It is hard to imagine a more popular inductee into the 2007 class of the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame than Tom Yeotis.
And that is fitting considering that Yeotis, the longtime judge, is actually one of the founding members of the GFASHOF.
But before that, Yeotis was an accomplished athlete who excelled in basketball and softball, and later as a coach in both sports.
A Central High grad, Yeotis was a standout basketball player at Flint Junior College (Mott CC) from 1947-49. He played on state championship teams in softball with Assumption Greek Orthodox (1982) and the American United Life over-50 team in 1993-94, and the AUL over 60 team in 2002, 2003, 2004. He also coached championship teams in basketball and softball.
“I’m honored, pleased and blessed to have had such a successful career in athletics,” Yeotis said. “This (Hall of Fame induction) is just frosting on the cake.” The son of Greek immigrants, Yeotis is a lifelong Flint resident who was first introduced to sports in the third grade when his uncle took him to a church league basketball game. “If I am not mistaken, they were still having the center jump after each basket,” said Yeotis. “All I know is that from that moment, playing basketball was something I wanted to do.”
Yeotis has been competing ever since. In fact, the 77 year-old only retired from playing softball a year ago. “I played for 60 years,” he said proudly. “As a youth there were just three seasons in my life, football, basketball and baseball. Sports has always played a very important role in my life. l worked as an attorney and a judge for a living, but playing sports was my passion.”
This will not be the first hall of fame induction for Yeotis. He is already a member of the National Hellenic Invitational Basketball Hall of Fame (1982), the Michigan Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame (1995) and the Orthodox Youth Athletic Association of Michigan Hall of Fame (1996).
Yeotis’ list of athletic accomplishments is seemingly endless. However, what Yeotis treasures most aren’t the championships and honors. It’s the friendships. “The best thing about athletics are the fellowships that come from it,” explained Yeotis. “I consider every one of my teammates I played with a friend. And those friendships last a lifetime.” Yeotis added that those friendships only came after the game. He was known as a fiery competitor. “I played to win,” he said. “If you bumped into me during a game, it is a pretty good chance that I was going to shove you back.”
Yeotis has also used sports as a vehicle for community service. In 1967 he helped found the Bruin Club (Mott Community College boosters), which has donated more than $1 million in athletic scholarships to the school. Recently, he served as the honorary co-chair of the Flint Olympian and CANUSA games.
Yeotis was equally accomplished in his chosen profession. He served as probate and juvenile court judge in Genesee County from 1968-70, before becoming circuit court judge, where he served from 1971 to 1998. He still does some work as a visiting judge, arbitrator and mediator.
He credits the lessons learned from the joys of victory and the disappointments of defeats for helping him dispense justice. “A judge is a lot like a baseball umpire,” he said. “You are there to be patient and call what you see. You have to take what you might have done (strategically) out of it. You might have a different picture, but you can’t be that way. You call what you see.”
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