PENSACOLA’S SPORTS
SCENE STANDS
APART
BY BILL VILONA
The unspoiled,
pristine beauty
of Pensacola’s
coastline and downhome
friendliness
of its residents
has brought the
community muchdeserved
acclaim.
Consider, too, how Pensacola’s footprint in
sports has brought so much fame.
We’re a city that can boast two
legendary NFL players: Emmitt Smith
and Derrick Brooks, both members of the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. Michelle Snow,
the greatest female basketball player in
Pensacola history, became only the second
woman ever to dunk the ball while playing
in college and then became a WNBA star.
One of MLB’s all-time-winningest pitchers,
Don Sutton, is from our community and
enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of
Fame. Roy Jones, Jr., one of the greatest
boxers in the sport’s history, is a native.
So is Justin Gatlin, a five-time Olympic
medalist, including gold,
whose legacy in the
100-meter dash now
spans four different
Olympiads. Two of the
greatest professional golfers, former U.S. Open
and U.S. Amateur champion Jerry Pate and
two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson,
grew up playing Pensacola golf courses. All are
Pensacola proud.
Pensacola can boast two minor league
professional sports teams, two college athletic
programs, one of America’s most renowned
short-track racecar events and now as the
new host of the 2021-25 Sun Belt Conference
men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
Pensacola’s collegiate awareness was further
pronounced in December 2019 when the
University of West Florida football team won
the NCAA Division II national title and made
college football history. No program at any
It’s this kind of connection with sports greatness
that has helped shaped Pensacola’s sports
landscape, its events and what we now offer to
visitors and residents. For our size of city, we
stand apart.
Blue Wahoos Stadium
54 Learn more at visitpensacola.com/sports
Sun Belt Conference