The Coastal Empire Awards
As a high school athlete, it’s difficult to get recognition, simply due to the sheer number of athletes. The GHSA alone has 466 public and private schools as members that each have an average of 10 sports. The competition is always intense, and the large number of competitors just further increases the competitive nature of high school sports.
“As a sports fan and former sports writer and editor, there is nothing I enjoy more than high school competition,” said Savannah Morning News Executive Editor Rana L. Cash.
Surrounding the Savannah area, the Coastal Empire High School Sports Awards is beginning to be in the back of everyone’s minds yet again. Every year USA TODAY hosts several state and national high school sports awards, including the Coastal Empire awards. This show is cumulated over nine months, watching carefully and deciding which are the best athletes in the area. High school athletes residing in South Georgia all know about the awards as it gives them all an excellent reason to perform their best to be recognized.
One driving force of the success of these awards has been the All-Star sports names Coastal Empire brings in to host the show and be featured guests. At the 2020 awards, some extraordinarily large names appeared including New England’s Patriot head coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick, as well as the point guard for the Golden State Warriors and three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry. These large names draw a lot of attention to the awards not only for fans, but also for the athletes.
The 2021 awards are already in progress, with fall sports coming to a close and winners having to be chosen for those sports. Athletes of fall sports won’t know the winners of the categories until July 15, when the virtual show begins. Organizers for the event tried and hoped to be able to make the event in-person, but the impending virus was deemed too dangerous to challenge.
“Due to the various county, state, and regional variations in protection against the spread of the virus, as well as our own commitment to safety, we couldn’t confidently plan for live events across the country in 2021,” said Crystal Costa, Gannett’s event director for the high school sports award series. “We do hope and plan to be returning to our ESPY-style high school awards shows in person in 2022.”
Thirteen sports across 26 schools with hundreds of athletes all fighting for only 33 awards. Top awards include Male and Female Athletes of the Year, Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, as well as a few more creative awards such as the Courage Award.
Written by: Lexi Fitzpatrick
