TIFTON—Descriptions of Jimmy Spurlin by a former Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College softball player range from “intense” to “kind and gentle.” Many more accolades will be directed toward Spurlin on April 1 when he will be inducted posthumously as a member of the Class of 2022 in the ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame.
ABAC Athletics Director Alan Kramer said the 2022 class also includes the 2002 women’s state championship basketball team, tennis player German Dalmagro, three-sport letterman Clayt Hurst, softball player Lee Davis Watson, soccer standout Nikita Morris, tennis player, coach, and contributor Margaret Treadway, contributor and volunteer assistant softball coach Winfred Vickers, and Director of Public Relations Emeritus and “Voice of ABAC” Mike Chason.
Tickets to the 6 p.m. dinner on April 1 in ABAC’s Gressette Gym are $40 per person. Tickets can be purchased from the ABAC Athletics Office at (229) 391-4930. Tickets may also be purchased online at https://athletics.abac.edu/inside/hof/2022_Hall_of_Fame_Banquet. The deadline to purchase tickets is March 25. There will be no tickets sold at the event.
Spurlin was a contributor and volunteer assistant softball coach for the 1988-94 ABAC softball teams of Coach Ellen Vickers, who was selected for the Hall of Fame in 2009. Spurlin gave freely of his time as the Golden Fillies won the state championship in six of those seven years and captured a national title in 1991. In 1994, the team rolled to a school record 58-4 record.
“As a coach, Mr. Spurlin was intense, no-nonsense, back to the basics, and hard nosed,” former ABAC player Edy Tillman Leverette said. “Yet, he was also one of the kindest, gentlest men I have ever known.”
“ABAC and the ABAC Fillies’ softball team greatly benefited from the time and effort given by Coach Spurlin. He was committed to many worthy endeavors, yet he always made time to coach us and contribute to the ABAC Fillies’ softball dynasty.”
Described as “one of Tifton’s most active and influential public servants,” Spurlin passed away in 2006. A prominent banker in the Tifton community, Spurlin served as Vice-Chair of the Tifton City Commission and as chair of the Tift County Commission.
Spurlin coached and officiated youth sports for more than 30 years. His teams won a multitude of titles including five national softball championships. Jimmy Spurlin Park was named in his honor, and he was inducted into the Georgia ASA Softball Hall of Fame.
A Tifton High School graduate, Spurlin attended ABAC and played on the Golden Stallions’ baseball team. He then attended the University of Florida and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Spurlin’s involvement with ABAC softball included the 1991 national championship which represented the first national title in any sport for a women’s intercollegiate athletics team at ABAC. Lake City (Fla.) Community College had dominated women’s softball up to that point, winning six of the previous eight titles. The Golden Fillies ended that run.
Spurlin’s family and friends have created the Coach Jimmy Spurlin Endowed Scholarship at ABAC. The ABAC Foundation continues to receive funds to support the scholarship.
The Athletics Hall of Fame dinner is a part of the 2022 ABAC Homecoming celebration. For more information on Homecoming, interested persons can visit www.abac.edu/homecoming or contact the ABAC alumni office at alumni@abac.edu.
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