Yes they did!

FHSAA rescinded the reduction to athletic contests in Wednesday's board meeting. The decision was surely in response to a storm of protest on the gender-equity front, embodied in a Title IX lawsuit filed in Jacksonville in June.
"I believe what we did in April was the best thing for the membership then, and given the situation, what we did today was in its best interest now," said FHSAA Board of Directors President Greg Zornes in a press release.
The original intent was to save money for member schools in a collapsing economy, while maintaining a reasonable network of competition. Football, with by far the fewest contests, was understandably left out of the equation, and competitive cheer was exempted as a sop to gender balance. However, as the organization's own participation survey shows, about 36,000 more girls than boys would be impacted by the schedule reductions, an obvious inequity. Now the organization and member schools will be left looking for a new plan to deal with school sports expenses even as school district revenues are crashing. They will have to come up with a more equitable way to cut costs when they come back for Round Two.
See my column in the Chiefland Citizen for more perspective.

Joey and D.J. - The story behind the story

Rivals back together again, a recent Chiefland Citizen sports feature, spotlights Chiefland's Joey Harris and Williston's D.J. Bowers. Harris is now at Florida International University playing football, and Bowers is at Santa Fe College in Gainesville. Longtime friends, former teammates and rivals on AAU and school baseball teams, both returned to Gainesville for the summer to reunite and rekindle their hopes of playing next-level baseball.
Harris and Bowers brought a selection of their old uniforms to the interview (conducted while Bowers was playing baseball for the Gainesville Braves), donning their old Williston Stingers threads (Bowers wore 8, Harris 99) and Williston and Chiefland unis. Harris had to borrow Chiefland head coach Kyle Parnell's number 44 jersey because the player who inherited his suit was out of town that weekend.
Shown in this pic with Bowers and Harris is Bowers' dad, Levy County Sheriff's Deputy Rob Bowers, who coached the pair on the Stingers.

Tee(ball) time!

Chiefland hosts the the 2009 T-Ball State Tournament at Strickland Park.
Games begin Thursday at 9 a.m. and conclude Sunday.
Here is the schedule for the teams' first games. After that, the bracket depends on whether a team wins or loses.
Thursday
9 a.m. Julington Creek (St. Johns County) vs. Bradford (Starke).
9 a.m. Micanopy vs. Middleburg.
10:30 a.m. Tanglewood (Duval County) vs. Santa Fe.
10:30 a.m. San Jose (Duval County) vs. Chiefland.
Noon - Madison County vs. Micanopy-Middleburg winner
Noon - Palatka vs. Miami
1:30 p.m. Belleview vs. Wellswood Red
1:30 p.m. Eagle Lake vs. Oviedo Hurricanes
3 p.m. Okeeheelee Heat vs. Winter Haven
3 p.m. Longwood vs. Palatka-Miami winner
4:30 p.m. Longwood vs.Belleview-Wellswood Red winner.
4:30 p.m. Okeeheelee Sandlot vs. Belleview.
6:30 p.m Oviedo Knights vs. Wellswood Black (tentative time)
Visit ChieflandCitizen.com for photos and results.

Seen in Chiefland

after CHS Baccalaureate service at Lighthouse Word Church, parked by the fountain.
Cheers, Jack and Mabel.

Chiefland wins; Bronson on deck

metaphorically speaking. Chiefland dispatched Ft. White 12-0 Friday in a clean, methodical game that showcased a team aware of its weaknesses and playing to its strengths. This year's Indians won't be big, but they'll be fast, strong and fit. Playing over their heads against the 2A Ft. White team, Chiefland's defensive line closed up against the visitors' running game. Chiefland receivers, playing both ways in the secondary, punished the Ft. White QB and receivers. Chiefland had three defensive picks, one leading to a score, while giving up no INTs on offense.
CHS head coach Ajay Ulmer underscored the leading role of the defensive line, praising them for stepping up and aiding the shutout. He noted that the team's off-season commitment to the weight room allowed a fairly small team to play stronger than anyone expected.
Bronson hosts Hawthorne tomorrow (Friday) night at 7 p.m. at Old Bronson High School stadium.
Photo by Jenna McKenna. Chiefland's Robby McCabe brings down the Ft. White ballcarrier.

CHS announces new coaches

After an astonishingly quick search, Chiefland High School Principal Pam Asbell announced Thursday she had found coaches to fill the three vacancies left by the non-renewal of Emily Gore's contract.
CES teacher Tammy Arrington, who has previously served as volleyball head coach and softball assistant, will return to coach varsity volleyball. Janelle Alexander will stay on as varsity assistant and JV head coach.
CHS Athletic Director Chris Wilson will take on varsity girls' basketball, and Alexander will continue as JV coach.
CHS cross country coach Jennifer Anderson will add track and field to her duties.

Chiefland football

Today, May 1, is the first day of spring football. chiefland football meets right after school on the practice field. Spring game is friday may 22 at home, wayne pridgen stadium, against Ft White. Call chs at 493-6000 about quarterback club BBQ dinner

bhs beisbol

Bhs defense calms down and slaps together some outs, but bats miss the memo so bronson goes down in 5, 10-0 mayo, and mayo advances to final, winner of trenton-oak hall.
It is now, officially, football season.
Spring football starts tomorrow.

FW: bhs beisbol

Iggles settle down and send mayo down in order in 3d. Bhs up now top 4th still 10-0 mayo

FW: bhs beisbol

5 more mayo runs cross in 2nd ing, bronsn still blanked. Kelby comes to spell luke after7th run but iggles still rattled. Bhs to bat in top 3rd

FW: bhs beisbol

Tuff 1st ing for iggles vs mayo in dist demifinal as hornets with 1 run and 2 out get grand slam for 5-0 start over bronson

FW: bhs beisbol

Kelby sends them down in order for bhs 4-2 win. Bhs advance to district semi thurs 4:30. Winner to final friday 7:30

Bhs beisbol

Hawthorne rallies for 2 rons in bottom 6th but bhs stages 2 out bounce in top 7th. popper gets on and king dbls to bring in the insurance run. 4-2 bhs bottom 7th

bhs beisbol

Luke gets out of the inning with a couple nice plays from spads at 1b. Popper at 3b catches the 3rd out. Still 3-0 bhs bottom 5th

FW: bhs beisbol

In 3rd inng bhs cracks hawthorne's pitching as cj king gets standup 2b and kelby singles behind him. King and barber score and with 2 out jake williams gets a hit. Mario spadavecchia drives him in and bhs leads this district qtrfinal 3-0 after 3 innings

Chiefland baseball eliminated

CHS boys fell to Newberry 13-4 in the first round of district tournaments at Williston.

Ths gets 2 men on

Ths gets 2 men on in top 7th but johnny w runs down a foul ball for last out. 4-2 chs final

Chs v ths beisbol

Josh w rips a 2b to score johnny. brent s got ibb to bring up wasson. 4-2 chs, top 7th

chs v ths beisbol

Chs holds 'em for no runs and returns to bat in bottom 6th. Still 3-2 chs

chs v ths beisbol

Chiefland holds 'em and returns to hit bottom 4th. Still 2-0 ths

Chs v ths beisbol

Chs goes down in order in bottom 3rd

chs v ths beisbol

Last tiger batter flies to center. Chiefland up

chs v trenton beisbol

Reidy loads the bases and a fielding error let's 2 runs score for trenton. 2-0 ths 2 out top 3rd.

chs v trenton beisbol

Senior nite salute to donald anderson, dane cothron and josh wasson.

Chs v whs sb

After chs 6th inng rally, tori s shuts them down in 7th. whs win 8-3. Tomorrow whs face pk yonge for dist chship, 7 pm williston

chs v whs sb

Still 8-2 top 6th. Whs up

Chs v whs sb

Amie triples on and BD's sac fly brings her home. 8-2 whs

Chs v whs sb

Chs loads the bases but can't convert. Still 8-1 whs bottom 5th

chs v whs sb

Another big inning for whs as they go up 8-1

Chs v whs sb

Holding now. Chs down in order, whs gets 2 runners on but amie gets the 3td out force at 1b. still 4-1

chs v whs sb

Whs girl get 4-1 lead on chs after 1

Chs sofbol

17-0 top of 4th in chs v newberry. Charissa and amie left base early for last 2 out.

bhs beisbol

Last branf batter grounds to brooks who throws to cj for the putout. Bronson wins 7-5 and improves to .500 in district

Bhs beisbol

Kelby gets ibb and comes home on popper stevenson's sac bunt, 7-5 bhs, now top 7th

Bhs beisbol

Kelby mows them down and bhs back to bat. Still 5-5 bottom 6th

FW: bhs beisbol

Eagles put runners on but can't convert. 5-5 top 6th

bhs beisbol

Branf runner scores but kelby gets out of the inning, 5-5. bottom 5th opens, cj leads with asgl up the middle

FW: bhs beisbol

Bases load up again and kelby b comes in to relieve luke with 1 out in the fifth.

FW: bhs beisbol

Borges' bb sparks a rally as three runs score. Kelby b doubles on and comes home on a passed ball. Bronson takes the 5-4 lead. Now top 5th

FW: Bhs beisbol

Anthony borges walks on and branford changes pitchers from b2 to b1. Branf scored one more in the top half so its 4-2 branf

bhs beisbol

With 2 out cj king lashes a 2RBI single to shallow center. Now 3-2 branf top of 4th

bhs beisbol

Branf pitcher walks 'em full but with 2 out virgil grounds to the pitcher. Still 2-0, now top 3rd

bhs beisbol

Luke bears down and strikes out the next 2, gets out of the inning

Bhs beisbol

Luke throws the brushback and Branford 11 gets it on the leg. Blue rules he failed to avoid and calls 11 back to the box. 11 walks and luke hits next guy and a run comes in. Was 1-0 bran, now 2-0

bhs/cks track

Probably joe bishop and dustin crutchfield in hi jump

bhs/cks track

Caely looks good to qual in hi jump. Deanna to finals in hi and lo hurdles, josh loyd in hi

Bhs/cks track

Sam qualifies in LJ too. Looks like bhs willie ellison could get it in shot

bhs/cks track chs note

Chiefland track is at the villages for districts today. Cedar key and bronson at oak hall, so I went there. Already at 1a, bhs boys and girls qualify in 4x800, bhs liz gay in shot, probably cks josh lumley in discus, cks sam beckham in pole vault and plenty more. Beckham is having an off day on the vault, saying her long jump stride is affecting her plant.

bhs beisbol

Pky wins 7-2

bhs beisbol

With 2 out tyler m walks. kelby gets a standup 3b to score tyler m and jake w is up. He's caught trying to stretch a single but the RBI - kelby scores - is good. 7-2 pky

bhs beisbol

Popper gets out of the inning with no more damage and bhs back to hit, top 6th. cj is up

bhs beisbol

Virgil stranded when coleman pops up with 2 out. Now btm 5th, pky back up. steinbacher gives p9 a free base in the ribs and popper stevenson comes in to relieve

bhs beisbol

Virgil legs out a grounder, takes second on bad throw

bhs beisbol

Bhs' best defensive inning as virgil has 2 nice catches in CF and tyler m snags a ball in the hole and makes the play at first. 7-0 pky, now top 5th, bhs bats

Bhs beisbol

Eagles' top 3 go down in order and pky retirns to bat