FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2008


FHSAA office announces list of applicants for Executive Director position

GAINESVILLE – The Florida High School Athletic Association office has announced the list of applicants for the Association's Executive Director position.

The nine applicants are:

• Raymond Bellamy – Bellamy is currently an Academic Advisory/Counselor in athletics for Florida A&M University. Prior to his tenure at FAMU, he served as assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs for Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Ga. Bellamy graduated from the University of Miami in Coral Gables with a Master of Education Degree in 1975.

• Don Bridges – Bridges is currently the Director of Athletics for Polk County Schools, a position he has held since 1992. Prior to his tenure at Polk County Schools, he spent eight years as athletic director at Lake Wales High School. Bridges, also a long-time FHSAA baseball and basketball official, graduated from Valdosta State College with a Master of Education Degree in 1976.

• James Browder – Browder is currently the Superintendent of Schools in Lee County, Fort Myers. Prior to his tenure at the Lee County School District, he spent 16 years as principal of three different Fort Myers-area high schools. A former member of the FHSAA Board of Directors and current member of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, Browder graduated with a Doctorate Degree in Education from the University of Sarasota (Argosy University) in 1991, a Educational Specialist Degree from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale in 1982, and a Master's Degree from Nova University in 1977.

• Donald Collins – Collins is currently Athletic Commissioner for the San Francisco Unified School District and San Francisco Section of the California Interscholastic Federation, a position he has held since 2001. Prior to his tenure with the SFUSD and CIF, he spent eight years as a private athletic consultant, two years as an instructor and compliance assistant at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, Calif. and four years as a staff attorney and case management attorney at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Collins graduated with a Juris Doctorate in Law from Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

• Matthew Dunn – Dunn is currently Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Global Medical Research LLC in Orlando, a position he has held since 2007. Prior to his tenure at GMR, he spent a year as Membership Sales Manager at Florida Citrus Sports in Orlando and three-and-a-half years as Associate Executive Director of the Gainesville Sports Organizing Committee, working with several FHSAA Finals events. Dunn graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Athletic Administration from Florida State University in 1998.

• Samuel "Sonny" Hester – Hester is currently the Senior Associate Executive Director of the FHSAA, a position he has held since 2007 after serving as FHSAA Senior Director of Athletic Operations and Officials for a year. Prior to his tenure at FHSAA, he spent three years as Assistant Principal for Administration and Athletics at Brandon High School and 20 years at Jesuit High School in Tampa, serving as athletic director for seven years. Hester graduated from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale with a Master of Science Degree in Administration and Supervision in 1987.

• Jeff Malloy – Malloy is currently the athletic director at Oak Hall School in Gainesville, a position he has held since 1996. Prior to his tenure at Oak Hall, he spent two-and-a-half years as Branch Executive of YMCA of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach. Malloy is a current member and immediate past president of the FHSAA Board of Directors.

• Joe Skladany – Skladany is currently a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University in Naples, a position he has held since 2002. Prior to his tenure at FGCU, he was an owner and partner of Spectators Sports Pub in Naples for eight years, and president of C.H.A.M.P.S., Inc., an Atlanta-based sports marketing firm, for 14 years. Skladany pursued a Master of Business Administration Degree at Boston University in 1984.

• William "Sam" Ward – Ward is currently the principal of Fleming Island High School in Orange Park, a position he has held since the school opened in 2003. Prior to his tenure at Fleming Island, he spent 10 years as principal of Orange Park High School. Ward graduated from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale with a Master of Science Degree in 1984. A former member and past president of the FHSAA Board of Directors, Ward currently serves on the FHSAA Section 1 Appeals Committee.

The finalists will be determined at the Board of Directors' Jan. 27-28 meeting and interviewed at its April 6-7 meeting. The next executive director will be announced April 8 and begin employment July 1 as Executive Director Designate. Current Executive Director John A. Stewart is set to retire on Nov. 1, 2008.

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 and senior public and private high schools.

Contacts:
Robert Hernberger
Director of Media Relations, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
rhernberger@fhsaa.org