The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

Political Agenda 04-16-14

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Moore adds another $6k to campaign
Mike Moore continues to prove he can raise lots of money in a short period of time, pulling in more cash than all of his challengers in his run for the Pasco County Commission.

In March, Moore raised $6,261, bringing his total to $50,561 in his efforts to replace Pat Mulieri on the commission. Only former state Rep. Ken Littlefield was close with $1,200 over the same time period, bringing his total to $2,200.

Moore remains committed to raising money from builders and developers, including $1,000 from the Alfonso family in Tampa, $500 from rancher and developer Don Porter, and $500 from the commercial land broker Eshenbaugh Land Co.

In all, those connected with real estate, development and construction accounted for $4,400 of Moore’s totally monthly haul, while only $2,800 of it came from Pasco County residents.

Littlefield had just one major donor in March, Hodges Family Funeral Home, which donated $1,000. The third Republican in the race, Bob Robertson, raised $238 in March, bringing his overall total to $10,860.

The lone Democrat in the race so far, Erika Remsberg, raised just $50 – small donations from Pasco County residents. She has raised just $450, but so far, she has not drawn a primary challenger.

Moore still has $37,000 in the bank based on money he hasn’t spent, while Robertson still has $4,900 to work with. Littlefield has $1,600, and Remsberg $140 available.

Moore, Littlefield and Robertson will face off in the Aug. 26 primary, the winner set to face Remsberg in November.

East Pasco Democrats meet
The East Pasco Democratic Club will meet April 21 at 7 p.m., at The Commons, 38130 Pretty Pond Road in Zephyrhills.

The speaker will be Lynn Providence of Legal Shield talking about identity theft.

For information, call (813) 838-0767.

Clay shoot for Mike Moore
Mike Moore is looking to raise more money for his Pasco County Commission campaign with a clay shoot June 21.

It will take place at Tampa Bay Sporting Clays, 10514 Ehren Cutoff in Land O’ Lakes, with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m. The cost would be $125 per person, or $500 per team of four. All payments would be considered political donations.

For more information, email .

Poll workers needed for August, November elections
Energetic? Service-oriented? Then the Pasco County supervisor of elections may be looking for you.

Poll workers are needed for both the primary election Aug. 26 and the general election Nov. 4. Positions are paid, but potential candidates will need to be able to stand, bend, stoop, lift approximately 30 pounds, and have normal vision and manual and physical dexterity.

Applicants also need to write and read English, have an email address, and be able to work the entire day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

All positions receive mandatory paid training the month preceding both the primary and general elections.

For information, call (800) 851-8754, or visit PascoVotes.com.

Mobile hours for Ross
U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, will host mobile office hours May 13 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Lutz Library, 101 W. Lutz Lake Fern Road in Lutz.

Other dates in Lutz include June 10, July 8, Aug. 12, Sept. 9, Oct. 14 and Dec. 9.

For more information, call (863) 644-8215, or (813) 752-4790.

Big Storm offers big brew as beer operations ferment

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It all started simple enough.

Mike Bishop and Clay Yarn wanted to escape their stuffy office jobs, so they leased some industrial space in Odessa with the hopes of brewing a little bit of beer, and sharing it with anyone who happened to discover their operation.

Mike Bishop, co-founder and head brewer at Big Storm Brewing Co., displays some of the tanks used in producing four different brews of Big Storm beer from his Odessa location. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
Mike Bishop, co-founder and head brewer at Big Storm Brewing Co., displays some of the tanks used in producing four different brews of Big Storm beer from his Odessa location.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

Instead, a 200-barrel operation exploded into a 5,000-barrel one in the span of two short years. And it might not be long before Big Storm Brewing Co. hits the 100,000-barrel mark.

“I never thought when we started that we would ever need anything more than this little shop,” said Bishop, who lives in Land O’ Lakes. “We just thought we would make boutique beers, and make enough to pay the bills and give us a little money on the side. But that was not our destiny. People just wanted our beers.”

In a short time, Big Storm grew from two employees to 16. Once they find bigger quarters somewhere in central Pasco County — they are looking for up to 50,000 square feet — they could grow 50 to 75 employees.

Big Storm already is available in many bars around the state, recently expanding into South Florida where brews like Wavemaker Amber Ale, Palmbender Pale Ale and Arcus IPA are sold as drafts. This week, Big Storm becomes available for the first time in Orlando.

Big Storm doesn’t necessarily compete with big names in beer like Budweiser or Coors, but instead with other craft beers — many brewed in Florida — looking to get a foothold on the market.

“None of them want to admit that we’re competing against each other, and they talk about our craft beer community and how tight it is,” Bishop said. “Nobody wants to talk about the dirty word of competition, but we put people on the street and we believe in relationships. Otherwise, we keep our heads down and focus on our product, and let the consumer decide.”

Bishop also listens to what customers have to say, especially those who come right into the brewery. Big Storm has a taproom open every evening where anyone who can find it off State Road 54 can stop in and drink a mug or two, or maybe three.

Many of those customers come in through a bay door, and sit literally feet away from large brewing tanks that make the very product they’re sipping.

“We are an approachable, friendly brewery, and we’re happy that locals come up here and have a pretty good time,” Bishop said. “It’s a cool hangout in the middle of an industrial park right inside a garage.”

Unlike many bars, the taproom is designed to be social. There are no televisions, and the music is just low enough to keep conversations flowing.

Beyond needing larger space and more employees, Bishop has a lot to focus on, including plans to start putting Big Storm in cans to sell in stores.

It’s not exactly what he had envisioned just two years ago when the doors to Big Storm Brewing Co. first opened, but that’s perfectly fine with Bishop.

“I don’t have much time anymore to be excited, but I am very fortunate,” he said. “I’ve made a profession that I have a passion for and that I enjoy. And I’m proud that I have employees that feel the exact same way.”

The taproom is open at 4 p.m. on weekdays, 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and 1 p.m. on Sundays.  The brewery is located at 2438 Merchant Ave., in Odessa.

To learn more, visit BigStormBrewery.com.

Published April 9, 2014

Lakerlutznews is our new ‘handle’

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Before reading my column this week, you may want to first read the other story that explains that we’ve changed the ending on our email to make all of our digital addresses uniform.

Our goal is to make it easier to find us on the Web, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and other virtual forums that will become the next multimedia rage. Simply put, all of our addresses will now incorporate the phrase “lakerlutznews.”

I think of “lakerlutznews” as the “handle” for our company. Remember those days not so long go ago when people adopted the CB radio language of truckers and gave themselves “handles”?

CB radios were the precursor of cell phones and email, and provided an instant way to talk with friends and family while driving across town or cross-country. In many ways today’s technologies are not that much different — just faster and more seamless.

Our new handle is easier to remember and say than “cnewspubs” — the abbreviation of our corporate name, Community News Publications, that we’ve used since we launched our first website in 2002.

While we want you to know about our new “handle” and expanded digital products, this does not mean we will be focusing less on the printed weekly newspaper you are holding in your hands.

In fact, now that our website and Facebook page have been redesigned and we’re posting e-editions and daily photos and stories, we have more time than ever to focus on the newspaper itself. After all, there are 60,000 people who read The Laker and Lutz News every week, or 240,000 readers monthly. This compares to 17,000 monthly page views on our website and close to 2,000 friends on Facebook.

With numbers like this, there’s no doubt that the printed newspaper is the way most of you prefer to get your local news. And you’re no different than newspaper readers nationwide.

A recent study by the Newspaper Association of America found that 55 percent of the U.S. newspaper audience — both daily and weekly papers like ours — only read their local newspaper in print and never read it online.

The NAA hired Scarborough Research to survey 150 U.S. media markets, including Tampa Bay. The study found that the digital-only newspaper audience (people who only read newspapers online, via mobile devices, or both) is very small.

Just 7 percent said they only read their local newspaper online, 3 percent said they only read it with a mobile device, and just 5 percent said they read it both online and with a mobile device.

That works out to 15 percent of the local newspaper audience who don’t read the printed paper and instead only read the news online or with a mobile device.

So, to those who believe the printed newspaper is on its way to extinction, you are wrong. This NAA study is just the latest of many studies that dispels the belief that newspapers are dinosaurs and will not be around for our great-grandchildren to read.

While only 15 percent of newspaper readers get their news digitally today, it still represents a lot of readers, and that market will likely continue to grow. So, we will continue to make improvements to our online services and do our best to keep up with the ever-changing digital world.

But at the same time, we will never forget that the vast majority of our readers will always prefer the printed paper to stay abreast of local stories, photos and advertisements that are informative, relevant and uplifting to read.

The challenge that I have as publisher is to bridge the worlds of print and digital so that we remain accessible to all of our readers in the format they prefer, to enable us to continue to be a vital resource for everyone who is interested in their community.

And hopefully something as simple as consistently using our new “handle” of “lakerlutznews” will make it easier for you to do just that.

Published April 9, 2014

Holocaust survivor shares his story at Land O’ Lakes High

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As the speaker wrapped up his talk, Land O’ Lakes High School students streamed down to the front of the auditorium to shake his hand and pose with him for photos.

After his talk, Philip Gans showed students his concentration camp tattoo, shook hands with students and posed with them for pictures. The students seemed eager to have a personal encounter with someone who had survived one of history’s most horrific chapters. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
After his talk, Philip Gans showed students his concentration camp tattoo, shook hands with students and posed with them for pictures. The students seemed eager to have a personal encounter with someone who had survived one of history’s most horrific chapters.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

They wanted a personal encounter with Philip Gans, a man who survived the horrors of the Holocaust during World War II. Gans was at the high school to share his story, so others won’t forget the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

“Your children will never have a chance to see a concentration camp survivor,” Gans said, speaking to teachers and students from U.S. history, world history and several other classes.

Social studies teacher Whitney Miller arranged the visit, saying it’s important for students to use the most primary source of information they can receive.

Gans, now 86, said his life in Amsterdam began as a happy one.

“We had a good life,” he said. “Dad had his own business. We had people working for us. We had domestic help. We even had a car.”

But Gans and his family were Jewish, so when the Nazis invaded they went into hiding beginning in August 1942, moving from place to place for nearly a year to avoid detection. On July 24, 1943 — the evening of his father’s birthday — they were arrested. Gans was 15 at the time.

The family was taken to a detention camp, where they remained a month before being sent to Auschwitz III, a slave labor camp. They loaded more than 1,000 people into cattle cars and carted them to the concentration camp, jamming 50 to 60 people in each car, Gans recalled.

There were no bathrooms. Those who needed to relieve themselves were forced to do so in a pail, in full view of others, Gans said.

“They had no respect for humanity. As a matter of fact, they were savages. They were brutal,” he said.

When they arrived at the camp, they separated the men and older boys from the women and children.

He never saw his mom, sister or grandmother again.

Once Gans he arrived at the camp, he was known as No. 139755. It’s tattooed on his arm and on a replica of the shirt he wore at the concentration camp.

“The conditions were unbelievable,” Gans said.

During his time of confinement he never saw a toothbrush or toothpaste. He showered about once every 10 days, he said.

Besides the physical hardships, prisoners endured mental abuse, he said.

“They did everything to make life miserable for you,” Gans said. “They were brutal.”

Workers kept trying to work, even when they were deathly ill, he said. They knew the consequences if they didn’t.

“Everybody knows if you’re too weak to work, you’d wind up in the gas chamber,” Gans said.

Despite the hardships, Gans considers himself one of the lucky ones.

“I survived,” he said. “There were many people who did not survive. My dad, for instance, he was the only (one) of the 21 members of his family that did not die in the gas chambers. He died in a death march April 1945, a month before the liberation.”

Gans said he, too, walked in the death march — long brutal hikes used by the Nazis when moving prisoners from one concentration camp to another — before being liberated by the American Army on April 23, 1945. He was 17.

Besides using his message to remind people of the atrocities of the Holocaust, Gans also spreads another message. “Erase hate,” he urged the audience.

“When you go home tonight, take out your dictionary and cross out the word ‘hate.’ Hate is corrosive,” Gans said.

He also encouraged students to never give up hope and to take action when they witness something wrong going on.

“Don’t hate and don’t be a bystander, especially in this day and age when so many kids are being bullied and then the next day in the newspaper (you read) that kid committed suicide,” Gans said.

Those who stand by idly and let the bullying happen, he said, “are partly to blame.”

“If you see something that’s being done wrong, even if you have no interest, speak up,” Gans said.

Published April 9, 2014

PHSC celebrates opening of new Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch

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Pasco-Hernando State College celebrated the formal dedication of its fifth full-service satellite campus, Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, with a ceremony at the campus on April 2.

Members of the Porter family joined Pasco-Hernando State College president Katherine Johnson at the open house and dedication of Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch. Attending, from left, are J.D. Porter, Bill Porter, Johnson, Don Porter and Quinn Miller. (Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College)
Members of the Porter family joined Pasco-Hernando State College president Katherine Johnson at the open house and dedication of Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch. Attending, from left, are J.D. Porter, Bill Porter, Johnson, Don Porter and Quinn Miller.
(Courtesy of Pasco-Hernando State College)

About 400 to 450 guests mingled, toured the campus and enjoyed refreshments at the celebration. It honored the Porter family, who donated 60 acres of land for the campus, and Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel for establishing an endowed scholarship.

“We certainly feel honored,” J.D. Porter said before the ceremony.

The family is especially gratified to play a role in promoting education, he added.

The opening of the campus signaled the first time in Wesley Chapel history that a student could attend preschool through college without leaving the Wesley Chapel community.

Porter said the new campus will play a significant role in the future of Wesley Chapel, as businesses will be able to take advantage of the college’s proximity to ensure that their workers keep current on new technologies. And students will benefit from the close relationship between the college and the business community.

He expects the college to continue to play an even larger role as time goes on.

The current buildings are on about six of the 60 acres the family donated, Porter noted.

Obviously, that leaves plenty of room for expansion.

Published April 9, 2014

Performers shine, overcome challenges at ‘Spotlight On Talent’

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After hours of practice and auditioning before a panel of experts, a select number of singers, dancers and musicians were chosen to perform at the Heritage Arts Center Association’s “Spotlight On Talent” event, now in its 31st year.

Riley Reardon won this year’s $1,000 Pasco Heritage Scholarship for his contemporary dance routine. The Land O’Lakes High School senior choreographed it as well. (Courtesy of The Heritage Arts Center Association)
Riley Reardon won this year’s $1,000 Pasco Heritage Scholarship for his contemporary dance routine. The Land O’Lakes High School senior choreographed it as well.
(Courtesy of The Heritage Arts Center Association)

Getting there was the hard part. The event itself, held in two separate performances on March 29 at the Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel High School, should have been easier. But the “Spotlight On Talent” finals brought their own challenges for the performers.

The early showcase, which featured younger performers, was hampered by inclement weather, including thunderstorms and tornado warnings that severely affected audience turnout, organizers said. And the later showcase was disrupted by an inadvertent fire alarm, which required a visit from the fire department and a full evacuation of the auditorium.

But according to Barbara Friedman, who produced the talent show and is a member of the organization’s board of directors, those obstacles didn’t prevent inspired performances by the finalists, well-deserved recognition for the winners, and another successful talent showcase for young people in the area.

“The performances were fabulous,” she said. “Truly, they are destined to go on to wonderful careers and go on with their talents.”

All performers and judges made it to the early show despite bad weather, and the fire alarm didn’t rattle the late show contestants, either. Attendance for both shows was around 400, with more than 120 performers representing more than 60 different acts, taking part in the shows.

Their ability to overcome unexpected events demonstrates that they’ve already successfully learned and implemented a “the show must go on” mentality, Friedman said.

Winners were recognized in several categories, and one also earned $1,000 as the recipient of the Pasco Heritage Scholarship, which is given to a Pasco graduating senior each year.

But even that winner didn’t have an easy road to his victory. In fact, he made a mistake early into his contemporary dance routine.

“In the beginning, I was supposed to do this leap and then roll to the ground. But I leapt, and when I put my foot down I missed the floor and landed on my back,” recalled Riley Reardon, a senior at Land O’ Lakes High School. “But then I just kept on going because I was supposed to go to the floor so a lot of people didn’t even notice. Right then I was like, ‘Wow, I already messed this up and I’m only at the beginning of the dance.’”

Reardon was able to recover, impress the judges throughout the rest of his dance, and capture the scholarship. And it probably helped that he knew the routine so well: Reardon choreographed the dance himself, and even choreographed a duet dance for his sister, Devin, for her performance at the “Spotlight On Talent.”

Dance is a big part of Reardon’s life. He practices for hours each weekday at Broadway Dancesations, a dance studio in Lutz. While it requires considerable practice and focus, he said it’s a creative break from the challenging course load he takes as part of his school’s International Baccalaureate program.

Choreography also is a fun activity for him, since he gets to match up a dancer’s strengths with routines that showcase their abilities. Reardon said that watching others succeed with dances he creates can be more rewarding than actually performing them himself.

But he won the scholarship with his own performance, and he found the victory satisfying for multiple reasons. He’s been performing at the “Spotlight On Talent” for a few years, and it was nice to be recognized in his senior year.

The money is a welcome prize, too. Reardon is looking at a few schools, and while he hasn’t made a final decision yet, it looks like his choice will probably take him out of state, which means higher tuition costs and additional living expenses.

Wherever he attends school, he said the money would come in handy.

“I’m really excited. College is super-expensive, so just having a little bit of help really does go a long way.”

Published April 9, 2014

Union lodges complaint over teacher planning time

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Pasco County’s teacher union has lodged a complaint with the Florida Public Employee Relations Commission over a dispute that involves teacher planning time.

The United School Employees of Pasco’s complaint alleges that teachers are spending so much time in meetings with their Professional Learning Communities that it is usurping time intended for individual planning.

The district contends that the time spent in the PLC meetings is planning time, but the union believes that time should be categorized as professional development, union president Lynne Webbe said.

During the PLC meetings, the teachers are being given work and assignments that are not relevant to what’s currently happening in their classrooms, Webbe said. Instead, they are focusing on strategies for preparing students for future requirements.

Teachers are feeling “very, very uptight,” Webbe said. “They’re feeling that they are shortchanging their students because they don’t have time.”

The complaint filed with PERC notes that the union has hosted meetings between teachers and school board representatives, including Superintendent Kurt Browning, to talk about “teachers’ frustrations with the amount of work and time commitment for the new PLC meetings.”

Before lodging the complaint, the union asked the school district to limit PLC team meetings to 40 minutes per week.

The union claims that the district is using time intended for planning for professional development, so it has asked PERC to declare that the district has committed an unfair labor practice.

“I think there is a solution, if the district is willing to sit down and work on it,” Webbe said.

Browning has a different take on the issue.

“I think they’re wrong. We’ve never, never, not once, said that professional learning communities, PLCs, were professional development,” Browning said.

“It’s collaborative planning,” Browning said, adding that the district’s track record demonstrates that it needs to change the way it educates students if it wants to improve its performance.

The PLCs are intended to allow teachers to work together to improve student outcomes.

“In an elementary school, it may be more appropriate to do it by grade level. You may have the third-grade team,” Browning said.

The team will be talking about how they’re going to teach reading, mathematics and language arts, he said. At the high school and middle school levels, the teams might be organized by subject matter.

“The inherent purpose of the PLC was so that they could plan for better, more effective classroom instruction. That’s it,” Browning said. “These PLCs are teacher-driven. You can go to one elementary school and see a PLC work one way, and you can go to another elementary school and see a PLC work totally differently.

“If the union is hearing that teachers are taking homework home because of their PLC, then that must be a decision their PLC has made,” Browning said.

Browning recently met with the principals from schools on the eastern and central portions of the county. During that meeting, Browning said he reminded them “that they need to guard the PLC time as planning time and not professional development time, if by chance that was happening.”

“This is a year of transition,” he said. “If we find situations, that we actually find a school that is using them for professional development and not planning, then shame on us — we need to fix that.”

Published April 9, 2014

This exhibit will thrill train lovers, model makers of all ages

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From the outside, the squat warehouse building housing the Suncoast Center for Fine Scale Modeling is no showstopper.

Step inside, though, and it’s an entirely different story.

The trees, the tracks and the waterfall give this model train railroad layout a feeling of authenticity. (Photo courtesy of Suncoast Center for Fine Scale Modeling)
The trees, the tracks and the waterfall give this model train railroad layout a feeling of authenticity.
(Photo courtesy of Suncoast Center for Fine Scale Modeling)

The center is a showcase of the kind of artistry that can be achieved in the world of model making. It has several exhibits, but the centerpiece of the collection is called the Sundance Central, a fine scale modular railroad.

The display was created by a group of model-makers who are obsessive in their attention to detail. They’ve spent thousands of hours over several years working to create a railroad environment that looks and sounds like it’s from a period between the 1890s and 1920s.

Smoke billows from a locomotive as it chugs along a hand-laid track. The sounds of trains, speeding up and slowing down with the calls of birds in the background, provide an added air of authenticity.

Tiny people populate the display. Some wait at a train station. Others work at a gas station. Some labor in the rail yards. There’s a multitude of scenes along the route, including a lumberyard, a salvage shop and a train maintenance facility.

Trains make their way through a terrain that’s been painstakingly landscaped with handmade grass and trees. The locomotives run across elevated tracks, with a sculpted waterfall and images of majestic mountains arranged to serve as a backdrop.

Besides the Sundance Central, the center has Civil War military models, a tribute to the Band of Brothers, a fighter pilot in a F-15 Eagle cockpit and other displays. For train lovers, there are two other model railroad displays that were created and donated by groups from Australia. And, there’s the Silverton Central, a layout created by Jon Addison, a modeler in the center’s group.

“There’s so many things in here for you to see,” said Dale MacKeown, another member on the Sundance team. “People who come in here typically spend two, two-and-a-half hours. We have people who come in here every time.”

One guy, around 95, came with six members of his family, and they spent the whole day there, MacKeown said.

Because of its modular nature, the Sundance Central can be taken apart and transported to train shows and conferences elsewhere. It is so large, disassembling it is a gargantuan task, and it requires a semitrailer to move it.

The display is not widely known to the general public, but is popular among train enthusiasts and modelers, MacKeown said.

“It’s been to all four corners of the United States in the last 10 years,” he said. “People from all over the world hear about us.”

In September, it will be the centerpiece of the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Kansas City, Mo.

The Sundance Central got its start about 15 years ago when some group members became acquainted with each other through the Florida Garden Railway Society, MacKeown said. They decided it would be neat to build a modular train layout they could carry in the trunks of their cars to train shows.

They moved into the center’s current home, at 2645 Success Drive in Odessa, three years ago.

The modelers are sticklers for detail. They use foam rubber to create fake rock face. They use rope fiber to make artificial grass. They use wax to make imitation cow pies.

Some people wonder why the men are so involved in creating the models, said Jim Hopes, another member of the Sundance team.

“It’s because we love doing it. Once you start to create something that looks pretty good, you can’t stop,” he said.

“Everybody loves trains at some point in their life. Some people, like us, never get over it,” said Hopes, who built his first model train when he was 10 or 11.

“My father got me my first Lionel (train) when I was 5,” MacKeown said.

That was nearly 70 years ago.

In his Silverton Central railroad layout, Addison has created a setting that includes a harbor, a produce market, a village and other features.

Some train enthusiasts simply want to operate them and are not too particular about the setting behind them, Addison said.

“We care about making things look real. We kind of look at it as an art,” Addison said.

WHAT: The Suncoast Center for Fine Scale Modeling
WHY: An impressive collection of artistically crafted models, which recreate the feel for an authentic railroad, along with other models depicting Civil War scenes, fighter pilots, and the Band of Brothers.
WHERE: 2645 Success Drive, Odessa
WHEN: The third Saturday of the month, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., from October to June
COST: Admission is $7 for adults, and free for children 12 and younger
INFO: Visit: www.finescalemodeling.org

Published April 9, 2014

Land O’ Lakes junior heads to state as district tennis champ

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When Land O’ Lakes High School junior Kavya Avancha lost an individual tennis match against Wiregrass Ranch, she was disappointed.

Kavya Avancha, a junior at Land O’ Lakes High School, won her district finals matchup and became the first individual girls tennis player to advance to state competition in school history. (Courtesy of Kavya Avancha)
Kavya Avancha, a junior at Land O’ Lakes High School, won her district finals matchup and became the first individual girls tennis player to advance to state competition in school history.
(Courtesy of Kavya Avancha)

She dropped the best-of-three match in three sets, and admits she didn’t play her best tennis. It was her first — and ended up her only — loss in individual competition all season. And she was hoping for a rematch.

Avancha got that rematch, but the stakes were much higher: The district finals, with a spot in the state tournament on the line. Avancha had a chance to not only avenge her only loss this season, but also make up for a district finals loss the previous season.

This time the outcome went in her favor: A straight-set victory to make up for the previous loss, her first trip to state competition as an individual player, and Land O’ Lakes’ first ever state finals berth for an individual player in girls tennis.

“It feels great. I’ve been working really hard. I really wanted to make it to state this year, so I’m really happy about that,” Avancha said.

She qualified for state last year in doubles competition, and to reach that level this year on her own — while dispatching the only player to beat her this year — was particularly satisfying.

Avancha wasn’t the only one invested in the outcome. For Coach Karen Turman, who has taught tennis for 17 years and is a U.S. Professional Tennis Association-certified pro, it was a matchup that got her own competitive juices flowing.

“I wanted to play that match as much as Kavya,” Turman said. “I got up out of my chair and had to take a walk. I went up to the umpire and I said to him, ‘It’s hard to watch because I’d rather be on the court.’ You want to be out there in the competition yourself.”

Turman’s talents with a racket weren’t needed, and she was proud of Avancha and excited to see the school send an individual player to state for the first time.

Getting to this level of success takes a lot of work, Avancha said. She practices a couple hours after school on most evenings, and that’s often after the school’s own tennis practice. She even works with her father, Srinivas, who coaches her.

Spending that much time on her game allows Avancha to not think about form or technique during an actual match. Her body already knows where to position itself and how to hit the ball, so her mind can focus on strategy during the competition, finding her opponent’s weak points and exploiting them with her own strengths.

And her 11-1 record during the regular season shows that her method works on the court.

But according to Turman, Avancha’s real strength lies in how she approaches the game and conducts herself during matches.

“Nothing frustrates her. You cannot tell if she’s winning or losing by just her demeanor on the court, and that’s what a true champion does,” Turman said. “They don’t really show their emotion. They just have the guts to pull it out.”

Avancha’s focus is apparent off the court as well. As a member of Land O’ Lakes High’s International Baccalaureate program, she spends a lot of time on her rigorous course load and hours of homework almost every night. But the same determination that serves her well with a tennis racket gives her confidence in the classroom.

And Avancha admits that confidence isn’t something she always had. But competing and succeeding in tennis has helped her overcome those issues.

“Before tennis, as a kid, I was actually very nervous and not very confident,” she said. “But I’ve grown in my confidence. I can say what’s on my mind and that’s grown with the sport.”

Avancha knows the players will be better and tougher to defeat in state competition, which will take place later this month. But she said that facing a higher caliber of player makes the game fun for her, and she’s looking forward to seeing how she fares against the best in the state.

Before that happens, however, she’ll go back to the regimen of hard work and practice that has helped get to this point.

“I’m probably going to put in a little bit more hours these next two weeks than I usually do so I get more practice,” Avancha said. “But I’ll probably do the same drills and work on some other things I need to improve.”

Published April 9, ,2014

This week’s Sunlake softball game benefits Wounded Warrior

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The Sunlake softball team doesn’t have a winning record. After their home finale against the Zephyrhills Bulldogs, the team won’t be thinking about a state championship.

The Sunlake Seahawks are closing out their home softball schedule with green camouflage shirts to commemorate their benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project on April 10. Their opponents, the Zephyrhills Bulldogs, also are participating with special shirts for the game. (Courtesy of Nelson Garcia)
The Sunlake Seahawks are closing out their home softball schedule with green camouflage shirts to commemorate their benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project on April 10. Their opponents, the Zephyrhills Bulldogs, also are participating with special shirts for the game.
(Courtesy of Nelson Garcia)

The game also won’t affect the Class 5A-District 8 standings, where the Seahawks are near the bottom.

Still, the game on April 10 might be the most important one of the season.

Sunlake’s game will not only feature two softball teams looking for a win, it will serve as a benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance and services to injured military service members. Attendees can support the organization by making a direct donation at the game, or by purchasing arts, crafts or T-shirts that will be on sale from a variety of booths.

A portion of those proceeds will go to the organization.

Coach Nelson Garcia, who organized the event with his wife Denise, isn’t surprised that a team starting four freshman would endure some growing pains in the win-loss column. But he believes that supporting charitable organizations as a team — the Seahawks also had a Pink Out event earlier in the year to support breast cancer awareness — helps them grow in important ways that go beyond the playing field.

“They’re learning not only goals of softball, but in life and giving back to the community also,” Garcia said. “They’re very excited to do it. They can’t wait.”

Garcia spent 14 years with the fire department, so he understands the importance of serving the community. But while the team is eager to show support for the military and will wear special green camouflage shirts during the game (Zephyrhills also is participating, and will don orange camouflage shirts), the issue is particularly important for their coach and his family.

Garcia’s son, Sgt. Anthony Michael Garcia, was wounded in 2011 during his first tour in Afghanistan. He was approximately 15 feet away from an improvised explosive device, more commonly known as an IED, when it exploded.

Garcia’s son recovered and is now serving in his second tour of the region. But he realizes that many members of the military have worse outcomes and often need support, and the organization helps with everything from prosthetics to post-traumatic stress disorders.

“It seems like people forget that they go over there and they’re serving right now and they’re getting wounded,” Garcia said. “How many don’t come back, or don’t come back all intact? The great thing about the Wounded Warrior Project is they help all the military personnel in all the branches to get their lives back together when they come back.”

The event is open to the public and begins at 6 p.m., with the game starting at 7. There also will be giveaways, a hospitality tent for active and retired military, and a U.S. Army recruiting booth.

Sunlake High School is located at 3023 Sunlake Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes.

For information about the Wounded Warrior Project, visit WoundedWarriorProject.org.

Published April 9, 2014