High school swimming phenom Adam Small, who broke Olympic champion Gary Hall’s 14-year-old 50-meter boys freestyle record, was among young athletes honored Jan. 28 by the Tempe All-City Association.

Small is a senior at Corona del Sol High School.

The group hosted its annual winter banquet, at which 51 male and female athletes from the Tempe Union High School Districts’ six high schools were recognized for excellence.

Included were young athletes who participated in football, girls volleyball, badminton and male and female cross country, golf and swimming.

Founded in the fall of 1982 by two former Tempe High School students, the nonprofit Tempe All-City Association is a group of Tempe residents and businesspeople dedicated to recognizing the achievements of the best student athletes at the city’s six high schools.

This is done primarily through three awards banquets each year, in which student athletes, as selected by coaches and the association’s board of directors, are hosted at an awards ceremony in their honor.

That first banquet honored just the football and cross-country teams of the 1982-83 season but, like the city itself, the boundaries were rapidly expanded. There have been three banquets a year since 1984, and an All-City Team is now selected in every sport played at the high school varsity level.

“To the kids it is the number one thing," said Don Wilkinson, school-district athletic director and a member of the All-City board.

"I've heard our coaches say the kids take more pride in making the All-City Team than any other honor,” he said.

“And that's mainly because most of these kids grew up together. They went to junior high together. That makes the All-City Team the number-one plum."

The association board of about 20 people meets monthly. Members come from all sectors of society within the Tempe district; most are district graduates.

"One aspect you can't compare is that, back when I played, Tempe had only one school," said board member Doug Royse, who played football and ran track at Tempe High School.

"If you were a starter on any team, you were all-city.

“Now, with six schools and a city of 170,000 people, recognition in the community is a little harder to come by. What we had in mind when we started the All-City Association is recognition within and around the community.

“That's what we are here for."

In addition to Small, Corona del Sol honorees included J.R. Hamm (running back), Trevor Stapp (offensive line) and Kirby Pellant (kicker), football/offense; Wyatt Cahill (defensive line), Tyler Giannonatti (defensive end) and Elijah Chiang (defensive back), football/defense; Sara Bowden, girls volleyball; David Logston, boys golf; Bryan Liu (100 backstroke); Megan Mayall (diving), girls swimming; Amy David and Carrie Zhao (doubles), badminton.

Marcos de Niza recipients were David Viel (quarterback), Harrison Evens (running back) and Michael Greer (center), football/offense; Kakalea Pule (defensive line) and Jimmy Mamane (defensive back), football/defense; Sam Dorman (diving) and Marc Arroyo (100 breaststroke) boys swimming.