Former Palmetto standout
Ralph Holloway is being honored as one of seven individuals being inducted into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in October. Holloway is a former Williamston resident and Palmetto High School Athletic Hall of Famer. (Contributed photo)
Ralph Holloway, a former Williamston resident and Palmetto High School Athletic Hall of Famer, is being honored as one of seven individuals inducted into the 28th class of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Hall of Fame.
The new inductees will be honored during special halftime ceremonies at University of North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium on Saturday, Oct 18, when the Tar Heels take on Georgia Tech. UNC-Chapel Hill has designated the day as the 30th annual NCHSAA Day. The new class will officially be inducted at the special Hall of Fame banquet next spring in Chapel Hill.
The NCHSAA Hall of Fame is supported in part by a special grant from GlaxoSmithKline.
“These individuals joining the Association Hall of Fame this year have had a tremendous impact on high school athletics across North Carolina,” NCHSAA Commissioner Davis Whitfield said. “Their accomplishments are impressive, but the character they exemplify and the lives they touched are truly representative of what the NCHSAA stands for. Their selection maintains the standards of excellence established by our previous inductees, and we are proud to honor these deserving individuals.”
Holloway has compiled an impressive slate as a high school coach, as well as an administrator. He grew up in South Carolina and then attended Elizabeth City State University, graduating in 1975 with a master’s from East Carolina. He embarked on an outstanding teaching and coaching career, with stints on the high school level at Burlington Cummings from 1983-1989 and then at Kinston from 1989-1998.
He was defensive coordinator at Cummings when it won the 1987 NCHSAA football crown and guided the girls track team to a pair of state championships. He left Cummings to serve as head football coach and athletic director at Kinston.
Holloway then went on to West Carteret as athletic director and assistant principal for three years, followed by 10 years as principal at East Carteret. He served as president of the Board of Directors of the NCHSAA and on the Board of the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association.
He is in Palmetto High School Hall of Fame as an athlete, the Cummings High School Hall of Fame as a coach and in the N.C. Athletic Directors Hall of Fame. He also helped to chair the NCHSAA’s recent centennial celebration.
Holloway also serves as the Chairman of the Carteret Community College (CCC) Foundation Inc., an organization that provides support for programs and students at CCC. It is comprised of a group of volunteers who help raise funds for the college through a variety of events, including the Spanish Mackerel and Dolphin Fishing Tournament and the foundation’s annual golf tournament.
Each year, the foundation administers more than $100,000 in scholarships for local community college students. Holloway first joined the community college foundation in Sept. 2001.
Other inductees of the 28th group of inductees include the late Jack Holley of Teachey, the late Joe Miller of Wilmington, Chris Norman of Shelby, Moyer Smith of Chapel Hill, Rick Strunk of Carrboro and Jerry Winterton of Cary. That brings the number of enshrined to 163.
