Nominations

Nomination requirements

Individuals and teams must be nominated for consideration on the annual Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame ballot. Individual candidates for the Neve Harms Award for Meritorious Service to Sports also must be nominated for consideration. The general public is invited to submit nominations. All nominations for Tri-County Coaches and Athletes of the Year awards are at the sole discretion of the GPSHOF Board of Directors.

If you wish to nominate an individual or team for Hall of Fame consideration, or an individual for the Neve Harms Award, please make sure your candidates meet the requirements spelled out below — then fill out the form on this page and submit as directed. Please provide documentation of the nominee’s accomplishments and any additional information that supports the nomination.

Residency requirements

Individual nominees for induction to the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame must have resided, worked or competed in the Greater Peoria Area (Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford counties, plus people who competed or coached for Farmington High School), for at least two full seasons. Teams nominated for induction to the Hall of Fame must be based in the Greater Peoria Area, as defined in the previous sentence.

Nominees for the Neve Harms Award, or other awards which might be added, must reside, work or compete in the Greater Peoria Area.

Additional individual nominee requirements

Athlete nominees for induction to the Hall of Fame must meet these additional requirements:

• An athlete who competed professionally or as a post-collegiate amateur is eligible for nomination immediately upon retirement from competition, or upon advancement to a senior-age level of competition.

• An athlete being considered for intercollegiate accomplishments, or for a combination of intercollegiate and interscholastic accomplishments, becomes eligible for nomination 10 years after his/her last intercollegiate competition.

• An athlete being considered solely on the basis of high school accomplishments becomes eligible for nomination 15 years after his/her last interscholastic competition. 

A waiver of the retirement clause may be granted, by unanimous consent of a board quorum, if an active athlete has competed in his/her sport for at least 25 years.

Coaching nominees must be retired for at least three years, or must be at least 65 years old. A waiver of the retirement clause may be granted, by unanimous consent of a board quorum, if an active coach has coached in his/her sport for at least 25 years.

Other "professional" nominees (administrators, media, etc.) must be retired from full-time work in their field or must be at least 65 years old. A waiver of the retirement clause may be granted, by unanimous consent of a board quorum, if the individual has worked in his/her field for at least 25 years.

Other nominees (officials, volunteers, etc.) must have at least 25 years of sports service to the community.

Additional team nominee requirements

Teams whose rosters are composed of athletes high school-age and younger become eligible for nomination 15 years after their qualifying accomplishments. Intercollegiate, professional and other adult amateur teams become eligible for nomination 10 years after their qualifying achievements.

All high school teams that win an IHSA state championship, all intercollegiate or adult amateur teams that win a national or world championship, and all professional teams that win their league championship shall receive automatic nomination for the preliminary ballot.