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Post a commentCoach, equal rights champion inducted into Camden Hall of Fame
Retired Sterling High School girls basketball coach William Ulrich will score one more win in his coaching career as an inductee this year in the Camden County Sports Hall of Fame.
Ulrich was a coach for 35 seasons and 21 of those seasons were spent coaching the Sterling High School girls basketball team. Between 1981 and 2002 he guided the team to two state championships, 13 Colonial Conference titles and seven South Jersey Sectional crowns. During his tenure as a coach, Ulrich also taught mathematics to students at Sterling High School and Asbury High School. He retired in 2002.
Ulrich also coached boys’ basketball at Asbury from 1964 to 1968 and at Sterling from 1969 to 1979. Through coaching, Ulrich won 200 victories as a boys coach and 500 victories as a girls coach.
Prior to coaching, he played basketball as a starter at Audubon High School and earned a spot on the 1960 All South Team. That led to a scholarship to play basketball at Duke University, but due to a knee injury sustained in his junior year, he switched to serving as a student assistant coach of Duke’s freshman team.
A ceremony honoring this year’s 14 inductees was scheduled for Oct. 30 at Lucien’s Manor in Berlin. There are 59 members of the Camden County Sports Hall of Fame, not including this year’s 14 inductees.
Ulrich, a resident of Somerdale, was surprised to find out about his placement in the county’s sports hall of fame.
“I’m really thrilled. Basketball has been part of my life since high school, and to receive this award is an honor,” he said.
Ulrich was pleased to have an opportunity to coach both boys and girls in his coaching career and said he made sure he always treated players on all levels and genders equally.
“I’ve been the star player, as well as at the low end of the totem pole,” he said. “It helped me treat all the players as fairly as possible and understand their different concerns.”
During his time as a girls coach in the early 1980s, he pushed for equality between girls and boys teams in areas such as uniforms, gym time, tournament entries and game schedules.
“When I got a chance to coach the girls, I realized how important it was to make sure whatever the boys team had the girls had also. I made sure the girls’ games were at night rather than in the afternoons to get a parent following,” Ulrich said.
According to director of public affairs for Camden County Ken Shuttleworth, the county sports hall of fame initiative began five years ago. The hall of fame honors the achievements of coaches and athletes who have contributed to Camden County through the area’s sports programs, Shuttleworth said.
Ulrich credits his assistant coaches over the years for helping the teams reach their levels of success and credits Duke’s basketball program for showing him the ropes of coaching.
“I saw what it took to develop a top-flight program, and I tried to apply some of their principles to high school programs,” Ulrich said.
Ulrich enjoyed coaching because of his love for the game and working with young men and women.
“I enjoyed coaching the players in the program and seeing their achievements as they developed as athletes,” he said.
Currently, Ulrich spends his time with his grandchildren and is providing homebound mathematics instruction to students who are too sick to attend school.
Chairman of the hall of fame board Bob Kenney, a retired sports editor for the Courier-Post, said the board looks for inductees who have longevity, earned success in their field and are overall good citizens.
“Camden County has produced some really great athletes throughout the years. We want to remember these leaders and give role models to the people of today,” Kenney said.
Ulrich was a coach for 35 seasons and 21 of those seasons were spent coaching the Sterling High School girls basketball team. Between 1981 and 2002 he guided the team to two state championships, 13 Colonial Conference titles and seven South Jersey Sectional crowns. During his tenure as a coach, Ulrich also taught mathematics to students at Sterling High School and Asbury High School. He retired in 2002.
Ulrich also coached boys’ basketball at Asbury from 1964 to 1968 and at Sterling from 1969 to 1979. Through coaching, Ulrich won 200 victories as a boys coach and 500 victories as a girls coach.
Prior to coaching, he played basketball as a starter at Audubon High School and earned a spot on the 1960 All South Team. That led to a scholarship to play basketball at Duke University, but due to a knee injury sustained in his junior year, he switched to serving as a student assistant coach of Duke’s freshman team.
A ceremony honoring this year’s 14 inductees was scheduled for Oct. 30 at Lucien’s Manor in Berlin. There are 59 members of the Camden County Sports Hall of Fame, not including this year’s 14 inductees.
Ulrich, a resident of Somerdale, was surprised to find out about his placement in the county’s sports hall of fame.
“I’m really thrilled. Basketball has been part of my life since high school, and to receive this award is an honor,” he said.
Ulrich was pleased to have an opportunity to coach both boys and girls in his coaching career and said he made sure he always treated players on all levels and genders equally.
“I’ve been the star player, as well as at the low end of the totem pole,” he said. “It helped me treat all the players as fairly as possible and understand their different concerns.”
During his time as a girls coach in the early 1980s, he pushed for equality between girls and boys teams in areas such as uniforms, gym time, tournament entries and game schedules.
“When I got a chance to coach the girls, I realized how important it was to make sure whatever the boys team had the girls had also. I made sure the girls’ games were at night rather than in the afternoons to get a parent following,” Ulrich said.
According to director of public affairs for Camden County Ken Shuttleworth, the county sports hall of fame initiative began five years ago. The hall of fame honors the achievements of coaches and athletes who have contributed to Camden County through the area’s sports programs, Shuttleworth said.
Ulrich credits his assistant coaches over the years for helping the teams reach their levels of success and credits Duke’s basketball program for showing him the ropes of coaching.
“I saw what it took to develop a top-flight program, and I tried to apply some of their principles to high school programs,” Ulrich said.
Ulrich enjoyed coaching because of his love for the game and working with young men and women.
“I enjoyed coaching the players in the program and seeing their achievements as they developed as athletes,” he said.
Currently, Ulrich spends his time with his grandchildren and is providing homebound mathematics instruction to students who are too sick to attend school.
Chairman of the hall of fame board Bob Kenney, a retired sports editor for the Courier-Post, said the board looks for inductees who have longevity, earned success in their field and are overall good citizens.
“Camden County has produced some really great athletes throughout the years. We want to remember these leaders and give role models to the people of today,” Kenney said.
