The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Kevin Weiss

Fishing for fun — and bragging rights

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The South Pasco Bassmasters (SPBM) has been around “forever.”

At least that’s what its longtime members say.

The Land O’ Lakes-based fishing club prides itself on its “camaraderie, sportsmanship, and commitment to worthwhile activities in the community.”

The South Pasco Bassmasters are always looking for more fishing teams to compete in their year-round tournaments. (Photos courtesy of South Pasco Bassmasters)
The South Pasco Bassmasters are always looking for more fishing teams to compete in their year-round tournaments.
(Photos courtesy of South Pasco Bassmasters)

Each year, the club hosts 12 tournaments across various freshwater lakes in Central Florida, including their two-day “Club Classic” at Lake Okeechobee in December.

The club, which has 28 members, accepts new participants at all times during the season — the only condition being that new teams (made up of two members) must have a boat they can utilize.

If you don’t have a boat, club president John Medvid said you can still join the club as an alternate in the event that another team’s member is unavailable for a particular competition.

“It’s a good excuse to get out and get together,” Medvid said about the fishing club. “The majority of us have regular jobs, and we’re weekend warriors.

“We’re in it for fun most of the time,” he said.

While it’s mostly friendly competition, there is “some seriousness” to it.

According to Medvid, the contests can get “wild” for the 14 two-member teams.

“The guys are all buddy-buddy until it comes to the competition,” the club president said. “Some of these guys are really competitive and want to win. Sometimes there’s trash talk, where, ‘Hey, I’m going to beat you.’ Then another guy steps in and says, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to take you all on.’”

Medvid, who’s fished for more than 50 years, said fishing in Florida is a “different animal,” compared to fishing in other states.

Members of the South Pasco Bassmasters typically arrive to their tournament location before 5 a.m., and then begin fishing as the sun rises throughout the morning.
Members of the South Pasco Bassmasters typically arrive to their tournament location before 5 a.m., and then begin fishing as the sun rises throughout the morning.

“Florida’s one of the most difficult states to fish, because of all the changes with the weather,” he explained. “The average lake is about 6 (feet) to 10 feet (deep), then you go out of the state and lakes are 20 feet; some are even 200 feet in some of these reservoirs. “Water temperature plays a big factor…in Florida.”

The best places to fish vary, based on the time of the year, Medvid said.

During winter months, fisherman search for bass that are “bedding” in the water, he said.

“They want to hit the big lakes like (Lake) Kissimmee and Lake Harris,” Medvid explained. “Even (Lake) Tarpon is not a bad lake…but because it’s centrally located near St. Petersburg and Clearwater, there are a lot of people using it, and there’s a lot of boat traffic on it.”

For those new to fishing, Medvid recommends immersing yourself in trade publications and watching video tutorials in gaining a deeper understanding of the activity.

“Study as much as you can. Do your research,” he advised.

Of course, he added, it’s important to “get out into the water and experience all the different conditions.”

But, doing a little homework can help, he reiterated.

“Reading does help — it gives you different ideas, different techniques, and then you go out there and try to apply them.”

Even after decades of fishing, one aspect never gets old for Medvid: Seeing the sunrise, as he prepared for a club outing.

“It can be very peaceful. When the wind’s not blowing and the conditions are right, you (live) for those days,” he said. “It’s a great way to start the day.

“And, then when you catch fish — that’s a plus.”

For more information, email John Medvid at , or call (813) 996-3377.

Published February 3, 2016

College Signings

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Carrollwood Day School
Girls Soccer
Carli Gauthier — Francis Marion University

Gaither High School
Softball
Jalyssa Autie — Hillsborough Community College

Sammi Grat — State College at Bradenton

Bethany Kursch — Jacksonville University

Elizabeth Mason — Florida State University

Carolyn O’Neil — Jacksonville University

Kara Wilson — University of West Florida

Football
Shane McGough — Florida International University

Giovanni Munnerlyn — Campbellsville University

Mikey Rovellada — Jacksonville University

Land O’Lakes High School:
Girls Basketball
Kirby Osborn — High Point University (NC)

Makala Canada — Florida Southwestern State College

Gabriela Mils — Central Florida College

Girls Soccer
Victoria Cannata — University of Arkansas

Lacy Nasello — University of Tampa

Savanna Ronk — Saint Leo University

Glenn Johnson — University of North Florida

Softball
Shannon Saile — Florida International University

Tayler Holt — Rollins College

Kendall Tipton — Newberry College (SC)

Cross Country/Track
Austin Dotson — Mount Vernon Nazarene University (OH)

Steinbrenner High School:
Girls Soccer
Kirsten Russel — Nova Southeastern University

Softball
Loudes Hohnman — Ava Maria University

Boys Soccer
Michael Connell — University of North Florida

Football
Jay Dantley — Coffeyville Community College (KS)

Wharton High School
Softball
Destinee Elmore — Ave Maria University

Girls Soccer
Natalie Ferrin — Gwinnett University

Casey Grotz — University of North Florida

Taylor Hubbard — University of Alabama

Jordan Vitale — Gardner-Webb University

Wiregrass Ranch High School:
Girls Soccer
Hannah Erdman — Westminster College

Camille King — University of West Florida

Chloe Lipovetsky — Landers University

Zephyrhills
Softball
Skylar Graves— Polk State College

If you’d like to report a college signing that’s not on list, email it to .

All-Sport Clinic planned

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Saint Leo University is hosting an all-sports clinic and presentation at noon on Saturday, Feb. 6 at the Turf Stadium. The event is part of the athletic department’s annual recognition of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Beth Bass, former chief executive officer of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), will run the clinic and presentation. The clinic will expose participants to a variety of sports, and will be taught by Saint Leo’s women student-athletes. Each participant and one parent will receive free admission to the Saint Leo University basketball doubleheader against Lynn University starting at 2 p.m. Check-in for the clinic starts at 11:30 a.m., at the Turf Stadium. For information, contact Erin Mykleby at or (352) 588-8223.

Roller Derby open house

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Revolution Roller Derby will be having a recruitment open house on Feb. 8 at AstroSkate at 875 Cypress St., in Tarpon Springs from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The open house will feature an information session about the sport of roller derby, and what it takes to become a skater. Men and women are welcome to join, and no experience is necessary. In addition to skaters, the league is seeking volunteers, spectators and sponsorships to help organize games. Revolution Roller Derby is a nonprofit roller derby league. For information, email Stacey Coonts at .

5K at Porter campus

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Pasco-Hernando State College’s Office of Disabilities Services will host their Run, Walk, Roll 5K on Feb. 13 at the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, at 2727 Mansfield Blvd. The race starts at 8 a.m., with a fun run for children beginning at 8:45 a.m. Proceeds will benefit students with disabilities seeking services at the state college. To receive a T-shirt and gift bag, you must register by Feb. 5. The registration fee is $25 for the public, and $15 for PHSC students. The cost for the fun run is $15. Event registration is available at www.phsc.edu/ds-5k. For information, call (727) 816-3473.

New Wesley Chapel football coach settling in

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It’s been a while since the Wesley Chapel High School football team has celebrated a winning season—since 2011 to be exact.

Anthony Egan, the new head coach, hopes to change that.

Egan coached both the offensive and defensive line at River Ridge High School in New Port Richey for the past three seasons. He was named the Wildcats’ head coach in early January.

He officially begins working for Wesley Chapel High on Feb. 1 as an autism spectrum disorder specialist.

Anthony Egan was recently named the new head football coach at Wesley Chapel High School. He spent the past three seasons as an assistant offensive/defensive line coach at River Ridge High School in New Port Richey. (Courtesy of Anthony Egan)
Anthony Egan was recently named the new head football coach at Wesley Chapel High School. He spent the past three seasons as an assistant offensive/defensive line coach at River Ridge High School in New Port Richey.
(Courtesy of Anthony Egan)

His first few weeks as Wesley Chapel’s head football coach have been a bit of a challenge logistically, as he’s had to drive from River Ridge to Wesley Chapel to orchestrate the football team’s offseason workouts and conditioning sessions.

Egan replaces Tico Hernandez, who stepped down after three tough seasons at Wesley Chapel, where he finished with a combined record of 4-26.

Despite the football program’s struggles over the past few seasons, Egan is confident he can improve the record, noting the program’s foundation and culture have already been instilled by the previous coaching staff.

“I’ve been checking out some of the talent we have, and I’m pretty excited about the quarterback, some returning running backs, and (we) even have a really good returning running back/linebacker, so I’m excited about coaching the kids that are coming back,” Egan said. “I’ve met the kids, and the kids seem to be excellent kids. …The (coaches) in the past have instilled that character in the kids.”

Quarterback Jacob Thomas, who’ll be a senior next season, is expected to be the centerpiece of the offense after throwing for more than 1,800 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2015.

“That quarterback, J.T., is pretty good, so definitely I’m going to try to give him opportunities,” Egan stated. “If that means running a little bit of the spread (offense), that’s fine, but I definitely want to give him his due opportunities because he was a very good quarterback for (Wesley Chapel) last year.”

While Egan plans to implement some principles of the spread offense to accommodate the skillset of Thomas, he also plans to put his own stamp on the team’s offensive philosophy, with the hope of giving them a better chance to win more regular season games.

“They struggled at times last year when they tried to spread it out and run that type of offense, and I think they’d be a lot closer in some of those games, and maybe have a chance to win some of them at the end, if they’d kept it closer with a little bit more ball control,” said Egan, who’s a former high school offensive lineman. “Maybe by taking a different approach and what I’m going to try to do with the (team), we can try to get the wins up and the losses down.”

Despite a lackluster record in 2015, the Wildcats had opportunities for more wins —losing three games by a margin of 7 points or less, and another by just 12 points.

Besides a different offensive philosophy from the previous coaching staff, Egan will also implement a pressure-oriented, 4-3 defense on the other side of the ball.

“It’s an aggressive, run-stopping defense with a lot of blitzing,” Egan explained. “It’s kind of a newer defense, and I don’t know if a whole lot of people know about it.”

As he transitions to his new post, Egan is also in the process of filling out his coaching staff at Wesley Chapel. He retained both Leon Haynes and JV coach Kudura Douglas from Hernandez’s staff, but is looking to add two, or possibly, three more assistants.

Egan joins a solid list of River Ridge alums who’ve gone on to become high school head football coaches at some point in their careers. The others include Mike Gregory (Tampa Catholic), Ryan Benjamin (River Ridge), Andy Schmitz (Mitchell High School), Brian Wachtel (Land O’Lakes High School) and Justin Fenton (Hudson High School).

Published January 27, 2016

New recreational tennis league starting up

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A new recreational tennis league for adults soon will be up and running.

The Tri-County Men’s and Women’s Tennis League will encompass Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

Walt Bockmiller, the league’s organizer, plans to form a dividing line in which north Hillsborough and Pasco would be one league, west Hillsborough would be a separate league and Pinellas County would have a league, too.

Teams will be formed from each of those leagues, which will be made up of both singles and doubles matches. Matches will be played at various “home and away” locations throughout the three counties, and points will be awarded for each set won.

“It’s not you as an individual that would be named champion, but it’s your team,” Bockmiller explained about the points system. “So, your team would amass points in doubles and singles play.”

From left, Walt Bockmiller of Land O’ Lakes, Jesse Thomas of Tampa and Bill Rosenberg of Lutz are three prospective members of the new Tri-County Tennis league. (Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)
From left, Walt Bockmiller of Land O’ Lakes, Jesse Thomas of Tampa and Bill Rosenberg of Lutz are three prospective members of the new Tri-County Tennis league.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)

Bockmiller, who worked in parks and recreation management for 47 years across three states — Florida, Maryland and Louisiana — wants to mold the Tri-County Tennis League after the Greater Volusia Tennis League, on the east coast of Florida. The league includes residents from Volusia and Flagler counties.

“We started with only a couple hundred (players) and now there’s over 13,500,” Bockmiller said, referring to the Greater Volusia Tennis League. “They play seven days a week. Every day of the week, there’s something going on (there). That’s what we need here,” he said.

This area lacks sufficient structure to generate increased play, he said.

From his experiences as a former parks and recreation director, Bockmiller, 73, believes the lack of tennis structure among the three counties is due to the amount of effort needed from a number of people to form a sizable league.

In drawing on his decades of experience in creating and operating various sports leagues and programs, Bockmiller believes that an organized tennis league would help area residents in terms of socializing with others, and advancing one’s skillset.

The structure encourages competition among different players, which helps players develop their skills, he said.

“All of a sudden, you’re meeting new players with different styles and start saying, ‘My gosh, what did (that player) do to me?’ and you pick up that knowledge, and then you start to try to pick that shot up.

“All of a sudden, your game goes up one, two or three times your ability level than what you’re playing at now, just in picking up one shot or two or three,” he said.

The league organizer also noted that when tennis players, especially novices, compete against several different people, there’s a greater the likelihood they will elevate their understanding of the game, too.

Over time, he said, players then learn how to exploit another opponent’s weakness—like backhand shots, for example.

“For a serve, you’re looking to set up a negative impact on a player…most players can hit with the forehand, but many cannot hit backhand, so where do you think I’m going to serve?

“A lot of people have no strategy for the game,” added Bockmiller, who plays tennis three days a week. “They might say, ‘I hit the ball into a box.’ No, you don’t; there are four or five spots in the box that you’re (supposed to be) aiming at. …I’m going to look for the weakest spot and put it there, and hopefully set up for an easy point.”

As people gain more experience, Bockmiller said players also start to use various weather conditions and court surfaces to their advantage.

“Wind is a big factor in the game,” he said. “If it’s really windy, I can make you run from one side of the court to the other side of the court very easily. …Once you play on a different court, it changes the game. You can hit a spin (shot) on a clay surface, and it’s like throwing a loaf of bread on the other side of the net; it doesn’t bounce, and it lies there like a wet towel.

“You’ll learn all this stuff and…if you’re astute, you’ll pick it up readily.”

Bockmiller, who also organizes softball and golf outings for senior citizens, has already made a number of connections in Pasco County, and is trying to work his way through Hillsborough and Pinellas counties to rate tennis players for the league.

“We’re doing really well in Pasco,” Bockmiller said about tennis players interested in the league. “I’ve (covered) Trinity and Odessa, and I need to go down to the Dale Mabry part of the area, as well as Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg, Plant City, Sun City, Clearwater, and all down in there.

“I just have to take time to go down and do it,” he said.

The process for joining the league is a simple one. Bockmiller meets with prospective players to test out their serves, volleys, and forehand and backhand shots. From there, Bockmiller gives out a rating, ranging from a low of 1.0 to a high of 4.0, to reflect a player’s skill level.

The rating will help match players with similar abilities to compete against each other.

Ultimately, Bockmiller hopes the league will grow to the point where there are organized tennis matches in both the fall and winter. He noted there will be a small league fee, ranging anywhere from $10 to $25, for the purpose of keeping stats and presenting awards at the end of each season.

The location of the matches will be determined later.

New recreational tennis league
What: A tri-county men’s and women’s tennis league for adults of all ages; singles and doubles play
Where: Various tennis courts across Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties
For more information, call Walt Bockmiller at (813)-527-8211.

Published January 27, 2016 

 

Hillsborough libraries seeking public input

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The Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative wants to hear the thoughts of area residents to help it develop its five-year plan.

The cooperative has scheduled a series of evening open houses at nine regional libraries, where residents can voice their thoughts about improving the library system, as well as changes or additions they would like to see over the next few years.

The next two open houses will be at the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library on Feb. 2 and the New Tampa Regional Library on Feb. 16. All open houses take place on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative had an open house session at the Upper Tampa Bay Regional Public Library on Jan. 19. Approximately 45 residents attended to provide feedback on the county’s library system. (Courtesy of Hillsborough County Public Library)
The Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative had an open house session at the Upper Tampa Bay Regional Public Library on Jan. 19. Approximately 45 residents attended to provide feedback on the county’s library system.
(Courtesy of Hillsborough County Public Library)

“The way our open house works is that for each of our five major service programs of the library, there’s a station where we’re collecting input and interacting with folks to get some feedback specifically about how we’re doing stuff, and what they want,” said Andrew Breidenbaugh, director of library services for the Hillsborough County Public Library system. It’s a little too early to know what the overall picture is going to be, but the kind of things we’re trying to get information about is the things that are changing about libraries.”

Accessing more books and items in digital format appears to be one of the main changes in the habits of local library users, which includes 53 percent of all Hillsborough County residents.

From October of 2014 to October 2015, library visits decreased 11 percent, and the circulation of physical items decreased by 9 percent.

Conversely, the circulation of virtual items (e-books, e-audiobooks, magazines, streaming music/movies and full-text downloads) increased by 22 percent for the 20th largest library system in the country.

“Libraries have been going through rapid change,” Breidenbaugh said. “We are looking at those types of things to make sure the direction we’re going is what meets our customers’ needs.

“Our customers in Hillsborough County have been strong adopters of the digital format. This year, we circulated over 1 million e-books for the first time ever. So, there are some trends we’re looking at.”

In addition to possibly expanding the library system’s digital collection and other technologies, Breidenbaugh is also looking into how the library system can make a more meaningful impact in community building.

“We’re looking at how we support entrepreneurs and startup businesses,” the library director said. “We’re also looking at how we support new Americans, and how we support school-age children — people who are advancing from one level to the next.

“I would love to do a promotion of reading as an activity. We’ve been focused on our technology side for the last few years, and we’ll continue to do that, but one of the things the library offers…is literacy, and the access to information and reading.”

On the whole, the strategic plan will be a “very customer-driven process,” so the county’s library system can best serve its users for the future.

“There’s lots of ideas of things I’d like to do, but we really do need to filter that by what our customers want, because we know that no matter what we put in place, we’re going to be most successful, if we’re doing what really matters to the residents,” Breidenbaugh added.

In addition to the open houses, the library cooperative will begin offering surveys for library users in the spring. Then in the summer, the cooperative plans to create focus groups for specific segments of the library user population — teenagers, seniors, Spanish speakers, and teachers — to ensure the library is meeting their needs.

Once all the data is compiled from the open houses, surveys and focus groups, the cooperative will team up with the Hillsborough County Public Library Board to craft its five-year plan, which they hope to have in place by October, which is the beginning of fiscal year 2017.

Hillsborough County Library Cooperative
What: Open houses at regional public libraries to seek input from residents
Where: Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library and New Tampa Regional Library
When: Tuesday, Feb. 2 (Jimmie B. Keel) and Tuesday, Feb. 16 (New Tampa) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
For more information, visit hcplc.org.

Published January 27, 2016

A chance to see stars, and moon craters

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Kevin Manning knows a thing or two about astronomy.

And, the former NASA consultant and college instructor shared his knowledge in a 90-minute presentation about the solar system at the Hugh Embry Library in Dade City on Jan. 20.

Manning’s “Look Up to the Stars” presentation provided a virtual journey through the sun, the planets and their moons, and debris left over from the earliest times of the solar system’s formation.

Manning, who’s given workshops at the Hugh Embry Library on four other occasions, gave viewers of all ages an in-depth, yet understandable, history lesson on outer space and the eight planets.

People who attended the presentation were able to use Manning’s homemade telescope to gaze at stars and look at craters on the moon. (Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)
People who attended the presentation were able to use Manning’s homemade telescope to gaze at stars and look at craters on the moon.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)

“I like how he was able to condense everything into an hour-and-a-half presentation,” said Karyn Moses, who teaches science at R.B. Stewart Middle School in Zephyrhills. “It’s something that would take months to try to teach.”

Moses, who also operates an astronomy club at the school, plans on passing along a few of Manning’s factoids to her class.

“I’ve never been able to figure out the difference between a meteoroid and an asteroid,” she remarked. “I’m very thankful that he cleared that up, because I’ve searched and searched for that.

“Also, the exoplanets that we’re looking for around red dwarf stars is interesting to me — about how we’re finding them and why they’re easiest to find,” she said.

Jennifer Croteau of Dade City particularly enjoyed the visual aspect of Manning’s interactive presentation.

“I really enjoyed the photographs; just making it real,” Croteau said. “The actual 3-D and 360-degree views — I just found it awe-inspiring.

“It was just incredible how much has been going on for so long. It was a really neat opportunity to have someone at his level speak to where everyone could understand,” Croteau said.

With news of the possibility of a ninth planet existing, Manning was firm in in his assertion that Pluto never should have lost its planetary status in 2006. He believes Pluto should currently be the ninth planet.

“It’s really a captivating world because it has five moons; that’s four more than we have (on Earth),” Manning explained.

“There was concern about (Pluto) not sweeping out the area around it of the loose debris — that is one of the things that defines planets today. It was found that if Earth was where Pluto is, it wouldn’t have successfully sweeped the area around it either, so does that mean we should can Earth as a planet?

“I wish people would reconsider putting it back as a planet, and grandfather it in,” he said.

Furthermore, he noted that “Planet Nine” is located in the Kuiper Belt, which was another case made dismissing Pluto as a planet.

“The irony of the thing is that the guy who pushed originally for Pluto’s demotion as a planet,  (Caltech professor) Mike Brown, is also the same guy who is purporting the presence of “Planet Nine” which is way out in the Kuiper Belt,” Manning said. “For this very distant object…to be even provisional called “Planet Nine” puzzles me, because of the argument against Pluto.”

Manning said that it’s “way too soon” to determine whether or not the so-called “Planet Nine” should be deserving of planetary status.

“We’re always being surprised, we’re always finding differences, so that’s why we need to keep an open mind about what is and what is not a planet,” he said.

Manning, who presents workshops at libraries, schools, universities and conventions throughout the United States, became interested in astronomy as a youth, when he used a childhood friend’s telescope to see the craters on the moon and Saturn’s plane of rings.

“I love the universe, and I love exploring the universe,” said Manning, who lives in New York, but refers to Tampa as his second home.

“There’s so much more out there that we don’t know. …Four percent of the entire universe is what we really know. Ninety-six percent is yet unknown…comprised of dark matter and dark energy.”

Despite the vast majority of the universe being unknown, Manning believes that may change over the next few decades, due to recent technological advances.

“There’s detectors aboard the ISS (International Space Station) that are getting a lot of data about dark matter and dark energy,” Manning said. “There’s different probes that are acquiring data, but it’s still a little nebulous.”

Published January 27, 2016 

Disabilities services’ 5K

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Pasco-Hernando State College’s Office of Disabilities Services will host its Run, Walk, Roll 5K on Feb. 13 at the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, 2727 Mansfield Blvd., in Wesley Chapel. The race starts at 8 a.m., with a fun run for children beginning at 8:45 a.m. Community members as well as faculty, staff, and students are welcome to participate in the 5K. Race proceeds will benefit students seeking disabilities services at the college.

To receive a T-shirt and gift bag, you must register by Feb. 5. The registration fee is $25 for the public, and $15 for PHSC students, while the fun run event fee is $15. Event registration is available at PHSC.edu/ds-5k.

For information, call (727) 816-3473.