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A Conversation With John Stewart

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By NICK WILLIAMS

nwilliams@tampatrib.com

Published: November 30, 2008

Updated: 11/30/2008 12:12 am

GAINESVILLE - John Stewart has been the Florida High School Athletic Association executive director the past five years.

His final day in office is Dec. 31. He was set to retire Nov. 1, but the search for a new commissioner was prolonged by FHSAA Board of Directors.

His notable works while in office include working with state legislation to establish the steroid testing bill.

In June, Superintendent of Manatee County James Dearing was appointed to succeed Stewart as the new director, and he will begin his term in January.

After sitting through his final FHSAA Board of Directors meeting Monday, Stewart, 65, talked with the Tribune about his time leading the state's high school athletic organization.

How do you think your term will be remembered?

I came following an excellent commissioner in Bob Hughes and I took what he had developed and built here and did my best to make it a little bit better.

What were the goals you had coming into your term and do you think you accomplished all of them?

I think we've pretty much accomplished what I wanted to do. We committed ourselves to improving in the area of technology, going to online clinics and online testing for the officials. We've done things like build confidence in the association by building relationships between the public and private memberships.

Why do you think some people are obsessed with high school sports?

Because it's such a big part of our society. People relish in the time they had in high school and participating in sports. Those are memories that we can all identify with and we take with us all the rest of our lives. I think it's wonderful when a youngster participates in athletics and is good in academics. It's a combination of putting the very best in life together. The Greeks used to say, "Outstanding mind, outstanding body."

If you could coach one sport for one season, which would it be?

Well, that would be a tough question to answer because I love athletics so much. But if I were to choose, I would choose either football or basketball. It would be a coin toss between the two.

What will you miss most about this job?

I will miss the opportunity of the people I've worked with, at the schools and in the association and seeing youngsters excel. You hate to single anybody out but if you take a look at a youngster and say they made an impact on your life, I look at a youngster like Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who came through the program while I was here. He played for Ponte Vedra Beach Nease High School and I got to see what that young man means to athletics and what he means to the people in which he associates and just what he stands for. To know that can be multiplied out times all the number of athletes in all of the schools, I just think it's a wonderful thing and I hope more youngsters would look to that kind of behavior and that kind of person that they would want to emulate.

Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 259-7851.

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