Three Hartselle coaches to be inducted into Morgan Sports Hall of Fame
The 35th Class of the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame has a definite state championship vibe to it.
When it comes to state championships, the Class of 2025, which will be inducted in May, may top them all with claims to at least 14 state championship trophies.
The list includes former Hartselle football coach Bob Godsey, who led the Tigers to the 2011 Class 5A state championship.
“When you think of all the great people in there and to be joining that group is extremely humbling,” said Godsey, who also played on a national championship football team at Troy and a baseball state championship team at Wilson High.
Falkville’s Christy Ferguson won a softball state championship as a player, two more as softball head coach at Hartselle and two more as a softball assistant at Hartselle. It was basketball where she really made her mark at Falkville. She started on the varsity as a seventh grader, scored 2,552 points in her career and was a two-time first-team All-State selection.
Falkville’s Christy Ferguson won a softball state championship as a player, two more as softball head coach at Hartselle and two more as a softball assistant at Hartselle. She is now the head softball coach at Falkville. Photo by Jeronimo Nisa.
“This is such a great surprise. It’s something you can never imagine happening,” Ferguson said.
Hartselle’s Tanya Lybarger Childers played on two basketball championship teams for the Tigers in the 1980s. Then she coached a state championship volleyball team at Hartselle in 2012.
“This is really awesome. I can’t believe it,” Childers said. “This makes me think back to all the relationships I developed as a player and then coach. That’s what makes this experience so special.” The Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet will be May 3 at the Double Tree by Hilton in Decatur. Proceeds go to the North Alabama Boys & Girls Club to be used in Morgan County.
Hartselle’s Tanya Lybarger Childers played on two basketball championship teams for the Tigers in the 1980s. Then she coached a state championship volleyball team at Hartselle in 2012. Photo by Jeronimo Nisa.
Joining Godsey, Ferguson and Childers in the Class of 2025 are Austin basketball player Rod Bass, baseball player Marc Lewis of Decatur, Austinville basketball player Hamil Martin, football and basketball official Don Widner and former Decatur Daily sportswriter David Elwell.
Bass was the state tournament MVP in 1993 when Austin won the Class 6A state championship. Martin played on three state championship basketball teams for the Austinville Hornets in 1957-1959.
Lewis was part of a Southern League championship team in 1997 while playing in the Atlanta Braves organization for the Greenville Braves.
Widner officiated many football and basketball playoff games, including six football state championship games.
Elwell spent a combined 20 years covering sports in Morgan County. That cer, cross-country, bowling, golf, wrestling and track and field.
Former Hartselle head volleyball coach Tanya Lybarger Childers retired in 2021 with 1,101 career wins and a 2012 state championship. She also won two state titles as a basketball player at Hartselle and was the 1986 Gatorade Player of the Year.
