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INDUCTEE

Leslie Judd

Class of 1959· Disciplines(s): Men's Artistic· Inducted as: Coach

World War II took not only many of America’s finest soldiers but also the gymnasts who left their sport to serve. Coaches and teams, including Leslie Judd’s Springfield College program, essentially saved the sport in the U.S. and revitalized post-war American gymnastics.

The Australian-born coach instructed at the same school James Naismith invented basketball, and much like Naismith, Judd’s knowledge of gymnastics reinvented a championship spirit at the collegiate level. All 17 athletes under Judd at Springfield College went on to coach college gymnastics, a feat that helped earn Judd the “Honor Coach Award” in 1957.