December 1, 2001 – On December 1, Paul “Pop” Whalen made Brewster history by being the first person inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. A ceremony and reception were held at on the Brewster campus at Richardson House and was attended by about 50 people, including alumni Bill Antonucci ’65, Zip ‘38 and Chuck ‘68 Foss, Jack Pollini ‘59, Gene Kee ‘71, and Bob Tarbell ‘68. Pop’s son Paul, his wife Amy, and their sons, Trey and Alex, also attended the event as well as Brewster coaches and administers and other friends of Pop.
Headmaster David M. Smith presented Pop with a framed personalized inductee citation that read: On this day we hereby recognize and pay tribute to Paul “Pop” Whalen for his commitment to and love of athletics, his respect for fair play, and his dedication to his players.”
Paul Whalen and his wife Winni came to Brewster in the fall of 1954. Pop, as the boys affectionately called him his first year, taught physical education, history, psychology, and accounting. He was also Brewster’s first athletic director, and over the years Pop coached basketball, golf, football, hockey. Playing on the snow-covered town rink and iced-over Brewster field, 11 of his teams won Lakes Region Championship titles during the 16 seasons that Pop coached hockey at Brewster.
Pop touched the lives of hundreds of students as a teacher, coach, and friend. As a coach, he instilled in each of his players a love of athletics, the rewards of hard work, a fairness in play, the desire to do your best, and the acceptance of loss gracefully.
After the ceremony and reception many attendees headed over to the nearby Pop Whalen Ice Arena to cheer on the Brewster Bobcats and the Kingswood Knights in the 5th Annual Wolfeboro Cup game. For the fourth straight year Brewster was victorious, winning 6-0.
The Hall of Fame was created to recognize members of the Brewster Academy family who have distinguished themselves as outstanding contributors to athletics at Brewster Academy, and possibly beyond, by instilling a continuing commitment to, and the promotion of, the values and philosophy of sportsmanship including fairness, dedication, perseverance, winning without boasting and losing without excuse.
We are sad to report that Pop Whalen passed away on October 10, 2008.
