Steve Culbertson's lifelong athletics journey leads to Gaston Sports HOF

Whether he was an athlete, a coach or a game referee, Steve Culbertson says his passion for sports can easily be traced to his childhood in Gastonia. "When I grew up in Gastonia, sports was everywhere and I wanted to be a part of it," said Culbertson, who is part of a four-person 2026 Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame induction class. Culbertson first gained local athletic fame as a running back for the Gastonia Young Men's Business Club's Little Orangemen Pop Warner football team.

NEARING IMMORTALITY: Nearing state wins record, Danny Anderson earns Gaston Sports HOF nod INDUCTING CLASS OF 2026: Esteemed coach Rick Barnes to help Gaston Sports HOF induct four new members Originally playing for the Moose Lodge, Culbertson credits future Ashbrook principal Jim Martin for pushing him to play for legendary youth football coaches and GCSHOF inductees Earl Groves and Bennie Cunningham after the Moose Lodge decided not to have a team. Groves and Cunningham coached Culbertson on a 1960 Pop Warner World Championship team that copped that title with a win in the Disneyland Bowl in Anaheim, California; Culbertson was the team's star halfback and led the nation in scoring with 151 points. "At 13, my mindset was to turn 16, quit school, get a car and help my parents out by getting a job," Culbertson said.

"All that changed when I met Earl Groves and Bennie Cunningham. " Instead, Culbertson would go on to become a three-sport standout at old Gastonia Ashley High, earn the school's 1965 athlete of the year award, attend Gaston College briefly before serving in Vietnam and returning to Gastonia to embark on a long career as a coach and game official. All along the way, Culbertson carved his part in Gastonia's rich and historic athletic history.

In football, he was a leading rusher and scorer for the Green Wave's 1964 Western Conference championship football team. He also scored three touchdowns, including the first, in the inaugural Ashley/Ashbrook-Hunter Huss football rivalry that has gone on to become one of area's top sporting events. In basketball, he was a playmaking point guard for a 16-win Ashley team in 1965 that featured leading scorer (and Duke signee) Dale Stubbs.