By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg High Basketball Team Gets City’s Backing for State Finals
LEESBURG, Fla. — The City of Leesburg is throwing its full support behind the Leesburg High School boys basketball team as they prepare to compete in the FHSAA Class 5A State Finals in Lakeland next week.
In a unanimous vote, the Leesburg City Commission approved up to $2,500 in funding to assist with transportation, housing, and food expenses for the Yellow Jackets’ trip to the state championship.
(Leesburg High has had fantastic fan support. The Yellow Jackets are looking for the 3rd state championship under head coach Sean Campbell. Leesburg also won in 2011 and 1977. Photo Credit – Joe Ott.)
“Our entire community stands behind these talented athletes, and we can’t wait to welcome them home as state champions!” says Leesburg Mayor Alan Reisman “Let’s show them our support! Go Jackets!”
The Yellow Jackets have been on a dominant run this season under head coach Sean Campbell who is searching for a 3rd State Title having won in 2017 and 2018. With the championship game on the horizon, Leesburg fans are expected to turn out in force, making the trip to Lakeland or cheering from home. Leesburg is coming off a 61-46 victory against Lecanto High in the Regional Finals.
(Head coach of Leesburg High Sean Campbell. Photo Credit – Joe Ott.)
The FHSAA Class 5A State Finals will take place at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. This is the first semifinal of the Class 5A tournament. Tip-Off takes place on March 5th at 3pm against Ponte Vedra. The winner of that game will play the winner of the 7pm matchup between Blanche Ely and St. Petersburg.
Thank you to the City of Leesburg for backing this team! We can’t wait for next week! Go Jackets!!
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.
