NICEVILLE, Fla. — Niceville High School Principal Charlie Marello is one of his students’ biggest cheerleaders and that was evident last week as he escorted two students into the Niceville High School Media Center to the roar of cheers and applause.
Student-athletes Noah Harman and Paige Dolloff showed looks of bewilderment as they entered the room unaware of why their teammates, classmates, and family members were clapping for them.
Marello calmed the crowd to introduce Carter Zorn, President of the All Sports Association and gave him the floor to announce the recipients of the All Sports Association scholastic awards for 2022.
The All Sports Association is an organization that raises funds for local youth athletics. Each year they award two academic scholarships to a local, hardworking male and female student athlete. Each high school in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties submits a nomination for a male and a female to receive this award.
The female recipient of the All Sports Association Scholastic Award for 2022 is Paige Dolloff, a multi-sport (swim, tennis) athlete with a GPA over 4.7.
Paige thanked everyone in the room, her coaches, and parents for pushing her and noted that Niceville is “a wonderful community.”
Paige also announced that she “committed to swim at the Air Force Academy as of yesterday so I’m very excited for my new chapter and what the future holds, but Niceville will forever be my home.”
Zorn commanded the room again and announced that “normally when we do this we present one award and then we travel to another high school to present the other award. Today we are going to stick at Niceville for the second award as well.”
The male recipient of the All Sports Association Scholastic Award is Noah Harman. He was also described as a multi-sport athlete (football, track) with an “extremely high” GPA.
Noah thanked his family, teammates, coaches and everyone who has been there “for the last four years of high school. You guys have supported me in everything that I do.”
Noah has signed with Cornell University to run track next year.
The students in the room were excited that not one but two of their peers had been chosen for such a prestigious award. Marello stepped forward for what they thought was going to be a dismissal back to class, but it wasn’t.
He announced that “there is actually a third award today and I appreciate them (the members of the association) allowing me to step in and present it.”
Coach Adron Robinson, a Niceville High School alumnus, was presented with the All Sports Association Assistant Coach Award.
Marello explained that “hundreds of student athletes got the opportunity to participate in sports at the post-secondary level because of his countless efforts to give kids an opportunity that they may not have had if it had not been for him.”
Coach Robinson appreciated the award but announced that it “is not my award. This is everybody in this rooms award…It’s because of the hard work that you guys, every single one of you guys, put in and I couldn’t be more proud to be a Niceville Eagle.”
The surprises were not over. Coach Robinson was not the last to be presented with an award from the All Sports Association.
Zorn explained that he could only remember one other time that a school got two awards, but they have never presented three. On this day, however, there would four!
A new group of people came into the room representing the Taylor Haugen Foundation and announced that Eric Trapp will be presented with the 14th Taylor Haugen Trophy Award at this year’s All Sports Association Buck Smith Fellowship of Christian Athletes Prayer Breakfast at Northwest Florida State College.
Chairman of the Foundation, Greg Hill, presented the award to the student athlete who “best exemplifies the five character traits that Taylor himself lived by: Academics, Athletics, Leadership, Community Service, and Christian Faith.”
Eric thanked his teachers, teammates, and classmates who helped make him who he is today and explained that “Taylor, as we know, exemplified the best of us and if I can only be half of the person that he was I would know I was successful in my High School career.”
The scholarship and award winners are scheduled to be recognized at the 53rd Annual All Sports Award Banquet on February 25, 2022 at the Destin / Fort Walton Beach Convention Center on Okaloosa Island.
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