Cape High softball field naming request deferred

Although board members agreed that a request to name the Cape High softball field after retired coach Bill Cordrey was well deserved, they voted 5-2 to accept Superintendent Bob Fulton’s recommendation to follow board policy that states action on such requests have a one-year waiting period. 

The request was made at the Nov. 18 school board meeting by Cape High softball coach Shannon Timmons.

Cordrey amassed a 221-77 record during his years as coach from 1993 to 2008, Timmons said. In his 15 years as coach, the team made it to the state tournament 14 times, going all the way to the finals in 2004, she said.

“He built the foundation of this program as we know it today,” Timmons said. “He exemplifies the characteristics we believe in as the current coaching staff at Cape Henlopen, and exemplifies all the characteristics we’re trying to instill in our program and in our student athletes.”

Cordrey returned to assist the team last year, Timmons said, and will return to work with athletes this coming season. The Bill Cordrey Award, given to a player exemplifying hard work, dedication and commitment, was first presented at the end of the 2021 season and will be an annual award, she said.

A 1966 Milton High grad, Cordrey earned varsity football, basketball and track letters, and went on to Emporia State College, where he played basketball and threw the javelin, Timmons said. He taught physical education and coached for many years in the district before retiring in 2008, she said.

“His core values center around being a good person and being a good teammate, and being a good person above all in everything else, and we are working to instill that in our players today,” Timmons said.

Timmons proposed dedicating a sign bearing his name on the centerfield scoreboard and holding a celebratory event in the 2022 season. She said she was aware of the board’s one-year waiting policy for naming facilities, and requested an exception.

“With the past two years of COVID, if you are not aware, the 2020 season was canceled two weeks into our season,” Timmons said. “The 2021 season began where we had to have our athletes choose two people to come support them at their games because of our COVID restrictions.”

Timmons said she and Assistant Athletic Director Mike Connors had talked about naming the field after Cordrey for a couple years, and that they wouldn’t have been able to have a proper ceremony to honor him until this year because of the pandemic. 

“What we have found over the past two years, either personally or professionally I'm sure you can understand, waiting seems to be a hard thing to do because you never know what a year is going to look like,” Timmons said. “You never know where we’re going to be in a year. We've lost people in a year’s span we never thought we would lose, and we'd like to be able to present this this season instead of waiting.” 

Many schools wrestle with the idea of naming fields, Timmons said, and if the request is denied, she said she would go through the process to have Cordrey’s name posted at Legends Stadium. 

Timmons said she would prefer to have the softball field, which is far from Legends, carry his name because no one who plays or attends softball games would see Cordrey’s name after the initial posting at Legends.

The district does, in fact, name fields, Timmons said, citing Champions and Legends as examples. 

“I ask my players to take risks every day, and I’m going to ask that of you as well,” Timmons said. “Consider this request and let us name the field and dedicate it to a man who is certainly worthy, and spent 15 years of his life giving to those kids and helping develop strong women who are members of our Cape community today.”

Superintendent Bob Fulton said Cordrey undoubtedly deserves the honor.

“You couldn’t find a more sincere, honest, hardworking – all the qualities you want in a person, Bill exemplifies those,” Fulton said.

However, Fulton said, he recommended that the board not waive its policy and that Cordrey’s name could be entered into the process for recognition at Legends Stadium. The opportunity to nominate someone for recognition at Legends Stadium occurs every three years and will open for consideration in January, he said.

Board member Jessica Tyndall asked if the baseball field has a name. Several people said the field is named after Lewes High grad and Phillies pitcher Chris Short, but no one knew exactly when that field was named. A sign on the backstop explains who Short is, Timmons said.

Board member Julie Derrick said she would be willing to deviate from policy because the boys’ field has a name and it wouldn’t be the same to honor Cordrey at Legends.

“I am moved by your presentation, and I think it’s fair to accept what you’re asking,” Derrick said. “This feels a little different.” 

Along with Derrick, board member Janis Hanwell also voted against Fulton’s recommendation. In a Nov. 22 email, Hanwell said she didn’t think it was necessary to wait a year.

In November 2022, Timmons will again be able to present her request to the board for possible action.