CULLMAN COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME: Holly Pond’s Akers ‘ecstatic’ to receive HoF honor

Published 6:00 pm Saturday, April 22, 2017

There aren’t many people locally who loves sports as much as Vicki Freeman Akers.

The 1975 Holly Pond graduate dabbled in just about anything she could sink her teeth into during her prep career with the Broncos, securing a bevy of accolades along the way to becoming one of the best female athletes to ever put on a Green and White uniform.

On Saturday night, Akers was one of 10 local legends inducted into the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame, which held its annual banquet ceremony inside a packed out Civic Center.

Long before she took the stage, however, Akers had to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“Oh, I was ecstatic when I heard I’d be in there,” she said. “Very surprised, too. I definitely wasn’t expecting that, but I’m happy about it.”

Akers was a member of Holly Pond’s 1973 county championship softball squad, as well as an All-County basketball player in her junior and senior seasons, the latter of which she was also named team captain and overall MVP for the Lady Broncos.

Her timing couldn’t have been more perfect, either.

“I was lucky enough to start in school when girls sports were becoming a part of the high school package,” she said. “You didn’t have a county-wide girls program until really I was in the 11th grade. In softball, we had to buy our own uniforms with sponsors on the back for the team. I grew up playing baseball and football with the boys, so I was ready to go and glad that things worked out.”

On top of her athletic achievements, which also included cheerleading for two years and a basketball/volleyball scholarship to Cullman College, Akers was also her class’s valedictorian in addition to her apt title as “Most Athletic.”

But she wasn’t prepared to stop there.

“I just loved sports,” she said. “I wanted to be on the track team, too, but we didn’t have one back then.”

Akers has two daughters, Britt and Andrea, both of whom played basketball, volleyball and softball for Holly Pond and went on to earn collegiate scholarships.

During their time with the Green and White, the duo won county, state and even national tournaments.

The apples definitely didn’t fall far from the tree.

“They both had great careers, and I’m very proud of that,” said Akers, who was also part of a group that helped jumpstart a girls hoops youth league in Cullman County. “We are just a sports family.”