon Gardner, Nancy Hogshead, Dan Jansen, Rafer Johnson, Carl Lewis, Peter Vidmar, and Tony DiCicco, head coach of the 1999 Women's World Cup Champion Soccer Team, among others.              

         Rear Admiral Penelope Slade-Sawyer, PT, MSW, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, will induct the former vice-chair of the President's Council for Physical Fitness and Sports into the NASPE Hall of Fame. The 2009 class of inductees also include Dr. Jay Coakley, professor emeritus, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and Dr. Lawrence F. Locke, professor emeritus, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

         Other honorees to be recognized at the NASPE Hall of Fame Banquet include the National Physical Education Teachers of the Year for Elementary, Middle School and High School, the National Physical Education Administrator of the Year as well as the Athletic Director of the Year Award. Sally Scherrer, executive director of Central District AAHPERD, will receive the Joy of Effort award.              

         According to NASPE President Fran Cleland of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, "The NASPE Hall of Fame honors outstanding individuals who have achieved new levels of excellence in sport and physical activity and inspired others by their example of what quality, physical activity and sport programs can do to make a better world." 

         The awards are given to honor outstanding individuals who 1) make significant contributions to maintaining sport or/and physical activity as an integral part of the total education program; 2) further the image of sport and healthy physical activity for all; 3) accentuate the integral relationships of sport and physical activity to the total educational process; 4) encourage involvement in meaningful competitive sport or physical activity programs by influential educators and citizens in all walks of life; and 5) symbolize the educational and developmental potentials of sport and physical activity.              

         When Richardson retired after the 2000 Summer Olympics, she set a legacy for herself that will be hard just to equal. Between 1972-2000, Richardson won All-America honors 15 times, played on 10 championship teams, won the Erv Lind Award (top defensive player in Women's Major Fast Pitch National Championship) seven times, won two Olympic Gold medals, was a member of five Pan American teams, and four ISF World Championship teams. She hit the game winning home run that won the US team the Olympic Gold Medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. That was also the first home run in Olympic softball history. She was the older player at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, where she turned 39. The U.S team had dominated at the 1996 Olympics and went to the 2000 Games with a 119 game unbeaten streak. The team won the 2000 Olympic medal after beating Japan 2001 in a tense finals game.

         Dr. Richardson has received several awards including the 1998 Sports Legends Award, the 1997 Babe Zaharias Award (Female Athlete of the Year,) the 1996 Amateur Athletic Foundation Athlete of the Year, inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1996, Nuprin Comeback of the Year Award in 1990, named MVP in the Women's Major Fast Pitch National Championship four times, four time Sullivan Award nominee and inducted into the Florida State Hall of Fame in 1999. Her college honors include NCAA Player of the Decade (1980's), three-time NCAA All American, two-time AIAW All-American, three-time UCLA MVP and 1983 All University Award at UCLA, which was shared with Jackie Joyner Kersey.

         A graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, she has a master's degree from Adelphi University and a medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Following medical school Richardson served in the University of Southern California Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program and the Kerlan & Jobe Sports Medicine Fellowship.  In addition she has honorary doctorates from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Saint Leo University, Western Illinois University and Adelphi University.     

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Contact:
Paula Keyes Kun
pkun@aahperd.org
703-476-3461

The preeminent national authority on physical education and a recognized leader in sport and physical activity, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) is a non-profit professional membership association that sets the standard for practice in physical education and sport. NASPE’s 15,000 members include: K-12 physical education teachers, coaches, administrators, researchers, and college/university faculty who prepare professionals in these areas. NASPE seeks to enhance knowledge, improve professional practice, and increase support for high-quality physical education, sport and physical activity programs. It is the largest of the five national associations that make up the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (AAHPERD). For more information, visit www.naspeinfo.org.

AAHPERD, an alliance of five national associations, six district associations, and a Research Consortium, provides its members with a comprehensive and coordinated array of resources, support, and programs to help practitioners improve their skills to further the health and well-being of the American public. It is the largest organization of professionals involved in physical education, recreation, fitness, dance, health promotion and all specialties related to achieving an active, healthy lifestyle. AAHPERD serves 20,000 members and has its headquarters in Reston, Virginia, 25 miles west of Washington DC. To learn more, visit www.aahperd.org.