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Former SSC intern Mike Gaboury, the Rollins women's basketball team, former Rollins tennis standout Lucas Jovita, and former Tar men's soccer player Dennis Chin are among those nominated for Central Florida Sports Commission SPORTY awards next month.
In its second year, the SPORTYS will honor the top area teams, high school, collegiate and professional athletes, coaches, deserving local residents and businesses throughout Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties. The SPORTYS will be produced and hosted at Full Sail University in Winter Park on Sept. 22. The event begins with a red carpet ceremony and pre-event reception from 6:30-7 p.m. The awards program will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. WFTV anchor Greg Warmouth will serve as the host for the SPORTYS.
The SPORTY will be presented to the winners in ten award categories: Team of the Year, High School Athlete of the Year, College Athlete of the Year, Professional Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, Business of the Year, Employee of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Media of the Year and the Community Spirit Award.
During the show, the Class of 2012 will be inducted into the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame. Comprising the class are Vince Carter, Annika Sorenstam, and Jeff Turner.
Mike Gaboury is a finalist in the Volunteer of the Year category, along with Tom Horan of the Tavistock Group and Cathy Gahres of the Central Florida Sports Commission.
Gaboury served as a volunteer unpaid intern for the Sunshine State Conference for the Fall 2011 semester and assisted with additional events during the spring. He did not receive class credit or payment for the internship, yet provided 20 hours a week of service and worked at multiple championship events hosted in the Central Florida area over several weekends. The original volunteer opportunity was done as a fall-only commitment. Nevertheless, Gaboury volunteered to continue giving hours and time to the SSC during the spring months and continues to assist whenever needed at various SSC championship events.
"I am very proud for Mike and glad he is being recognized for his hard work," SSC Commissioner Jay Jones said. "We have been very fortunate to have several high quality interns that have worked at the Sunshine State Conference office, and Mike is certainly one of the stars among that group."
The Rollins women's basketball team is nominated in the Team of the Year cateogry, along with Orlando City Soccer and the Spruce Creek High School baseball team. The Tars won the SSC tournament title, were regular-season co-champions, and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II semifinals, a first for an SSC women's basketball team.
Jovita is in the running for College Athlete of the Year after winning the ITA Small College Championship and SSC Men's Tennis Player of the Year accolades.
Dennis Chin, a former All-SSC player at Rollins, is a nominee in the Professional Athlete of the Year category with Olympic champion Ryan Lochte and Tyson Gay. Chin led Orlando City Soccer with 11 goals and two assists this past season.