March 7, 2024
Mount Dora High Unified Special Olympic Basketball Team Wins FHSAA State Championship
By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora High Unified Special Olympic Basketball Team Wins FHSAA State Championship
The Mount Dora High School Unified Special Olympics Basketball team clinched the Division 3 FHSAA State Championship today against New Smyrna in a competitive 47-30 game, providing memories that these students will cherish for a lifetime.
Mount Dora High School had been dominant throughout most of the season. They are coached by head coach Randy Craft and assistant coaches Josh Upson and Kevin Gifford. Also involved with the program were partners Jake Sepe, a member of the varsity football team, Blake Sepe, who also plays football and baseball, Preston Rhodes, and volleyball players Lillie Bruehl and Sydney Guthrie. “I am so proud of these kids and partners who participated with them in order to win the State Championship. This is a moment that these student-athletes will remember for the rest of their lives.” said coach Craft.
What an amazing thrill it was for these young athletes to achieve the honor of becoming state champions. Special Olympics has been thriving in the Lake County area. This year, all Lake County programs have supported Unified athletes in one way or another.
Michelle Metheny has had great success with the programs in the Lake County community. Tavares Unified Flag football continues to thrive, as do a variety of other programs, including the bowling teams and now the basketball programs, which are getting to experience the thrill of a state championship. Mount Dora High School has delivered a great Unified Special Olympics program and the results show.
We are so happy for these kids and the entire Mount Dora High School program that supports them. For many of them, playing a sport is just about having fun, but winning a state championship is just the icing on the cake for most of them.
Congratulations to the Unified Special Olympic State Championship Winning Mount Dora Hurricanes Basketball team!”
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
