Warner University Sports Hall of Fame
Coach Jeff Sikes is in his 32nd year at the helm of the Royals baseball program. Of the 29 seasons behind him, 23 have been winning campaigns. Coach Sikes enters his 32nd season with a 939-652-3 career record which is tenth on the list of winningest active coaches in the NAIA.
Sikes began his tenure one year after graduating from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor
of Arts in Business Administration in 1982. In 1993, Sikes earned a Master of Sports Science degree in Sport Management from United States Sports Academy.
His early teams played in the Florida Christian College Conference winning five championships in six years. Up until then, the Royals had never won a conference championship. After joining the NAIA in 1989, Sikes’ teams played as joint members with the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) for a period of four years. The Royals qualified for the 1992 NCCAA World Series and finished fifth overall.
Since 2000, the Royals have captured the Florida Sun Conference Championship once, qualified for the NAIA Regional eight times, played in the Regional Championship five times, made The Sun Conference tournament three times and played in the NAIA World Series in 2001 finishing fifth overall.
In 2001, Sikes earned his first Florida Sun Conference Coach of the Year award, the sixth time in his career he has been selected as his conference’s Coach of the Year. He went on to earn NAIA Region XIV and Florida Diamond Club Coach of the Year during the 2001 season as well.
Heading into the 2013 season 21 former players have gone on to play professional baseball dating back to the 1990 season.
Coach Sikes and his wife Margie have been happily married for 27 years and reside in Babson Park, Fla. with their three children Samuel (24), Hannah (20) and Rebekah (14). They attend First Baptist Church of Lake Wales where they teach a Young Married Sunday School class. Also, for the past four years, the Sikes family has hosted a college-age bible study in their home on Sunday evenings for local area college students.
