The Schafer Stadium fieldhouse and field will be dedicated Friday night in honor of two former coaches who made a significant impact on the Ottumwa football program, hundreds of players, and the community. Former football coaches, Dave Clement and Tom Kopatich, will be honored prior to the 2021 Homecoming game. A dedication banquet will be held in their honor on Friday before the game.
The dedication is part of Ottumwa's effort to create a Hall of Fame. The Ottumwa High School Athletic Hall of Fame committee recently decided to modify it’s induction criteria. This is the result of new information provided by community members who discovered that Ottumwa previously had an athletic Hall of Fame from 1933-1964.
In order to honor previous inductees, the selection committee has decided to utilize the old criteria for induction, starting where the previous Hall of Fame left off. Those criteria include individual state champions and runners-up for individual sports and first team all state selections for team sports. Athletes will be automatically inducted if they meet the criteria and will not need to be nominated.
Over the next several months, the committee will continue to research and update the list of inductees into the OHS Athletic Hall of Fame. This will be made public some time later this school year and will become a permanent part of the district's website, as well as a display to be located at a district athletic facility.
Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the committee will consider athletes and coaches who have been nominated by community members and would otherwise not meet the criteria for induction.