There are five new names in the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.

The Louisville Sports Commission announced their 2023 inductees today.

Kentucky Additions Kelsey Starks Introduces us to the new class.

The Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame has been recognizing athletes and sports figures since 1963, includes names like Denny Crum, Pat Day, Muhammad Ali, and today, the newest class was announced in July.

Howell is from the Louisville Sports Commission to tell us about the newest honorees.

And I bet you'll recognize some of these names.

Hi, Kelsey.

Thank you.

Yeah, we're excited about the 2023 class of inductees.

It includes Rick Bozek, who we all know, we've read, we've listened to and so forth for about 45 years, I think, here in Louisville.

Yes.

Bridget DeVries, who was a trailblazer in Title nine and female sports.

She's from Kentucky, a UK graduate and made sports possible for a lot of girls like me when I was growing up out down in rural Kentucky.

Tom Leach, another familiar name, the Voice of the Cats.

For years, well known author, won two Eclipse Awards for his coverage of thoroughbred racing.

Chris Loftin, a mason County native basketball player, played ten years in Europe in the pros, one of only five people to have his jersey retired at the University of Tennessee.

And lastly, Bubba Parris.

Bubba grew up in West Louisville, went to the sales high school, went to the University of Michigan, won three Super Bowls with the 49 ERs, and had a nine year NFL career that rivals most.

So there's a lot of sports talent here in Kentucky, as you can see.

And with the diversity of these honorees, what is the selection process like?

How do you choose?

Well, we take nominations from the public so anyone can nominate anyone.

And there is a nomination form on the website.

And along with selection criteria.

And as long as someone meets the criteria, which is you have to either be from Kentucky or have made a significant impact in your sport or your area of sport in the state.

Rick Bowditch, for instance, he's from Gary, Indiana, but he has been doing his thing in Kentucky for 45 years.

So he deserves to be in the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.

So once nominations are received, we have a selection committee that's made up of media from across the state.

Every corner of the state has someone represented on that selection committee and they vote.

And then we have a third party accounting firm, Dean Dorton, that tallies the votes, calculates, and they give us a list of of the top vote getters.

And that is being that is was announced today.

The Sports Hall of Fame is owned and operated by the Louisville Sports Commission.

Explain what it is you will do.

So the Sports commission, we're a nonprofit.

Our main charge is to bring sporting events into Louisville that generate economic impact and improve the quality of life for our citizens here.

We do that a number of ways by hosting events, by owning and operating events and properties such as the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.

And then we're also acutely focused on providing youth in our area and in our state with opportunities to sports.

So we try to break down the barriers to kids in marginalized neighborhoods to be sure that if they aren't participating in sports because they don't have equipment, we get them equipment.

If they're not participating because they don't have the money to pay registration fees, we get them the money to pay registration fees because we feel strongly sports can change lives and we want every young person to have that opportunity.

And those young people may very well end up in the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame one day.

And September 12th is the induction ceremony for this need, these newest honorees.

And that is going to be held at Freedom Hall.

Back to you.

There are a lot of notable names in this year's class and the Louisville Sports Commission will be accepting nominations fo