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Radtke among inductees into Elgin Sports Hall of Fame

Recently retired Daily Herald High School Sports Editor John Radtke is one of five new inductees into the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame, the organization recently revealed.

Radtke, an Illinois high school sports writing legend whose love of the craft and innate ability to establish long-standing relationships with student-athletes, parents, coaches, school administrators and townsfolk alike were his calling cards over a nearly 50-year career, will be formally inducted during the 43rd annual Elgin Sports Hall of Fame Foundation Banquet Sunday, Nov. 6 at the Edward Schock Centre in downtown Elgin.

"It comes as a surprise," Radtke said. "I never set out to win awards. Now that my career is over, an accolade like this is very nice. The recognition is humbling. I'm honored and privileged to receive an award like this. I'd like to thank Mark Sharf (ESHOF board member; former Elgin High School girls basketball assistant coach and 2020 ESHOF Vic Masi Service Award recipient) who nominated me and got my name on the ballot. I have been to a lot of these banquets and presented people for induction, and sat and watched a lot of great athletes, coaches and friends of sports get inducted. To be included in that group is special and quite an honor."

A 1975 graduate of Central High School in Burlington and a staunch supporter of his alma mater to this day, Radtke, who will be inducted into the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame as a friend of sports, got his start in the sports writing business at the DeKalb Chronicle in the winter of 1974-1975 while still in high school through a work coop program. He was hired part-time by the Elgin Courier-News in the summer of 1975 and was later elevated to full-time status. His reporting on the Elgin Area School District U-46 teachers strike earned him a James S. Copley Ring of Truth Award during his time at the Courier-News.

Radtke, 64, started at the Daily Herald in 1995 as a freelance writer just as the state's third-largest newspaper was making a major and successful expansion into the Elgin and Fox Valley areas. He was hired full-time in 1997 and was named assistant sports editor/Fox Valley sports coordinator in the fall of 1997. He added the title of online prep sports manager in 2008 and took over as Daily Herald high school sports editor in 2018. Radtke won the Daily Herald Editorial Award of Excellence in 2010, while his writing on Title IX issues won him numerous awards around the state, including the Peter Lisagor Award in 2012.

Radtke is also a practitioner of his craft, still running girls youth travel fastpitch softball tournaments through his Northern Illinois Lightning organization at the Elgin Sports Complex, something he's done for more than two decades, providing female athletes from around the Midwest region competitive softball opportunities. Radtke also doubles as the USA Softball Chicago Metro tournament director.

Radtke's only regret is that his father, John Sr., will not be present to watch his son be inducted in November. John Radtke Sr., a major supporter of his son's endeavors and a fixture at Northern Illinois Lightning events, died in 2004.

"I wish my dad was here to share this with me," Radtke said.

In addition to Radtke, Class of 2022 inductees include Elgin Academy and record-breaking Carthage College swimmer Michelle Pelka, longtime high school sports coach Bruce Bazsali (who notably coached football at Elk Grove and Rockford Lutheran), Elgin High School and University of Missouri-St. Louis standout softball pitcher Hannah Perryman and martial arts instructor Ken Ok Hyung Kim, who has been teaching and training Tae Kwan Do and judo in the Elgin area since opening Kim's Black Belt Academy in Elgin in 1968.

"The Elgin Sports Hall of Fame is a prestigious organization," said Radtke, who was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Burlington Central Hall of Fame in 2014. "I have been involved with the Hall of Fame as a writer, I spent three or four years on the board and have been on various committees. It's a community organization that does a lot of good for young people."

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