Mark Hudspeth
President George Autrey opened up the August 30, 2021 meeting of the Gulf Coast Athletic Club at 7:00pm at Woodside Restaurant in Gulf Shores as our usual meeting space at Craft Farms is still undergoing refurbishments from Hurricane Sally. He thanked everyone in attendance given the inclement weather we have experienced due to this most recent storm, Hurricane Ida. After the season we all had last year it feels good to be back together again! Since we last met as a club we have lost several members, including Gary Klussman, Wayne Villadsen, John McCormick, and most recently Ted Dupre. There will be a service this Saturday, September 4 at the GlenLakes Golf Club in Foley at 2pm for Ted Dupre. Ted along with Gary, Wayne, and John were all long time members and supporters of GCAC and will be sorely missed!
George Autrey updated the club regarding the membership for this year. So far around 35 members have paid this years dues. Any members wanting to rejoin again this year, please see GCAC Treasurer David Lee. There are several great speakers on the schedule for this season so encourage those not in attendance and those you think may be interested in our club to attend the next meeting, September 13.
The club is hosting another year of its College Football Pick 'em Challenge for the Prolific Pigskin Prognosticator Trophy. Week 1 starts this Saturday, so do not forget to get signed up. See George Autrey for more information. Last season’s champion Ken Fletcher looks to defend his title after narrowly edging out Bill Broyles.
The Pre-Season Top 25 was announced recently and the top team to start the 2021 season is Alabama, followed by Oklahoma, Clemson, Ohio State and Georgia. Several members gave their teams updates for the upcoming season. There seemed to be a good deal of optimism for each team represented at the meeting!
This week’s speaker was Coach Mark Hudspeth who is the current Head Football Coach at Gulf Shores High School. Coach Hudspeth has been a football coach at several NCAA teams including Central Arkansas, Nicholls State, Delta State, Navy, North Alabama, Mississippi State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Austin Peay. Coach Hudspeth told several interesting stories from his time at Navy, where before the game vs. Army President George W. Bush came into the locker room to give pregame speech as well as Senator and former Midshipman John McCain. Coach Hudspeth talked about his time with Coach Ed Orgeron at Nicholls State and his time working with Dan Mullen at Mississippi State.
Coach Hudspeth has been a part of some successful football programs and has continued that success so far this season. The Gulf Shores High School football team is boasting a 2-0 record so far with wins over Elberta (17-7) and Brookwood (31-0). They will face a very formidable opponent this week when they play at Spanish Fort, who is the reigning Class 6A Runner-up.
Gulf Shores City Schools Board President, Kevin Corcoran also spoke to the club about the current success on the football field as well as all the improvements in facilities and equipment. All these accomplishments have been achieved by the local support it has received by members of the club as well as others in the Gulf Shores community. In order to continue the level of success Gulf Shores is currently experiencing on the football field, it will take continued efforts and local support. Kevin, thanked Coach Hudspeth for his hard work and even told of a story from the first week of the season where the Dolphins were on the road vs. Elberta. Coach Hudspeth after the game was heard in his post-game speech stressing to his players the importance of leaving the opposing locker room in better shape than what they found it. All this to say, Coach Hudspeth is not only coaching for wins on the field, but coaching and teaching his young players to be good citizens and appreciate the opportunities they have in front of them.
George Autrey closed the meeting out, again thanking those in attendance and reminded everyone of the next club meeting, Monday, September 13th. An email will be sent out soon regarding meeting location and speaker. Lastly, sign up for the Football Pool and get those new members to join the club.