AHSAA cancels All-Star Sports Week events; Mask named All-Star football coach
COMBINED REPORTS
COVID-19 has struck another event.
The annual Alabama All-Star Sports Week has been cancelled, although the annual North-South football game has been moved to December.
The annual summer conference has been moved to the Internet.
Director Jamie Lee of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association (AHSADCA) announced Monday the Principals & Athletic Directors Conference scheduled for June 2-3 is being merged with the AHSAA Summer Conference, which is being converted to a virtual conference online. The conference dates will remain July 13-18.
“Due to the ADPH guidelines concerning social distancing and the concern over large group gatherings, we feel it is in the best interest of our member schools to make these adjustments,” said Lee. “We are grateful to have the technology available to provide this important professional development.”
Other changes include:
The second annual Elite 100 showcase, which was scheduled for June, is being postponed until further notice from the NFHS & NCAA. More details will be announced once the date is set.
The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame banquet will be rescheduled for Sept. 21 at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center.
The All-Star teams will be recognized including baseball, softball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, golf and tennis. Football, volleyball, boys’ and girls’ cross country and boys’ and girls’ basketball were already announced.
Mask named Alabama-Mississippi All-Star coach
St. Paul’s Episcopal High School head football coach Steve Mask will be the head coach for the Alabama All-Star football squad for the 34th annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic later this year.
Mask, who has compiled a 187-94 career head-coaching record in 24 seasons, graduated from Muscle Shoals High School in 1974 and the University of North Alabama in 1980. He began his high school coaching career as an assistant football coach and head boys’ basketball coach at Colbert County High School. In just two years his basketball squad won a region championship and appeared in the AHSAA State Tourney once.
He became head football coach at Bradshaw in 1990 going 25-29 in five seasons with three trips to the state playoffs. He then moved to Buckhorn for five seasons going 23-29 with two trips to the state playoffs. He moved back to Colbert County as head football coach in 2002 and remained five seasons – compiling a 52-15 overall record and reaching the playoffs each year with one trip to the state finals. His teams won 10 or more games each year but one and compiled a 12-5 playoff record overall.
He moved to Georgia as an assistant coach in 2007 and returned to Alabama as defensive coordinator at St. Paul’s in Mobile a few years later and took over as head football coach in 2012. Since then, the Saints have gone 87-21 in eight seasons winning three Class 5A state titles (2014, 2015 and 2017). St. Paul’s owns a 23-5 playoff record and 45-9 region record during that span.
“This is such a special all-star game which should mean even more to our kids than the national all-star games some of them might get to play in because it features the best against the best from each state,” said Mask. “To be picked as a player in this game is a great source of pride and allows our student-athletes to close out their high school careers together in a game where they are not only representing their schools but representing the entire state of Alabama. What an honor that is. They will remember this experience and the bonds they make with their teammates for the rest of their lives.”
The game is scheduled for Dec. 12 at Cramton Bowl.