CHESAPEAKE, VA (WTKR)- Melvin Queen dedicated his life to coaching and mentoring kids. On Monday he was honored for his life's work.
Queen was inducted as a Chesapeake Sports Club Legend of Honor during the organization's monthly luncheon at the Chesapeake Conference Center. He joins the best sports figures in the city's history.
"It's humbling, an honor I can't put into words," Queen said. "To see so many of my great athletes come back out here and be here with me, it's unbelievable and I'm just thankful, blessed."
A Washington, DC, native, Queen attended Norfolk State University. He excelled in the shot put and hurdles during his competition days and competed in football, tennis and track and field during high school. He coached at Indian River and Oscar Smith at both the middle school and high school level and has plenty of memories supplied by coaching.
"To hear that announcer at the Penn Relays call out Indian River winning the first heat, Indian River winning the heat again, Chris Snyder standing on the platform out there at Penn Relays getting that medal for the shot put, those things are really fond memories," Queen said, noting that there wasn't enough time to list all the good memories from his coaching tenure.
The longtime coach and educator also noted the need for improved facilities in Chesapeake. He'd like to see businesses invest in new facilities and help replace tracks and football fields.
"We need to improve the facilities in Chesapeake because we've got world-class athletes," he pointed out. "Western Branch has had something like 11 straight [track] state championships and they're working out on asphalt. It's like running in the street and we need something better for us as a city."
The Chesapeake Sports Club inducts a handful of Legends of Honor during each year.
