People mark time in different ways. Some just use the calendar—the year ends in December. And some people, who don’t get much of a summer break, don’t know what month, or week, or day, it is.
People like me—the upcoming fall marks my 25th year covering Osceola County high school sports—do it a little different. For me, this is the end of the year, with another to start in just a couple months, or few weeks, or next fall.
(We’ve answered the “What In The Heck Are We Gonna Put In the Sports Section in June and July?” question with: The All-County teams. These kids have been so darned busy making the playoffs and state tournaments in the winter and spring that we didn’t get the chance.)
I’ve realized my perspective on the county’s athletes has changed over the years. As a rookie reporter in my 20s, these kids could’ve been my siblings. As I aged—and they stayed the same age—they went to being nieces and nephews. Now they could be my kids; in fact I have a rising junior soccer player at University High.
Which makes me amazed each year I attend the county’s Orange Belt Conference annual end-of-year banquet. (First off, I’m amazed the county has eight public high schools, double of when I started in 2000). But I’m mostly amazed at what our student athletes accomplish on the fields, in the gyms, and in the classrooms. They transcend anything I accomplished—I didn’t think there were enough hours in the day, and I was a ‘B’-ish student.
And, I’m again reminded of the sacrifices of athletic directors and coaches, who are often away from their families because they are supporting other families’ athletes.
Osceola High’s Eric Pinellas was awarded the M. Dean Cherry Coach of the Year Award. He’s as deserving of any other for the award. His super-supporting wife and studette-to-be daughter (watch for her on the track soon) barely see him August through November or December when the Kowboys are on the gridiron. He’s dedicated to Kowboy greatness as a great former OHS football player himself.
“I’ve been up for this three times. Last time I lost to a cheerleading coach,” he said at the OBC banquet with a chuckle.
The award isn’t lost on him, or on a guy like Nikko Martell, the now two-time winner of the Mike Fields Distinguished Leadership Award winner, who is stepping away from coaching to be a stronger husband and family member. In a world where our kids are pulled in 147 directions by an expanding world, he’s been an example of what adult leadership should be, in victory on the field and otherwise— such as when he met the challenge of starting the Tohopekaliga High baseball program in 2019.
“It’s important to be in this for the right reasons,” he said. “When you have a good team, you get focused on winning, so it can be easy to lose sight of the rest of it.
“We still a work ethic and that helping other people and being a good citizen is important. I try to emulate the things (his former coach) Jim Moran did for me. It’s not all about winning. And I’m proud to say I’ve stuck to my guns about what is important.”
“He’s stepped in and been the father figure for some kids,” said Coach Martell’s better half, Diana Lopez.
As my kids’ father, I can say … I wouldn’t mind them having a coach like Nikko.
And with that … everybody in the sports village take some time off. That’s an order. (Yes, I’ll be practicing what I preach. Legoland is calling my kids this June.)
We’ll see you in August. Again. I’m looking forward to seeing our kids out there.
