Spencerport's Ryan going into Hall of Fame

On April 7 at the RIT Marriott, Section Five will induct their eighth class into the football Hall of Fame and Spencerport resident Sean Ryan will be among those on the dais.

A football official and an elementary school teacher at Leo Bernabi school for 35 years, Ryan is also a past-president of the Rochester Chapter of Certified Football Officials and spent 30 years on the Executive Committee as well as several state committees.

"This is quite a prestigious thing," said Ryan by telephone. "I got the formal confirmation a week-and-a-half ago."

Ryan has worked four Eddie Meath games along with six state final games at the Carrier Dome or the former Rich Stadium. After graduating from Geneseo High School in 1962 and playing basketball for four years at Brockport College and graduating in 1966, he coached girl's and boy's basketball at Spencerport for 20 years.

In 2001, Ryan was also named one of the top five officials as a member of Section Five's 25-year team as the back judge. His final season as an official was 2000.

"My favorite memory is when my father, my brother and I all worked a game together - it was the Vince Lombardi game in Geneseo. My father and I are still the only father-son combination to both be named Official of the Year. (Father in late 1950s, Ryan in 1978)."