Tom Henderson - 1992

Tom Henderson was born in Gadsden, Alabama on August 27, 1938.  Following early schooling taken in Tennessee and Alabama, he graduated from Hapeville High School, Georgia in 1956.  An all-around athlete, he participated in football, basketball, baseball, and tennis. 

Tom earned his B.S. degree in Physical Education from the University of Alabama in 1961, where he played on the men’s varsity tennis team.  He earned his Masters and Doctorate from the same institution in 1965 and 1978 respectively. 

Immediately following his initial college graduation in 1961, Tom began his coaching career at Choctaw County high School in Butler, Alabama.  He taught there only a short period before accepting a position at Fort Meade High School, Fort Meade, Florida. After only one year in Florida, he returned to Choctaw County again for three years.  During these years he coached basketball, football, and track. 

Tom entered the collegiate ranks in 1965 as basketball coach and Head of the Physical Education Department at Patrick Henry Junior College in Monroeville, Alabama.  This position he held until 1967, when he accepted a position as Head of the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department at Jefferson State Junior College in Birmingham, Alabama.  At this institution, Tom entered coaching in 1968as tennis coach and assistant basketball coach.  His tennis teams won two state championships and finished thirteenth and seventh nationally in 1969 and 1970. 

In 1970 Tom began the women’s gymnastics team at Jefferson State Junior College.  For twelve years (1970-1981) his teams won numerous Alabama State Junior College Championships and led the way in development of women’s collegiate gymnastics within Alabama.  During this era, his teams never finished lower than fifth in the nation. 

Tom’s greatest coaching accomplishments were to come in 1977 and 1978, when his Jefferson State Women’s Gymnastics Teams won back to back National Championships.  During the six years (1976-1981) his teams competed in NJCAA Championship meet, his players won seven individual national titles and his team produced nineteen All-Americans.  On several occasions he was named as Alabama Coach of the Year, and in 1979 Tom was NJCAA National Women’s Gymnastics Coach of the Year.  Two of his team members, Marti Griffith Hobbs and Debra Bodley Harvel, have been inducted into the Alabama Hall of Fame. 

During the past quarter century Tom has been very active in community athletic and fitness programs, particularly in the area of providing young people club and competitive gymnastic outlets.  During the past decade he has developed and nurtured a community fitness program at Jefferson State Community College known as FIT-COM. This organization has 300 members and provides senior citizens with on-going testing and exercise programs. 

Since 1965, Tom has served the Alabama State Association for health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.  He became the first junior college president of this organization in 1992.  Prior to this, he was the president of the College Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, for the years 1980-81 and 1988-89. He has been an officer in these organizations on numerous occasions, serving on legislative committees and the Governor’s Commission on Physical Fitness. 

Tom has been an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Center Point for twenty-four years.  He is married to the former Betty Taylor of Butler, Alabama.  They have two children, Shearon Butts, and Tom Jr.; as well as three grandchildren, Justin, Amanda, and Adrienne Butts.