DESTIN — At long last, Destin High football has its Florida High School Athletic Association eligibility. And now a home in District 1-1A.
Joining FAMU DRS, Maclay and North Florida Christian, the Sharks will replace St. John Paul II Catholic in District 1-1A after spending the last three years as a freelance program waiting for FHSAA’s approval.
“Just to be able to compete and play for something, that’s a big deal,” said Destin coach EG Green, who in the offseason turned down an opportunity to coach his alma mater, Fort Walton Beach. “It’s good to have a season and play games, but this is different. We knew it was coming that we’d be able to compete for a state championship, we just didn’t know (what district it would be in) and when.”
Destin High opened its doors in 2021 as a charter school and started the ball rolling on the three-year process of becoming postseason eligible in 2022. The 2022-2023 academic year was considered the application year, followed by two provisional years. As the Sharks waited they celebrated milestone wins.
The first victory came in only their second game, the Sharks defeating North Bay Haven 28-21. Come the 2023 campaign they opened with six straight wins and finished 7-3, leading the athletic program to appeal for (and be denied) early admittance from FHSAA.
“It’s a grind just to win football games,” Green said. “To get to this point, the parents gotta believe, the kids gotta believe, the grandmas gotta believe and the community has to believe in what you’re doing. You have to build that trust in the program.”
The Sharks’ new home in District 1-1A will be missing defending district champ St. John Paul II Catholic, which shuttered due to declining numbers. Maclay, meanwhile, is coming off a 7-4 season, NFC finished 2-8 and FAMU DRS was 0-10.
“Good programs, good programs,” Green said. “They’re all in Tallahassee so we’ll have to do some traveling.”
Destin, which brought in some high-profile recruits this offseason in the Reese brothers from Choctaw and Wisconsin commit Zion Legree to name a few, can hardly wait to start the grind of their first FHSAA-eligible season. The Sharks open the campaign against Northview on Aug. 22 at Destin Middle School.
“It’s surreal,” Green said. “We’re going to celebrate this opportunity because a lot of hard work went into this. We grinded and grinded and focused on doing everything the right way to be here.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Destin football embraces FHSAA eligibility, finds home in District 1-1A
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
