Charles "Choc" Sportsman (1981) - North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame

Charles "Choc" Sportsman

Induction:
1981

A talented head coach, Charles "Choc" Sportsman coaching career began in the 1930s at North Texas (then North Texas State Teacher’s College), where his team won seven Lone Star Conference Championships and held the conference record in every running event except the hurdles.

Sportsman famously coached “The Flying Twins” – two sets of talented identical twin brothers (Wayne and Blaine Rideout and Delmer and Elmer Brown) who set the world indoor record in a medley relay. One set of twins helped set another world record in the outdoor distance medley relay, and one of the young men set the world record in the three-quarter mile run.

Sportsman also coached freshman football at North Texas.

In 1942, Sportsman left North Texas to serve in the U.S. Navy in World War II. After the war, he returned to coaching at San Diego State. As head coach of the track and field and cross country teams, his squads won the NCAA Division II Cross Country titles in 1965 and 1966 and the 1966 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship.

Sportsman was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame, and the San Diego State track & field facility is named in his honor.