Shimmy Gray to keynote Gateway Classic luncheon May 6
Antwyne Golliday, head football coach of the Cahokia High School Comanches, will receive the Coach of the Year award on Saturday, May 6 at the 10th Annual Athletic Awards Luncheon presented by the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation, American Airlines and Hardee’s.
Golliday has been the head football coach for the Comanches since 2003 and prior to that was the assistant coach for nine years. Last season, Golliday led his team to its first-ever appearance in the Illinois Class 5A playoffs and went four rounds to exit in the semifinals. He did it with a freshman quarterback and one of the youngest and most inexperienced teams in the area.
“Coach Golliday was the perfect choice for this year’s award,” said Earl Wilson Jr., president and CEO of the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation.
“The hard hat he wears at each of his team’s football games exemplifies the passion he has for his team and his commitment to working with young people on a daily basis. He is truly a man of great character.”
“I’m extremely humbled by this recognition,” said Golliday. “I’m not the type of guy who likes to talk about myself or my accomplishments, so to be singled out for this award is truly a surprise and an honor.”
In addition to his position with the football team, Coach Golliday has been the high school’s Assistant Track Coach since 1994. The boys track team was third at State under his guidance last season. And earlier this year, Golliday was promoted from his teaching position as Driver’s Education Instructor to the administrative position of Dean of Students.
Golliday is a 1979 graduate of East St. Louis Lincoln High School and a 1983 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Married to his wife Monique for nine years, Golliday is the proud father of six children and five grandchildren.
During the Athletic Awards Luncheon, the Gateway Classic will also recognize more than 80 high school athletes from the greater metropolitan St. Louis area. Special awards will be presented in the following categories: Girls Basketball Most Valuable Player, Boys Basketball Most Valuable Player, Football Defensive Most Valuable Player, Football Offensive Most Valuable Player, Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, Male Scholar Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Year.
Tickets for the Athletic Awards Luncheon are $20 each and can be purchased in advance by calling the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation at (314) 621-1994.
Shimmy Gray to keynote
Serving as the keynote speaker for the event will be Yeshimbra “Shimmy” Gray. Gray is the head coach of the Saint Louis University (SLU) women’s basketball program. As the sixth coach in the 30-year history of the SLU women’s basketball program, Gray is no stranger to hard work as an athlete. She played college basketball at the University of Michigan and one season of professional basketball for Olivais Futbol Clube, a first division club team in Coimbra, Portugal.
Prior to joining the Billiken program, Gray was an assistant coach at the University of Arizona for two seasons, helping coach the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament both years. She was also an assistant coach at the University of Washington for three years, during which time the Huskies advanced to the post season each year, including two NCAA Tournaments.
Tickets for the event are $20 per person and must be purchased in advance by calling the Gateway Classic office at (314) 621.1994.
