All-Dade honors legendary figures

NURI VALLBONA / MIAMI HERALD STAFF Brother Kevin Handibode of Columbus High School is congratulated by the Miami Herald's Bill Van Smith after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Miami Herald's Athletic Awards breakfast Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at Jungle Island. » More Photos

Before Tuesday's All-Dade Awards Breakfast at Miami's Jungle Island, longtime Southridge girls' track coach Sam Burley joked that the only thing left for him to do before retiring this summer was to take one last bow on stage.

The first and only coach in Southridge's 29-year history -- who roamed the school halls with a trademark set of pencils tucked underneath his knee-high socks -- got his chance. Burley, 59, was one of four men honored as The Miami Herald's Lifetime Achievement Award recipients.

Longtime Carol City football coach Walt Frazier; Brother Kevin Handibode, president of Columbus High; and Miami Herald deputy sports editor Bill Van Smith also were honored.

''I was shocked, almost speechless,'' said Burley, whose coaching résumé features a combined dual-meet record of 630-6, 25 individual state champions and six state titles.

``Of all the awards I've received -- being in the Hall of Fame, winning state championships -- nothing compares to today. You don't realize how important what it is you do for the lives of others until a day like today.''

Frazier, who spent the past 26 years coaching the Chiefs, won 212 games and three championships. Honored as one of the state's Coaches of the Century in December, he earned a reputation for being a staunch disciplinarian.

Frazier wasn't wearing his signature orange train conductor's hat when he took the stage Tuesday. But the crowd of more than 1,000 inside the Treetop Ballroom listened intently to his deep voice -- much like his teams used to -- when he spoke about receiving the award.

''It's a tremendous honor, but I'd like to thank all of the wonderful students, teachers and faculty at Carol City High School who made it such a pleasure for me to coach,'' Frazier said.

``Without them, there would have never been a Carol City.''

Handibode didn't coach for nearly as long as Frazier or Burley. After becoming a Marist Brother in 1957, when he was 18, he coached varsity basketball at Columbus for 18 years and had only three losing seasons. He has spent the past 20 years shaping the school as principal, fundraiser and now president.

Van Smith, who began working for The Miami Herald in 1966, never coached at the high-school level. But he spent his first 32 years working directly with high schools as a reporter and editor. Tuesday's ceremony was the 41st he has attended. He will be retiring in July.

''I feel like I should be giving this award to the high school athletes instead of me,'' Van Smith said. ``They're the ones who have enriched me.''

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

Comments (0)

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@