[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10922]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING JIM TATE ON HIS INDUCTION INTO THE MOBILE SPORTS HALL OF 
                                  FAME

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2008

  Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, it is with great pride and pleasure that I 
rise to honor Coach Jim Tate of St. Paul's Episcopal School on the 
occasion of his induction into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame (MSHOF). 
Begun in 1987, the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame was created by the Mobile 
Chamber of Commerce to recognize those sports figures whose 
accomplishments and service have greatly benefited--and reflected 
credit on--the city of Mobile.
  A graduate of The Citadel, Coach Tate spent five years in the U.S. 
Army as a paratrooper and field artillery officer with a year's service 
in the Vietnam War. He also earned his master's degree from the 
University of Alabama.
  Coach Tate, a Mobile native, was working in Georgia when St. Paul's 
headmaster, Rufus Bethea, recruited him to return to Mobile to coach 
the boys' basketball team. It was not until 1983, however, after 
interest in the cross country and track programs increased, that Coach 
Tate was named the full-time coach for both sports, boys', and girls' 
teams. That very same year, St. Paul's won its first state 
championship, the same year the first of 17 straight girls' cross 
country state championships was won with a team of all seventh-graders.
  As coach of what Mobile's Press-Register refers to as the ``most 
dominant girls' cross country program in the country,'' Coach Tate is 
an institution among American high school track and cross country 
coaches. In his 30 years at St. Paul's, Coach Tate has led the cross 
country and track teams to 75 state championships, including a national 
record of 17 straight girls' cross country state titles.
  In 1999, Coach Tate was selected as the national cross country coach 
of the year. Twenty-five of his former athletes have gone on to compete 
at the collegiate level in either track or cross country, and 
currently, St. Paul's has 10 state record holders in track and cross 
country.
  Madam Speaker, throughout his life, Jim Tate has been an outstanding 
role model for both children and adults alike. I know his family; his 
wife, Becky; their children, Lee, Luther, Leigh, and Ginny; and his 
many friends join me in congratulating him on this remarkable 
achievement and extending thanks for his many efforts over the years on 
behalf of the city of Mobile, the First Congressional District and the 
state of Alabama.

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