August 20, 2025 • 34 mins
Andrew Freeman, Key West High School's Athletic Director, shares an inside look at the thriving sports programs and upcoming season for the Conchs. The conversation covers everything from their exciting football victory to the breadth of sports offerings and student participation.
• Football team secured a thrilling 35-34 win against Homestead with over 400 yards rushing
• The Van Carthon Preseason Classic honored NFL executive and Key West alum Ran Carthon
• Key West secured 8 home football games this season, reducing travel costs and increasing fan attendance
• Nearly half the student body (500-600 of 1350 students) participates in athletics
• Fall sports include football, volleyball, swimming, golf, and cross country
• Key West produced its first-ever four-sport athlete last year in Kieran Smith
• Volleyball program expanded to include freshman, JV, and varsity teams
• Swim coach Lori Bosco is beginning her 30th year leading the program
• Boys soccer won their first district tournament in 10 years last season
• The school maintains strong academic standards with many scholar-athletes maintaining 3.5+ GPAs
Join us at upcoming games to support these dedicated student-athletes. Follow Key West High School Athletics for schedules and updates on all Conch sports programs.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joy (00:07):
How we doing Cork fans.
I got a good one for you.
Today we're talking with KeyWest High School Athletic
Director, andrew Freeman.
Welcome to the show coach.
Andrew Freeman (00:15):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Joy (00:17):
I know you're busy.
The school year just started.
I know the campus must bebuzzing with all the
student-athletes ready to makethings happen on the field, so I
appreciate you taking a littletime.
Andrew Freeman (00:27):
It's no problem.
I appreciate you and what youdo for our kids and our
community and the support yougive our programs.
It's awesome.
Joy (00:34):
For sure.
Well, that's the whole point,right?
I'm ready to get back into thestands and I want to know what's
happening with fall sports sowe can be out there cheering for
them.
Andrew Freeman (00:42):
So, wherever you want to start.
Yeah, sports, so we can be outthere cheering for them.
So, wherever you want to start,yeah, we can start with the
game.
Last Friday we had Homesteaddown here and our kids made it a
little exciting for us at theend, probably for the fans, not
as exciting for us as coaches,but it's good for them to have
some adversity early in theseason, especially with you
never know how the game's goingto go, how the year's going to
(01:03):
go.
So for them to have someadversity and have to pull it
back out, it's good for them andit's good for us as coaches to
know what we're going to havethroughout the year.
Joy (01:11):
I thought, well, maybe I'll leave, you know, by the fourth
quarter.
I could leave early.
And then I look and I'm like,wait a minute, we got us a ball
game right here.
Thirty five to thirty four to34.
Andrew Freeman (01:21):
Yeah, I wish we could have ended it like that
and had everyone leave early,but you know, I think we were
picked to lose 42 to 7.
So our kids came in there witha little bit of edge.
That's a big lopsided loss thatsomeone put on us, and our kids
took it to heart.
Joy (01:41):
I'm looking forward to the season because, like you say, it
was a preseason game, and forthem to come out there with a
chip on their shoulder, I lovedit.
That offense was on fire, 400yards rushing.
Andrew Freeman (01:52):
Yeah, I told Coach Hughes.
You know we had I think it was47 or 54 yards passing and if we
would have just switched it wewould have had 500 yards rushing
and no passing yards.
It's always good to get theball in the air.
Being a former quarterback, andespecially in this offense,
when you have a good offensiveline and good running backs,
(02:13):
it's going to be hard to throwthe ball because you know why
stop what's working.
Joy (02:19):
Absolutely, and they couldn't stop us that offensive
line.
I think I could have ran.
You know, got a first down.
Andrew Freeman (02:28):
Yeah, offensive line, I think I could have ran,
you know, got a first down.
Yeah, that uh Ran was talkingabout the offensive line during
the game and he was giving ashout out to Chaz Jimenez at
some point and then he wassaying that, uh, he thought he
thinks this offensive line mightbe better than the one he ran
behind.
So that's a.
It's a big, big uh shoes tofill there.
Joy (02:43):
Yeah, you could say that again.
And it was Van Carthampreseason classic.
It was our second year to honorhim and he was able to be here
in Key West for a few days andsoak up the love and be around
the kids and what an example heis to our young athletes.
The sky's the limit.
Andrew Freeman (03:02):
Yeah, what a great opportunity for our kids
and the whole school.
He, you know, he came to thepep rally and for our kids to
see that and be able to see thatthere there is the opportunity
to go, do something like thatand make it to the highest level
, not only as a player, but, uh,to be the general manager of an
organization and then be the Imean, he was the director of
player personnel for 10 plusyears.
(03:24):
So what a person for our kidsto look up to.
Joy (03:27):
I missed my chance to get my picture with him, but I got a
hug.
I want to give a shout out toIsha Osborne because I know she
puts a lot of work into makingthe weekend special for him and
the fans and I'm glad that theboys showed out and got him to
win.
I saw both you and him on thesideline.
You know pointing, looking atthe playbook and everything else
.
Once you're a football player,you're always a football player,
(03:49):
right, coach?
Andrew Freeman (03:50):
Yeah, and that's funny.
You say that because before thegame I was like where he's,
like where do I have to be?
I said you can be wherever youwant.
If you want to be on the field,he goes.
I don't know if I want to, Ijust wanted to let the players
play and all this stuff.
And then he gets down there andyou know, once you get down
there, your instincts just takeover.
He was letting the refereeshave it.
He was letting our kids have it.
It was awesome.
(04:11):
Our kids enjoyed it.
And for our kids to be able totalk to him during the game and
then for him to see our kidsplay in person, it'll help them
get recruited and go further inlife.
So it's it's awesome all theway around.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Key West versus Homestead Last second win, and
thanks in part thanks to what'sit called volunteer coach Ray
Carthon.
I saw you on the sidelines andyour Jordans waving it
hysterically like it was theSuper Bowl, which it sort of was
.
How did that whole weekend go?
Because it was a celebration ofRand, as far as I could tell.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Man, it was fantastic .
You ran as far as I could tell,man, it was.
Uh, it was fantastic.
You couldn't ask for nothingbetter.
Um, like you said, they namedthe kickoff classic, preseason
kickoff classic.
After me last year I obviouslycouldn't make it because I was
with the titans and doing ourpreseason process, but, um, now
I'm with Ryan Wilson and he gaveme a off weekend to be able to
go home.
But it was my first time homein 10 years, a very long time.
(05:05):
So it was great to be back homearound everyone.
I grew up, like you said, webeat Homestead 35-34.
So that's bragging rights, hadover 400 yards on the ground,
four rushing touchdowns.
It was just cool.
I got into the game, probably alittle too much.
There's a joke going aroundamongst my friend group down in
(05:27):
key west that I was down therecalling timeouts.
Uh, during the game.
No, but I was just into it andI was.
I just so happened to bedressed the same as the coaches,
so they didn't know if I wasactually a coach on the staff or
not.
Um, I ended the game doing conkjacks with the team and in the
middle of the team breakdown.
(05:48):
But shout out to everyone inKey West.
Shout out to my folks at IslandDogs Angela and Stevie.
They took good care of us.
Shout out to Andrew Freeman,the athletic director, johnny
Hughes, the head coach, aishaOsborne.
It was just a great weekendthat they put together and it
was just good to be back homearound my people.
Joy (06:18):
We have a great home schedule.
This year We've got eight morehome games, if I look correct.
Andrew Freeman (06:26):
Yeah, we lucked out on that.
So we had two district gamesaway last year.
So with football, you play oneaway, you play the next one home
.
So we got those two coming homewith St Brennan and Miami
Jackson and then we played homeand home contract with Somerset
Canyons and Berlin Jesuit lastyear and we played those two
games away as well.
So those are four home gamesright there.
(06:47):
Img they're a white team.
They come down every year.
They're actually being a secondteam.
They're playing marathonThursday night and then they're
coming down to play us with theother team Friday and then the
other teams just reached out andwanted to come down.
I think that's the good thingabout when you start winning and
having good cultures down herewith the fans and everything,
(07:10):
that you get teams that usuallydon't want to come down.
I mean, I think we have Alabamacoming down for softball this
year and they're ranked pretty.
I think they're ranked top 10in the country.
So when you put together goodseasons over and over, people
start wanting to come down.
It makes it a little easier toschedule home games.
Joy (07:28):
And for you as the athletic director, that takes some of
the pressure off right.
Andrew Freeman (07:33):
Yeah, of course, you know, probably the biggest
thing with being an athleticdirector is transportation and
funds.
So anytime we can have a homegame and eliminate having
transportation and having to putmoney out for transportation,
it helps tremendously.
With home games we still haveto pay, we'll pay the refs and
security if we have to, but justthe whole playing at home,
(07:53):
being in front of your fans,being in front of your parents
Unfortunately, most of our kids'parents can't travel to the
away games with work andeverything.
So being able to play at homeis tremendous for us and our
community.
Joy (08:08):
Well, the stands were packed last weekend.
It seemed a good crowd.
The other thing I love about afootball game is you've got all
the football players.
You've got the band, the conkass, the cheerleaders, the pep
squad, so there's a couplehundred kids out there showing
out right?
Andrew Freeman (08:18):
Yeah, that's what makes it fun.
I was telling Rick Lopez theother day.
I said when you hear the bandand the drum line coming, you
get a different feel.
Your skin starts coming up andyou're like it's football season
, it's here, so we love it.
And Mr Hernandez, he does agreat job with our band and it's
awesome.
The atmosphere out there isincredible it really is special.
Joy (09:02):
I wanted to um you mentioned mentioned Coach Hughes
.
Who else is part of thatcoaching staff?
I think he's got 14 yearscoaching now.
Andrew Freeman (09:10):
Yeah, this is his 14th year.
He's the head coach.
He does the offense as well.
And then Dave Van Loon.
He's a defense coordinator.
He's been coaching with him forI'd probably say 11 of the 14
years.
The other three he went overand was the HOB middle school
head coach and then, once hisson, roman, came over to the
high school a couple years ago,he came back over um and what a
(09:31):
smart, defensive minded guy heis he was a defense coordinator
when I was here and he was adefense coordinator coach when I
was a kid as a water boy.
Joy (09:40):
So he's been here a while and he does a great job you
mentioned the officials umearlier and I thought they were
a little happy with the flag.
I don't know how many penaltiesthere was, penalties I never
even heard of.
But much love to the officials.
What I want to ask, I'll saythat kindly Do we have enough
(10:00):
officials?
Because I know in recent yearswe've had problems having enough
officials, not only footballbut basketball players for
baseball, the whole thing.
So where do we stand withofficials?
And if somebody wanted to learnhow to become an official or
reach out, how could they dothat?
Andrew Freeman (10:16):
I think we're always going to have problems
with officials down here justbecause it's so hard and it's so
frequent.
We have the same five to eightguys for football and I think
it's been the same five or eight, honestly, my whole life.
So we really appreciate themand I know everyone gives them a
hard time.
But I appreciate them Becauseif it wasn't for them we can't
(10:37):
play the game Absolutely.
But they're under the MonroeCounty Officials Association and
Paul Rowe is the executor forthat and I know he is taking
anyone that wants to be anofficial.
He's helping them with theprocess of it and it's a hard
thing because when we have toget officials to come from out
of town then we have to pay forthem to stay down here.
(11:00):
It puts an extra amount offunds together that we wouldn't
have if people down here weredoing it.
So you know you pay theirofficial fee and that can be,
depending on the game and howmany officials we need.
That can be anywhere from $200to $1,000 just for a game and
then for, let's say, baseball,we're playing a weekend, so
(11:20):
you're doing that twice and thenyou're paying for a hotel room
for two nights.
So you're probably looking atclose to $2,000 just in
officials.
That's when you have to pay forrooms and everything else, so
it gets pricey.
Joy (11:34):
And that's another area of responsibility for the athletic
director, right.
Andrew Freeman (11:39):
Yeah, it's another fun one.
Joy (11:40):
Yeah.
So I'm sure you have a lot ofpeople that are happy to you
know give you suggestions onwhat how to do your job.
But one person you might takeadvice from is your Tia Netta,
who was the athletic directoryears ago.
Andrew Freeman (11:56):
Yeah, I get a bunch of stuff from her.
She was the AD when I was herein school, so it's nice to be
able to call her.
I call Justin all the time, andthen my uncle.
He's also the athletic directorup at university school in Fort
Lauderdale, so I'm in his earall the time.
And then I was introduced withhim to Lazaro Fernandez up at
Bayland.
He was at Gulliver for 10 plusyears before that as AD.
(12:19):
So I just have a great, I guess, crew you should say that I can
call and ask questions to.
So I'm very thankful for that.
And Netta does a great job.
She was my mentor last year,just being a new teacher, so I
think I bothered her more thanshe wanted me to.
Joy (12:38):
I know she's happy to have you home, as we all are.
I was going to ask you, soyou're starting your second year
as AD.
What's?
Andrew Freeman (12:46):
something that you learned last year that
you're glad you know.
Coming in the year too, I'd saydo everything a lot earlier
than you think.
You know, even being a week outof trying to plan stuff and put
stuff together, you probably doa little bit earlier because
you never know.
Throughout the week andthroughout each day, you never
know what's going to pop up andwhat's going to need to be done.
Um, you know, right now we haveour banner sponsorships going,
(13:07):
and so whenever anyone brings mea banner to put up wherever
they they want, I go, take itand put it up.
So I stop what I'm doing, makesure that's up for them.
And so there's things that comeup throughout the day, and if
something happens with a studentor an athlete and we need to
get that taken care of, we getthat taken care of right away.
So anything I can do uh, aheadfor myself, it always works out
(13:30):
let me, let me ask you we havesome other sports happening,
right?
so our fall sports run fromfootball, swimming, golf, cross
country and volleyball.
So our volleyball team wentaway last week for a little
round robin at marathon.
They played marathon coldshores.
And then we start up.
We go away friday and saturdaylast week for a little round
robin at Marathon.
They played Marathon inCoalshores.
Then we start up.
We go away Friday and Saturdaythis week for a tournament for
(13:51):
both our varsity and JV.
Then our swim team goes awaySaturday for their first meet.
Then next week our crosscountry and golf team will start
.
Next week we'll have all of ourfall sports going.
That's when all the fun starts.
That's when we have one or twodays a week where I don't have
an event or I don't have a teamgoing away.
(14:12):
That's what makes this jobenjoyable is the amount of games
that these kids and coaches getto have.
It's awesome to see them andtheir happiness from the kids,
the coach, the parents.
That's what makes this fun.
Joy (14:24):
It must be a very rewarding job.
Let's talk about volleyball fora minute, because I saw they
played last weekend.
Like you mentioned, up at CoralShores Is Kim Butler coaching
again this year.
Andrew Freeman (14:34):
She is.
She's back.
I think this is on and off herninth or tenth year.
I know she took a little timeas an assistant coach when Sarah
took over and then last yearshe came back assistant coach
when Sarah took over and thenlast year she came back and she
does a great job with our girls.
So getting her back last yearwas it was easy for me because
it was one less I guess, sportyou could say.
I had to worry about coming inthe first time because I coached
(14:56):
with her as the PE teacher atHOB so I knew I knew her, I knew
what type of program she wasgoing to run and she was the
coach when I was here in schoolso I already knew what kind of
program she had.
And for her to want to stepback in was a massive weight off
my shoulder because we hiredher within the first couple
weeks I took the job.
(15:17):
So it helped me out a ton forher doing that.
She does a great job with ourgirls and she gets them ready to
play and then they play theirbest volleyball probably towards
the middle end of the seasonand hopefully that goes for all
of our sports, the preseasongames and the tournament that
they had last week for footballand volleyball.
You're moving your playersaround and seeing what you have
Exactly, seeing what works,seeing what doesn't work.
(15:39):
So she does a good job at that.
Joy (15:41):
You mentioned HOB.
Horst O'Brien Middle now hassome athletic programs.
They've got volleyball, they'vegot the football team.
How do you think that's helpingthe transition for the athletes
to high school and helping usto be competitive against some
of these other schools?
Andrew Freeman (15:58):
I think it's helping a lot.
For volleyball, for example, wehad to add a freshman team this
year.
Ok, so we have three volleyballteams.
We have a varsity JV and afreshman team, and that just
goes to show you, like, justbecause they started the sport
earlier now.
So the girls are into it andthey want to keep playing it and
it's more accessible, you know,because other than that HOB
(16:20):
team, the only volleyball youcan play is through club and
traveling.
So the HOB sports itself itdoes a good job for our programs
and what's nice about it is youcan show them what we're doing
at the high school, coachingwise and scheme wise, so that
they can start doing it at HOB.
So when they get to the highschool they know what they're
doing.
(16:40):
So they kind of become feederprograms for the high school.
Joy (16:44):
Exactly, I lived in Texas for a short time and even Pop
Warner football they run some ofthe same plays as high schools.
So the kids learn how toexecute those plays early on.
Andrew Freeman (16:57):
Yeah, when I was coaching up in Tennessee for
the football team up there atthe McMinn County High School,
our coaching staff ran themiddle school program as well.
So we did our varsity footballand JV football practices and
then right after we had ourmiddle school practices so we
ran through all the footballteams.
They ran same offense defense,they had the same practice
(17:18):
schedule.
So when they got to us at thehigh school they already knew
what we were doing, they knewhow everything was going to be
ran, they knew the practiceschedule.
I mean it was nice to have thatset up to, where the kids knew
what they were doing and knewwhat to expect, not just as a
program but from us as coachesas well.
Joy (17:34):
For sure.
You mentioned the swim team.
I think I read recently anarticle Joey Cook did that the
swim team is starting its 30thyear under Lori Bosco.
Andrew Freeman (17:44):
Yes, that is correct.
But I mean, what do you sayabout that?
That's 30 years of completededication, right there.
Joy (17:53):
And Coach Wise was telling me that he coached.
You know, he's coached manysports.
He's still involved withfootball and he was saying
helping her coach.
The swim team was one of hisfavorite positions.
Andrew Freeman (18:07):
Yeah, I did see.
He said that that's interesting.
Joy (18:11):
A state champion recently, in 2022.
He had AJ Smith and there'sgirls and boys on the swim team
right.
Andrew Freeman (18:19):
Yeah, so we have a girls and boys swim team and
Lori does a fantastic job.
Obviously she's been doing itfor for 30 years and she knows
what she's doing it.
It just goes to show you thehard work she put in for 30
years.
Yeah, the kids go out there andthey then you talk about those
feeder programs and stuff, butthat first day those freshmen
step out to the swim I guess yousay the pool over at the
(18:41):
college.
They know what they're gettinginto and she does such a great
job with those kids.
It's fun.
I went to my first swim meetlast year.
Joy (18:49):
I've never been to a swim meet.
I might have to go.
Is there a place for fans towatch?
Andrew Freeman (18:53):
Yeah, there is a place for fans to watch it.
It was enjoyable, I got into it, and it's exciting, you know,
for the kids to see myself andMs Palomino out there cheering
them on and showing up for them.
It was worth it.
Joy (19:11):
You mentioned the kids.
Andrew Freeman (19:12):
Do you have an idea of how?
Joy (19:12):
many students participate in sports.
Andrew Freeman (19:13):
Last year we were right around anywhere from
500 to 600 athletes.
So we have about 1340, 1350students at the school, so a
little bit of half of that areathletes at the school and you
know, with us being so small,most of those athletes are
(19:35):
playing multiple sports, whichis what's so great.
Last year we had Kieran Smith.
He was the first four sportathlete QS High School has ever
had.
Joy (19:46):
Wow, I missed that.
Andrew Freeman (19:49):
Yeah.
So he swims, plays soccer andthen he plays lacrosse.
And then last year he came upto Coach Perkins and I asked if
he can go run track.
You know, we got together andwe talked with Coach Alberto,
the lacrosse coach, and as longas it worked out with them as
coaches, I was like, yeah, youcan go do it.
So he made history last year.
I made sure of that.
(20:10):
When I asked Coach Wise, ourhistorian, if there's ever been
one, he said no.
So Kieran does a great job Fora kid like that.
You know he holds a 4.0unweighted GPA.
He's vice president orpresident of the senior class,
he's involved with everythingand for him to go out there and
play four sports is incredible.
Joy (20:28):
That is really special, one of the things I was going to
mention.
You know, here in Monroe Countywe recently heard that we're an
A school district.
The academic rigor in MonroeCounty is legit.
What do you think?
You are a student athlete.
How do you think playing sportshelps students succeed in the
classroom?
Andrew Freeman (20:46):
Well, it helps them with the discipline of life
and the discipline of sportstakes more of it, puts more on
you as a person.
I mean you know you got to beon time, like all the penalties
we had Friday night.
That's just it wasundisciplined, jumping off sides
.
You know you fix that duringthe week.
So those kids are learning.
You know you jump off sides,you get a five yard penalty and
your team gets hit for it.
(21:07):
So you take that into life andyou take that into school and
you miss an assignment in class,you get a zero.
You're great false.
You know, last year we had wegive out a scholar athlete
awards for students that hold a3.5 or higher GPA just during
the season and we had to orderthree extra sets of them.
(21:27):
So I mean it's awesome for ourkids to take it into the
classroom.
Our coaches do a really goodjob pushing the kids in the
classroom because the NCAA ispushing the GPA up higher and
with the way the college isright now with COVID transfers
and NIL, the higher the kid'sGPA right now it's easier for
(21:49):
the colleges to take them.
Joy (21:50):
Going back to you being an athlete and knowing what it
takes.
You earned a collegescholarship and played at the
next level.
What wisdom do you have toshare with the student athletes
who are very enthusiastic andenergetic at the beginning of
the season?
What do you say to them to helpthem sustain that enthusiasm
(22:10):
and energy throughout the entireseason?
Andrew Freeman (22:13):
Yeah, you know, honestly, it comes in different
forms for all the kids and youhave to start, you have to learn
how to feel the kids out andyou have to figure out what
makes them go.
When I was coaching inTennessee, I think this is where
I started to start feeling kidsout and you have to figure out
what.
What makes them go.
Um, when I was coaching intennessee, I, I think this is
where I started to start feelingkids out a little bit more and
it it kind of works for anyonethat's a real competitor.
(22:33):
They think you know everyone hasgood games, but not everyone
needs to know they had a goodgame, because you can always do
a little bit better, you canalways play a little bit more,
but just because you scoredthree touchdowns doesn't mean
you couldn't score another one.
Or just because you scoredthree touchdowns doesn't mean
you didn't miss a block.
So you know you got to hold thekids accountable, even though
they played great.
(22:53):
Sometimes they need to hear it,sometimes they don't.
So I think that's what, that'swhat pushes them.
They want to, they want to getyour your, to tell them that
they did a good job at the endof the day, and they'll keep
working towards that.
Most of the kids I seethroughout the day and then when
I get out to practice, thefirst thing I ask them is how
their day is going, because youdon't want to just get out there
(23:15):
and start yelling at kids orgetting on the kids if you don't
know what happened to themthroughout the day, whether it's
at home, whether it's at school.
If they didn't eat anything,why are you in a bad mood?
Can we get you something to eator drink?
You know there's a whole listof things that goes into it and
it's just feeling the kids outand seeing what you can do to
help them become a better person.
Joy (23:36):
That's good stuff, coach, you mentioned cross country.
When I think about crosscountry running, I think about
the kids running in the woods.
Where do they do cross countryaround here?
Andrew Freeman (23:46):
We're lucky enough that the golf course lets
us put up a track around thecourse.
We go out there, our coach andsome volunteers go out there and
they set the course up and werun at the golf course early in
the morning and we're donebefore the first people tee off
for the day.
So we're in and out of thereearly in the morning.
(24:08):
So most of our meets are away.
They run at local parks inMiami.
So it's definitely a sport Iwouldn't have gotten into.
I tell Coach McGraw that allthe time.
Joy (24:21):
I wouldn't have gotten into .
I tell Coach McGraw that allthe time I wouldn't have picked
that either, but that's one ofthose sports that you learn how
to run in high school and it's alifelong sport.
You can stay with it.
Andrew Freeman (24:31):
Yeah, I think that's why a lot of people do it
.
We had two great girls lastyear that made it to the state
finals and Coach McGraw did agreat job with them.
So you know those two.
They set the bar for our kidsand we have a great group of
young ninth graders that arecoming in, so hopefully they
follow in their footsteps andthey can compete at that level.
Joy (24:53):
I can't help but think about Mr John Welsh, who we lost
in July.
He was a longtime educator inMonroe County, most of the time
spent at QS High as an assistantprincipal and a principal, and
he was an avid runner.
He ran marathons all over theworld and when I think about
track and cross country I can'thelp but think about him.
So maybe we'll have an angelwatching out for the kids.
Andrew Freeman (25:15):
Yeah, it's an angel watching out for our kids
for sure, there's no doubt aboutthat.
Joy (25:20):
What about?
Is tennis one of the fallsports?
Andrew Freeman (25:22):
Tennis is a spring sport.
Joy (25:24):
Okay.
Andrew Freeman (25:25):
They get going, they get going Same time
baseball, softball, lacrosse andtrack and the state keeps
moving everything up.
So once we get done withChristmas break or winter break,
spring sports start.
Joy (25:36):
Do you think that pickleball will become a high
school sport?
Andrew Freeman (25:40):
I'm not sure.
I know we got kids at theschool that want to start a
pickleball club, so there's kidsthat want to play.
They come up to me all the timeasking if we can start a club
so it might make its way there.
We'll see.
Joy (25:51):
Last year we went to one of their away games St Thomas and
there was flag football girlsflag football playing.
I was talking to one of thereferees and he had told me he
just drove from Miami callinganother game and that girls flag
football is really big up onthe mainland.
Have you had any discussionabout making that a sport here
in Monroe County?
Andrew Freeman (26:12):
Yeah, we'd love to.
It's hard.
You go back to the amount ofkids we have that can
participate in a single sport inthat season and at the state
meeting this year they weretalking about maybe moving flag
football to a fall sport.
If they did that, I think wewould be able to carry flag
football for the girls.
Actually, I think it's one ofthe fastest growing sports in
(26:35):
America right now, so it'sgrowing everywhere.
If they moved it to the fall,we definitely have it.
Joy (26:45):
That's interesting, right, because we have a lot of our
girls that play softball and arein track in the Springs.
Yeah, maybe the timing of it.
I was curious if the JuniorFootball League was going to do
flag football for girls.
I know there's a tournamentsometime in the spring that the
city does for flag football.
Andrew Freeman (27:00):
Yeah, I think.
So I know we have a few girlsat the high school that play in
those tournaments, so I thinkit'd be a great sport for us and
if the state moved it to thefall, we'd definitely be able to
have it here at the school.
Joy (27:12):
Is golf a fall sport?
Andrew Freeman (27:14):
Yeah, golf's off and running.
Our head coach is Josh Bassett.
Last year was the first year Imet him.
He did a great job last yearwith our kids and he's just
continuing that.
We have a great group of boysand girls out there that he runs
and those kids are ready to go.
It's funny because they got tocarry their bag.
(27:35):
You go golfing and you thinkyou uh drive the golf cart
around and everything the.
The state, the FHSAA, doesn'tallow you to do that, so our
kids have to carry their bags orput them on the rolling cart
and drag them behind them.
But he does a great job.
Out there.
It's hot, it's muggy.
Our golf course holds water, soit's mosquitoes and iguanas
(27:58):
chasing him around I do not.
I went golfing on a companytrip and, uh, it did not go well
, so I don't know I went to thedriving range one time and I
just kept shanking everything tothe right.
Joy (28:16):
It was like I was trying to hit a home run and my.
Andrew Freeman (28:21):
My baseball swing does not go over to a golf
swing.
Any good it's, it's not good so, coach, you play multiple
sports.
Joy (28:28):
I know you play football and baseball.
Obviously I heard you on thetrack team I did.
Andrew Freeman (28:34):
I ran track for a year with coach perkins.
It's probably his most favoriteyear he's ever had coaching
here.
Joy (28:40):
I'll have to ask you, I'll have to ask him about that.
Andrew Freeman (28:42):
He'll probably tell you it was his worst year.
No, no, no.
I tried out for the basketballteam one year.
I made the team, I was comingoff shoulder surgery and it was
going into baseball season, so Iended up not playing and I just
focused on baseball after that.
Joy (28:59):
You mentioned injuries.
Our athletes now seem so muchmore sophisticated, right with
the nutrition and the weightlifting, but I also see them
getting injured a lot.
So like where's the balance?
I mean, injuries happen withsports, but do you think there's
such thing as too much playingtime?
Andrew Freeman (29:20):
I think it just depends on the sport and what
you're doing.
You can do too much of anything.
I can sit here in the officefor too long, you know.
Joy (29:27):
Good point.
Andrew Freeman (29:28):
So it just depends on how you use your body
and how you take care of it.
There's so much information intoday's world that our kids can
look up and see any type ofrehab, any type of nutrition.
How can you get your body backto 100%?
And then you know, we finallyhired a trainer and I think
that's going to help us preventinjuries.
(29:50):
A ton John here.
He's going to do a great jobwith our kids and take care of
our kids and we're excited tohave him.
But as far as our coaches go, Ithink they do a good job of
getting our kids ready andputting them in to have them.
But as far as our coaches go, Ithink they do a good job of
getting our kids ready andputting them in the best
positions in the off season andthe preseason.
Joy (30:09):
So one of the things that I'm often curious about is some
sports we play marathon andcoral shores, and some sports we
don't.
How's that work?
I wasn't sure if it was thesize of the school or if it was
the sport.
It's a don't.
How's that work?
I wasn't sure if it was thesize of the school or if it was
the sport.
Andrew Freeman (30:21):
It's a little bit.
It's a little bit of everything.
You know, basketball has alwaysbeen one that we play them in
but, you know, whenever we canplay them and they can play us,
it's a great atmosphere for ourkids.
I was never able to playmarathon, any sport in high
school, so I can't speak onplaying in that atmosphere but
being can't speak on playing inthat atmosphere, but being a
student and going to thebasketball games and sitting in
(30:42):
the student section, we had agreat time when we played
Marathon and Coral Shores.
Joy (30:45):
I got to interview Coach Joey Gonzalez to the baseball
program there at Marathon and Iknow he wouldn't mind doing some
kind of showcase or somethinglike that where the baseball
programs could meet.
I know as a fan I would love tosee Marathon and Coral Shores
play, even if we didn't playagainst each other, but have
some kind of opportunity, ashowcase, to be able to see some
(31:09):
of the other athletes in theKeys, because I think we have a
lot of really good athletes here.
Andrew Freeman (31:14):
Yeah, we do.
I think the whole county itselflast year had a great year for
athletics all around.
Marathon's basketball teams hada great season, their baseball
team had a great season, coralShores baseball team had a great
year.
Their football team had a greatyear.
So you know we just build offthat and you got to support
everyone in the school districtand the county.
(31:35):
You know, at the end of the daythere's only three schools down
here, so we try to take care ofeach other as much as we can.
Lance does a great job atMarathon and Ed does a great job
at Coast Shores.
So you know, whatever we can doto help each other out, we do.
I'm excited for their successand I know they're excited for
ours.
I hope they have great yearsthis year for all their sports
(32:01):
and we can all have anothergreat year and all of us can
make more runs in the playoffsand hopefully make it to the
state tournament some of oursports.
Joy (32:05):
That sounds real good to me .
I'm ready, I'll put gas in thecar and let's ride I'm ready too
.
Andrew Freeman (32:11):
We, we have.
Uh, I was talking to coachmcdonald up marathon he he does
some of the keys weekly stuffand I was telling him that we
should have a for our athletic,athletic programs this year.
We should have a really goodyear.
Most of our programs are filledwith juniors and seniors and
those kids have been playingsince they were freshmen, so we
got three to four years ofexperience all around.
(32:31):
You know, our soccer team wondistrict tournament last year
for the first time in 10 yearsfor the boys, and then we only
lost one player.
So we have that whole teamcoming back boys, and then we
only lost one player.
So we have that whole teamcoming back.
Coach paul's got the girlssoccer team going that we were
young last year, so we're goingto be experienced there.
So, and then our james osborne,he's gonna, he's gonna lead us
on the basketball court for theboys, and then our baseball team
(32:51):
we're hoping to make anotherrun, as well as softball, and
then we're pushing.
I mean we're pushing to windistrict tournaments and then I
think that should be like one ofthe the smaller goals our
programs have is a districttournament and then we'll, we'll
, we'll begin to push toregional championships and then
state championships after that.
Winning the small stuff firstand winning each game each week,
(33:13):
and then you, you, just keepgoing.
Sometimes it's got to end atsome point, but you'd rather end
with a W than a loss.
Joy (33:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
That last game is like anabrupt stop.
It's like you go through thismourning and grieving process.
Andrew Freeman (33:29):
I mean, you're going to grieve anyway.
Joy (33:31):
Yeah, we can't.
We can't get enough of it and Isay go ahead and order you a
new trophy case, fill thattrophy case up, get you some
state championships and, I agree, the district championships.
That should be the standard,right?
That's just what we expect.
And then we just keep buildingfrom there.
Well, coach, I appreciate youtaking time.
(33:53):
I know it's a busy time of year, with school just starting and
everything.
It sounds like the future'sbright for Key West High School
sports.
I hope that you'll come backand talk to me.
Maybe in a couple months we'lldo a season check-in and see how
everything's going.
Andrew Freeman (34:07):
Yeah, we'll get on that, and then we'll start
talking about our winter sportsa little bit.
Joy (34:12):
All right, that sounds good .
Let those coaches know that I'mgoing to be calling.
Andrew Freeman (34:15):
I will Thank you .
Joy (34:16):
All right, coach Go Conks.
I'm Joy Nulish and I appreciateyou tuning into my podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,drop a review, share and
subscribe, because there's a lotof good stuff on tap.
You can find more joyfulcontent on YouTube, the socials
or check my website atjoynulishcom.
Now go, surround yourself withthe things that bring joy to
(34:37):
your world.
Until next time, much love.
How we doing Cork fans.
I got a good one for you.
Today we're talking with KeyWest High School Athletic
Director, andrew Freeman.
Welcome to the show coach.
Andrew Freeman (00:15):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Joy (00:17):
I know you're busy.
The school year just started.
I know the campus must bebuzzing with all the
student-athletes ready to makethings happen on the field, so I
appreciate you taking a littletime.
Andrew Freeman (00:27):
It's no problem.
I appreciate you and what youdo for our kids and our
community and the support yougive our programs.
It's awesome.
Joy (00:34):
For sure.
Well, that's the whole point,right?
I'm ready to get back into thestands and I want to know what's
happening with fall sports sowe can be out there cheering for
them.
Andrew Freeman (00:42):
So, wherever you want to start.
Yeah, sports, so we can be outthere cheering for them.
So, wherever you want to start,yeah, we can start with the
game.
Last Friday we had Homesteaddown here and our kids made it a
little exciting for us at theend, probably for the fans, not
as exciting for us as coaches,but it's good for them to have
some adversity early in theseason, especially with you
never know how the game's goingto go, how the year's going to
(01:03):
go.
So for them to have someadversity and have to pull it
back out, it's good for them andit's good for us as coaches to
know what we're going to havethroughout the year.
Joy (01:11):
I thought, well, maybe I'll leave, you know, by the fourth
quarter.
I could leave early.
And then I look and I'm like,wait a minute, we got us a ball
game right here.
Thirty five to thirty four to34.
Andrew Freeman (01:21):
Yeah, I wish we could have ended it like that
and had everyone leave early,but you know, I think we were
picked to lose 42 to 7.
So our kids came in there witha little bit of edge.
That's a big lopsided loss thatsomeone put on us, and our kids
took it to heart.
Joy (01:41):
I'm looking forward to the season because, like you say, it
was a preseason game, and forthem to come out there with a
chip on their shoulder, I lovedit.
That offense was on fire, 400yards rushing.
Andrew Freeman (01:52):
Yeah, I told Coach Hughes.
You know we had I think it was47 or 54 yards passing and if we
would have just switched it wewould have had 500 yards rushing
and no passing yards.
It's always good to get theball in the air.
Being a former quarterback, andespecially in this offense,
when you have a good offensiveline and good running backs,
(02:13):
it's going to be hard to throwthe ball because you know why
stop what's working.
Joy (02:19):
Absolutely, and they couldn't stop us that offensive
line.
I think I could have ran.
You know, got a first down.
Andrew Freeman (02:28):
Yeah, offensive line, I think I could have ran,
you know, got a first down.
Yeah, that uh Ran was talkingabout the offensive line during
the game and he was giving ashout out to Chaz Jimenez at
some point and then he wassaying that, uh, he thought he
thinks this offensive line mightbe better than the one he ran
behind.
So that's a.
It's a big, big uh shoes tofill there.
Joy (02:43):
Yeah, you could say that again.
And it was Van Carthampreseason classic.
It was our second year to honorhim and he was able to be here
in Key West for a few days andsoak up the love and be around
the kids and what an example heis to our young athletes.
The sky's the limit.
Andrew Freeman (03:02):
Yeah, what a great opportunity for our kids
and the whole school.
He, you know, he came to thepep rally and for our kids to
see that and be able to see thatthere there is the opportunity
to go, do something like thatand make it to the highest level
, not only as a player, but, uh,to be the general manager of an
organization and then be the Imean, he was the director of
player personnel for 10 plusyears.
(03:24):
So what a person for our kidsto look up to.
Joy (03:27):
I missed my chance to get my picture with him, but I got a
hug.
I want to give a shout out toIsha Osborne because I know she
puts a lot of work into makingthe weekend special for him and
the fans and I'm glad that theboys showed out and got him to
win.
I saw both you and him on thesideline.
You know pointing, looking atthe playbook and everything else
.
Once you're a football player,you're always a football player,
(03:49):
right, coach?
Andrew Freeman (03:50):
Yeah, and that's funny.
You say that because before thegame I was like where he's,
like where do I have to be?
I said you can be wherever youwant.
If you want to be on the field,he goes.
I don't know if I want to, Ijust wanted to let the players
play and all this stuff.
And then he gets down there andyou know, once you get down
there, your instincts just takeover.
He was letting the refereeshave it.
He was letting our kids have it.
It was awesome.
(04:11):
Our kids enjoyed it.
And for our kids to be able totalk to him during the game and
then for him to see our kidsplay in person, it'll help them
get recruited and go further inlife.
So it's it's awesome all theway around.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Key West versus Homestead Last second win, and
thanks in part thanks to what'sit called volunteer coach Ray
Carthon.
I saw you on the sidelines andyour Jordans waving it
hysterically like it was theSuper Bowl, which it sort of was
.
How did that whole weekend go?
Because it was a celebration ofRand, as far as I could tell.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Man, it was fantastic .
You ran as far as I could tell,man, it was.
Uh, it was fantastic.
You couldn't ask for nothingbetter.
Um, like you said, they namedthe kickoff classic, preseason
kickoff classic.
After me last year I obviouslycouldn't make it because I was
with the titans and doing ourpreseason process, but, um, now
I'm with Ryan Wilson and he gaveme a off weekend to be able to
go home.
But it was my first time homein 10 years, a very long time.
(05:05):
So it was great to be back homearound everyone.
I grew up, like you said, webeat Homestead 35-34.
So that's bragging rights, hadover 400 yards on the ground,
four rushing touchdowns.
It was just cool.
I got into the game, probably alittle too much.
There's a joke going aroundamongst my friend group down in
(05:27):
key west that I was down therecalling timeouts.
Uh, during the game.
No, but I was just into it andI was.
I just so happened to bedressed the same as the coaches,
so they didn't know if I wasactually a coach on the staff or
not.
Um, I ended the game doing conkjacks with the team and in the
middle of the team breakdown.
(05:48):
But shout out to everyone inKey West.
Shout out to my folks at IslandDogs Angela and Stevie.
They took good care of us.
Shout out to Andrew Freeman,the athletic director, johnny
Hughes, the head coach, aishaOsborne.
It was just a great weekendthat they put together and it
was just good to be back homearound my people.
Joy (06:18):
We have a great home schedule.
This year We've got eight morehome games, if I look correct.
Andrew Freeman (06:26):
Yeah, we lucked out on that.
So we had two district gamesaway last year.
So with football, you play oneaway, you play the next one home
.
So we got those two coming homewith St Brennan and Miami
Jackson and then we played homeand home contract with Somerset
Canyons and Berlin Jesuit lastyear and we played those two
games away as well.
So those are four home gamesright there.
(06:47):
Img they're a white team.
They come down every year.
They're actually being a secondteam.
They're playing marathonThursday night and then they're
coming down to play us with theother team Friday and then the
other teams just reached out andwanted to come down.
I think that's the good thingabout when you start winning and
having good cultures down herewith the fans and everything,
(07:10):
that you get teams that usuallydon't want to come down.
I mean, I think we have Alabamacoming down for softball this
year and they're ranked pretty.
I think they're ranked top 10in the country.
So when you put together goodseasons over and over, people
start wanting to come down.
It makes it a little easier toschedule home games.
Joy (07:28):
And for you as the athletic director, that takes some of
the pressure off right.
Andrew Freeman (07:33):
Yeah, of course, you know, probably the biggest
thing with being an athleticdirector is transportation and
funds.
So anytime we can have a homegame and eliminate having
transportation and having to putmoney out for transportation,
it helps tremendously.
With home games we still haveto pay, we'll pay the refs and
security if we have to, but justthe whole playing at home,
(07:53):
being in front of your fans,being in front of your parents
Unfortunately, most of our kids'parents can't travel to the
away games with work andeverything.
So being able to play at homeis tremendous for us and our
community.
Joy (08:08):
Well, the stands were packed last weekend.
It seemed a good crowd.
The other thing I love about afootball game is you've got all
the football players.
You've got the band, the conkass, the cheerleaders, the pep
squad, so there's a couplehundred kids out there showing
out right?
Andrew Freeman (08:18):
Yeah, that's what makes it fun.
I was telling Rick Lopez theother day.
I said when you hear the bandand the drum line coming, you
get a different feel.
Your skin starts coming up andyou're like it's football season
, it's here, so we love it.
And Mr Hernandez, he does agreat job with our band and it's
awesome.
The atmosphere out there isincredible it really is special.
Joy (09:02):
I wanted to um you mentioned mentioned Coach Hughes
.
Who else is part of thatcoaching staff?
I think he's got 14 yearscoaching now.
Andrew Freeman (09:10):
Yeah, this is his 14th year.
He's the head coach.
He does the offense as well.
And then Dave Van Loon.
He's a defense coordinator.
He's been coaching with him forI'd probably say 11 of the 14
years.
The other three he went overand was the HOB middle school
head coach and then, once hisson, roman, came over to the
high school a couple years ago,he came back over um and what a
(09:31):
smart, defensive minded guy heis he was a defense coordinator
when I was here and he was adefense coordinator coach when I
was a kid as a water boy.
Joy (09:40):
So he's been here a while and he does a great job you
mentioned the officials umearlier and I thought they were
a little happy with the flag.
I don't know how many penaltiesthere was, penalties I never
even heard of.
But much love to the officials.
What I want to ask, I'll saythat kindly Do we have enough
(10:00):
officials?
Because I know in recent yearswe've had problems having enough
officials, not only footballbut basketball players for
baseball, the whole thing.
So where do we stand withofficials?
And if somebody wanted to learnhow to become an official or
reach out, how could they dothat?
Andrew Freeman (10:16):
I think we're always going to have problems
with officials down here justbecause it's so hard and it's so
frequent.
We have the same five to eightguys for football and I think
it's been the same five or eight, honestly, my whole life.
So we really appreciate themand I know everyone gives them a
hard time.
But I appreciate them Becauseif it wasn't for them we can't
(10:37):
play the game Absolutely.
But they're under the MonroeCounty Officials Association and
Paul Rowe is the executor forthat and I know he is taking
anyone that wants to be anofficial.
He's helping them with theprocess of it and it's a hard
thing because when we have toget officials to come from out
of town then we have to pay forthem to stay down here.
(11:00):
It puts an extra amount offunds together that we wouldn't
have if people down here weredoing it.
So you know you pay theirofficial fee and that can be,
depending on the game and howmany officials we need.
That can be anywhere from $200to $1,000 just for a game and
then for, let's say, baseball,we're playing a weekend, so
(11:20):
you're doing that twice and thenyou're paying for a hotel room
for two nights.
So you're probably looking atclose to $2,000 just in
officials.
That's when you have to pay forrooms and everything else, so
it gets pricey.
Joy (11:34):
And that's another area of responsibility for the athletic
director, right.
Andrew Freeman (11:39):
Yeah, it's another fun one.
Joy (11:40):
Yeah.
So I'm sure you have a lot ofpeople that are happy to you
know give you suggestions onwhat how to do your job.
But one person you might takeadvice from is your Tia Netta,
who was the athletic directoryears ago.
Andrew Freeman (11:56):
Yeah, I get a bunch of stuff from her.
She was the AD when I was herein school, so it's nice to be
able to call her.
I call Justin all the time, andthen my uncle.
He's also the athletic directorup at university school in Fort
Lauderdale, so I'm in his earall the time.
And then I was introduced withhim to Lazaro Fernandez up at
Bayland.
He was at Gulliver for 10 plusyears before that as AD.
(12:19):
So I just have a great, I guess, crew you should say that I can
call and ask questions to.
So I'm very thankful for that.
And Netta does a great job.
She was my mentor last year,just being a new teacher, so I
think I bothered her more thanshe wanted me to.
Joy (12:38):
I know she's happy to have you home, as we all are.
I was going to ask you, soyou're starting your second year
as AD.
What's?
Andrew Freeman (12:46):
something that you learned last year that
you're glad you know.
Coming in the year too, I'd saydo everything a lot earlier
than you think.
You know, even being a week outof trying to plan stuff and put
stuff together, you probably doa little bit earlier because
you never know.
Throughout the week andthroughout each day, you never
know what's going to pop up andwhat's going to need to be done.
Um, you know, right now we haveour banner sponsorships going,
(13:07):
and so whenever anyone brings mea banner to put up wherever
they they want, I go, take itand put it up.
So I stop what I'm doing, makesure that's up for them.
And so there's things that comeup throughout the day, and if
something happens with a studentor an athlete and we need to
get that taken care of, we getthat taken care of right away.
So anything I can do uh, aheadfor myself, it always works out
(13:30):
let me, let me ask you we havesome other sports happening,
right?
so our fall sports run fromfootball, swimming, golf, cross
country and volleyball.
So our volleyball team wentaway last week for a little
round robin at marathon.
They played marathon coldshores.
And then we start up.
We go away friday and saturdaylast week for a little round
robin at Marathon.
They played Marathon inCoalshores.
Then we start up.
We go away Friday and Saturdaythis week for a tournament for
(13:51):
both our varsity and JV.
Then our swim team goes awaySaturday for their first meet.
Then next week our crosscountry and golf team will start
.
Next week we'll have all of ourfall sports going.
That's when all the fun starts.
That's when we have one or twodays a week where I don't have
an event or I don't have a teamgoing away.
(14:12):
That's what makes this jobenjoyable is the amount of games
that these kids and coaches getto have.
It's awesome to see them andtheir happiness from the kids,
the coach, the parents.
That's what makes this fun.
Joy (14:24):
It must be a very rewarding job.
Let's talk about volleyball fora minute, because I saw they
played last weekend.
Like you mentioned, up at CoralShores Is Kim Butler coaching
again this year.
Andrew Freeman (14:34):
She is.
She's back.
I think this is on and off herninth or tenth year.
I know she took a little timeas an assistant coach when Sarah
took over and then last yearshe came back assistant coach
when Sarah took over and thenlast year she came back and she
does a great job with our girls.
So getting her back last yearwas it was easy for me because
it was one less I guess, sportyou could say.
I had to worry about coming inthe first time because I coached
(14:56):
with her as the PE teacher atHOB so I knew I knew her, I knew
what type of program she wasgoing to run and she was the
coach when I was here in schoolso I already knew what kind of
program she had.
And for her to want to stepback in was a massive weight off
my shoulder because we hiredher within the first couple
weeks I took the job.
(15:17):
So it helped me out a ton forher doing that.
She does a great job with ourgirls and she gets them ready to
play and then they play theirbest volleyball probably towards
the middle end of the seasonand hopefully that goes for all
of our sports, the preseasongames and the tournament that
they had last week for footballand volleyball.
You're moving your playersaround and seeing what you have
Exactly, seeing what works,seeing what doesn't work.
(15:39):
So she does a good job at that.
Joy (15:41):
You mentioned HOB.
Horst O'Brien Middle now hassome athletic programs.
They've got volleyball, they'vegot the football team.
How do you think that's helpingthe transition for the athletes
to high school and helping usto be competitive against some
of these other schools?
Andrew Freeman (15:58):
I think it's helping a lot.
For volleyball, for example, wehad to add a freshman team this
year.
Ok, so we have three volleyballteams.
We have a varsity JV and afreshman team, and that just
goes to show you, like, justbecause they started the sport
earlier now.
So the girls are into it andthey want to keep playing it and
it's more accessible, you know,because other than that HOB
(16:20):
team, the only volleyball youcan play is through club and
traveling.
So the HOB sports itself itdoes a good job for our programs
and what's nice about it is youcan show them what we're doing
at the high school, coachingwise and scheme wise, so that
they can start doing it at HOB.
So when they get to the highschool they know what they're
doing.
(16:40):
So they kind of become feederprograms for the high school.
Joy (16:44):
Exactly, I lived in Texas for a short time and even Pop
Warner football they run some ofthe same plays as high schools.
So the kids learn how toexecute those plays early on.
Andrew Freeman (16:57):
Yeah, when I was coaching up in Tennessee for
the football team up there atthe McMinn County High School,
our coaching staff ran themiddle school program as well.
So we did our varsity footballand JV football practices and
then right after we had ourmiddle school practices so we
ran through all the footballteams.
They ran same offense defense,they had the same practice
(17:18):
schedule.
So when they got to us at thehigh school they already knew
what we were doing, they knewhow everything was going to be
ran, they knew the practiceschedule.
I mean it was nice to have thatset up to, where the kids knew
what they were doing and knewwhat to expect, not just as a
program but from us as coachesas well.
Joy (17:34):
For sure.
You mentioned the swim team.
I think I read recently anarticle Joey Cook did that the
swim team is starting its 30thyear under Lori Bosco.
Andrew Freeman (17:44):
Yes, that is correct.
But I mean, what do you sayabout that?
That's 30 years of completededication, right there.
Joy (17:53):
And Coach Wise was telling me that he coached.
You know, he's coached manysports.
He's still involved withfootball and he was saying
helping her coach.
The swim team was one of hisfavorite positions.
Andrew Freeman (18:07):
Yeah, I did see.
He said that that's interesting.
Joy (18:11):
A state champion recently, in 2022.
He had AJ Smith and there'sgirls and boys on the swim team
right.
Andrew Freeman (18:19):
Yeah, so we have a girls and boys swim team and
Lori does a fantastic job.
Obviously she's been doing itfor for 30 years and she knows
what she's doing it.
It just goes to show you thehard work she put in for 30
years.
Yeah, the kids go out there andthey then you talk about those
feeder programs and stuff, butthat first day those freshmen
step out to the swim I guess yousay the pool over at the
(18:41):
college.
They know what they're gettinginto and she does such a great
job with those kids.
It's fun.
I went to my first swim meetlast year.
Joy (18:49):
I've never been to a swim meet.
I might have to go.
Is there a place for fans towatch?
Andrew Freeman (18:53):
Yeah, there is a place for fans to watch it.
It was enjoyable, I got into it, and it's exciting, you know,
for the kids to see myself andMs Palomino out there cheering
them on and showing up for them.
It was worth it.
Joy (19:11):
You mentioned the kids.
Andrew Freeman (19:12):
Do you have an idea of how?
Joy (19:12):
many students participate in sports.
Andrew Freeman (19:13):
Last year we were right around anywhere from
500 to 600 athletes.
So we have about 1340, 1350students at the school, so a
little bit of half of that areathletes at the school and you
know, with us being so small,most of those athletes are
(19:35):
playing multiple sports, whichis what's so great.
Last year we had Kieran Smith.
He was the first four sportathlete QS High School has ever
had.
Joy (19:46):
Wow, I missed that.
Andrew Freeman (19:49):
Yeah.
So he swims, plays soccer andthen he plays lacrosse.
And then last year he came upto Coach Perkins and I asked if
he can go run track.
You know, we got together andwe talked with Coach Alberto,
the lacrosse coach, and as longas it worked out with them as
coaches, I was like, yeah, youcan go do it.
So he made history last year.
I made sure of that.
(20:10):
When I asked Coach Wise, ourhistorian, if there's ever been
one, he said no.
So Kieran does a great job Fora kid like that.
You know he holds a 4.0unweighted GPA.
He's vice president orpresident of the senior class,
he's involved with everythingand for him to go out there and
play four sports is incredible.
Joy (20:28):
That is really special, one of the things I was going to
mention.
You know, here in Monroe Countywe recently heard that we're an
A school district.
The academic rigor in MonroeCounty is legit.
What do you think?
You are a student athlete.
How do you think playing sportshelps students succeed in the
classroom?
Andrew Freeman (20:46):
Well, it helps them with the discipline of life
and the discipline of sportstakes more of it, puts more on
you as a person.
I mean you know you got to beon time, like all the penalties
we had Friday night.
That's just it wasundisciplined, jumping off sides
.
You know you fix that duringthe week.
So those kids are learning.
You know you jump off sides,you get a five yard penalty and
your team gets hit for it.
(21:07):
So you take that into life andyou take that into school and
you miss an assignment in class,you get a zero.
You're great false.
You know, last year we had wegive out a scholar athlete
awards for students that hold a3.5 or higher GPA just during
the season and we had to orderthree extra sets of them.
(21:27):
So I mean it's awesome for ourkids to take it into the
classroom.
Our coaches do a really goodjob pushing the kids in the
classroom because the NCAA ispushing the GPA up higher and
with the way the college isright now with COVID transfers
and NIL, the higher the kid'sGPA right now it's easier for
(21:49):
the colleges to take them.
Joy (21:50):
Going back to you being an athlete and knowing what it
takes.
You earned a collegescholarship and played at the
next level.
What wisdom do you have toshare with the student athletes
who are very enthusiastic andenergetic at the beginning of
the season?
What do you say to them to helpthem sustain that enthusiasm
(22:10):
and energy throughout the entireseason?
Andrew Freeman (22:13):
Yeah, you know, honestly, it comes in different
forms for all the kids and youhave to start, you have to learn
how to feel the kids out andyou have to figure out what
makes them go.
When I was coaching inTennessee, I think this is where
I started to start feeling kidsout and you have to figure out
what.
What makes them go.
Um, when I was coaching intennessee, I, I think this is
where I started to start feelingkids out a little bit more and
it it kind of works for anyonethat's a real competitor.
(22:33):
They think you know everyone hasgood games, but not everyone
needs to know they had a goodgame, because you can always do
a little bit better, you canalways play a little bit more,
but just because you scoredthree touchdowns doesn't mean
you couldn't score another one.
Or just because you scoredthree touchdowns doesn't mean
you didn't miss a block.
So you know you got to hold thekids accountable, even though
they played great.
(22:53):
Sometimes they need to hear it,sometimes they don't.
So I think that's what, that'swhat pushes them.
They want to, they want to getyour your, to tell them that
they did a good job at the endof the day, and they'll keep
working towards that.
Most of the kids I seethroughout the day and then when
I get out to practice, thefirst thing I ask them is how
their day is going, because youdon't want to just get out there
(23:15):
and start yelling at kids orgetting on the kids if you don't
know what happened to themthroughout the day, whether it's
at home, whether it's at school.
If they didn't eat anything,why are you in a bad mood?
Can we get you something to eator drink?
You know there's a whole listof things that goes into it and
it's just feeling the kids outand seeing what you can do to
help them become a better person.
Joy (23:36):
That's good stuff, coach, you mentioned cross country.
When I think about crosscountry running, I think about
the kids running in the woods.
Where do they do cross countryaround here?
Andrew Freeman (23:46):
We're lucky enough that the golf course lets
us put up a track around thecourse.
We go out there, our coach andsome volunteers go out there and
they set the course up and werun at the golf course early in
the morning and we're donebefore the first people tee off
for the day.
So we're in and out of thereearly in the morning.
(24:08):
So most of our meets are away.
They run at local parks inMiami.
So it's definitely a sport Iwouldn't have gotten into.
I tell Coach McGraw that allthe time.
Joy (24:21):
I wouldn't have gotten into .
I tell Coach McGraw that allthe time I wouldn't have picked
that either, but that's one ofthose sports that you learn how
to run in high school and it's alifelong sport.
You can stay with it.
Andrew Freeman (24:31):
Yeah, I think that's why a lot of people do it
.
We had two great girls lastyear that made it to the state
finals and Coach McGraw did agreat job with them.
So you know those two.
They set the bar for our kidsand we have a great group of
young ninth graders that arecoming in, so hopefully they
follow in their footsteps andthey can compete at that level.
Joy (24:53):
I can't help but think about Mr John Welsh, who we lost
in July.
He was a longtime educator inMonroe County, most of the time
spent at QS High as an assistantprincipal and a principal, and
he was an avid runner.
He ran marathons all over theworld and when I think about
track and cross country I can'thelp but think about him.
So maybe we'll have an angelwatching out for the kids.
Andrew Freeman (25:15):
Yeah, it's an angel watching out for our kids
for sure, there's no doubt aboutthat.
Joy (25:20):
What about?
Is tennis one of the fallsports?
Andrew Freeman (25:22):
Tennis is a spring sport.
Joy (25:24):
Okay.
Andrew Freeman (25:25):
They get going, they get going Same time
baseball, softball, lacrosse andtrack and the state keeps
moving everything up.
So once we get done withChristmas break or winter break,
spring sports start.
Joy (25:36):
Do you think that pickleball will become a high
school sport?
Andrew Freeman (25:40):
I'm not sure.
I know we got kids at theschool that want to start a
pickleball club, so there's kidsthat want to play.
They come up to me all the timeasking if we can start a club
so it might make its way there.
We'll see.
Joy (25:51):
Last year we went to one of their away games St Thomas and
there was flag football girlsflag football playing.
I was talking to one of thereferees and he had told me he
just drove from Miami callinganother game and that girls flag
football is really big up onthe mainland.
Have you had any discussionabout making that a sport here
in Monroe County?
Andrew Freeman (26:12):
Yeah, we'd love to.
It's hard.
You go back to the amount ofkids we have that can
participate in a single sport inthat season and at the state
meeting this year they weretalking about maybe moving flag
football to a fall sport.
If they did that, I think wewould be able to carry flag
football for the girls.
Actually, I think it's one ofthe fastest growing sports in
(26:35):
America right now, so it'sgrowing everywhere.
If they moved it to the fall,we definitely have it.
Joy (26:45):
That's interesting, right, because we have a lot of our
girls that play softball and arein track in the Springs.
Yeah, maybe the timing of it.
I was curious if the JuniorFootball League was going to do
flag football for girls.
I know there's a tournamentsometime in the spring that the
city does for flag football.
Andrew Freeman (27:00):
Yeah, I think.
So I know we have a few girlsat the high school that play in
those tournaments, so I thinkit'd be a great sport for us and
if the state moved it to thefall, we'd definitely be able to
have it here at the school.
Joy (27:12):
Is golf a fall sport?
Andrew Freeman (27:14):
Yeah, golf's off and running.
Our head coach is Josh Bassett.
Last year was the first year Imet him.
He did a great job last yearwith our kids and he's just
continuing that.
We have a great group of boysand girls out there that he runs
and those kids are ready to go.
It's funny because they got tocarry their bag.
(27:35):
You go golfing and you thinkyou uh drive the golf cart
around and everything the.
The state, the FHSAA, doesn'tallow you to do that, so our
kids have to carry their bags orput them on the rolling cart
and drag them behind them.
But he does a great job.
Out there.
It's hot, it's muggy.
Our golf course holds water, soit's mosquitoes and iguanas
(27:58):
chasing him around I do not.
I went golfing on a companytrip and, uh, it did not go well
, so I don't know I went to thedriving range one time and I
just kept shanking everything tothe right.
Joy (28:16):
It was like I was trying to hit a home run and my.
Andrew Freeman (28:21):
My baseball swing does not go over to a golf
swing.
Any good it's, it's not good so, coach, you play multiple
sports.
Joy (28:28):
I know you play football and baseball.
Obviously I heard you on thetrack team I did.
Andrew Freeman (28:34):
I ran track for a year with coach perkins.
It's probably his most favoriteyear he's ever had coaching
here.
Joy (28:40):
I'll have to ask you, I'll have to ask him about that.
Andrew Freeman (28:42):
He'll probably tell you it was his worst year.
No, no, no.
I tried out for the basketballteam one year.
I made the team, I was comingoff shoulder surgery and it was
going into baseball season, so Iended up not playing and I just
focused on baseball after that.
Joy (28:59):
You mentioned injuries.
Our athletes now seem so muchmore sophisticated, right with
the nutrition and the weightlifting, but I also see them
getting injured a lot.
So like where's the balance?
I mean, injuries happen withsports, but do you think there's
such thing as too much playingtime?
Andrew Freeman (29:20):
I think it just depends on the sport and what
you're doing.
You can do too much of anything.
I can sit here in the officefor too long, you know.
Joy (29:27):
Good point.
Andrew Freeman (29:28):
So it just depends on how you use your body
and how you take care of it.
There's so much information intoday's world that our kids can
look up and see any type ofrehab, any type of nutrition.
How can you get your body backto 100%?
And then you know, we finallyhired a trainer and I think
that's going to help us preventinjuries.
(29:50):
A ton John here.
He's going to do a great jobwith our kids and take care of
our kids and we're excited tohave him.
But as far as our coaches go, Ithink they do a good job of
getting our kids ready andputting them in to have them.
But as far as our coaches go, Ithink they do a good job of
getting our kids ready andputting them in the best
positions in the off season andthe preseason.
Joy (30:09):
So one of the things that I'm often curious about is some
sports we play marathon andcoral shores, and some sports we
don't.
How's that work?
I wasn't sure if it was thesize of the school or if it was
the sport.
It's a don't.
How's that work?
I wasn't sure if it was thesize of the school or if it was
the sport.
Andrew Freeman (30:21):
It's a little bit.
It's a little bit of everything.
You know, basketball has alwaysbeen one that we play them in
but, you know, whenever we canplay them and they can play us,
it's a great atmosphere for ourkids.
I was never able to playmarathon, any sport in high
school, so I can't speak onplaying in that atmosphere but
being can't speak on playing inthat atmosphere, but being a
student and going to thebasketball games and sitting in
(30:42):
the student section, we had agreat time when we played
Marathon and Coral Shores.
Joy (30:45):
I got to interview Coach Joey Gonzalez to the baseball
program there at Marathon and Iknow he wouldn't mind doing some
kind of showcase or somethinglike that where the baseball
programs could meet.
I know as a fan I would love tosee Marathon and Coral Shores
play, even if we didn't playagainst each other, but have
some kind of opportunity, ashowcase, to be able to see some
(31:09):
of the other athletes in theKeys, because I think we have a
lot of really good athletes here.
Andrew Freeman (31:14):
Yeah, we do.
I think the whole county itselflast year had a great year for
athletics all around.
Marathon's basketball teams hada great season, their baseball
team had a great season, coralShores baseball team had a great
year.
Their football team had a greatyear.
So you know we just build offthat and you got to support
everyone in the school districtand the county.
(31:35):
You know, at the end of the daythere's only three schools down
here, so we try to take care ofeach other as much as we can.
Lance does a great job atMarathon and Ed does a great job
at Coast Shores.
So you know, whatever we can doto help each other out, we do.
I'm excited for their successand I know they're excited for
ours.
I hope they have great yearsthis year for all their sports
(32:01):
and we can all have anothergreat year and all of us can
make more runs in the playoffsand hopefully make it to the
state tournament some of oursports.
Joy (32:05):
That sounds real good to me .
I'm ready, I'll put gas in thecar and let's ride I'm ready too
.
Andrew Freeman (32:11):
We, we have.
Uh, I was talking to coachmcdonald up marathon he he does
some of the keys weekly stuffand I was telling him that we
should have a for our athletic,athletic programs this year.
We should have a really goodyear.
Most of our programs are filledwith juniors and seniors and
those kids have been playingsince they were freshmen, so we
got three to four years ofexperience all around.
(32:31):
You know, our soccer team wondistrict tournament last year
for the first time in 10 yearsfor the boys, and then we only
lost one player.
So we have that whole teamcoming back boys, and then we
only lost one player.
So we have that whole teamcoming back.
Coach paul's got the girlssoccer team going that we were
young last year, so we're goingto be experienced there.
So, and then our james osborne,he's gonna, he's gonna lead us
on the basketball court for theboys, and then our baseball team
(32:51):
we're hoping to make anotherrun, as well as softball, and
then we're pushing.
I mean we're pushing to windistrict tournaments and then I
think that should be like one ofthe the smaller goals our
programs have is a districttournament and then we'll, we'll
, we'll begin to push toregional championships and then
state championships after that.
Winning the small stuff firstand winning each game each week,
(33:13):
and then you, you, just keepgoing.
Sometimes it's got to end atsome point, but you'd rather end
with a W than a loss.
Joy (33:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
That last game is like anabrupt stop.
It's like you go through thismourning and grieving process.
Andrew Freeman (33:29):
I mean, you're going to grieve anyway.
Joy (33:31):
Yeah, we can't.
We can't get enough of it and Isay go ahead and order you a
new trophy case, fill thattrophy case up, get you some
state championships and, I agree, the district championships.
That should be the standard,right?
That's just what we expect.
And then we just keep buildingfrom there.
Well, coach, I appreciate youtaking time.
(33:53):
I know it's a busy time of year, with school just starting and
everything.
It sounds like the future'sbright for Key West High School
sports.
I hope that you'll come backand talk to me.
Maybe in a couple months we'lldo a season check-in and see how
everything's going.
Andrew Freeman (34:07):
Yeah, we'll get on that, and then we'll start
talking about our winter sportsa little bit.
Joy (34:12):
All right, that sounds good .
Let those coaches know that I'mgoing to be calling.
Andrew Freeman (34:15):
I will Thank you .
Joy (34:16):
All right, coach Go Conks.
I'm Joy Nulish and I appreciateyou tuning into my podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,drop a review, share and
subscribe, because there's a lotof good stuff on tap.
You can find more joyfulcontent on YouTube, the socials
or check my website atjoynulishcom.
Now go, surround yourself withthe things that bring joy to
(34:37):
your world.
Until next time, much love.
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