Eleven individuals and one family are the 2024 recipients of the annual CYO Hall of Fame and Recognition Awards, presented by CYO in the Diocese of Cleveland.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductees are Augie Bossu (posthumous), Benedictine High School; Phil Guban, St. Noel Parish, Willoughby Hills and diocesan Center for Pastoral Leadership, Wickliffe; David Muehlheim, Blessed Trinity Parish, Akron; Becky Tarnowski-Newbrough, St. Columbkille Parish, Parma; Tim Shovlin, St. Hilary Parish, Fairlawn; and the Salata family, Gesu Parish, University Heights.
Recipients of the CYO Recognition Awards are Ryan Harrington, St. Ambrose Parish, Brunswick; Andy Kostos, Communion of Saints Parish, Cleveland Heights; Craig McClain, Holy Name Parish, Cleveland; Michael Niederst, St. Mary Parish, Avon; Carol Anne Peter, Holy Family Parish, Stow; and Lisa Ryder, St. Basil the Great Parish, Brecksville.
They were honored during a lunch program Sept. 22 at the Embassy Suites in Independence.
The event included a welcome from Paul Kelly, CYO director, an invocation by Father Bob Stec, pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, lunch and presentation of the awards by Kelly and Mary Ann King, CYO athletic administrator. Dobie Moser, senior director, mission integration, CYO, and Social Action for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland, served as master of ceremonies.
CYO, which is in its 87th year, is a ministry of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland.
The Bishop Roger Gries CYO Good Shepherd Fund also awarded supplemental funding to Assumption Parish, Broadview Heights; Mary Queen of Peace Parish, Cleveland; Our Lady of the Lake Parish, Euclid; St. Columbkille Parish; St. Francis de Sales Parish, Akron; St. Hilary Parish; Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Cleveland; and St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Cleveland.
Since its inception in 2007, the Good Shepherd Fund has provided more than $55,000 in grants to help provide access to CYO sports programs to youth in need within the Diocese of Cleveland. It provides supplemental funding for student participation, sports equipment, uniforms, facilities and leadership training for CYO. The organization is committed to never turning away a child due to a lack of funding.
Recognition Award winner Harrington is CYO athletic director at St. Ambrose. He has coached football, basketball and lacrosse when his four children played the sports. He was instrumental in building and opening the parish’s new athletic facility to serve more children and families.
McClain has served as a basketball coach at Holy Name Parish for 26 years. His daughter is also a CYO coach.
Niederst has coached flag football, tackle football, cross country and track and field at St. Mary Parish in Avon for more than a dozen years. He also served as CYO Boosters president, CYO basketball commissioner and St. Mary’s athletic director for nine years.
Peter has been a CYO basketball coach for 16 years at Holy Family Parish in Stow. In addition, she was athletic director and served on the CYO Athletic Advisory Board.
Ryder is a track and field and cross country coach at St. Basil Parish. She also served on the CYO COVID Task Group to make cross country and track and field safer. Ryder also published a CYO track and field coaches’ guide and hosts an annual cross country challenge run for children and families.
Kostos served eight years as Communion of Saints’ athletic director and continues to serve on the parish Athletic Association. He coached basketball and was active with the parish’s intramural basketball league.
Hall of Fame inductee Tarnowski-Newbrough has coached CYO basketball for 50 years at several parishes, in addition to serving as a high school basketball coach. This fall, she also began coaching volleyball at St. Mary of the Falls Parish in Olmsted Falls.
The Salata family has been involved with CYO at Gesu Parish as coaches and athletes for 36 consecutive years. The late Dr. Bob Salata and his wife Jody served as booster club president and he coached basketball for 19 seasons. Their son Mike is an orthopedic surgeon at University Hospitals and is one of the Cleveland Browns’ team doctors. He has cared for many CYO athletes and his wife Kristen was a track and field coach at Gesu. Another daughter-in-law, Meagan, coaches soccer and basketball at Gesu while another, Christy, coached volleyball at Gesu. Their son Chris coached basketball, flag and tackle football at Gesu. Ten of the Salata grandchildren have played CYO sports. And Dr. Bob Salata, former chair of medicine for University Hospitals, helped guide CYO through the COVID-19 pandemic. He died on Aug. 26.
Muehlheim has served in multiple CYO leadership capacities during the past 23 years, including as a coach at multiple parishes and schools, as a site director and athletic director.
Guban, treasurer of the diocesan seminaries and CEO at the Center for Pastoral Leadership, played CYO football at St. Francis de Sales, Akron in the 1970s. His children played CYO sports at St. John Vianney Parish in Mentor. He continues to work in CYO operations as the CPL site director. He is the first site director selected for the Hall of Fame.
Shovlin has been involved with CYO athletics at St. Hilary since moving to Northeast Ohio in 1993. He has coached basketball, soccer and baseball, served as basketball commissioner and athletic director. Shovlin was a member of the planning and building committee when St. Hilary completed its multi-use gym and auditorium. He also is a licensed basketball official.
Bossu, a nationally recognized football and basketball coach at Benedictine for more than 50 years, also was dedicated to CYO, working many weekends at CYO events. Many of his former players became CYO coaches. He was a lifetime member of St. Pius X Parish in Bedford. Bossu died Jan. 1, 2008.
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