Dave "Fredman" Frederick is an American sportswriter and former coach.
Early life and education
Frederick attended
Bishop Egan Catholic High School near
Levittown, Pennsylvania
Levittown is a census-designated place (CDP) and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population was 52,983 at the 2010 census. It is above sea level. Though not a ...
. At Bishop Egan, Frederick played
tackle in football for three years on the varsity and was a varsity basketball player for three seasons. He earned numerous honors in both sports, including
PCL Most Outstanding Player, All-Catholic, All-Lower Bucks County, All-Scholastic, Blue Cross All-Star and Blue Shield All-Star in football and All-Lower Bucks County, All-PCL and PCL Most Outstanding Player in basketball.
[ ] His winning of the PCL Most Outstanding Player in both football and basketball was described as a feat "as rare as an iceberg in the
Congo."
In 1964, after graduating from Bishop Egan, Frederick announced he was attending
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
to play basketball.
He ended up playing a single season of varsity football at starting
right guard
Right Guard is an American brand of deodorant and shower gel that is manufactured and sold by Thriving Brands LLC. It is the second largest brand in the male deodorant category in the United States. Right Guard was introduced in 1960 by The Gi ...
before a knee injury ended his playing career.
Coaching career
Frederick became a track coach and football coach at
Mitchell Preparatory School, in
Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents.
As of the 2020 ce ...
, in 1971, where he served through 1974.
In 1975, Frederick moved to Delaware to become head track coach and assistant football coach at
Cape Henlopen High School
Cape Henlopen High School (CHHS) is a public high school in unincorporated area, unincorporated Sussex County, Delaware, United States, with a Lewes, Delaware, Lewes postal address. The school is part of the Cape Henlopen School District and is l ...
in
Sussex County.
[ ] He served ten years in track, leading the team to outdoor Division II state championships in 1976 and 1978 and indoor state championships in 1984 and 1985.
He compiled an overall record of 85–13 at Cape Henlopen, including 23 consecutive wins from 1977 to 1979.
He was named Delaware Indoor Track Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1985.
Frederick also served as cross country coach from 1977 to 1978, winning the state championship in 1977.
In football, Frederick served as in assistant from 1975 to 1976 before resigning to focus solely on track.
In 1985, Frederick was convinced by a Cape Henlopen coach to return to the football team as an assistant. He resigned from track at the end of 1985 to focus just on football.
He served as an assistant with the team until retiring in 1988.
Later life
In 1982, Frederick became a
sportswriter
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
for ''
The Whale
A whale is a sea mammal.
Whale or The Whale may also refer to:
Places Extraterrestrial
* Cetus, a constellation also known as "The Whale"
* Cthulhu Regio on Pluto, unofficially called Whale
United Kingdom
* Whale, Cumbria, England, a hamlet
...
'', a newspaper based in
Lewes, Delaware
Lewes ( ) is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Delawar ...
. He wrote a weekly column, titled "People in Sports," until 1993, when he became the sports editor for the ''
Cape Gazette
''Cape Gazette'' is an independently owned and operated twice-weekly, community newspaper published in Lewes, Delaware. It is currently available every Tuesday and Friday. The newspaper covers the Cape Region, an area in southeastern Sussex Cou ...
''.
[ ] He has also been a sports analyst for the
WGMD
WGMD (92.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Sussex County and the five other counties known as Delmarva. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2020, the station has been owned and operated by Resort Broadcasting ...
radio station.
Frederick wrote a book, titled ''In a Class by Myself'', which was published in 1992. His wife, Susan, drew illustrations.
After retiring from coaching at Cape Henlopen, Frederick taught several classes at the school.
An article in ''
The News Journal
''The News Journal'' is the main newspaper for Wilmington, Delaware, and the surrounding area. It is headquartered in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near New Castle, and is owned by Gannett.
History
The ancestry of the News Journ ...
'' referred to Frederick as the "Sussex County humorist-teacher-writer-radio-host-philosopher dude."
Frederick is often known by his nickname "Fredman."
"Nobody ever called me Mr. Frederick. From the first day I came here
o Cape Henlopen the special-ed kids started calling me Fred, so everybody just called me Fred. It evolved from the black athletes on the track team. The approach was always, 'Hey, Fred, man.' And the name became Fredman," he said.
In 1985, Frederick founded the Lewes Polar Bear Club, a winter swimming group.
In 1991, it became a fundraiser for the Delaware Special Olympics.
Frederick was inducted into the
in 2014,
the
Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2016,
and the
Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame
The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame is a membership-based organization founded in 1976. The organization runs a museum with exhibits at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware and promotes physical fitness in ...
in 2022.
His brother
Tom and nephew
Mike
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...
are also members of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick, Dave
Living people
Temple Owls football players
High school track and field coaches in the United States
High school football coaches in Delaware
High school football coaches in Pennsylvania
Journalists from Delaware
American football tackles
American football guards
Year of birth missing (living people)