December 17, 2024
Tavares High School Football Program Donated Equipment from Arizona Cardinals
By Kyle Coppola
Tavares High School Football Program Donated Equipment from Arizona Cardinals
TAVARES, Fla. — The Tavares High School football team received an unexpected and inspiring boost this week when BNA Sports donated cleats, gloves, and socks worn by NFL players from the Arizona Cardinals, including gear used by stars Marvin Harrison Jr., James Conner, and Zay Jones.
The donation was a morale-boosting surprise for the Bulldogs, who are coming off their best season since 2021, finishing with a 7-3 record under head coach Gavin Jones. The program’s turnaround has been fun to follow, climbing from an 0-10 season in 2022 to a competitive 5-5 campaign in 2023, before breaking through with their stellar performance this year.
(Student-Athletes on the Tavares High School football team were all smiles after the equipment got delivered.)
This is a big deal for these kids. It’s not every day you get to wear gear from the same players you watch on Sundays. The Tavares players were visibly thrilled when the gear was unveiled. Several players tried on gloves and cleats immediately, marveling at their connection to NFL stars.
For a program that has fought hard to regain its footing, the donation symbolizes more than just new gear. It’s a testament to their hard work and a reminder of how far they’ve come.
(Tavares football players getting the chance to touch the gear the pros wear. They will now get to adorn it themselves.)
BNA Sports, known for supporting high school athletics. BNA Sports is a non-profit 501c(3) sports-based youth development organization that meaningfully engages youth athletes psychologically, physically, socially, and emotionally. They promote and enhance athletic performance to develop skills on and off the field of play.
(Tavares High head football coach Gavin Jones takes the donation from BNA Sports.)
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.
