Former CSC
Director Honored

By IAN KENYON

COOPERSTOWN—For 45 years, Val Paige has been in the center of activity at the Clark Sports Center. Spanning a career that began within the walls of the Alfred Corning Clark Gymnasium—now home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s executive offices—and moved in 1986 to the CSC’s current home on Susquehanna Avenue, Paige’s story and that of the sports center are very much intertwined.

“What we have in the Clark Sports Center and the role it serves in our community, it’s really so special and so amazing, and people really appreciate it,” Paige noted.

A longtime member of the Clark Sports Center team, Paige began her CSC career as assistant aquatics director. She later served as the aquatics director, program director, associate director and, ultimately, as director of the sports center from 2012 to 2022.

Paige has been named the 2022 Patrick C. Fetterman Award recipient and is the first post-pandemic honoree, following a two-year hiatus of the award’s bestowment. She joins an exclusive roster of honorees including previous winners Pete Henrici, John Lambert, Harold “Bud” Lippitt and Michael Perrino, among others. The Fetterman Award, presented each year in memory of longtime ACC Gymnasium Director Patrick C. Fetterman, recognizes individuals demonstrating a distinguished dedication to serving local youth in the area of athletics.

Paige recalled the moment she learned she had been chosen as this year’s winner.

“I was sitting in the office with [current CSC director] Brenda Wedderspoon-Gray. The sports center staff walked in and, unknown to me, they were this year’s award committee. Brenda then told me I would be honored this year and at that moment it hit me square in the heart. There really is no more elite group of people to be a part of.”

Through an annual presentation of the Fetterman Award by the Clark family, The Clark Foundation, and the CSC, recognition of honorees takes place amongst their family, friends, and members of the community. This year’s presentation was held on November 8 at The Otesaga Resort Hotel.

During her tenure Paige experienced two major milestones in the sports center’s 130-year history, beginning with the transition from the ACC Gymnasium to the current facilities. Looking back, Paige noted the ACC Gymnasium’s initial core offerings: a small swimming pool, basic gym floor and a few squash courts. Regarding the move to the present