Hall of Fame
Ben Nelson is one of the most highly respected administrators in New York State and has made significant contributions as an administrator and high school coach in Section IV. A five-sport letterman in baseball, basketball, track, volleyball and football, and graduate of Bainbridge-Guilford High School (Section IV) in 1958, Ben continued his basketball career playing at Trinity Pawling, Colgate, and Louisiana University. He also spent a year in Hannover, Germany as a player-coach for a Division II team as well. After his playing career, Ben first began contributing to youth and high school athletics during the summers at Camp Dudley, where he’s been a coach or administrator for over six decades, and as a multi-sport coach at Oxford Academy, where he was also a math teacher. At Oxford, he led the boys varsity basketball team, cross country team, and track and field team to several Class C Sectional Championships and Pioneer League Championships. He then achieved the same feat with the varsity girls team. His success in administration began in 1988 when he took over as Athletic Director at Oxford after Al Doyle left to become NYSPHSAA’s first Executive Director. Then in 1998, he ascended to the Section IV Executive Director position overseeing the operations of the section on a day-to-day basis. Ben is currently the longest serving Executive Director in NYS. In that role, he has helped significantly improve Section IV’s finances and has been the catalyst for bringing numerous NYSPHSAA State Championship events to the Section including boys basketball, baseball, field hockey, boys soccer, outdoor track and cross country. In addition, Ben has been a part of exemplary programs in the areas of sports safety, academics and sportsmanship in the section. He presently serves NYSPHSAA on numerous committees including its Boys Basketball State Committee. In 2014, Nelson was elected into the Section IV Hall of Fame and the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Hall of Fame. He is currently the BCANY Assistant Executive Director and has served on the organization’s Board since its inception. Nelson has additionally received both the Otis Sennett Award of Excellence and Distinguished Service Awards from the NYS Athletic Administrators Association, and was honored with the Golden Apple Award, Camp Dudley Man of the Year Award and Southern Tier Basketball Officials Dedication Award.