NIAA Hall of Fame Mission Statement

“The purpose of the NIAA Hall of Fame is to honor and recognize outstanding individuals who have had a significant impact on the lives of Nevada’s young people through their involvement as an administrator, athlete, coach, contributor or official.”

–        Dr. Jerry A. Hughes, former Executive Director and founder of the NIAA Hall of Fame

The NIAA Nomination & Selection Process:

            Since its inception, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s (NIAA) Hall of Fame has sought to recognize individuals who have had a significant impact on the lives of Nevada’s young people through their involvement as an administrator, athlete, coach, contributor or official. The NIAA Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony originated in 1992 as a goal of Dr. Jerry A. Hughes, retired Executive Director of the NIAA, to honor such outstanding individuals. To be inducted to the “Hall” is a truly special achievement.

            The process for an individual to be inducted to the NIAA Hall of Fame is initiated when candidates are nominated by a current or retired superintendent, a Board of Control member or an NIAA member-school administrator. Next, a selection committee composed of one member from each of the NIAA’s four districts chooses the inductees. The selected inductees must finally be approved by the NIAA’s Board of Control.

            Nominees come from one of five categories:  administrator, athlete, coach, contributor or official. Athletes may be nominated 15 years after graduation from high school. Nominations for other categories may be submitted after the individual has served secondary education for at least 25 years. All nominees, however, must be retired from their work in order to be eligible.

            A special thanks goes out to all the individuals who submitted nominations, as well as the members of the 2008 NIAA Hall of Fame selection committee. For more information about the NIAA Hall of Fame, please call (775) 688-6464.

            The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association would like to thank all the people who are responsible for the success of Nevada high school activities and athletics.

Patricia (Patty) Leslie Sheehan, the NIAA's Hall of Fame member in the National Federation of State High School Association's (NFHS) Hall of Fame!

ATHLETE

Patty Sheehan is the most successful professional female athlete to ever come out of Nevada’s prep ranks.

She was the medalist (individual winner) of the first three NIAA all-classes (1A-3A) state girls golf championships ever contested beginning in 1972. Girls golf was not offered as a state championship sport during Patty’s freshman year (fall of 1971).

Past team and individual state girls golf champions:

Year          Class               Team               Individual Champion, score

1972          all (3A) Wooster           Patty Sheehan, Wooster, 87

1973          all (3A) Wooster           Patty Sheehan, Wooster, 87

1974          all (3A) Wooster           Patty Sheehan, Wooster, 82

The Wooster Colts (Reno, Nev.) also won the large-school team championship each of those three years under Coach Sharon Klise.

Oddly enough, Patty was rated as one of the top junior snow skiers in the country (at age 13) before taking up golf in high school. 

* Patty won four consecutive Nevada State Amateur golf titles (1975-1978) and two straight California State Amateur crowns (1978-1979).

·        Patty captured the 1980 AIAW National Championship as a member of San Jose State University (Calif.).

·        Patty won all of her matches during the 1980 Curtis Cup (women’s amateur team competition).

·        Patty qualified for the LPGA Tour in 1980 (her best finish was fifth in six inaugural-year events).

·        Patty has won 35 official Ladies Professional Golf Association tournaments including six (6) official major championships. Her “major” victories include, with unofficial majors at the time, two (2) U.S. Open, four (4) LPGA, one (1) Nabisco Dinah Shore and one (1) British Open championships.

·        Patty won her first LPGA event in 1981 and continued on to win the Rookie of the Year award.

·        Patty posted her first multiple-win season in 1982.

·        Patty captured her first major championship (LPGA Tour Championship) and her first LPGA Player of the Year honor in 1983.

·        Patty defended her LPGA Tour Championship title in 1984, firing a career-best score of 63 in the third round. She also won the Vare Trophy that year for the lowest scoring average on Tour.

·        Patty won her first U.S. Open title in 1992… to be followed by her second in 1994.

·        Patty qualified for the LPGA Tour’s Hall of Fame in 1993 by winning her 30^th career tournament (at the Standard Register Ping). She also won her fourth major (Mazda LPGA Championship) and crossed the $4 million mark in career earnings that year.

·        Patty captured her most recent title, and the 35^th overall and sixth major of her career, at the Nabisco Dinah Shore in 1996. She also surpassed the $5 million mark in earnings that year.

·        Patty served as captain of the U.S.A. squad for the 2002 Solheim Cup (September 20-22 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn.). She played in four Solheim Cups (1990, 1992, 1994, 1996).

·        Patty credits her mother, Leslie, her father, BoBo, and Ed Jones as the most influential individuals in her illustrious career.

·        Patty was selected to carry the Olympic Torch on its route through Reno to Salt Lake City.

·        Patty is also a member of Hall of Fames at Wooster High School in Reno, the University of Nevada, Reno, the Collegiate Golf headquarters and the World Golf Center.

·        She was, in 1987, one of eight athletes featured on Sports Illustrated’s annual “Sportsmen of the Year” cover.