FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2005


FHSAA Sports Report presented by Dodge kicks off new season

GAINESVILLE – The 2005-06 edition of the "FHSAA Sports Report presented by Dodge" kicks off at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 17 on Sun Sports television. The show re-airs: Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 23 at 11 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.; Monday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m.; and Thursday, Sept. 29 at noon.

With hurricane season still on the minds of many Floridians, the “FHSAA Sports Report presented by Dodge” takes you back to Punta Gorda, the site where one year ago, Hurricane Charley changed the community forever. Host Bernie Guenther takes a look at how Port Charlotte High School is attempting to put their lives and their school back together.

Also on the show, co-host Christina Vitale kicks off football season with a look at Timmy Tebow, a quarterback from Nease High School in St. Augustine. Tebow is breaking records, and inspiring others, as he makes his way through this season.

A new school year marks a new season of high school sporting events. The “FHSAA Sports Report” takes an in-depth look at teams trying to keep their state titles, and teams trying to achieve their goals.

Also featured in this episode:

• Mike Ridaught takes a look at the 10 newcomers to the FHSAA Hall of Fame, which includes football star Cris Collinsworth, and tennis great Chris Evert.

• South Florida correspondent, Jason Alpert, reports on the Broward Football Officials Association, and how it won the FHSAA’s inaugural Officials Association of the Year Award. Based on five categories, the BFOA has set an example by using the Internet as the central nervous system of its communications with its members, schools and the FHSAA.

• Cristina Alvarez examines the sportsmanship program at North Marion High School in Citrus. The school has won the Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship Award back-to-back in 2004 and 2005. The school is also known for its creative ways of praising sportsmanship to other schools.

• Tristan Tully is in Tallahassee with the Maclay Marauder girls cross country team. The girls have finished in the top three in the state for the past three years. The team is looking to repeat their accomplishments this year.

• Austin Lyon is in Winter Park, where the Wildcats are looking to duplicate last year’s successful undefeated season. With nine of 11 players returning, Winter Park is the favorite to win the 6A State Championship again this year, but could face a problem with local rival Edgewater.

All those stories, plus an up-close look at this month’s FHSAA Academic All-State winners: James Bavinger, Kelly Betts and Tyler Caton.

About the FHSAA
Headquartered in Gainesville, the Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 720 middle and senior public and private high schools. More than 175,000 student-athletes annually participate in one or more of the FHSAA’s 28 championship sports programs. More information is available at www.fhsaa.org.

Contact:
Robert Hernberger
Assistant Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 190
roberth@fhsaa.org

Steve Berrey
President, Youth Sports Marketing
(904) 714-9067
mrhischool@comcast.net

Cristina Alvarez
Project Coordinator, Youth Sports Marketing
(352) 333-2106
sportsgirl24601@aol.com