Plant High School’s athletic reputation precedes it. Literally. The first thing you see upon approaching the iconic, 83-year-old, south Tampa institution is that water tower. It unabashedly proclaims: “Plant High School, Home of State Champions.”
No particular year. No specific sport. No categorical need.
The Panthers have won 14 state championships – ranging from football and volleyball to girls’ cross country and golf – in the last 15 years. This school year it was the football-volleyball-girls’ golf trifecta. For the second consecutive year, Plant won the St. Petersburg Times’ All-Sports Award, emblematic of the top athletic program in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties.
Alums include a ton of Tampa influentials plus baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. Among regular fans for football games at Dad’s Stadium is Super Bowl-winning former coach Tony Dungy. PHS is steeped in tradition, nestled in an affluent, supportive area and nationally recognized for academics. Approximately 97 percent of its graduates go on to college. Plant High is a brand name.
But nothing succeeds in the public eye quite like sports. As a culture, we love our high-achieving athletes and lionize their accomplishments. Locals can identify winning high school teams, prominent players and high-profile coaches. The media assure as much.
And yet, behind every successful athletic program there is one person, unsung outside of the close-knit school “family” and some administrative insiders, who is charged with pulling a myriad of unglamorous details together. Such as assuring quality control, providing logistical support and scrutinizing athletes’ eligibilities. It also involves knowing a thing or two about fund-raising and 501C-3s. It also means monitoring security and having a presence on game days – for both high- and low-profile sports.
At Plant, that person is Laura Figueredo, one of four female high school athletic directors in Hillsborough County. Actually, she carries the title of Assistant Principal for Administration, but about 70 percent of her time, she says, is sports related. She averages about 10 hours a week watching Plant High games after “official” working hours. On a given night, she might also be found at a madrigal dinner performance featuring the PHS chorus – or a band concert or drama presentation. It’s that kind of activity-centric job.
Figueredo, 50, is an outgoing, articulate, engagingly blunt sort who graduated from PHS in 1977. She earned a softball scholarship to USF and has spent the last 23 years at Plant (nine in her current position). She’s a former volleyball coach for the Panthers — and personifies another school trademark: continuity. There’s not a lot of turnover at Plant.
“Laura is a fixture here,” notes Plant Principal Rob Nelson. “At the school and in the community. She knows the issues and the logistics. She’s excellent in being part of the hiring process.
“Laura Figueredo is very visible, fair, honest and supportive,” says Nelson. “She’s trained our coaches right. They know the rules.”
Figueredo’s philosophy is grounded in the validity, if not sanctity, of “student-athlete.” It’s no mere ideal – and certainly not a contradiction in terms.
“‘Student-athlete’ may be an oxymoron some places, but not here,” emphasizes Figueredo. “Our kids are here as students first, athletes second. Our coaches are teachers. You’re always a teacher.”
Korhn Award Winner
Underscoring the student-athlete commitment was the selection of Plant as the winner of this year’s Vernon Korhn Award for the best all-around athletic program in Hillsborough County. The criterion is more than games and championships won. Equally weighted are academics and sportsmanship. Plant athletes sported the county’s top grade point averages in 12 of the 21 boys and girls sports.
“The AD is critical because their responsibility is the total program,” says the eponymous Vernon Korhn, who used to be the county’s director of high school athletics. He’s also a Plant alum. “There needs to be a strong trust between coaches and ADs.
“At Plant, Laura Figueredo has built a very good working relationship with all of her coaches,” points out Korhn. “She’s a very good communicator, a very good listener. She’s one of the most effective and hard-working ADs in the system.”
One who knows first hand is Robert Weiner, Plant’s uber successful, head football coach. The Panthers have been state champs two of the last three years.
“She has her finger on the pulse of everything,” says Weiner, “but she’s not a micro manager. She lets coaches do their job. She’s known throughout the county for knowing all the rules and regulations. For me, I want that.
“She’s very demanding,” stresses Weiner, “which is as it should be. After all, what are we asking of our kids? Excellence. I consider Laura a supportive friend. Win or lose, she has our back. She fosters a great working relationship. I couldn’t be in a better spot.”
To Figueredo, there are two critical keys to an ultra successful athletics program. Foremost is coaching, she says. She credits PHS coaches for excelling in changing with the interscholastic times. High school sports have never been more competitive or specialized – with off-season conditioning, camps and travel teams now commonplace.
“All sports have been moving to a higher level,” explains Figueredo. “That means coaches have to be even more energized. That means they have to put in even more time. And our coaches do. And that includes keeping tabs on their kids throughout the school day. They send out their rosters to the faculty. They check on grades and behavior.”
It’s also critical to keep sports in perspective, she adds.
With success comes “publicity” and “local fame,” notes Figueredo. As a culture, Plant works to keep it “in context.”
“We emphasize that we have a lot of ‘stars’ here, and it’s hardly limited to sports,” says Figueredo. “And we also have a lot of great families who reinforce what we’re teaching.”
She cites the example of Aaron Murray, the All-Everything quarterback who led the Panthers to their 34-14 state championship victory over Tallahassee’s Lincoln High last season. He’s a big-time talent who enrolled early at the University of Georgia.
“He didn’t walk around here with a head that couldn’t fit through the doorway,” recalls Figueredo. “You won’t see that here, no matter who you are. Nobody acts like a big shot. They’re reminded that without teammates, they wouldn’t be successful.”
And without Figueredo, arguably, it wouldn’t be the same. “She’s definitely a pleasure to work with,” sums up coach Weiner. “And she’s a blessing to our kids.”
Figueredo Outtakes
*“Sports definitely helps with school spirit. It provides a way to come together – like a family. And when successful, it helps a community come together too.”
*“Sports can be a turn-around for some kids who might be headed down the wrong road. You put them in the right sport with the right coach, and it becomes the right road. And, who knows, maybe even a scholarship results.”
*“Sports is also important for helping keep kids physically fit. It’s a stress reliever. And it’s a great way to develop friendships.”
*“‘Recruiting’? I hear that all the time. Our coaches will get approached. People are pursuing them. They refer them to the office. We don’t have to ‘recruit.’ People want to be a part of this.”
*“I think we do a great job with gender equity. Our numbers (for 11 girls’ sports) are way up. It took a while to catch on. Now it’s normal. We had 140 girls try out for the flag football team (60 made it). Girls today know they can play all these sports, even if they don’t know about Title IX. Society has turned so much. Parents want their girls to play. To be a part of something. To be fit.”
* “I’ll hire the best person. Male or female. Males coach a number (six) of our female teams. And I know that Hillsborough High just hired a female (Stephanie Crawford) as boys’ basketball coach. But this is unique. It really takes a special person. You have to consider locker room issues, etc. I don’t see it as a trend-setter.”
*“Cheerleading is one of our sports. These girls are first-class athletes nowadays.”
*“If we were to add another sport, I wouldn’t vote for bodybuilding. I don’t agree with it for high school.”
*“If you set a record or make a big play or help win a championship, you’re not a ‘hero.’ Now if you save somebody from a burning building afterward, then you’re a ‘hero.’”
*“I don’t have a lot of meetings. I have an open-door policy. Besides, I probably talk to half the coaches every day anyhow.”
*“Winning is great, but the most fun I have on this job is working with the people: the administrative staff, the coaches and the kids. Our kids are fun to be around.”