By Marylou Stewart and Jim Dunne

Contributing Writers

EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s Norwich Sports Hall of Fame article is the fourth in a six-part series profiling the 2013 induction class. The banquet for this year’s honorees is scheduled Saturday, May 11 at Canasawacta Country Club. Information to make reservations is available at Wells Fargo Advisors in Norwich, the Norwich YMCA, and Norwich City Schools.

The guidelines for the NHS Sports Hall of Fame provide for the induction of someone who is neither an athlete nor a coach, but “who has contributed to Norwich sports in an exceptionally outstanding way over a period of several years.” They also state, “It is anticipated that few will qualify in this category.”

Bob Van Tine is one of that few. His contributions were as a sportswriter for the Norwich Sun and as a coach at the YMCA. Those two jobs, however, do not adequately describe his influence on a decade of Norwich kids growing up between 1945 and 1955. In addition to being a writer and coach, he was a mentor, role model, teacher, advisor, and friend to not only those he coached, but to all the kids who were involved in the Y.