Worth Shaw

Few people are honored by having a sports facility named after them during their lifetime – but not many people have given as much to their hometown as Worth Shaw. Worth was a notable multi-sport prep star at AHS in the 1940s. During his senior year of 1945-1946, he was starting forward on the basketball team, county high jump champion, and All-County team member in football, a spot he well deserved for the 25 touchdowns he achieved that year, a Panther record. He was a key member of Antioch’s undefeated football team. He played football at Modesto Junior College and was named to the All-Nor Cal Conference second team. An injured knee in training camp ended his potential NFL career with the Baltimore Colts in 1953. Oh yes, and he dabbled in baseball, too. When Uncle Sam took him away for military service, he took up the shortstop position for the Army while stationed in Yokohama, Japan. Fifty-seven years ago, Worth organized, played with, and coached the Antioch Hornets, a semi-pro football team financed by local businesses. After the team was disbanded, Worth’s amazing energy was channeled into founding the Antioch Quarterback Club, a group of more than 300 members who bought equipment, sponsored awards, and organized a “gala sports night” for AHS teams between 1957 and the late 1960s. Volunteers from the club built Antioch’s Rademacher Field for little league baseball players. Worth founded the Antioch Junior Football League fifty years ago for boys aged 10-13, where he also coached a team. For a quarter-century the program grew and nurtured the skills of future college and pro athletes among the 4,000 children who participated. Worth’s organizing skills continued under the Antioch Recreation department, where he set up sports leagues for boys, girls, teens, and adults. Worth was the perfect person to be Antioch’s first fulltime recreation director, a position he held for 31 years, retiring in 1991. Since 1992, new generations of Antioch athletes have honed their skills in the beautiful softball and soccer complex on James Donlon Boulevard that bears his name.