[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 3 (Friday, January 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E23]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   A TRIBUTE TO THE 1995 MIAMI NORTHWESTERN H.S. STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 
                             FOOTBALL TEAM

                                 ______


                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 5, 1996

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Northwestern University isn't the 
only educational institution by that name making waves in the world of 
sports. On December 16, 1995 the Miami Northwestern High School Bulls 
football team captured Florida's class 6-A state football championship, 
igniting a burst of pride and jubilation throughout all of Liberty 
City--one of Miami's oldest and most storied black communities.
  Northwestern is the first of Dade's seven predominately black high 
schools to win a state football championship and the 11th Dade County 
high school to win a state football championship since 1963--the first 
year of state playoffs. Northwestern's victory is its first state 
football championship since 1964 when it won the last of Florida's 
black high school championships in what was then segregated leagues.
  In the east, high school football is a cultural exercise. On the west 
coast it is a tourist attraction. In the Midwest, it is cannibalism. 
But in the South, it is religion, and game day is the holy day.
  Sports has a way of bringing people and communities together like few 
events. Some 25,000 fans turned out for the regional football 
championship game between Northwestern and Carol City High School, and 
about 6,000 Bulls fans travelled the 250 miles from Miami to Daytona to 
cheer the Bulls on to victory. This victory, like no other, has pulled 
this community together bringing generations of Northwestern, Carol 
City and Central High School graduates from the 1960s to the 1990s 
together in support of a single cause--community.
  In addition to the proven excellence of its athletic program, Miami 
Northwestern High School consistently leads the state of Florida in 
sending its players to college. I am proud to join with our entire 
community in congratulating Miami Northwestern High School for a job 
well done.

                          ____________________