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FHSAA rescinded the reduction to athletic contests in Wednesday's board meeting.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