NOFA youth league honors Wertman
Veteran local sportswriter Mike Wertman was honored by the Niagara Orleans Football Association on Saturday for his devoted and thorough coverage of the local teams for many years.
Wertman will cover those youth football games on Saturdays, typically after a busy week of high school sports, including late nights with Friday varsity games. He hasn’t skipped the younger kids. He has been a mainstay covering the sport for players who are a decade away from joining the varsity teams.
Wertman was honored by the league during halftime of the Medina Colts vs. Akron Mini Tigers game, the finals for the league.
He received the Jim Ellegate Memorial Award, which is given in memory of Ellegate, who lost his life in a car accident five years ago coming home from coaching a game. Wertman was nominated for the award by the Albion and Medina teams.
Wertman worked 35 years for The Journal-Register in Medina before joining Orleans Hub in late August.