Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By William Jacko

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

If you have ever picked up a bat and glove and dreamed of being a professional baseball player, you’ll want to know about Wily Mo Baseball Academy in Wesley Chapel.

Former Major League Baseball player, Wily Mo Pena, founded the Academy for children and young adults who want to train like the pros, and raise their game to the next level.

“I created the Mo Baseball Academy for the community and the kids, because a lot of youth training is not done right,” Pena said.  “When you have coaches with professional experience doing the training, kids learn what they need to do to make it to the big leagues and become great players.”

Jason Contino, a coach at the Academy, believes that the daily presence of a major league ballplayer inspires players and motivates them to play their best.

“There is something special about a kid who gets to practice with a Major League Baseball player, sponging off that knowledge and learning from a pro,” Contino said.

Wily Mo Baseball Academy provides training for every skill and position, from hitting and fielding to pitching and catching, with a goal that every student athlete becomes a complete ballplayer.

“Everything that you need to be a professional ballplayer is taught here,” Pena said, “The pros taught me to train and play the game and that’s what we do here — train hard every single day for every skill.”

The Academy also provides older players a platform to showcase their skills for professional scouts, with a goal that every player is on a scout’s radar

Pena considers a disciplined work ethic the most important component of success, which leads to increased stamina and more confidence— the building blocks of a professional baseball player.

“The key sign is how they work, showing up on time, showing that they really want it,” Pena said.  “It’s a pleasure to have kids like that, and if they keep training hard, and they come every single day, they will get leveled up.”

Coach Steve Miller played baseball as welland handles the pitching and businessside of the Academy. He knows the importance of having someone as experienced as Wily Mo Pena setting the agenda.

“The way that we run the Academy is it’s like the first day of spring training,” said Miller. “We make sure our kids stretch, do agility and strength training and conditioning.  We don’t just get them on the field and let them pull a muscle and hurt themselves. We warm them up.  We run them.  Then we get into the defensive drills.

Then we get into the batting.  It’s very cyclical, like it is in the pros.  We do it the right way, every day.”

Pena foresees a bright future for the Academy, and he is planning to build a facility designed specifically for the weather conditions in Florida.

“We are building our own park with two buildings to house an indoor field and 20 batting cages,” said Pena. “Right now we’ve been missing a lot of practice because of rain, and an indoor field will let us train every day.”

Pena is considering the Grove and Wiregrass areas of Wesley Chapel for his indoor facility, and he anticipates a star-studded grand opening that will help make this dream a reality. Having played Major League Baseball, he knows what it takes to make dreams reality.

 Wily Mo Baseball Academy • www.wilymobaseballacademy.com

(813) 428-0053

Published 9/19/18

By William Jack

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

If you have a chronic condition like diabetes or hypertension and do not have health insurance, there are few affordable treatment options available. And without medical care, your medical condition will likely get worse.

This all-too-common scenerio is why Premier Community Health Care has established 10 convenient locations in Pasco and Hernando counties to provide affordable health care close to home for local residents who are uninsured or underinsured.

Premier’s Health Care services include family medicine for children and adults, dental care, behavioral health, women’s health care (including obstetrics), care coordination, case management and community outreach.

“Our mission is to provide accessible and comprehensive health care services for everyone, but we concentrate on the medically underserved, whether they are insured or not,” said Cheryl Pollock, chief development and communications officer for Premier. “For many patients, we are often the best and most affordable option.”

About 85 percent of Premier patients are either uninsured or on Medicaid, said Pollock. Premier uses sliding-scale fees to calculate its fees, and no one is turned away.

To receive discounted fees, patients must complete an application to prove household size and provide proof of income. If they qualify for a discounted fee, the cost for medical services is significantly lower than comparable private-sector care.

Premier also offers dental services at its clinics in Dade City, New Port Richey, Brooksville, Spring Hill, and in Holiday at its new portable clinic at Gulfside Elementary School.

“With so few employers offering dental insurance, and so few people carrying it, Premier is filling a big gap in our health care system,” said Pollock.  “Sadly, tooth decay is the number one chronic illness facing children, and it is 99 percent preventable with routine oral hygiene and dental care.”

Premier also offers patient care coordination, providing primary care physicians and coordinating patient care with specialists, home health agencies, nursing homes, hospitals and other health care professionals. Plus, its answering service offers 24-hour access to a health care provider.

“We work closely with local hospitals to reduce the number of unnecessary emergency room visits by transitioning patients with chronic illnesses to our primary care clinics,” said Pollock. “Premier is better able to manage a patient’s medical conditions, and help prevent new ones.”

Preventative care is emphasized at Premier with free educational programs that range from oral health education to chronic disease and diabetes self-management. It hosts health fairs throughout the year, including Women’s Health Day with free cervical cancer screenings in January, Children’s Dental Day in February and Men’s Health Day in June.

“Our goal is to get people to recognize that health care is essential, and to be proactive in addressing some of the challenges they face as part of normal day-to-day life,” said Pollock.

Established in 1979, Premier is a community-based 501c3 nonprofit organization led by a patient-majority Board of Directors.

“This is a calling,” Pollock said.  “Each team member is here because they choose to work in community health.  They go above and beyond to ensure that patients are getting all the resources that are available.

“Your health is our mission’ is our tagline, and I personally live and breathe our mission.  This is a calling for most of us at Premier, to be able to level the playing field between the haves and have nots to provide quality health care access for all.”

For more information, call (352) 518-2000, or visit www.premierhc.org.

Published 9/5/18