FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25, 2010


Brooks, Coan, McQuaid highlight Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame’s 2010 induction class

GAINESVILLE –Former contest official Clement Brooks, former Pine Crest School swimmer Andrew Coan and Nova High School baseball coach Pat McQuaid front the list of nine individuals selected for induction this year into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Joining them in the Class of 2010 are South Florida sports writer Larry Blustein; former Jefferson County High School football coach Harry Jacobs; the late Avon Park High School baseball coach Guy Garrett; Gaither High School baseball coach Frank Permuy; contest official Joseph Rider; and the late Sam Sirianni, former football coach at Fort Myers High School.

This is the 20th group to be inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame, formerly the FHSAA Hall of Fame. Founded during the 1990-91 school year, the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame keeps alive the tradition and spirit of high school athletics, and honors each year those persons who, through distinguished achievement, have excelled in one or more high school programs sponsored by the Association and its member schools. This yearís nine inductees bring the number of deserving individuals who have been enshrined in the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame to 136. They include student-athletes, coaches, administrators, contest officials and other contributors, such as sports writers, who have raised the level of awareness of high school activities through their efforts, achievements and dedication. The 2010 Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held April 25 at the Best Western Gateway Grand Hotel in Gainesville.

Brooks, 75, retired in June 2009 after 40 years as a contest official. He is currently a consultant and trainer for officials in Hillsborough County. In multiple decades of service, he has officiated more than 2,000 regular season games, and 3,200 games overall. He has received much recognition for officiating games for football, basketball, baseball and softball throughout Hillsborough, Miami-Dade and Pasco Counties. His hard work and dedication to officiating has been publicized in multiple newspapers across the state of Florida and has made him a mentor to many younger officials. He has received numerous awards, including the Official of the Year Award in football, basketball and baseball.

Coan, 51, was an All-County, All-State and All-American swimmer at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale. He was a state champion in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle as a sophomore, junior and senior. In his sophomore and junior years, he was a key member of the Pine Crest School national championship team. As a junior and senior, he set three world records in the men’s individual 100-meter freestyle, the 4x100-meter freestyle relay and the 4x100-meter medley relay. In 1999, Pine Crest named an award after him to be given to the top male swimmer of the year. He is a member of the Pine Crest Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame.

McQuaid, 59, has been the head baseball coach at Nova High School in Davie since 1977. His record at the end of the 2008-09 season was 750-278-2, with two state championships in 2004 and 2005, and a national championship in 2005. More than 100 former student-athletes have played at the collegiate level, and five former student-athletes reached the major leagues. He is the baseball chairman for the Florida Athletic Coaches Association and a member of the FHSAA Baseball Advisory Committee. He was named the Florida Baseball Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2006, and was inducted into the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

• Lawrence Blustein. Blustein, 55, currently covers high school sports for the Miami Herald, and is the editor of the South Florida Sun Times. He is also known for his radio show on WQAM (560 AM) and as a contributor for the Orlando Sentinel. He started covering sports while he attended North Miami High School, and has covered high school athletics for multiple outlets for 40 years. He also serves as the "voice" of the FHSAA Wrestling Finals. He was named Broadcaster of the Year in 1981 and Broward County Man of the Year in 1997. He is a member of the North Miami High School Hall of Fame Class of 2008 and the Florida Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2009.

• Guy Garrett. Garrett, now deceased, was the baseball coach at Avon Park High School from 1952-64. He is remembered for coaching his teams to dominance, no matter the size of the opponent. In his years in high school athletics he held positions as a baseball and football coach, county administrator, assistant principal, and athletic director. He assisted numerous student athletes in receiving college scholarships. His winning percentage at Avon Park was better than 85 percent, and his overall record at the school was 210-35. His teams appeared in six state championships and won two state titles. In 1955 and 1956, his teams won 48 consecutive games, which set a state record.

• Harry Jacobs. Jacobs, 68, is the former football and boys track & field coach at Jefferson County (Monticello) and FAMU (Tallahassee) High Schools. The former Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association’s State Athlete of the Year helped produce eight high school All-Americans in track & field, and saw nine former athletes reach the National Football League. He was the head coach of 10 consecutive state track champions from 1987-1996, and has coached 16 state championship boys track teams in total. He coached more than 100 football and track athletes to college scholarships. His winning percentage in football at FAMU was 79 percent, with more than 135 victories. His achievements as a coach led him to 16 FACA Coach of the Year awards. He is a member of the FACA Hall of Fame and the Florida Track Hall of Fame.

• Frank Permuy. Permuy, 67, is currently the head baseball coach at Gaither High School in Tampa. He started his head coaching career at Leto High School in Tampa, where he led his team to a 1972 conference co-championship. As the head baseball coach for four years at the University of Tampa, he guided his team to Division II Top 10 rankings twice. At Tampa Catholic High School in the 1980s, he coached his team to a 1982 state championship, and was honored with the State 3A Coach of the Year award. At Gaither, he has earned eight district championships and six conference championships. He was named the 2007 NFHS State Coach of the Year, and in 2009 was elected to the FACA Hall of Fame.

• Joseph Rider. Rider, 67, is currently an active FHSAA football official in his 35th year of officiating, and also serves as a replay official for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Before officiating, he played football for more than 10 years as a high school, collegiate and minor league player. Since1970, he has been a contest official, and has officiated more than 300 football games and 120 basketball games. He has also been a part of numerous FHSAA playoff crews, and has officiated two state championship games. He is a co-founder of the Royal Palm Football Officials Association in Fort Myers. He served as president for that association, as well as the South Gulf Football Officials Association. In 2005, he received a certificate from the FHSAA commemorating more than 35 years of service as a contest official.

• Samuel Sirianni. Sirianni, now deceased, is the all-time winningest coach at Fort Myers High School. With his 244 wins, he also holds the record for the most wins in Lee County and Southwest Florida.  In 37 years at Fort Myers, he held coaching positions in football, golf and basketball. In football, he coached his teams to 20 county titles, two state semifinal appearances, and three undefeated seasons. In 1992, the USA Today ranked his football team sixth in the nation. He led his golf teams to nine conference championships and a 1982 state championship. A scholarship established in his honor has awarded more than 120 scholarships to student-athletes in Lee County. He is a seven-time Southwest Florida Coach of the Year, and is a member of the Fort Myers High School Hall of Fame Class of 1994.

Two separate committees comprised of active and retired administrators, coaches, officials and news media representatives evaluated the nominations of the nine individuals selected for induction to the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame this year. A seven-member screening committee first reviewed all nominations received and determined which nominees were viable candidates for induction into the Hall of Fame. The nominations of those candidates then were forwarded to a 16-member selection committee, which rated the nomination of each candidate to determine the candidates who would be inducted.

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 high schools.

Contact:
Laurel Ring
Public Relations Specialist, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 350
lring@fhsaa.org