|
ALL
SPORTS ASSOCIATION
For
34 years, the All Sports Association has brought together the finest
athletes in Northwest Florida each February at their annual Awards
Dinner designed to honor the area’s top High School, Collegiate,
Amateur, Professional and Special Olympic athletes, and individuals
who have fostered youth activities.
The All Sports Association membership is made up
of dues paying volunteers whose primary mission is to provide contributions
of time and money to local youth oriented non-profit organizations
with an emphasis on sports programs. The group puts in tireless
hours, over 1000 annually, promoting their awards banquet and other
fundraising events to better sports in our area. The banquet is
consistently sold out and has become one of the most sought after
tickets you will find. College head coaches from all over the nation
request to attend the banquet, as the association promotes the Emerald
Coast as the hotbed of college recruiting in the South. Along with
guest coaches, keynote speakers also add to the prestige of the
dinner. Names such as Tommy Lasorda, Joe Paterno, Lewis Grizzard,
Terry Bradshaw, Joe Theismann, Roy Firestone, Gene Stallings, Rocky
Bleier, Mike Ditka, Bobby Bowden and Archie Manning are just a sampling
of the celebrities that the All Sports Association has attracted
to our area.
But
behind the scenes is where the group performs an invaluable service
to our area. Through the efforts of the association with the annual
banquet, the sale of auction memorabilia, the solicitation of corporate
sponsors for the banquet and its annual golf tournament, the group
helps fund numerous worthwhile sports organizations and charitable
causes. Main beneficiaries of the awards banquet are the local YMCA,
Boys and Girls Club and Special Olympics. At last year’s banquet,
the group donated a total of $70,000 to these organizations. Also,
during the course of the year, the group donates funds for requests
such as travel expenses for local little leagues, repairing basketball
courts, equipment for local sports programs and many other worthy
causes. In the 34 years of its existence, the group has given back
approximately $750,000 to deserving local charitable and sports
organizations.
|