FORT LAUDERDALE \u2014 Fort Lauderdale senior Sariyah Lewis knows what it is like to be the lone female football player on the field.<\/p>\n
Lewis was among 39 athletes recognized on Thursday night at the 51st\u00a0annual Brian Piccolo Awards dinner at the War Memorial Auditorium. Lewis was the first female to be recognized in the history of the awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really a major milestone for me,\u201d said Lewis, one of four Orange Bowl Committee overall winners, along with Lorenzo Lopez (Cypress Bay), Zachary Moss (Pine Crest) and Johnny Disalvatore III (St. Thomas Aquinas).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s so great that I\u2019m able to represent so many females who want to do certain things that they can\u2019t,\u201d Lewis continued. \u201cI just want to show them that anything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis, headed to USF, played football at her school for the past three years and competed in track throughout high school. She told the crowd about her early years at age 12 of playing football in the neighborhoods and how some programs wouldn\u2019t let her play, and suggested flag football. She tried that and said she was deemed \u201ca little too aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis found a youth program that would allow her to try out, and she recalled hearing parents say things like, \u201cThis is a man\u2019s sport, and they don\u2019t take girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I am honest, I think they were upset that I tackled their son,\u201d she quipped. Lewis continued to play tackle football, and L\u2019s coach Richard Dunbar allowed her to play for the team despite detractors and doubters. She was a BCAA football All-Star in her senior year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was inspired by Brian Piccolo\u2019s story of perseverance and heart, and I play not just for myself, but for all girls and individuals who are told they don\u2019t belong,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cI think I became a role model for others facing similar barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Brian Piccolo Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame program ceremony honored 41 senior football players from Broward County schools for their academic achievements and volunteer work in the community.<\/p>\n
Moss, a two-sport star playing football and lacrosse, was unable to attend the ceremony because he was playing in the lacrosse district finals against St. Andrew\u2019s. He is headed to Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough football is and always has been extremely important to my life, the demands of being a student-athlete beyond the field can be extremely overwhelming,\u201d Moss said by phone on Friday morning. \u201cBalancing the academics, extracurriculars, and athletics at a school like Pine Crest is extremely difficult, but I take pride in working hard on and off the field, which makes these experiences even more rewarding.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor years, I have heard talk about the Piccolo Award and its significance, but I never grasped its true importance,\u201d Moss continued. \u201cAfter being named an overall winner, however, I\u2019ve gained a deeper appreciation for what the award represents and the honor it carries. I am very thankful to my coaches, teammates, and family who have made the award feel so special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lopez said being a student-athlete at a large school can be grueling, especially when playing two sports \u2014 football and basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually kind of cool to try and balance everything,\u201d said Lopez, the captain of his football team, who participated in the school\u2019s medicine program. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty hard for sure, but you learn the importance of time management and communication. Even though it is demanding, it\u2019s very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Disalvatore won four state championships with the Raiders as its placekicker. He was the first kicker in the history of the FHSAA to be named MVP of the state championship game, as he tied a state record in the state championship with five field goals in a 34-0 win over Lakeland, giving St. Thomas its seventh straight state title and 17th\u00a0overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying at a stadium named after Brian Piccolo and winning four state championships\u2026this means the world to me,\u201d said Disalvatore, who has a football scholarship to Wagner. \u201cHaving so many great athletes at the school and to be standing here representing them is amazing. Having to make a pressure kick with the game resting on your shoulders brings pressure, but the classroom is important too, because without that, we\u2019ve got nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Griffin Cerra, Manager of Business and Finance for the Broward Education Foundation, said not enough credit is given to the students who put in the time and effort as student-athletes. Cerra, whose father, Shawn, is the Director of Athletics for the Foundation and a Coral Springs city commissioner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor for these athletes to be recognized for what they did in school,\u201d said Griffin Cerra, who put together the event this year. \u201cNot only did they put in the work in their sport, but they also put in the work in the classroom and in the community doing charitable functions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patricia Brown. Director, Athletics & Student Activities for the BCAA agreed: \u201cThe athletes are recognized not just for sports but also for their leadership roles within their teams, schools and communities. The event highlights how these football players are redefining and changing the narrative of what it means to be a strong athlete by excelling in both academics and athletics. This is one of my favorite events of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other top winners included Archbishop McCarthy\u2019s Robert Kerns (Matthew E. Morrall Offensive Player of the Year); Northeast\u2019s Tyler Beliard (Joe DiMaggio Children\u2019s Hospital (U18) Sports Medicine Defensive Player of the Year); American Heritage\u2019s Charlie Volpe (Cerra Enterprises Special Teams Player of the Year); Ki-Jana Carter (Distinguished American); former Nova athletic director and baseball coach Pat McQuaid (Contribution to Amateur Athletics), and Greg Walker (Outstanding Football Official).<\/p>\n
Florida Atlantic University football coach Zach Kittley was the guest speaker for the event.<\/p>\n
Piccolo lost his battle with cancer in 1970 at the age of 26. He played high school football at what became St. Thomas Aquinas (it was known as Central Catholic High School during his time there), college football at Wake Forest University, and in the NFL with the Chicago Bears. The football stadium on the campus at St. Thomas Aquinas is named after him, and he inspired the 1971 movie \u2018Brian\u2019s Song.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE \u2014 Fort Lauderdale senior Sariyah Lewis knows what it is like to be the lone female…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250,1745,3745,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-235933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-fort-lauderdale","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news","11":"tag-high-school-football","12":"tag-high-school-sports","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}