FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 1998


FHSAA to induct four into Hall of Fame

GAINESVILLE – Louise Crocco, head coach of Florida’s most successful high school girls volleyball program, is among four individuals selected for induction into the Florida High School Activities Association Hall of Fame.

Crocco, 50, head girls volleyball coach at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale since she began the program in 1969, has an overall win-loss record of 849-86. Under her direction, the Lady Redskins have won 16 state championships and have reached the FHSAA Florida Girls Volleyball Finals 21 out of the state series’ 24 years. Crocco was the first woman inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame and will be the third woman inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame.
Also selected for induction into the Hall of Fame are long-time Bradford High School (Starke) track & field coach George Loper; veteran football and basketball official A.F. “Bud” Holt Jr.; and long-time sports writer Barry D. “Bill” Buchalter.
The Eighth Annual FHSAA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 18 at the Daytona Beach Hilton.

Tickets to the induction ceremony are $25 and are available for purchase in advance through the FHSAA Office by contacting Assistant Director of Athletics Gary Pigott at (352) 372-9551 ext. 260. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

The FHSAA Hall of Fame is dedicated to preserving the tradition of interscholastic activities in Florida by highlighting the past in order to ensure a promising future for the Association and its member schools. Each year, a given number of individuals – administrators, coaches, officials, student-athletes and others – who have made lasting contributions to the Association are inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Loper, 70, began coaching high school track & field in 1954, and landed his first job in Florida at Ribault High School in Jacksonville in 1963. He was hired at Bradford High School in 1967. Loper’s boys track teams have won 517 meets, while losing only 107. His girls track teams have won 180 meets and lost just 55. His boys cross country teams have won 240 meets and lost 100; while his girls cross country teams have won 162 meets and lost 51. He has coached three individual state champions and three relay team state champions in boys track; eight individual state champions in girls track; and one individual state champion and two individual state runners-up in girls cross country.

Holt, 62, officiated high school football and basketball as an FHSAA-registered official for 23 years before moving to South Carolina and then to Virginia, where he continued to distinguish himself as a superior contest official. Holt officiated numerous state series contests for the FHSAA, including state championship games in both girls basketball and boys basketball in 1982, as well as working each of the five field positions in state championship football games. He was selected to receive the 1990 Distinguished Service Award for football in Florida by the National Federation Interscholastic Officials Association. Holt will be the fourth contest official inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame.

Buchalter, 58, has distinguished himself for 31 years as a sports writer for the Orlando Sentinel, covering high school athletics in the Central Florida area for most of that time. He has committed himself to showcasing Florida’s student-athletes by overseeing the Sentinel’s All-Southern high school football and basketball teams; selecting Florida’s Super Seniors in football for the past 13 years; helping to organize the Florida-Georgia high school football all-star game; originating and keeping the state track & field honor roll for more than 30 years; helping to organize the Golden South Classic postseason high school track & field meet; and working with the Orlando Touchdown Club, South Orlando Kiwanis Club, Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando and the AAU to promote high school awards for athletics and academics. Buchalter will be the second media figure to be inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame.

Crocco, Loper, Holt and Buchalter will be the 35th, 36th, 37th and 38th inductees into the FHSAA Hall of Fame.

The Florida High School Activities Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletics in Florida. It has a membership of 601 middle, junior and senior high schools.

Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org