Two more members were added into the Burbank Athletics Walk of Fame Saturday morning in ceremony at George Izay Park.
Working together, the Burbank Parks and Recreation Board and the Burbank Athletic Federation Board honored Craig Hunter and Ron Sabatine for their contributions to youth sports in the city.
Hunter grew up in the community and participated in youth baseball, basketball and flag football. He then got involved in coaching in the early 1990s when his four sons began playing sports. Hunter coached all of his sons in all of the sports Burbank Parks and Recreation offered. He also coached in the American Youth Soccer Organization and Burbank Vikings football.
He later was a participant in the Burbank Men’s Slow Pitch league. In 2015 he was voted to serve on the Burbank Athletic Federation Board.
Hunter credits longtime Burroughs soccer coach Mike Kodama as well as Walk of Fame inductee Mike Graceffo as well as coaches Art Yanez and Tim Fry inspiring him to become a better coach.
Sabatine began working with Burbank Parks and Recreation in the early 2000s as he coached his two sons in baseball, flag football and basketball.
He spent 21 seasons coaching while hoping to instill the values of sportsmanship and a love for the game to his players.
A member of the Burbank Athletic Federation Board since 2012, Sabatine credited relationships with fellow assistant coaches Brian Copeland, Craig Disiere, Tino Grimaldo, Mike St. Angel, Craig Hunter, Frank Borbon and the late Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jeff Marckese, who was killed in traffic accident.
