February 1, 2024
Tavares Senior Asher Walker Wins FHSAA Roger Dearing Spirit of Sport Award
By Kyle Coppola
Tavares Senior Asher Walker Wins FHSAA Roger Dearing Spirit of Sport Award
Asher Walker is not only an amazing athlete but also an outstanding individual. With a 3.63 GPA, he is an Advanced Placement Scholar at Tavares High School, earning varsity letters in swimming throughout all four years of high school.
Asher has qualified for states every year at the Florida High School Swimming and Diving State Championships. During his senior year, he placed seventh in the 50 free and third in the 100 free, also setting a new school record for Tavares.
(Last year, Asher was named Triangle News Leader and Fox 35 Athlete of the Week, and recognized as an Outstanding Student by Lake & Sumter Style Magazine. Outside of sports, Asher is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, You’re Not Alone, and National Honor Society.)
Asher volunteers with Summit Church, Swim America, and Tavares High School. You’re Not Alone is a teen mental health educational program and social media campaign designed to train local youth to understand that it is okay to seek help. As a trained and certified You’re Not Alone ambassador, Asher is equipped with tools to gradually reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness.
The program is meaningful to Asher because his father dealt with bipolar depression, never received help, and passed away due to suicide. Asher’s mission is to remove the stigma surrounding depression, ensuring that no one ever has to be scared to ask for help.
Tavares Athletic Director Tracey Hanson says, “What a great honor this is for Asher and the school. Asher is beyond excited, along with his family and the entire Tavares High School Bulldog family. Thank you to the FHSAA for everything. Asher is truly deserving of this prestigious award.”
Congratulations to Asher Walker, his family, friends, and everyone who had a hand in nominating him for the award. This is a significant achievement for Tavares High School and, of course, for Asher Walker. Congratulations to Tavares Athletic Director Tracey Hanson for her continued support in making Tavares athletes the best they can be. Go Asher!
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.
