Cole Cubelic
The Gulf Coast Athletic Club opened its January 29, 2024 meeting in the Clubhouse at Craft Farms Golf Resort at 7:00pm. President George Autrey welcomed the crowd of 62 attendees. This is our last meeting for the 2023-24 season. There were several guests in attendance and were introduced.
The Prolific Pigskin Prognosticator contest ended with another close race this year. Lamborghini, AKA Todd Lamb, claimed the top spot this year finishing three points ahead of Randy Harkins. Todd was not in attendance Monday night, but he is the new proud owner for the next 365 days of the GCAC Prolific Pigskin Prognosticator trophy relieving Steve Means of this honor. In a new wrinkle this year, there was a ‘prize’ for the team finishing in last place. Bryan (Keith) Roberson walked away with this hard-fought accomplishment.
In the place of Gulf Shores Athletic Director Paul Wilson, who was out of town sending his son off for deployment, GS Board of Education President and FB Game PA Announcer Kevin Corcoran gave the Gulf Shores High School Dolphins report.
Boys basketball won their last game vs Elberta at home on Senior Night which guaranteed the Dolphins a winning season, which the first time in three season.
Girls Basketball is having an exceptional year. They are area season champions and are currently ranked in the Top 10 for the state. This years team is on pace to shatter every record in place. They were also on the winning side of a huge blowout in their last game vs Elberta. 100-6!
Indoor track had three school records broken at a competition in Birmingham and finished with 4 state qualifiers.
Baseball and softball are gearing up for their seasons which are set to begin in the next couple of weeks. Baseball is looking to advance further into the playoffs this season.
Bowling won their regional tournament in Vestavia two weeks ago, defeating rival Elberta in the Finals. Three GS bowlers finished in the top 8! They look to bring home a State Championship in Mobile next week!
Tennis is kicking off in the next couple of weeks.
Kevin then introduced a couple of special guests that were in attendance. GS Def. Coordinator, Brian VanGorder, spoke to the club about this past season in football for GS which won its first ever state championship in football. He also brought with him two key performers from this year’s team, Ronnie Royal and Kingston Lowe. Ronnie has signed with North Carolina State to attend school and play football. Kingston has signed with North Alabama to attend school and play football. These two players represented GS extremely well this past season, both on and off the field. Coach VanGorder could not say enough good things about these two players. We are all very proud of them and happy to now hold our very first “Blue Map” trophy in football, which was also in attendance!
The infamous Dec gave the final team report for the 2023 season. No crying towel was handed out, but Alabama fans have surely needed something to wipe away their tears with the announcement of Nick Saban’s retirement a few days ago.
Taylor Means then introduced our guest speaker, Cole Cubelic. Cole is all over the place during football season covering the sport for ESPN, SEC Network as well as his morning radio show on WJOX with Greg McElroy. Cole has spoken to our club several times now, but always brings a very interesting and in depth report on the state of college football. He did not disappoint on Monday night. He covered every team that was represented at Monday’s meeting going over highs and lows from the past season as well as forecasting what he thought would be in store for next season. He also gave insight into how much has changed and will be different next season with the introduction of the 12 team playoff format. Like the rest of us, he did not know what was likely to be the next big shift in college football, but thought the SEC and Big 10 were both well situated at the top of the sport.
The 50-50 prize for the night was awarded to John Mitchell.
President Autrey expressed excitement about the 2024 season for GCAC as we have already received one commitment from another amazing speaker. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50pm
