Burns-Rider, Tromblay, Johnson inducted into Amity HOF
Amity alumni and athletes Syndie Burns-Rider and Brad Johnson and former coach Jon Tromblay were inducted into the Amity HOF.
There was a buzz at the banquet dinner, with Warriors young and old swapping tales of high school athletics, victories won and lessons learned.
The inductees were recognized at the Jan. 17 home basketball games.
Tashi Haarsma, Amity HOF committee member said, “These three inductees were chosen by the Hall of Fame committee based on their outstanding contribution to Amity High School or have brought fame to our athletic programs receiving All-state, All-league and championship honors.”
Burns-Rider, a 1994 graduate, was on the Warrior dance team all four years and was an assistant coach of the 1996 State Championship dance team, who were also recognized at the HOF.
Burns-Rider is the current dance team coach and has devoted more than 30 years to bring the spirit of dance to the Amity community.
She has served on the Board of Directors for the Dance and Drill Coaches Association and received a Service Member of the Year award in 2010-2011. She was voted Coach of the Year by all dance coaches in Oregon for her leadership and dedication to the dance community.
The 1996 dance team was recognized as well. Just like their 1996 theme “Around The Clock” Warriors 1996 dance team practiced year-round in order to reach their goal of state champion.
The 1996 head coach Linda Romey said the team went through so much with conditioning and dancing and is grateful for their recognition.
“It’s hard to believe this was 30 years ago,” she said, noting the team was cohesive and that year everything came together from the music to the choreography “the girls grabbed right on to it and got better and better with every performance.”
Burns-Rider was choked up as she thanked the community for allowing her to share her love of dance with students for 30 years. In her time as coaching, her greatest honor has been when students have shared their favorite high school experience was dance team.
Jon Tromblay played football at the D1 collegiate level and played basketball at Linfield College where he was selected as defensive player of the year. After college he took on coaching and has been coaching high school for 32 years, for 58 high school teams at four different schools.
Tromblay was the Amity football defensive coordinator for 17 years and part of the 1998-2001 four-year consecutive football state championship run. Additionally, he coached varsity basketball for two seasons, varsity softball for four and JV girls basketball for four.
He said his biggest accomplishment at Amity is the continued relationships he has with his former players and community members.
“Thank you to the people of Amity Education (foundation) and to the community of Amity that has touched me personally.” Tromblay said.
He said by coaching more sports he was able to meet more people in the community. He added that when he was recognized as a HOF inductee on Jan. 17, it was amazing to see that the children and relatives of athletes he coached were still playing for Amity.
Brad Johnson, 1976 graduate and high jump and long jump school record holder was also inducted into the HOF.
When at Amity, Johnson participated in football, basketball, baseball and track.
He racked up honors; in football he was first team All-conference, second team All-State and team co-MVP his senior year. He lettered all four years and was chosen to participate in the Shriners All Star game.
In basketball he was team MVP and received honorable mention, second team and first team All-conference recognition. In baseball he was also team MVP his senior year and received all conference recognition his sophomore, junior and senior years.
In track, Johnson set the school record for the high jump, 6 ‘4 ¾ and long jump 21 ‘2 ½”. Senior year, he placed third in state in the high jump and sixth in the triple jump and voted team MVP.
After graduating, he played baseball at Umpqua Community College and his team finished sixth in the Junior World Series.
In his personal life, Johnson is an avid golfer and has three holes-in-one.
Johnson said he didn’t expect to be inducted and although he moved away from his hometown of Amity he still keeps track of the Warrior sports programs and is proud to be from Amity.
The Amity HOF was formed in 2011 and has 39 inductees and has recognized six high school sports teams.
Nominations for 2025-2026 inductees are available.
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