Tarpon closer to honoring star athlete

Commissioners are behind a proposal to place a plaque at a playground to pay homage to a Tarpon High quarterback and youth football leader.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 1, 2000

TARPON SPRINGS -- In an attempt to rectify what one city official calls an "embarrassing" chapter of city history, commissioners are moving toward honoring a onetime star athlete and youth sports leader who died young.

City commissioners said during a workshop Tuesday night that they are willing to have a plaque made in honor of John "Flat-Top" Tsataros, a versatile high school athlete in the 1960s who died when he was hit by a car on Tarpon Avenue in 1968. The plaque would be put at the Discovery Super Playground.

"To do anything less than that probably would be a huge insult to the family," city Commissioner Beverley Billiris said.

Five years ago, a previous City Commission voted to name a football field at the Tarpon Sports Complex in honor of Tsataros, then back-tracked a few weeks later when Commissioner Helene Pierce changed her mind and voted against the proposal. Pierce said there were many other people who also deserved such recognition, and that there should be specific criteria for naming city property.

The decision stung Tsataros' family and friends.

"We were all upset when they reversed the vote," said Celeste Tsataros Constas, John Tsataros' sister.

Tsataros, who earned his nickname from his close-cropped haircut, was a star quarterback at Tarpon Springs High School and excelled at other sports. After graduating in 1961, he became involved in youth sports and coached the first youth football team to play in the city, relatives said. He was 26 when he died.

Unlike five years ago, commissioners seem intent on following through this time. The four present for the workshop said they would support having a plaque at the playground, which is off Keystone Road east of U.S. 19. Commissioner David Archie did not attend the meeting.

Commissioner Cindy Domino came up with the idea. She was on the commission in 1995, and said she was embarrassed by the board's action.

"I feel it was probably one of the worst decisions ever made by a city commission," she said.

The new proposal, which will come to a vote Dec. 12, is more limited than the original request. After commissioners voted in 1995 not to name the field for Tsataros, the city came up with an elaborate system for naming city property. The latest proposal would not be subject to those rules because the playground would not be named for Tsataros.

Constas said family members and friends would like to donate a monument with a picture of her brother at the playground, in addition to the city's plaque. Mayor Frank DiDonato said city officials would have to discuss the request, and the issue will come up again on Dec. 12.

Constas said she hopes something can be worked out.

"That would make the family happy," she said.

- Staff writer Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.

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