Date and place set for 2010 RGV All-Star Sports Awards

HARLINGEN — The date and place is set for the third annual Rio Grande Valley All-Star Sports Awards.

The Harlingen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and RGVSports.com, the high school Web site for Valley Freedom Newspapers, will hold the annual awards ceremony at 7 p.m. on June 15 at Yeckel Auditorium in Harlingen.

Yeckel Auditorium, on the campus of Marine Military Academy, also hosted the event in 2009.

“We’re excited to have the date and place set,” Valley Freedom Newspapers Executive Sports Editor Wade Baker said. “We explored having this year’s program in other places across the Valley, but we felt Yeckel Auditorium provided a great setting last year for the type of awards ceremony we envisioned. We wanted to keep that same atmosphere for this year’s awards.”

The special night for the Valley’s high school sports community will honor athletes of the year (girls and boys), teams of the year (girls and boys), coach of the year, program of the year and moment of the year. The Robert Vela Lifetime Achievement recipient, which will be announced as the event nears, will be honored during the 2010 RGV All-Sports Awards as well.

Vela, the former Edinburg High and Edcouch-Elsa football coach, was honored with the award in 2008. Former Donna football coach Earl Scott, who led the 1961 Redskins to the state football championship, was honored in 2009.

The annual high school event is patterned to be the Valley’s version of ESPN’s ESPY Awards. Along with athletes being honored in the various categories, the awards program has guest presenters from throughout the Valley high school sports community.

“We want to make this a memorable night for everyone at the event,” Baker said. “It’s not just about the Valley’s award winners. It’s about every nominee, every athlete, every coach and every person in the Valley that makes Valley high school sports so special.”

Rio Grande City’s Stephen Saenz and Hidalgo’s Victoria Gonzalez were named athletes of the year in 2009. In 2008, Weslaco High’s Mishak Rivas and Harlingen South’s Bianca Torre walked away with the coveted boys and girls awards.

Those interested in sponsoring the event are asked to call the Harlingen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at (956) 421-2400.

Information on tickets for the event will be announced in April.