The Colonel Al Byrne Award recognizes local individuals who share the late Colonel’s belief that all youth should be provided the facilities and adult leadership to experience athletic training and competitive individual and/or team sports. They also believe, as the Colonel did, that those youth that participate will learn skills and obtain values that will help them succeed in their later life endeavors. The award recipient has also demonstrated a commitment to these beliefs by sharing his or her time, talents and, in many cases, personal resources with no recognition required or desired. The award is voted on by the past presidents of the association and is a tightly held secret until the winner is revealed the night of the annual All Sports Association Awards Dinner each February.
Colonel Al Byrne Award Nomination Form (click HERE for form)
Please submit and non-electronic nominations to: Rube Manasco (phone 850-420-7624), Col. Al Byrne Award Chairman, reubman@cox.net, or mail to: All Sports Association, P.O. Box 2591, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549
2019 Colonel Al Byrne Award Winner – George Goodall
The 2019 Colonel Al Byrne Award was presented to George Goodall on February 15th, 2019, at the 50th All Sports Association Awards Banquet.
The All Sports Association was started 50 years ago by Colonel Al Byrne, who believed the youth in Northwest Florida should have the coaching, leadership, and facilities to participate in sports. After his passing in 1973, the Colonel Al Byrne Award was established to honor those who shared his beliefs and put those beliefs into action, typically with little or no recognition. Goodall was selected for his work to promote youth sailing in Okaloosa County.
Goodall is one of the founders of the Emerald Coast Sailing Association (ECSA), a non-profit association that has introduced sailing to thousands of young people over the past twenty-five years.
Goodall served as a pilot in the Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He joined the Fort Walton Yacht Club in 1974 and began sailing and racing. In 1992, Goodall turned his attention to developing instructional programs for children. He organized lessons, hired U.S. Sailing certified instructors, and coordinated a group of volunteers. Children learned the fine art of getting a sailboat to move using wind to propel motion on the water.
In 1997, George and other members of ECSA built eight Optimist Prams, small, single-handed sailing dinghies intended for use by children. Goodall formed high school sailing clubs for teens who wanted to continue in the sport after their summer lessons. Five high school teams were formed under the Interscholastic Sailing Association, a nationwide organization governing secondary school sailing in the United States. Teams practice at the Fort Walton Yacht Club and the Bluewater Bay Sailing Club at Bluewater Bay Marina.
Twice each year, in the Spring and Fall, the Okaloosa County High School Sailing Championship Regatta is held at the Fort Walton Yacht Club. In honor of Goodall, the regatta was recently renamed the Goodall Okaloosa County High School Sailing Championship. The local regatta is a prerequisite for the Allstate Sugar Bowl Great Oaks Invitational Regatta held each November at Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans. Okaloosa County high school teams have participated in this event since 2004. Many of these high school sailors have gone on to sail for college teams.
There are currently seven local area sailors competing at four colleges across the nation, including David Beaudry, a 2015 graduate of Fort Walton Beach High School, who is currently on the University of Florida Sailing Team. Beaudry credits Goodall for his success, saying “I would not have had such a wonderful opportunity without Mr. Goodall’s care and devotion to youth sailing.”
Past Col. Al Byrne Award Winners
2018 Ray Chavez
2017 Todd Gatlin
2016 Sherman Moon
2015 John Watts
2014 Brian and Kathy Haugen
2013 Bill Shirah
2012 Rev. James T. Ross
2011 Ralph Duncan
2010 Fred Carley
2009 Bob Lynn
2008 Tom Brassell, Don Pattison
2007 Rube Manasco
2006 Sam Brunson
2005 Paul Martin
2004 James C. “Jimmy” Campbell
2003 Mary Jane Ross
2002 Huburt “Rocky” Bates
2001 Bull Cochran
2000 James Campbell
1999 Bruce Ravan
1998 Charles Morgan, John Shortall
1997 Judge Alfred Ben Gordon, Jr., Kathleen A Ravan
1996 Ralph Frangioni
1995 Al Beedie
1994 Hiram Cook
1993 Leven Lord
1992 Bill Roberts, Jr., Pud Hutcheson, Robert Taylor
1991 Ray Deal, George Palmer
1990 Buddy O’Neal, H.A. Bruner, Jay Farris, Arthur Mikel
1989 Julius Rice, M.L. Hayden
1988 Michael Woodham
1987 Louis Woodham, H.P. Pat Campbell, Bill Preston, Sr., Gene Thomas
1986 Grady Smith
1985 Dr. Eddie Zant
1984 Ron Balicki
1983 O.R. Bailey
1982 Joe Etheridge
1981 Houston Harrison
1980 Jerry Brigante
1979 Rev. Talmadge Smith
1978 Buddy Elliott
1977 Dr. Jerry Hollingsworth
1976 Bettye Campbell
1975 Hal Wyatt
1974 Buck Smith