Inside the USA Today High School Sports Awards

James Blasco (: 00:32

Hello and welcome to the Charge Forward Coaching Podcast. I'm your host, James Blasco I know every episode of the Charge Forward Coaching Podcast, we focus on mental toughness and the four C's mental toughness. But today we have a special episode. Today we're gonna talk about the USA Today's High School Sports Awards and specifically the awards happening right here in Daytona Beach. And this started here in Daytona about 10 years ago and I've been privileged and honored to be a part of it.

for all 10 years. And let me tell you, it is one of the biggest events in our community. It highlights some of the great student athletes we have here in Volusia and Flagler counties. And it's something the community, I know USA Today and the Daytona Beach News Journal is very proud of. And to help us walk through what this is all about, because it's a year long deal for these student athletes and for the journalists that are involved. Chris Vinel is here.

Now he's with the USA Today and he's with Daytona Beach News Journal. He's a sports editor and he's the guy at the helm for high school sports awards here in Volusia and Flagler County. So Chris, welcome to the program.

Chris Vinel (: 01:44

I was going to say you're giving me way too much credit there, but no, I appreciate you for having me. And this is one of my favorite days of the year, just because in the sports department, I mean, it is our biggest day. So it's always fun to talk.

James Blasco (: 01:46

You

For sure. And like I said, I mean, all the different events we've had and speakers and just getting to know some of these student athletes is such an awesome time. So for the folks out there that probably have no idea what this is all about. First, let me say this is one of the coolest, most impressive high school sports awards events in the country. And USA Today does it in several markets. We're proud to be a part of it here in Daytona Beach.

but it's a fantastic event. Everybody looks forward to it. So Chris, why don't you explain what it is and how we get to this point where we celebrate the athletes this year, specifically on May 21st.

Chris Vinel (: 02:39

Yeah, I mean, if you've ever seen the Grammys or the Espy's, I mean, this is our version of that, right? ⁓ We're just taking the best student athletes, the best teams, the best coaches in our area for high school sports and just having a night to celebrate them. And it looks like a typical award show. We'll call you up and give you a plaque and kind of read off your accomplishments. But ⁓ we sprinkle a bunch of other fun things.

throughout the night as well. This year is going to be, we're moving to a new location. We're at Daytona State this year and it'll be on May 21st. So the countdown is on. It's getting close.

James Blasco (: 03:16

Yeah, absolutely. It's getting super exciting. And I may be biased, maybe you too, but the athletes that come out of Florida and specifically the athletes that come out of Volusia & Flagler Counties they're really impressive, man. These kids are the best of the best and they could compete anywhere. A lot go on to division one, to the pros, all this kind of stuff and a lot just go on to be great human beings because of all the effort and work they've put in. So why don't we talk a little bit about the process? It's not just the event.

on the 21st. I mean, there's a lot of schools involved, a lot of sports involved, a lot of athletes involved. How in the world do you get it all down to some finalist and then the winner for each sport, both boys and girls?

Chris Vinel (: 03:58

You know, it kind of depends on the sport. There are some sports I'm thinking of like a cross country where everyone's running the same distance. Everyone's competing in the same events. So we're just pretty much comparing times. You know, here's the fastest time in the area. Here's the second fastest time in the area. And that leaves us with a pretty cut and dry list. ⁓ There are some that are more subjective, so to speak, though, baseball, softball, basketball, soccer and those. ⁓

You know, we start the selection process with a ballot that we send out to all the all the head coaches of those sports and say, all right, you know, here's a blank slate. Here's your 12 first team slots. Here's your 12 second team slots. You know, pick your winner at the end. And that kind of forms the basis for ⁓ those lists in those sports. Now, after we get those ballots back, you know, we're not just going strictly with those.

you know, because throughout the year we have our set our staff has seen, you know, many if not all of these student athletes. ⁓ So, you know, we're kind of injecting our own interpretation, our own eye test in there and comparing stats ⁓ and just kind of all kinds of things that go into it. ⁓ But the coach ballots are really the basis of that. And then, you know, we go ahead and and put our. ⁓

grade so to speak or are you know comparing the stats and all that fun stuff with it.

James Blasco (: 05:26

Your team does such a great job. That's a ⁓ lot of games, a lot of events, lot of athletes to keep track of. It's so impressive that you.

Chris Vinel (: 05:34

It starts

on day one, like it starts, you know, in August and we're still wrapping things up a couple of days before the show usually.

James Blasco (: 05:42

Yeah, that I've noticed. Yeah, a lot of that's going on. So yeah, totally. You have lived it and have done an awesome job. The sports, especially high school sports in all communities, I think is very important. Let's talk about our community. What role does high school sports play from your perspective within Volusia, Flagler counties, Daytona Beach area in terms of bringing the community together?

Chris Vinel (: 05:45

I'm sure you have.

It's huge. mean, when I moved here ⁓ three, four years ago, it's like the first thing people were telling me. I immediately would tell people in the grocery store at a restaurant or whatever, yeah, I'm starting as a high school sports reporter with the news journal. And they would just like light up and go, my gosh, you gotta check out Seabreeze or you gotta check out Matanzas or whomever. ⁓ And it's just one of those touch points where if you go to...

Nashville or you go to LA or something. They'll be talking about the Dodgers or they'll be talking about, you know, the Tennessee Titans, the pro teams in town. I mean, in a smaller, more tight knit community like Daytona Beach ⁓ and the surrounding areas, I feel like the high school sports or the high school athletes kind of are the celebrities, right? They give people things to talk about. Like you've mentioned, there's so many good athletes in this area. It's one of the things that

is both a positive and negative of doing this show and of picking these all area lists because, you know, it's hard to whittle it down to just a couple of names, right? ⁓ But yeah, you know, they kind of take on almost a celebrity status. And when they, you know, win state championships or do this or that, the community is fast to celebrate them. And I'm thinking of, you know, the parades, local parades that have been put on for state champions of the last couple of years.

and different things like that. ⁓ it's just a fun thing that I think pretty much everybody in the community can take part of, whether you're a student athlete, a parent, or just a community member with really no ties other than living in that area. You can be proud, and people are proud of their local student athletes.

James Blasco (: 07:54

Yeah, and you mentioned how many great athletes are from this area. I'm not going to go through the list. For those of you out there, go ahead and get on Google or chat, GPT or Co Pilot wherever you want to go and just look up Volusia Flagler Counties athletes that went to the pros or Division One big time athletes or the Olympics. They're there and you're going to recognize the names. And I had the good fortune of talking with Coach Joe Giddens at Mainland High School.

Chris Vinel (: 08:00

You

James Blasco (: 08:20

the basketball coach, I know you know him, and he was best friends with Vince Carter, played with him for a couple championships. And it's not just the players. You talk to some of these coaches, they're fantastic coaches. These are the cream of the crop in terms of not just coaching athletes in their sport, but like in Coach Giddens case, he really cares about the individual that he's coaching. He cares more about the individual. So these kids are not just learning to be great athletes, they're learning to be great people. And that's part of a, just a...

tremendous athletic community here in Volusia and Flagler County. So you mentioned families and the community. What kind of impact does it have for the families? I know at the events, one of the coolest things, the kids come in, they're on the red carpet, getting their photos taken, stuff like that. And you could just see their parents are lit up, they're smiling, they're so proud. What kind of impact do you think it has? Not just on their family, but their friends and schools.

Chris Vinel (: 09:14

Well, you're right. mean, that red carpet when they walk into the sports awards every year is one of my favorite things too, just because you're seeing them tag, bring little siblings along and that sort of thing. And hey, come get in this photo. ⁓ That's always just cool to see. I think it just continues with families. mean, it gives their other siblings things to look up to. ⁓ If the oldest sibling was an honoree at one of the sports award shows, ⁓

you know, of course the younger sibling probably wants to be too. For parents, it just allows them that ⁓ opportunity to just, you know, kind of reflect and just have a night to be super proud of all their kid has accomplished because, ⁓ you know, these students athletes accomplish a lot. It is a ginormous time commitment to do what they do. And many of these student athletes on top of juggling all the school things, of course. ⁓

they're playing multiple sports. It's not just one, which is crazy and something that ⁓ I don't know that I would be able to manage today. ⁓ But yeah, and then in terms of community members, again, I think it's just a spotlight that, ⁓ you know, if you're not closely following along or, you know, you're not caught up in the day-to-day minutia, it's just kind of an overall event, an overarching event that allows you to just kind of, ⁓ you know, have some pride in your community, right?

James Blasco (: 10:42

sure and I could only do one thing at a time too. So there's there's no way I could do all these different things. I got to focus and I have a student athlete that I work with with the coaching practice and he was going through his goals with me. This is a few months back before the school year and one of the top things on his list was I want to be you know the high school sports player of the year in his sport.

Chris Vinel (: 10:45

You

James Blasco (: 11:08

And it was a big deal to him and he got darn close to achieving it. So it's a great tool for individuals to use to lean on to provide some motivation in some ways to help them get to where they want to go. Any stories this year or moments this year on the field, maybe even off the field that stand out to you? there any athletes, any games, anything that you say, wow, that was really cool to be a part of?

Chris Vinel (: 11:36

⁓ One that immediately pops to mind is Seabreeze Boys Bowling winning their second consecutive state championship. It's hard to do it once, but to do it twice in a row ⁓ with some new team members. wasn't just all the returners from the previous year. ⁓ That's pretty special. ⁓ You've got other teams like Atlantic Boys Basketball running to the state championship game for the first time in program history. Again, that is hard to do.

⁓ So just things like that. There's always off the field moments or off the field stories that we hear that are, you know, just inspirational or just so cool. ⁓ Too many to name, to be honest right now. ⁓ But yeah, there's so many cool events in this ⁓ area. And one of the perks of my job is just, you know, getting to hear and tell some of those.

James Blasco (: 12:30

It is a perk. mean, you get to go to all these cool sporting events, see great athletes, see great games, all those kinds of things. That's a ton, ton of fun. I'm sure. What about following sports here in Volusia and Flagler counties? You focus on the Daytona Beach News Journal. USA Today has always had tremendous sports content and it trickles all the way from the pros all the way down to the high school level that we're talking about. How can listeners

find out more and get more content and information about Volusia & Flagler, maybe even the market they're listening in from right now.

Chris Vinel (: 13:08

Yeah, I mean, you can go to our website, ⁓ news-journalonline.com. We've got everything there. Of course, you can pick up a print newspaper. Listen, you still can find those. You can pick one of those up. And then follow us on social media, of course. We're either Daytona Beach News Journal or DB News Journal on pretty much all platforms that you're on. ⁓ You know, we're trying to even bump that up a little bit more. So definitely stay tuned there.

James Blasco (: 13:20

They're out there. I've seen them.

Chris Vinel (: 13:37

And if you'd like to follow us individually, you know, I'm Chris Vinel on Twitter. ⁓ Our high school sports reporter is Zach Allen, who does a fantastic job. ⁓ He's a huge part of this sports award show and this program, and this is his first year. So I've been telling him kind of what I've been saying on this podcast of like, all right, Zach, get ready. And, you know, he's going to, he's going to get baptized here shortly, which is fantastic. You know, he's looking forward to May 21st. So.

James Blasco (: 13:57

You

Chris Vinel (: 14:06

Follow him as well on social media.

James Blasco (: 14:09

Yeah. And I was curious as we were preparing for this special edition of the podcast, what was your sport of choice when you were growing up? What did you focus on as ⁓ that's a sport I want to excel in baseball player.

Chris Vinel (: 14:23

I ⁓ was a baseball player. I was a baseball

player and it was the only one I was halfway decent at. I played some other ones. I played soccer. I played football for a very short period of time. I played a little golf, still play a little golf, but ⁓ I don't know if I more so play it than commit it because I'm not very good. ⁓ But yeah, baseball was the only one I was ever halfway decent at.

James Blasco (: 14:42

You

Yeah, baseball is I stopped playing baseball kind of early on. I think as a freshman or something like that. you know, I was all in on on football, but my kids, it was interesting. They all played different sports, had a cross country runner. He's really good, had a really good golfer. Football was mixed in there. So I just enjoyed being around the sports, you know, as we get a little bit older and we're not out there necessarily participating at the high levels. It's neat to see the kids out there challenging themselves and.

going after what they wanna go after

Chris Vinel (: 15:21

James, like just having, seeing those different sports, because each kind of has like a slightly different atmosphere, right? A slightly different vibe. So you can show up at a cross country meet, you know, or show up at a baseball game and it's going to be a completely different set of circumstances. But the common theme is like, all these kids are super talented. All of them are, you know, doing their best, putting in this, this insane effort after a long day of school or whatever. And then they're just having fun, right?

That's one of the great things about this job too is just like you're usually usually in pretty happy places

James Blasco (: 15:56

Yeah, and you forget it's because high school at least for me was a long time ago. You forget how long those days are. You're very up. You're up very early. Catch a bus or drive to school. You school all day. Then you practice for a couple hours and you gotta go home, do homework or whatever other obligations that you have. And this is like every day of the week you're doing it. And I know for some of us we work and I know we work hard, but you we don't quite get to the gym. So our days are abbreviated and these kids are just.

really pushing themselves. It's it's it's amazing and they should be proud of the effort that they put in for sure. Well Chris, thanks for being on the podcast. Really appreciate it. We're looking forward to being at the event on May 21st at Daytona State College. Charge Forward Coaching our podcasts will be there. We're going to interview all of the kids that will be present at the event, so we're excited about that. And if you want to get tickets or you want to get involved in some way,

just reach out to Chris, he could hook you up. There's all different kinds of ways to get involved and support the student athletes, the event and the community. So, don't forget to like, share, subscribe, all that good stuff. Go to chargeforwardcoaching.com if you'd like to learn more about mental toughness and coaching opportunities and what I do and how I might be able to help you. But in the meantime, just keep charging forward.