​After months brimming with excitement and moments of joy and sorrow, the spring sports season in the Gainesville area has officially concluded. This milestone also marks the release of the Gainesville Sun’s All-Area teams, and in total we will unveil 11 All-Area teams across six spring sports: baseball, softball, lacrosse, flag football, tennis, and track and field. You can view all teams at Gainesville.com/sports/high-school. For every sport, we’ve selected a Player of the Year—the athlete our staff and area coaches believe stands out above the rest.
Yet we also want to give fans a direct voice in the process. To that end, we’re launching Player of the Year polls alongside each All-Area team. Each first-team nominee in the respective sport will be eligible as a candidate.
Take, for example, the small school softball Player of the Year for 2026: Addison Allaire. She is pictured at Trenton High School in Trenton, Florida, on Thursday, June 11, 2026. The Gainesville Sun’s Alan Youngblood captured the moment. The accompanying poll invites readers to choose the best small school softball player of 2026. Our Friday release announced the All-Area team and named Addison Allaire, a Trenton product and Florida softball commit, as the Player of the Year. The poll features twelve nominees from which voters can select, and you may vote as many times as you like. The poll closes at noon on Tuesday, July 21.
We encourage you to share this poll with family and friends and extend congratulations to all of the athletes on the All-Area teams and to their families. Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com, and the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at nram@usatodayco.com, and follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter, and Facebook at Noah Ram – Reporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Vote now for the Gainesville area’s best Small School Softball Player in 2026 for better SEO.