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Athletes, coaches adjust to changes

By JOHN SCHWARB and EMILY NIPPS
Published March 10, 2005

Tara Allen got her Hernando County Athletic Conference spoils Tuesday, recognition for a standout golf season that ended more than four months ago.

She was quick to offer that being named the top girls player was an accomplishment. But her thoughts on the maroon-colored patch, shaped like Hernando County, were somewhat less than complimentary.

"I was talking to other students (who received them). Nobody seems to like it," Allen said. "I understand why they changed it, because Hernando County is the only county in the conference now, but I don't know. Maroon? It looks nothing like anything else. It's just odd. I guess it's something that will grow on you."

Coaches echoed that sentiment, claiming that Monday's first general meeting of the HCAC was a success, if not a bit unusual in how Citrus County coaches no longer are in the mix.

The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference disbanded last fall when Citrus administrators pulled out of the league.

"I wish Citrus County stuck around," Hernando boys basketball coach Jeff Laing said. "It made player of the year more significant because there were more people to beat out, so to speak." Instead, county public school coaches from the fall and winter sports gathered at Springstead to select the first All-HCAC teams. Most valuable players were selected, from Allen to star Springstead quarterback Ian Wald to three-time Hernando state champion wrestler Addison Chipoletti, and more than 175 other athletes were honored as first-team or honorable-mention picks. Coaches of the year also were named.

According to the freshly-written HCAC constitution, a set number of players were allowed to be honored in each sport. Some coaches quickly picked their teams (Nature Coast girls basketball coach Jason Montgomery said his peers "whizzed through our meeting"), while others required a bit more debate and some, no debate at all.

"We just took our meet that we had with the Citrus schools and took our placement right off that, the top seven boys and girls," Hernando boys cross-country coach Ernie Chatman said.

First-team members received certificates and patches, though different from the Florida-shaped ones previously awarded by the GCAC. Maroon and tan colors were selected since those are the county school district's colors.

"Any time you can give them something substantial to get their hands around, they like that," HCAC executive secretary and Nature Coast athletic director Joy Greene said.

Even if takes some getting used to. "It doesn't match the other ones," Allen said. "But everything goes through a change."

[Last modified March 10, 2005, 01:14:16]