Basis of Eligibility
Any interested individual or group may name candidates for the USADSF Hall of Fame. Persons who are nominated shall be deaf or hard of hearing citizens of the United States and shall be nominated based on their outstanding performances, integrity, sportsmanship, and character. No consideration shall be given to race, color, national origin, sex orientation, gender identity, age, disability, religion, creed, or geographical residence. Nominees may be considered for one or more categories below:
Athletes
Playing ability, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her team or teams and to deaf sports in general. In order to be eligible, athletes shall have been retired from competition for at least five years. Athletes still active in such sports for recreational purposes shall not be considered active for the purpose of eligibility.
Leaders
Coaching, officiating, managerial or executive ability, or ability in another significant off-field role, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her organization or organizations and to deaf sports in general. Coaches and officials shall have been certified or accredited by a National Governing Body in at least one sport. Leaders shall have contributed at least ten years of service to sport and shall have been retired for at least two years.
No employee or elected officer of the Federation shall be eligible for nomination to the USADSF Hall of Fame while employed or in office.
Nomination of Candidates
Any interested individual or group may nominate candidates for the USADSF Hall of Fame. Nominations shall include:
Election of Candidates
Elections shall be held in even-numbered years during the month of June October. Ballots and summaries are prepared by the USADSF and distributed among electors.
Electors
The Election Committee shall consist of the USADSF Executive Board and four members (two females and two males) of the Hall of Fame, who will serve as electors. The Hall of Fame members shall be selected every two years by a random draw after nominations have closed. Selected members shall represent different sports and may not be an elector in consecutive Hall of Fame elections. In addition, an elector must not have family or romantic relations with any of the nominees. In the event the elector is a relative of a nominee, the elector shall recuse themselves from voting on the nominee in which they are related. Nominations shall remain confidential, and nominees and their nominators shall not contact nor lobby electors. The Election Committee is responsible for undertaking due diligence on all nominees.
Voting Procedures
The nominee must receive more than 75% of the votes from the electors. There may be two rounds of voting. If the first round of voting exceeds the maximum number of inductees, there shall be a second round to reduce the number of inductees to meet the maximum number of inductees allowed.
Ballots and summaries are prepared by the USADSF Hall of Fame committee and distributed among the electors of the Federation for review and selection.
Number of inductees:
The number of inductees as shown below may not exceed the numbers. As the case may be zero if not submitted and/or not reached more than 75% as described in "Voting Procedure" above.
Athletes - 2 males, 2 females
Leaders - 1 male, 1 female
Timeline
The nomination and election timeline is as follows:
August 25 - Call for nominations opens
September 22 - Nominations due
October 13 - Nomination packets are distributed among electors.
October 24 - Elections
October 27 - NSOs and NGBs of winning nominees are notified of election results and must respond within 48 hours with any objections.
October 31 - Deadline for objection by NSOs/NGBs
November 1 - All nominees are notified on election results
November 9 - Public announcement of Hall of Fame class
Committee Oversight
The Governance Committee shall govern USADSF Hall of Fame nomination and election processes and its membership. The chair of the USADSF Hall of Fame Committee is Kevin Smith. He can be reached at info@usdeafsports.org.