February 9, 2024
Mount Dora Senior Trent Sims Commits to St. Thomas University for Football
By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora Senior Trent Sims Commits to St. Thomas University for Football
Trent Sims is one of the best special teams players in Lake County. Sims, a long snapper, has had a terrific career at Mount Dora High School. His journey will continue as he announced via social media that he has committed to St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida.
Sims said, “Absolutely blessed to announce my commitment to St. Thomas University. I’d like to thank God for putting me in the position I am in, as well as all of my current and former coaches who were by my side throughout everything. I thank my parents who have always been there and supported me my whole life. I’d also like to thank the coaching staff at STU for giving me this amazing opportunity to help fulfill my dream. I’m truly excited to see what the future holds for me and I’m honored to be a part of the bobcat family!”
Coach Luke Hutchinson of the Mount Dora Hurricanes says, “Trent is an extremely hard worker, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of an opportunity to play at the next level and continue their academic career.”
Sims draws much of his drive and passion from one of his former baseball coaches, Kenne Brown, whom Sims has posted about. Sims dedicated the final game of his high school football career to Brown. Sims said in a statement, “My final high school football game is dedicated to my former baseball coach, Kenne Brown, who conquered stage 4 throat cancer and has positively impacted my personal and athletic development, always teaching good character and mental determination to strive for excellence. Just as he influenced my life, I believe he will continue to transform the lives of others.”
Sims has a unique role on the football field. As a long snapper, it is a very difficult position to play. This position requires the snapper to hike the ball back to either the punter or the holder. It is a challenging position but one that is vital to the game of football. It takes a lot of talent to master the position, and as a former long snapper myself, I love to see guys like this get opportunities at the next level.
Sims stands at 6’3”, 200 lbs. He is a true athlete and a scholar. Sims has a 3.5 GPA and should certainly make an impact for STU on special teams. I got to watch him play this year, and he made an impact switching field position. When things are not going well offensively, the special teams unit becomes a pivotal part of a football game and can change things in a hurry.
Congratulations to Trent Sims, his family, friends, and coaches. We look forward to seeing him develop at STU.
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.
