FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 1998
Port St. Joe wins fifth consecutive sportsmanship award
GAINESVILLE – New classification, same good results.
For the fifth consecutive year, Port St. Joe High School is a winner of the FHSAA Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship Award in its classification. The Sharks, which dropped to Class 2A for the 1997-98 school year, were winners of the award in Class 3A for the past four years.
Other winners of the 1998 awards are Lincoln High School of Tallahassee in Class 6A; Washington High School of Pensacola in Class 5A; Bradford High School of Starke in Class 4A; LaBelle High School in Class 3A; Summit Christian School in Class A; and Bayonet Point Middle School of New Port Richey in the middle school/junior high division.
The FHSAA Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship Awards Program was implemented in 1991 to honor those schools that exhibit exemplary sportsmanship during the regular season and FHSAA Championships. Each year, the award is presented to the school in each classification whose total athletic program best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship by its coaches, athletes and spectators. Member schools, officials associations and the news media may nominate schools for the award, which is named for FHSAA Commissioner Emeritus Fred E. Rozelle, who serves as the Florida High School Activities Association’s chief executive officer from 1980 through 1991.
This year, a record-tying 107 nominations for 75 schools were received.
The nominees by classification were as follows:
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Class 6A (13 nominations/13 schools) – Apopka, Barron Collier (Naples), Flanagan (Pembroke Pines), Dillard (Fort Lauderdale), Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs), Lincoln (Tallahassee), Miami Carol City, Orange Park, Palm Bay (Melbourne), St. Augustine, Vero Beach, Western (Fort Lauderdale), Winter Park.
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Class 5A (18 nominations/15 schools) – Boca Raton, Clearwater, Fort Walton Beach, Gainesville, Gateway (Kissimmee), Jupiter, Osceola (Kissimmee), Pinellas Park (Largo), Poinciana (Kissimmee), Port St. Lucie, Ridgewood (New Port Richey), Rutherford (Springfield), St. Cloud, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), Washington (Pensacola).
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Class 4A (23 nominations/16 schools) – Auburndale, Blake (Tampa), Bradford (Starke), Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale), Cocoa, Crystal River, Fernandina Beach, Hardee (Wauchula), Kathleen (Lakeland), Key West, Madison County, Mount Dora, Ribault (Jacksonville), Sebring, Suwannee (Live Oak), Wakulla (Crawfordville).
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Class 3A (13 nominations/12 schools) – Bishop Verot (Fort Myers), Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach), Chipley, Keystone Heights, LaBelle, Lake Placid, Palmetto, Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale), South Sumter (Bushnell), St. Andrew’s (Boca Raton), University Christian (Jacksonville), Walton (DeFuniak Springs).
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Class 2A (21 nominations/7 schools) – Blountstown, Chiefland, Forest Lake (Apopka), Havana Northside, Maclay (Tallahassee), North Florida Christian (Tallahassee), Port St. Joe.
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Class A (17 nominations/12 schools) – Bethlehem (Bonifay), Bradenton Christian, Central (Milton), Community Christian (Stuart), Countryside Christian (Gainesville), Island Christian (Islamorada), Keswick Christian (St. Petersburg), Northwest Christian (Miami), Orangewood Christian (Maitland), Pine Castle Christian (Orlando), Summit Christian (West Palm Beach), Trinity Christian (Deltona).
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Middle School/Junior High (two nominations/1 school) – Bayonet Point Middle (New Port Richey).
The winners in each classification will be honored at the 1998 FHSAA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Awards Banquet to be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 18, at the Daytona Beach. Tickets to the banquet are $25.00 and must be ordered in advance by contacting FHSAA Assistant Director of Athletics Gary Pigott in the FHSAA Office at (352) 372-9551 ext. 260 by June 12. Tickets will not be available for purchase at the door.
The Florida High School Activities Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of 603 middle, junior and senior high schools.
Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org
