Sports wouldn't be the same

The name Ernie Chatman is synonymous with county athletics.

By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 20, 2002

It's hard to imagine Hernando County sports without Ernie Chatman.

He's always been there -- as a player, fan, coach, critic or influence on those he has touched.

Single-minded in his approach -- the pursuit of excellence -- and in his goal -- to help the players reach their full potential -- Chatman was the overwhelming pick by community sports leaders as the most influential person in Hernando County athletics.

Chatman, 51, moved to Brooksville when he was 3, and it seems he has met every county resident since. He has coached the Hernando cross country team for 21 years, the softball squad for six and added 13 of baseball in between.

He evened coached Jerome Brown in middle school basketball and baseball.

"He's one of the most honest and committed coaches and people you will ever deal with," said his protege, Hernando baseball coach Tim Sims. "He only knows one way to go about anything -- with professionalism and maximum effort."

Chatman helped found the area's successful Dixie Major program, referees youth sports, and is working on his hobby of running a marathon in every state -- West Virginia became No. 26 a few weeks ago.

"When you talk about (Chatman), you don't have to read between the lines," Sims said. "The buck stops with him.

"Like it or dislike it, he'll be opinionated and honest, and if he's wrong, he'll admit it. That's why the respect level is the way it is."

2. Bob Levija

Hernando County sports history was once about nothing but Brooksville and the tradition an old Southern town collects.

Levija represents one of the later chapters, of Northern transplants who tilted the population base to the west side of the county and established a rich history of their own.

A native Chicagoan, Levija moved to Spring Hill to coach football in the 1970s and decided the new school needed a wrestling program. He built one from the mat up starting in 1979, compiling a trusted group of assistants and a battalion of former wrestlers who consider him like a father.

The only wrestling coach the Eagles have had, Levija, 50, has a 318-40-1 career record, 14 conference, 17 district and 6 region titles. The wrestling tradition he seeded in Spring Hill, where entire groups of siblings take up the sport as toddlers, seems certain to continue.

"Look at that man. Look at what he's done. It just speaks for itself." -- Tim Sims.

3. Ed Chester

Perhaps it's easier to list what Chester has not done for education and athletics in Hernando County.

He's been a teacher, administrator, and now an assistant principal at Springstead High, the school's first football coach in 1973, and at various times its girls and boys basketball, tennis, and volleyball coach.

Born in "the country section" of Brooksville, Chester, 69, is guided by a simple creed.

"I felt I needed to return something back and (education) was the way to do it," he said. "To see kids grow up and do well, it's what we all look forward to. We all do a little bit to have it happen."

Chester's son has followed his example. Ed Jr., whose likely NFL career ended with a knee injury at the University of Florida, works with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Gainesville.

"There's nobody I respect more than Ed Chester." -- Bob Levija.

4. Edd Poore

Poore is no longer involved in county athletics, but during his tenure as a basketball coach and principal at Hernando High, he helped create a culture of sports as a positive community influence.

A former basketball player at the University of Florida, Poore, 58, now is the county's executive director of support operations.

As Hernando's principal, he helped inspire future leaders such as Sims, former big-league pitcher Mike Walker and Florida State assistant track coach Jody Spangler.

"When he was principal, I was in his office a few times in my life and he let you know as an athlete you were held to a higher standard, you had to be more accountable." -- Tim Sims.

5. Ernie Wever

For more than 30 years, Brooksville's 76-year-old mayor has been instrumental in finding and funding space for Hernando's children to play.

From the baseball/softball facility that bears his name, to the Hernando Youth League he helped create, Wever's impact is felt in all area's of the county.

"He's had a quality impact on this community, but most of it goes unnoticed." -- Ernie Chatman.

6. Rodney Byrd

Byrd rose from the sandlots of Brooksville to college football's pinnacle, winning a national championship at Eastern Kentucky in 1979.

Byrd, 41, returned to Brooksville to coach in youth leagues and serve as athletic director, track, assistant football, and girls basketball coach at Hernando. He left his AD post at Hernando to become youth director of the Jerome Brown Community Center, where he helps run the Athletes Against Crime and Drugs program.

"He's bringing in new ideas and getting kids involved in sports to get them off the streets. Basically, he's helping those kids who have the extra time and don't know what to do with it." -- Ed Chester.

7. Tim Sims

Most that have swung a bat or thrown a baseball in Hernando County the past 20 years have played with, against or for one of Brooksville's most popular sons. For Sims, 37, baseball season never seems to end.

A former standout infielder at Hernando High, Sims graduated with a business administration degree from the University of Alabama, had a short professional career, then returned to Brooksville to begin giving back.

In an era when administrators seem to prefer teachers as coaches, Sims, who runs the family furniture business, has become a mainstay in the area dugout fraternity.

When high school season is over, Sims coaches HYL Dixie all-star teams, and won a national championship with the Majors division in 1990. A county team had not won the title since 1983, when Sims helped claim it as a player.

"He's meant a lot to this community." -- Ernie Chatman.

8. Mike Imhoff

Impressions are lasting in tightly woven communities, and Imhoff's remain more than six years after he was fatally shot at age 40 with fellow Hernando High teacher Mike Bristol.

The concrete remembrances are easily noticeable, like the Leopards gymnasium, which is dedicated to him.

It's the intangible things, memories of character and teaching that prompted many to consider him still one of Hernando's most influential sportsmen.

"He used football as an instrument to mold sensibilities. As long as there's a football player who was coached by Mike Imhoff (who is) alive on this earth, part of Mike Imhoff will still be alive." -- South Sumter coach Inman Sherman.

9. Stan Cooke

The standard against which all other golf courses in Hernando County are measured is Cooke's baby.

Since it's opening in 1993, World Woods has been consistently rated as one of the best in the world. Few communities, especially ones the size of Hernando County, get such a boast.

Cooke, 41, the club's director of golf, has had a lot to do with that, and helped World Woods take another forward in April when it hosted a nationally televised match-play event between PGA touring professionals Phil Mickelson and David Toms.

"He knows what he's doing, and he gives opportunities to a lot of people. He represents himself really well. Every time you see him, it's like you're good friends, not a business thing." -- Joey Ludeman, golf pro.

10. Cecil Lalas

Kids with happy stories rarely come knocking at the door of the Ambassador Boxing Club.

It's the ones with a need, a hurt that find their way to Lalas, a 46-year-old Publix employee who finds the time to dispense faith, discipline and work ethic from a spartan gym off County Line Road.

Wins and losses in the ring do not really matter -- although the gym produced undefeated pro Jose Alonzo -- it's about instilling a sense of worth and belonging. The kids keep coming, unfortunately they probably always will, but they have someone in their corner.

"I owe everything to Cecil Lalas." -- Jose Alonzo.

-- This list was compiled in consultation with more than 12 current and former players, coaches, administrators and fans from the county. Information from Times archives contributed to this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright