Hamilton resident George O’Gorman will be honored with a trophy dedicated for his distinguished high school sports legacy. Photo from SHHOF.

For half a century, Hamilton resident George O’Gorman probably covered nearly every Hamilton Township high school athlete and team.

As a sports reporter for the Times of Trenton and the Trentonian, as well as the Monitor and the Burlington County Times, George O’Gorman became synonymous with Hamilton high school sports.

So when Mayor Kelly Yaede started a new tradition in which each of Hamilton’s three public high school athletic programs would compete against one other across all sports, Hamilton’s Mayor thought it would be fitting to dedicate the trophy in honor of O’Gorman’s distinguished high school sports legacy.

“I can think of no more deserving individual to receive this particular recognition than George O’Gorman,” explains Mayor Yaede.  “During the past 50 years, he has covered the games, matches and competitions that Hamilton high school athletes and their families will remember throughout their lifetimes.   Thanks to his dedication and passion to high school sports, a half of century of amazing memories were recounted in ways in which generations of Hamiltonians will always cherish.”

Through his sports reporting career, O’Gorman covered the gambit of high school sports, including every State Track and Field Championship dating back to 1976, but also covered the Cosmos professional soccer team for a dozen years and the New York Giants (NFL) from 1978 to 2015.

In addition to his reporting, O’Gorman was a former Soccer Coach for St. Anthony High School, started the Mercer County Soccer Hall of Fame, was a past honoree and recipient of the Trenton Select Man of the Year Award and was a former President of Chambersburg Little League.  He even served more recently as a member of the Hamilton Township Public Library’s Board of Trustees.

“When you’ve spent over 45 years in a job that never really felt like work you are a very lucky guy.  I’ve been that lucky guy,” says O’Gorman.  “Reporting on high school athletics at Hamilton, Steinert and Nottingham has allowed me to compile so many great memories of friendships with coaches, student athletes and administrators who have remained close friends.  It’s why five decades covering sports in Hamilton’s three public high schools has been a love – because of all the coaches and athletes who made it happen.”

George O’Gorman, front right seated next to Fish4Scores Rich Fisher enjoys breakfast with some of his many friends in the local sports scene. Photo by Candace Bowling.

Through this new competition started by Mayor Yaede, each game or match between Hamilton’s three public high schools – Hamilton West, Steinert and Nottingham – for both girls and boys sports – is tracked over the course of the entire school year.   The Hamilton public high school athletic program with the most victories in the games and matches against their fellow township counterparts is subsequently award the George O’Gorman Trophy for that school year.

During this first year of what will become an annual competition, Steinert High School achieved the most victories in these head-to-head games and matches.

Therefore on Friday, October 27, 2017, at 7 PM when Nottingham will travel down Klockner Road to face Steinert for a Friday Night ‘under the lights’ football game, Steinert High School will accept the first ever O’Gorman Trophy on their home field during halftime.

“Competitions like this are a constructive way to promote the virtues of hard-work, dedication, commitment, and teamwork in our high school athletes,” says Councilwoman Dina Thornton, who is a former member of the Hamilton Township School Board.  “Through his distinguished career in covering our young adults as they competed through high school athletics, George O’Gorman truly earned the honor of having this competition’s trophy bear his name.