Mike Camunas

Bishop McLaughlin baseball stuns highly ranked team

March 21, 2023 By Mike Camunas

(Courtesy of Bishop McLaughlin Athletics)

The Hurricanes baseball team knocked off Clearwater Calvary Christian 2-1, in a stunning upset on March 9, over the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, according to MaxPreps.

Bishop was led by senior pitcher Travis Mabin, who threw a complete game, three-hit gem. He struck out four and walked two.

Through March 13, Bishop is off to a 5-1 start.

Senior Logan McGann leads the team with six RBI and eight hits, while batting .400 early in the season.

The Hurricanes are coached by former major-league ballplayer Rob Ducey, who spent parts of 13 seasons (1987 to 2001) playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, California Angels, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos.

Adaptive Sports Day in Wesley Chapel

March 21, 2023 By Mike Camunas

Wesley Chapel Recreation Center, 7727 Boyette Road, will host an Adaptive Sports Day on April 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cost is $5 per athlete, ages 8 and up. The event is an opportunity for those with physical disabilities to try five different adaptive sports — wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair pickleball, sitting volleyball and archery. It’s also a chance to meet other athletes and individuals with disabilities.

Lunch and T-shirt will be provided, as well as some equipment.

To register, visit https://secure.rec1.com/FL/pasco-county-fl/catalog, under the P.A.I.R tab. To find out more, email .

Dade City golf tournament

March 21, 2023 By Mike Camunas

The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce will host its 38th Annual Joe Kiefer Golf Tournament on April 21 at 9 a.m., at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club, 12900 Lake Jovita Blvd., Dade City. Cost is $200 per player and includes golf, cart, practice facility, locker room access, breakfast and lunch, drinks, two mulligans, two putting contest entries, a $10,000 hole-in-one contest, 50/50 tickets, prizes and more. To register or learn more about the chamber, call 352-567-3769, or email .

Golf lessons

March 21, 2023 By Mike Camunas

Girls on the Green Tee (GOTGT) and University Area Community Center, 14012 N. 22nd St., Tampa, will offer free golf lessons for girls ages 7 to 14, on Mondays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., starting April 3. The GOTGT program, designed by Women of Color Golf (WOCG), seeks to introduce young girls to the game and provide leadership development, self-esteem, confidence, discipline, healthy habits and fitness experiences through golf.

To register, stop by the University Area Community Center on Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. A parent or guardian must be present at sign-up and a current school physical is required. Limited space is available. More information is available by contacting Ronnie Oliver at 813-558-5212 ext. 310 or .

Hockey tryouts

March 21, 2023 By Mike Camunas

The Tampa Bay Crunch, which plays out of AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, will have tryouts for its various travel teams from May 1 through May 4, for players born from 2005 to 2016. Teams hosting tryouts will be U16AA, U14AA and U12AA (May 1), U18, U10AA and U8 (May 2), U16A, U14A and U12A (May 3) and U10A and U12A (May 4). Cost is $45 per player and registration is required. For more information, visit AHCenterIce.com/icehockey.

Sunlake girls weightlifting continues to dominate

March 14, 2023 By Mike Camunas

The Sunlake High School Seahawks kept some streaks alive, thanks to impressive postseason performances from some lifters.

Sunlake girls weightlifting team had several lifters medal at the state tournament on Feb. 18. (Courtesy of Brett Hodros)

Sunlake state champion lifter Elena Kulubya

Sunlake was crowned both Sunshine Athletic Conference and District champions for the eighth straight season, then went on to become Regional Champions for the fourth season in a row.

The Seahawks compete in Class 3A.

Sunlake also sent five lifters to the state tournament on Feb. 18 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. The team finished third overall in the Olympic Lifting and fifth in the Traditional Lifting.

Elena Kulubya was crowned state champion in the 169-pound weight class, performing a 165-pound snatch and a 215-pound clean and jerk.

Kulubya also was runner up in the traditional lifting side, performing a 215-pound clean and jerk and 200-pound bench.

Makiyah Nickerson was runner up in both Olympic and Traditional 139-pound weight class thanks to a 170-pound snatch/205-pound clean and jerk and a 205-pound clean and jerk/185-pound bench, respectively.

Carolina Crim, in the 183-pound weight class, finished third in both Olympic and Traditional, thanks to 135-pound snatch/190-pound clean and jerk and 190-pound clean and jerk/180-pound bench, respectively.

Additionally, Nicole Bouserhal (154-pound weight class) placed sixth in Traditional (160 pound clean and jerk/175-pound bench) and Jenifer Estrada (110-weight class) placed eighth (125-pound clean and jerk /130-pound bench).

Softball player honored

March 14, 2023 By Mike Camunas

(Courtesy of Steinbrenner High Athletics)

Brooke DiCampli, a junior outfielder and catcher on Steinbrenner High School’s softball team, received the West Point Society of West Florida’s prestigious General Norman H. Schwarzkopf Leadership Award on March 3. The award is presented to high school juniors who demonstrate exceptional performance in academics, athletics, community service, good citizenship and leadership. The Warriors are 5-1 on the season through March 14.

Fishing tournament

March 14, 2023 By Mike Camunas

There will be a free youth freshwater fishing derby at the Tenoroc Fish Management Area in Lakeland on April 1 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The event will be conducted on Derby Lake Recreational Facility, a 16-acre former phosphate mine that is stocked with a variety of freshwater sport fish and catfish. The lake has seven fishing piers and a 200-foot boardwalk for fishing that is accessible to anglers with disabilities.

There will be a casting contest, as well as exhibitors and other outdoor activities for the whole family. Publix Supermarkets will provide a free lunch.

Bait and a limited number of loaner rods and reels also will be provided at no charge for those younger than age 15. All youths must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. A fishing license is not required on this particular weekend because it falls during a license-free freshwater fishing weekend.

Registration, which is required, began on March 1 and ends at 5 p.m. on March 31. To pre-register, call the FWC Southwest Regional Office at 863-648-3200, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

For more information, visit MyFWC.com/fishing/freshwater/.

‘Get egged’ fundraiser

March 14, 2023 By Mike Camunas

The Steinbrenner High boys lacrosse team will host a “get egged” fundraiser. It works like this: players cover a yard with plastic, treat-filled eggs for Easter. The team does all the work, from purchasing supplies, filling the eggs, delivering and placing them in the yard by volunteer Easter Bunnies. They will even leave a personalized note for the kids. Cost is $35 for 25 eggs, $45 for 50 and $65 for 100, and eggs can be delivered on April 7 and April 8, just in time for Easter, which is on April 9 this year. To order, visit form.jotform.com/230144905642047.

Golf league promotes competition among amateurs

March 14, 2023 By Mike Camunas

These players are into the competitive swing of things.

Players of all caliber compete on the Golfweek Amateur Tour, and they’re not just there to hack away on the golf course for four-plus hours — they want to compete.

“We’re out there competing for trophies, prizes, money and other stuff, so it brings the competitiveness out of us when we play,” said Lutz resident Hank Holt, who has been on the amateur tour for 13 years. “It’s more so than just going out and playing —there’s something at stake.

Dale Missildine, of Tampa, tees off at Brooksville Golf & Country Club on Feb. 18 during a tournament presented by the Tampa Chapter of the Golfweek Amateur Tour, as Robert Ruel, left, and A.J. Joiner track the ball. The Tour provides amateurs of all ages, sexes and handicaps the opportunity to compete in stroke-play golf tournaments on a regular basis in their local area all over the country. (Mike Camunas)

(“It’s) just something to do, something different than going out shooting what you shoot,” he added. “It’s about getting on this tour and meeting guys from all walks of life and becoming friends with them.

“We’re just like the PGA Tour, except we’re not winning as much money (laughs).”

With the Golfweek Amateur Tour, there are various area chapters throughout the country that provide amateurs of all ages, sexes and handicaps the opportunity to compete in stroke-play golf tournaments on a regular basis. Each tournament follows USGA rules and places golfers in one of five flights based on their handicaps.

The Tampa Chapter covers a wide area, from Hernando County, even down to Sarasota County, and of course, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties in between. This chapter is based out of Land O’ Lakes, stationed out of Plantation Palms Golf Club in Land O’ Lakes. It’s also the home course of the chapter’s director, Shane McAdams.

McAdams says there are about 130 players on the Tampa amateur tour this season, with most of them being men. The number of women on the roster fluctuates, with as many as seven one season.

Golfweek Amateur Tour Tampa Chapter director Shane McAdams prepares to tee off.

There also is a senior circuit of the tour, however, it is currently on hiatus, as Golfweek and other tournament directors look into revamping that tour’s rules and logistics.

Scoring and integrity are vital to the tour, McAdams said.

“We’re really trying to build up the Land O’ Lakes/Lutz area of this (tour),” McAdams said. “We go by the honor system (when it comes to players’ handicaps), so if you come to your first tourney, and we put you in the flight that is for the score you told us, but that person just dominates that flight, then we’ll disqualify that golfer. We don’t have time for guys trying to be ringers.

“And knockaround guys who think they might be good, but then the competitiveness shows them just how good they are — not that we’re looking to knock anyone down a peg, but it gives the golfers who think they’re good an idea of just how good they are.

“And a lot of them use it to get better.”

The entire tour has about 9,000 members nationwide, and at the end of the season, the top players in the five flights compete in regionals and then, possibly, the National Tournament, which is then held in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Local amateur golfers, of all ages, sexes and handicaps, work on the driving range before a Golfweek Amateur Tour event at Brooksville Golf & Country Club on Feb. 18.

This would include the top flight winner from the Tampa Chapter: Land O’ Lakes resident Zack Holiday.

Throughout the season, members get to play on a variety of courses, such as Brooksville Golf & Country Club or Lake Jovita or Carrollwood Golf Club or even the Ritz Carlton down in Sarasota.

“It takes dedication, but it’s a lot of fun to play all over the area and state and then meet a lot of different golfers, because with that comes the camaraderie,” said Theoren Smith, of Lutz, who is a two-year member of the tour. “We are competitive guys who want to come out and love playing and try to win to go for the money.

“But, all-in-all, it’s fun.”

“I really just wanted to compete again,” said Land O’ Lakes resident Andrew Gastley, who played collegiately at the University of Tampa. “It gets the adrenaline flowing when you’re got a live leaderboard (on your phone) you can look at and you’re coming down the stretch and in contention. Even if you’re not doing well, you can sit back and watch the leaderboard and watch someone you know contend.

“It’s not a lot of (prize) money, but it is some money and it gets you to really take your game seriously.”

The competitiveness is always on display, too, as McAdams said at the Feb. 18 tour event at Brooksville Golf & Country Club, two D Flight members had a hole in one: Zach Williams on hole nine and Matthew Robinson on hole 17.

Andrew Gastley, of Land O’ Lakes, watches his ball during his follow-through during an event presented by the Tampa Chapter of the Golfweek Amateur Tour at Brooksville Golf & Country Club on Feb. 18.

“Well, the better you are, the further back you go (on the tee box), right?” McAdams said. “So, really good players are tough to come by, but that’s okay, because we’re just out here to have some fun, competitive golf. When a tournament starts, we have 60 (players) or so, and not everyone plays each time, as they have families.

“But we’re close, like a family, and it is a lot of fun for a lot of golfers.”

Golfweek Amateur Golf Tour
Details: Established in 1995, the purpose of the tour is to provide amateurs of all ages, sexes and handicaps the opportunity to compete in stroke-play golf tournaments on a regular basis in their local area. The tour concludes with a National Tour Championship featuring top players in each flight who test their skills against other amateurs from around the country. Through this competition, the Golfweek Tour promotes the sport of golf by providing an atmosphere of friendly, fair, and well-managed competition for amateur golfers in the pursuit of excellence.
Cost: $105 annual membership fee, cost per tournament varies; Golfweek Amateur Tour allows all members to compete in any Golfweek Amateur Tour event across the country.
For more information on the Tampa chapter of the Amateur Golf Tour, visit www.amateurgolftour.net/tampa_tour_pages/default.aspx, call Shane McAdams at 813-789-5988 or Marie McAdams at 813-727-8960, or email .

Published March 15, 2023