FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2006


FHSAA to celebrate 100 years of Florida high school football during 2007 season

MIAMI – The Florida High School Athletic Association will celebrate 100 years of Florida high school football during the 2007 season, the Association announced today at Dolphin Stadium, the site of the 2006 Dodge FHSAA Football Finals.

The celebration will be the first of several to come over the next decade as the birth of high school sports in the Sunshine State is commemorated.

“The Association has records that indicate five high schools formed a league and were playing interscholastic football in 1907,” said FHSAA Director of Communications Jack Watford. “While there may have been attempts between some of those schools to play a game prior to that time, it appears that the 1907 league was the first organized effort to play the sport interscholastically.”

Added Watford: “Interestingly, it also appears that football was the first sport of any kind that was played interscholastically in this state. Competition in basketball and track & field came later.”

The five schools in that first league were Duval (Jacksonville), Hillsboro (Tampa), Ocala, Orlando and Summerlin Institute (Bartow). Of those five schools, only Hillsboro – now spelled Hillsborough – still exists today. The FHSAA, itself, was not formed until 1920.

Already planned as part of the celebration are:

• The selection of the “All-Time All-Florida Team” consisting of the greatest players by position in Florida high school history, including naming the greatest player and coach of all time; and

• The selection of the single greatest team to ever play the game in Florida.

“We will be assembling a panel of experts, both active and retired, who have covered Florida high school sports for many years to help with these selections,” Watford said. “And we also are considering giving the fans a chance to weigh in as well by giving them an online vote through FHSAAsports.com.”

Complete plans for the celebration will be announced at a later date.

“Everyone of us who lives in Florida believes that our high school football is the best in the nation,” Watford said. “We hope everyone will join us next year in celebrating this sport that we all love.”

About the FHSAA
The Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 750 middle, junior and senior high schools.

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