2024 Ceremony
We’re grateful to everyone who came out to celebrate the latest inductees on the deck on the deck of the Battleship USS Iowa.
As always, the perennial voice of the Sportswalk and co-host is Petros Papadakis, popular sportscaster who serves as a college football analyst for Fox Sports and co-host of the Petros & Money Show on AM 570 L.A. Sports.
Peter Peyton played his first season of high school water polo at Fermin Lasuen. When Lasuen closed, he followed his coach, Joe Bird, to Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach. At a time when there was only one (1) division for Southern California water polo teams, Coach Bird built a program that could compete with perennial favorites Corona Del Mar and Newport Harbor.
His senior year, Peter went on to be awarded CIF Player of the Year in water polo. He also was one of the few CIF Players of the Year to be named All-American in swimming in high school. He was the first recruit chosen by UCLA coach Bob Horn and was given a 4-year full ride scholarship.
Coach Horn, after his retirement, was asked, “In your four decades of coaching which player had the greatest set of hands?” His answer was Olympian Stan Cole and UCLA First-Team All-American Peter Peyton.
Gary Kimbrell said “All I ever wanted to do was be a football coach. My 7th grade teacher made such an impression on me that I wanted to motivate kids in the same way.” Well, he did become a coach and for 40 years he motivated his players like no other. After many successful seasons, including a Coach-of-the-Year award, he celebrated a CIF Championship in 1997.
Ernie Martinez has worked with kids his entire adult life. His coaching philosophy is this: “To coach, to win, make gentleman out of athletes, and teach them good values.” He influenced many young men in a positive way.
After college he went to work at the San Pedro Boys Club as a program assistant. In 1959 he was recruited to help create a sports program at Fermin Lasuen High School where he coached football and track for 10 years. In 1970 he was hired at Bishop, Montgomery for 16 years.
He had the biggest impact at baseball where he led the Knights to five league championships, seven CIF playoff appearances, and the 1975 CIF title. Max Sports named that team National Champions. He was honored on the field at Dodger Stadium for that championship. He has a scholarship created in his honor at Bishop Montgomery High School.
Jason Brown has played with the Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, and New York Yankees over 12 minor league seasons (1997-2008). He begin coaching at Palos Verdes high school in 2009. He was an assistant coach at USC in 2012. He called six summers for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod summer league from 2009 to 2014.
He is currently a bullpen coach for the Los Angeles Angels. One of the highlights of his career was throwing to Shohei Ohtani in the 2021 Home Run Derby at Coors field, which was broadcasted on national television. Jason’s biggest hero is his father, John Brown. He is wearing his father’s Majestic Cafe San Pedro Touch League jersey that his father wore when he played in a Sunday morning football game after getting married the night before. What a way to start a marriage!!
1962 San Pedro Southern League All-Star Team
In 1962, San Pedro’s little league baseball program produced 15, 11- and 12-year-old all-stars. They earned their way into the Western Boys Baseball Association (WBBA) World Series by playing and winning in single elimination games, first with local teams, and then against regional opponents. The next stop was the World Series against other regional winners from throughout the United States and Canada.
A string of wins put them in the position of being one of two teams left standing along with Woodland Hills, California to vie for the WBBA Little League World Championship. San Pedro’s All-Star Team won the game and the World Series 10-7 over a stubborn Woodland Hills team. It was the first WBBA World Series to ever be televised and the first Little League World Series Champion from the South Bay.
Cardte Hicks is a pioneer Pro Women’s League former basketball player. Nicknamed “Magic”, she played basketball at San Pedro High School where she won the Los Angeles City girls’ basketball championship in 1972. She attended Long Beach State on a basketball scholarship for three years before transferring to California State University, Northridge for her senior year.
Following her college career, she played professionally in the Netherlands, Italy, and Sweden, as well as in the United States for the San Francisco Pioneers (WBL).
Cardte’s love for basketball and kids founded in 1997 The Legends Kids First Inc. She is currently the CEO/President. Cardte is one of the best speakers for our youth. She speaks on many issues, including education, bullying, sportsmanship, and being a good athlete by being coachable.
2024 Board of Directors