Winter in Florida...can't beat it

The initial concept for the group photo of our local winter sports prep athletes of the year might have been cheesier than a Packer fan's headgear.

In contrast to the breathtaking setting staff photographer Brendan Fitterer captured on Hudson Beach's rocky shoreline, we originally though of creating something with less character and more kitsch -- something you'd see on one of those 99-cent "Wintertime in Florida" postcards.

We were going to put the kids on one of the diminutive plots of sand on the north Pasco beach and deck them out in everything from goggles to shovels and buckets to Boogie Boards to soupy sunscreen to inflatable, rainbow-colored tubular life preservers.

But Brendan saw the rocks just off the beach, and the pristine waters in the backdrop, and was sold. The result is what you see above.

For individual shots of each athlete (suitable for printing out), just go to highschool.tampabay.com, look for our all-North Suncoast teams, and click on that athlete's particular sport.