Hernando County honors student-athletes at community-funded award show

Hernando County’s student-athletes were recognized in a ceremony that cost the district nothing, after local businesses and community partners paid the bill for the third annual Athletics Award Show at Crosspoint Church in Spring Hill. The May 15 event brought together honorees from the 2025-2026 school year, with District Athletic Director Dustin Kupcik and other school leaders using the night to put a public spotlight on fall sports across all five county high schools.

The show was presented by Family Chiropractic and organized as a capacity-managed, ticketed event with separate seating for parents and families, underscoring how closely the program was tied to the community around it. School officials framed the evening as more than a trophy presentation: it was a way to make sure athletes felt seen after a season that, in many cases, had already carried them through long practices, early workouts and demanding competition.

Dr. David Dahmer of Family Chiropractic said the lessons learned through athletics extend beyond the scoreboard, pointing to discipline, confidence, resilience and leadership. He emphasized that some of life’s best lessons come in difficult practices, before sunrise workouts and in the moments when teammates need encouragement most, a message that fit the purpose of the night as much as any individual award.

The district’s athletics program is built around much larger numbers than a single ceremony can capture. Hernando County Schools says it has 5 high schools, 16 different sports, 217 total teams, 3,940 student-athletes, 249 coaches and 12 athletic directors. Its athletics mission is to strengthen ties between school programs, alumni and the broader community while coaching the whole student-athlete mentally, physically, emotionally and socially.

Kupcik’s role in the event carried extra weight after he was named Central Region Athletic Director of the Year and received that honor at the Florida Coaches Coalition and Florida Coach of the Year Conference banquet on Feb. 28. He has been in athletic administration since April 2016 and was the first person appointed to the district’s full-time athletic director role about 2 1/2 years ago, a period in which he had already been planning a districtwide award show to recognize student achievement.

The ceremony also reflected the stronger competitive landscape now surrounding Hernando County schools. The five public high schools compete in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference after the three Citrus County schools left the Gulf Coast 8 at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, and Nature Coast’s 10-3 football run in 2025, capped by a district title and an Elite Eight trip, showed the level of success now being celebrated countywide.