Basketball Corridor of Famer and Broadcast Analyst for Contained in the NBA Shaquille O’Neal and four-time Olympic Gold Medalist, four-time WNBA Champion and four-time World Cup Champion Sue Chicken will announce the general Male and Feminine Athletes of the Yr for the Higher Jacksonville Excessive Faculty Sports activities Awards.
The Higher Jacksonville Excessive Faculty Sports activities Awards is a part of the most important highschool sports activities recognition program within the nation. High athletes in most state-sanctioned sports activities will likely be honored throughout an on-demand broadcast at 8 p.m. Jap June 28 on the event website.
New Jersey native Shaquille O’Neal is taken into account to be one of the vital dominant basketball gamers in NBA historical past. At 7 foot 1 and over 325 kilos, O’Neal’s larger-than-life persona and athleticism have resulted in worldwide adulation and one of the vital passionate fan bases in sports activities and leisure. Over 19 seasons, he earned 15 All-Star choices and performed for six franchises and was identified by many because the “most dominant ever.” Since his profession ended, he has discovered success in performing, music, tv and gaming and is at the moment an analyst on Contained in the NBA.
Philanthropically, O’Neal’s relationship with the Boys & Ladies Membership of America dates again to his youth in New Jersey. He’s a nationwide spokesperson for the group and has been taking part in campaigns with the non-profit for the previous 15 years. In 2019, O’Neal formally launched The Shaquille O’Neal Basis, which works to create pathways for underserved youngsters to assist them attain their full potential.
Thought to be the world’s premier level guard, Sue Chicken is a universally celebrated star and the WNBA’s all-time chief in assists. Taking part in a number of the greatest basketball of her profession at 40, she is considered one of solely seven ladies to win an Olympic gold medal (she has 4 of them), a World Championship gold medal (additionally 4) an NCAA Championship (two) and a WNBA Championship (4). Chicken can be a five-time Euroleague Champion, an 11-time WNBA All-Star and was voted by the followers as one of many WNBA’s High 15 Gamers of All Time. Off the courtroom, she spends time as a basketball analyst for ESPN, as a entrance workplace government with the Denver Nuggets and advocating for equality, LGBTQ+ rights, Black Lives, common well being and wellness and increasing alternatives for ladies.
O’Neal will likely be saying the Male Athlete of the Yr and Chicken will likely be saying the Feminine Athlete of the Yr, two of the largest awards given on the present.
Additionally new to the present is City Meyer, a three-time school soccer nationwide champion coach, who got here out of retirement in 2021 to take the lead teaching function for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Earlier than that, the Ohio native led the state’s beloved Buckeyes to this system’s eighth nationwide championship. He had beforehand led the Florida Gators to 2 BCS Nationwide Championships and is considered one of simply three coaches to win a soccer nationwide championship at two universities. He retired from teaching school soccer in 2019, however labored as an assistant athletic director for Ohio State and as an analyst for Fox Sports activities earlier than returning to teaching with the Jaguars.
Meyer will likely be saying the Staff and Coach of the Yr.
The monitor and area awards will likely be introduced by Michael Johnson.
Acknowledged as the best lengthy sprinter within the historical past of monitor and area, Johnson established a file of 13 Olympic and World Championship gold medals throughout his 11-year profession. Throughout his competing years, he was so constant and dominant that he was often known as Superman. He as soon as held the world and Olympic information within the 200m, 400m and the world file within the indoor 400m. Within the 1996 Summer season Olympics in Atlanta, he turned the one male athlete in historical past to win each the 200- and 400-meter occasions on the identical Olympics, which earned him the title of “quickest man alive.”
Johnson operates Michael Johnson Efficiency, a coaching heart in Texas offering in individual and on-line coaching for up-and-coming athletes and is a longtime creator. After recovering from a stroke that left him unable to stroll in 2019, he has additionally spent a lot of his time selling stroke consciousness and prevention.
The wresting awards will likely be introduced by Kyle Snyder, an American Freestyle Wrestler who’s the youngest Olympic gold medalist and the youngest World Champion in American wrestling historical past. He’s additionally the youngest wrestler to win World, NCAA and Olympic championships all in the identical 12 months. In 2016, he returned to school and gained an NCAA wrestling championship then went on to win his second and third consecutive particular person NCAA titles as a heavyweight. Together with his come-from-behind victory within the 2017 World Championships, Staff USA earned its first World Championship in over 20 years. Snyder accomplished his school profession by being the primary and solely wrestler to win the NCAA, World and Olympic championships as a school athlete.
The Jacksonville Excessive Faculty Sports activities Awards is a multi-month student-athlete recognition program. On account of COVID-19 security precautions for college students and visitor audio system, the occasion was transformed to an on-demand broadcast present for 2021. Honoree choices for state sanctioned sports activities, who’re all featured within the present, are introduced all year long on the event website.
The present will likely be free to look at on any smartphone or laptop due to native enterprise sponsors, together with VyStar Credit score Union. Honorees ought to register on the present web site to order their complimentary athlete present field. Registrations are additionally used to ship out awards for winners following the present.
Different athletes becoming a member of this system which have been beforehand introduced embody:
- Three-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers
- Two-time FIFA World Cup soccer champion Alex Morgan
- 5-time swimming Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky
- Olympic gold medalist and four-time World Cup snowboarding champion Lindsey Vonn
- 2020 NFL Comeback Participant of the Yr Alex Smith
- Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings
- Baseball Corridor of Famer Chipper Jones
- U.S. Ladies’s Gymnastics gold and silver medalist Laurie Hernandez
- Three-time Professional Bowler and two-time First-Staff All-Professional exterior linebacker T.J. Watt
- Most profitable feminine tennis participant of the open period Martina Navratilova
High highschool athletes, coaches and groups from choose state-sanctioned sports activities throughout the U.S. will likely be featured within the inaugural USA TODAY High School Sports Awards.
