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Pasco’s new cheerleading state champion is Sunlake

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Just weeks after they took the Best of Pasco crown, the Sunlake High School cheerleading squad earned a new honor last weekend: Class 1A Medium division champions for the state.

They had to wait a day because of snow in the Panhandle, but the Sunlake High School cheerleading squad took the state crown for the first time last weekend in Kissimmee. (Courtesy of Pennye Garcia
They had to wait a day because of snow in the Panhandle, but the Sunlake High School cheerleading squad took the state crown for the first time last weekend in Kissimmee.
(Courtesy of Pennye Garcia

The cheerleaders took the FHSAA crown during the competition in Kissimmee, where they were the only school representing Pasco County.

“The girls are very excited, as well as myself,” Sunlake head coach Pennye Garcia said in a release. “They have been trained to know that we need to focus on the task at hand. Between the semifinal and final competition, I made a couple of changes to better our score, and it proved to be in our favor.”

The first FHSAA state championship for the team had to come with some waiting. The cheerleaders earned first place during competition Jan. 30, but one team competing got held up by weather, and didn’t make it there until Friday, Garcia said. Everyone had to wait until the next day, to give that team a chance to compete.

However, late Friday, Garcia got the email that Sunlake had won it all.

The cheerleaders will receive their trophy and medals during a planned pep rally at Sunlake Feb. 14.

To see highlights of the winning routine from Sunlake, visit Bright House Sports Networks at tinyurl.com/SunlakeCheer.

Published Feb. 5, 2014

 

Rangers join youth soccer elite, take national showcase

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December’s Disney Soccer Showcase attracted teams from all over the country, including Ohio, New York, Texas, Tennessee and Michigan. But the winner of the Boys Under-16 division traveled less than 90 miles to get to the tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee. 

The FC Tampa Rangers, based in Lutz, won the Under-16 boys division at the Disney Soccer Showcase in December. The victory gave them national notoriety in youth soccer circles. (Courtesy of Mike Connell)
The FC Tampa Rangers, based in Lutz, won the Under-16 boys division at the Disney Soccer Showcase in December. The victory gave them national notoriety in youth soccer circles. (Courtesy of Mike Connell)

The FC Tampa Rangers, based in Lutz, won the U-16 tournament Dec. 27-30. They got past three other teams in their bracket, winning against all three while allowing just one goal in the process, and reached the finals to face the winner of the other bracket.

That opponent, Dix Hills from New York, is ranked No. 2 in the country and hadn’t allowed a single goal in their bracket play.

The end result? A 4-1 victory for the Rangers and more notoriety for an organization that’s becoming known for strong play and a competitive spirit on the national stage.

“I’m incredibly proud of the boys and the way they represented themselves and the club,” said Mike Connell, director of coaching for the Rangers organization. “It was a huge step for the club because the performance put the FC Tampa Rangers on the national soccer map.”

While he doesn’t think the team was taken lightly, Connell believes the Rangers played at a level their opponents probably didn’t expect, either. In just a few years, the players have become well educated in the game and have a good feel for their roles on the pitch; and Connell said that college scouts at the tournament took note of the team’s impressive play.

While the Rangers strive to be one of the best youth soccer clubs in the country, they have a global perspective regarding the game they play. Connell wants them thinking about winning soccer as its played in other continents like Europe, Africa and South America. The team takes a European-style approach to the game, which involves controlled passing and a patient tempo, as opposed to just kicking the ball and using speed to chase it down.

The style they emulate is being used by successful professional clubs such as Barcelona FC in Spain’s La Liga, AFC Ajax from the Netherlands and Arsenal from the English Premier League, Connell said.

And Connell knows a thing or two about winning soccer himself. As a member of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in their heyday, he was part of the team’s North American Soccer League championship in 1975. The two-time NASL all-star defender played for the Rowdies until 1984, and is now a big part of local youth soccer. His ability to teach beyond the fundamentals of the game, and provide insight to playing at a championship level, has had a positive effect on the team’s players.

“He’s probably the best coach I’ve ever had,” said Steve Rudderham, the Rangers’ center midfielder, who has been playing the game for more than a decade. Connell is popular with the players, but won’t hesitate to be tough on them if they’re not listening or showing proper respect for the game, he added.

The result has been a very successful youth club, and also a different experience than Rudderham has found on other teams. He lives in Pinellas County and plays for his school’s team, and says the Rangers play better soccer than he’s found at the high school level.

“You don’t get much training in high school. It’s just a thrown-together team, whereas in club you have good coaches and good players, and they all want to be there,” Rudderham said. “They all take it seriously.”

While a high school soccer team works with the players who attend the school and are interested in playing, a youth soccer club draws from an entire area, meaning more competition and better talent. Rudderham estimates between 50 and 60 athletes tried out for the Rangers, with only perhaps half of that number trying out for his high school soccer team.

The Rangers have parlayed that talent and coaching into a winning team with a new trophy on its mantle, but its season isn’t over yet. After more league play, the State Cup will begin this spring, which is considered the main tournament.

It’s also a chance for the Rangers to take another step forward: Last year (as Under-15 players) the Rangers reached the final four at the state competition. Now, with an extra year of experience and a confidence boost from successful play against opponents from around the country, Rudderham thinks the team can go even further and compete for a championship.

To do that, they’ll have to get past rival Sunrise, who won last year’s State Cup for U-15 boys. Like the old Tampa Bay Rowdies-Ft. Lauderdale Strikers battles from decades past, Connell believes that a healthy rivalry against a quality opponent makes a team better, and helps players focus on playing with a purpose.

“You can play soccer just for the sake of playing soccer, or you can play soccer with an ambition,” Connell said. “We try to strive that there’s always an ambition ahead of you.”

Published Jan. 29, 2014

Sunlake perfect in district, poised for playoffs

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When the Sunlake High School boys soccer team defeated the Pasco Pirates 3-2 on Jan. 9, they probably weren’t surprised they won the game. The victory meant the team completed district play for the season with a perfect 16-0 record.

A perfect 16-0 record, and 23-1-1 overall, has the Sunlake Seahawks in position to go all the way to the top in boys soccer. And after a disappointing loss in the state semis last year, they’re ready to do just that. (Photo courtesy of Sam Koleduk)
A perfect 16-0 record, and 23-1-1 overall, has the Sunlake Seahawks in position to go all the way to the top in boys soccer. And after a disappointing loss in the state semis last year, they’re ready to do just that. (Photo courtesy of Sam Koleduk)

If anything, they might have wondered how they gave up two goals. Adding those two, the team gave up just four goals in 16 district games for Class 3A-District 8.

On the other side of the ledger, the Seahawks scored 101 goals in those same contests. They registered 13 shutouts, including six by the score of 8-0.

While they’ve dominated their district, they’re almost as good in overall play. They’ve collected a 23-1-1 record with 138 goals scored. But amazingly, that record is actually a slight drop-off from last year, when they won 30 straight games before losing in the Class 3A state semifinals to Ponte Vedra 2-1.

By the numbers, it might look like the Seahawks are an offense-first team. But according to Coach Sam Koleduk, that’s not really the case.

“We’re more of a complete team, I think,” he said. “Right now we’re the leading scoring team in the country, and we’ve also given up the least amount of goals, also.”

There are a few factors that go into building the kind of success they’re having at Sunlake, Koleduk said. The team has a lot of players who also participate in local clubs, so they’re not just thinking about soccer for their school schedule. That extra work allows them to stay on top of their game so they’re ready to play at practice and during games.

Their junior varsity program also is strong — the team was undefeated this past season. Koleduk said it allows him to replace skilled players who graduate with talented, experienced athletes who are ready to play at the varsity level.

Finally, having a good team allows them to adjust their style of play to put more pressure on their opponent. Instead of a more traditional 4-4-2 formation — with four players in the back, four in the middle and two attacking up front — Sunlake often plays a 3-4-3 formation, putting an extra attacker up front and forcing an opponent into a more defensive posture from the start.

But that type of attack also means fewer players on defense if the opponent breaks through, so the goalkeeper has to be ready to make the necessary saves. Fortunately for the Seahawks, sophomore Danny Hrenko has been up to the task. Picking up where he left off as a freshman, Hrenko is frustrating opponents on the rare occasions they create a scoring opportunity.

He said that while he’s the man in front of the net, his teammates are the ones who deserve credit for shutting down opponents.

“The key is really my defense, to be honest,” Hrenko said. “It’s all about organizing them.”

Even when there are fewer players in the back, the team’s style doesn’t put him in difficult situations, and the defenders are able to neutralize the opponent most of the time.

But when the team has had relatively close games, Hrenko has usually helped them come out of them with a win. He said he enjoys making tough saves and proving the team is as tough defensively as it is prolific on offense.

“I like when I have a good shot against me and I make a good save. It makes me feel like I’ve done my part on this team,” he said.

With many players doing their part — sophomore Remi Pimm leads the nation in scoring — getting a step farther than last year seems like a reasonable goal. And while Koleduk — who has been with the team since the school opened back in 2007 — acknowledges his Seahawks are a talented team with a lot of promise, he said there are more variables that go into a trip to the state finals and a potential championship.

And not all of them are in the team’s control.

“We’ve got to stay focused, and it sounds funny, but a little bit of luck,” he said. “To make it all the way through without losing, you have to have a little luck on your side also, I think.

“Basically, you have to stay focused and healthy.”

It’s 1,000 and counting for Ke’Shawn Ingram

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On Dec. 19, senior point guard Ke’Shawn Ingram joined a pretty exclusive club: boys basketball players from Steinbrenner High School who have scored 1,000 points or more in their careers.

Steinbrenner High School has its first 1,000-point player in boys basketball, as Ke’Shawn Ingram earned those honors late last month. Despite being one of the top offensive teams in the region, it’s defense that’s hurting the Warriors, dropping them to a 6-11 record.
Steinbrenner High School has its first 1,000-point player in boys basketball, as Ke’Shawn Ingram earned those honors late last month. Despite being one of the top offensive teams in the region, it’s defense that’s hurting the Warriors, dropping them to a 6-11 record.

In fact, it’s so exclusive that he’s the only member.

Ingram reached that mark by scoring 25 points in a home game against Sickles. And while the end result was a 69-55 loss for the Warriors, who are going through a challenging season at 6-11 (3-4 in district play), that milestone is a definite bright spot for the program.

But the player who set a new standard for boys basketball excellence at Steinbrenner isn’t doing much celebrating. The team’s lack of wins weighs more on his mind than his personal accomplishment.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like it. I’m proud of myself, but it’s not my first concern,” Ingram said about setting the mark. “The main goal is for my team to go as far as we can.”

The Warriors are having no problem scoring points: With Ingram’s help, they lead their district in points favored by a comfortable margin. In fact, the next closest team is more than 150 points back.

Defense, however, has been a problem, as they also have the most points against — also more than 150 points ahead of the second-worst mark in Class 7A-District 8. Ingram acknowledges the defensive issues and says the team is working on techniques to improve for the rest of the season.

If it seems unusual that a high-scoring senior is more worried about team defense than his personal offensive records, it might be because Ke’Shawn Ingram is an unusual athlete. His 6-foot-1, 165-pound frame is well-suited to sports, but his 3.66 GPA shows that his focus is on more than racking up points on the court.

“School always comes first for me,” Ingram explained. If the team doesn’t have practice after school, homework is at the top of his agenda once he gets home, with extra basketball work coming later in the evening. His goal is to play college basketball (he hasn’t chosen a school yet, but would prefer to stay in the south) and study sports marketing, eventually working with a professional basketball team.

His coach, Reggie Anderson, believes Ingram has the ability to find employment with a basketball team, but not just in an office job. Maybe to actually hit the court.

“He does have that potential,” Anderson said. “He’s going to have to go to college and get bigger and stronger. But he has the natural tools, and definitely would have the opportunity to play at that level.”

Anderson isn’t just a proud local coach boasting about a star player. While this is his first year at Steinbrenner, he has 18 years of coaching experience. During that time, Anderson has coached a number of players who have advanced to the NBA, including current Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Jodie Meeks.

He said that Ingram shares many qualities that his best players have, even beyond sheer talent and ability to score points. They all have humility, a strong work ethic and a desire to always get better, and he believes those qualities are the ones that will help Ingram succeed.

“He’s a much better person off the court than he is a player on the court,” Anderson said. “He’s the total package.”

For now, Ingram will continue to focus more on team goals than personal accomplishments, even though he’s already extended his school-best record to beyond 1,100 points. He said that his best friends are on the team, and they didn’t even discuss getting 1,000 points before the game in which he set the mark.

And, just as Anderson indicated, Ingram will keep trying to get better both on and off the court. He said that achieving success in class has similarities to success in basketball.

“I would say you have to be focused and persistent,” Ingram said. “You have to keep at it. If you’re not understanding something, you can ask for help; just like on the court, you can ask for help from your teammates.”

Steinbrenner girls off to hot hoops start

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When a high school basketball team loses seven players — including three starters — to graduation, the following season will present some big challenges. One could probably call it a “rebuilding” year.

Just don’t use that word when talking to Steinbrenner girls coach J.R. Allen.

Olivia Unger, a senior point guard on the Warriors team, reaches for the ball, proving that a strong defense is necessary for success. Steinbrenner is 20-3, and currently leads Class 7A-District 8.
Olivia Unger, a senior point guard on the Warriors team, reaches for the ball, proving that a strong defense is necessary for success. Steinbrenner is 20-3, and currently leads Class 7A-District 8.

“That whole mindset, I don’t allow my kids to think like that,” Allen said. “To me, that’s kind of making an excuse to where you can have an average year.”

Allen’s team seems to have received the message because they aren’t having an average year: The Warriors are currently 20-3, and sit atop Class 7A-District 8 with a 6-1 record. The team began the season with a 12-game winning streak, and their three losses have been to teams with a combined record of 52-7.

Allen credits the team’s strong start to a suffocating defense: Just five teams have been able to reach the 40-point threshold against them. In fact, he said that the Warriors have kept almost every opponent to at least 20 points below their scoring average.

“That’s why we’ve had the success we’ve had, because this whole team has bought in, heart and soul, to what it really means to play team defense and shut people down,” Allen said.

Steinbrenner also is good at pulling out a victory in close contests: The team is 4-1 in games decided by six points or less. But that isn’t an accident, either. The team specifically practices late-game circumstances that put their players in pressure situations. Whether they’re down by one point with less than a minute left in the game, or they have a small lead to protect and no timeouts remaining — if they face that situation in a real game, odds are they’ve dealt with something similar in practice.

But when it comes to the one main factor in the team’s success, sophomore Courtney Hall agrees with her coach.

“I think definitely our strongest quality is our defense. We just can’t be stopped,” she said.

The team’s philosophy is to have everyone on the court provide pressure and make things difficult for the opposing offense.

Hall also played for Steinbrenner in her freshman year, though not as a starter. She acknowledges that the previous year’s team featured players who were on the court together for a long time and knew each other well, and the current team had to find their own chemistry. But they’ve done so with a stingy defense and a focus on not allowing the opponent to get second chances at scoring.

Hall is Steinbrenner’s leading rebounder, and said that a big team focus is on making sure there are no easy follow-ups when an opponent tries for points.

“If you’re going to take a shot, you’re only getting one shot, and all of us are crashing the boards,” she said.

While the team’s philosophy has earned them a strong record and the top spot in the district, it will be the district tournament and playoffs that will determine how far the Warriors go. And with more than a decade of coaching experience (including coaching boys earlier in his career), Allen has led teams with various skill levels and abilities.

But it’s this Steinbrenner team that has him confident in ways he hasn’t been in the past.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been able to say this in 12 years: This team could win a state championship,” Allen said. “Now will they? Obviously that depends on how we finish and me getting them to absolutely believe that unequivocally with no doubts, and we’re still working on it.

“But I truly believe this team could play for a state championship.”

Wiregrass Ranch girls hoopsters create buzz with fast start

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With nearly three decades of basketball coaching experience, John Gant usually knows what to expect from his players. And going into his third season coaching the Wiregrass Ranch High School girls, he expected to have a strong team.

But even he admits he didn’t see 19 wins in their first 20 games.

Wiregrass Ranch captain Logan Seoane goes for a jump ball back in her early days on the Bulls varsity team. Now Seoane and her teammates are charging through the regular season, picking up 19 wins in their first 20 games.
Wiregrass Ranch captain Logan Seoane goes for a jump ball back in her early days on the Bulls varsity team. Now Seoane and her teammates are charging through the regular season, picking up 19 wins in their first 20 games.

“I did expect a good year. I did not anticipate quite this good a record, but I did anticipate a good year for my kids,” he said.

But the Bulls have done just that, starting out hot with a six-game winning streak before losing on the road at district foe Steinbrenner. However, they bounced back from that defeat and have rattled off 13 straight wins (nine of those by double-digits), including an eight-point victory over Steinbrenner in the rematch.

Gant identifies a couple of important team traits that has led to the Bulls’ success. First, the team is unselfish, with scoring relatively evenly distributed and no one player dominating the stat sheet. And second, the Bulls play an up-tempo game with an eye for fast break opportunities and plenty of running up and down the court.

While Wiregrass Ranch’s record is a marked improvement over previous seasons, Gant said his coaching philosophy hasn’t changed. The difference is the team’s receptiveness to what the coaching staff teaches and their ability to come together and excel behind that philosophy.

“It is not difficult to teach” unselfish play, he said. “It is sometimes difficult for kids to buy into it. Really, it comes down to the kids and do they want to buy into it and really make themselves a team, a cohesive unit.”

Bulls captain Logan Seoane, a senior in her fourth year playing for her school, believes her teammates have done just that.

“A lot of us have played together for a long time, and we just clicked this year,” said Seoane, who plays center for Wiregrass Ranch. She also said that developing a fast-break philosophy has meant challenging practices with a lot of transition work, efforts to limit turnovers and a full-court mindset.

But the hard work has been worth it, and other teams have had trouble keeping up with the Bulls.

Still, with all the team’s success, Wiregrass Ranch sits tied with the Steinbrenner Seahawks for the lead in Class 7A-District 8. Both teams have lost just one district game — to each other. If both teams win out, Gant said that regular tiebreakers probably won’t settle the issue. A simple coin toss could determine the tournament seeding, in which the top two teams will advance into the playoffs.

The fact that a 19-1 record doesn’t assure them the top seed in the tournament for a playoff berth isn’t lost on Gant. But he said that tournament seeding isn’t that important, since there will be tough games no matter where they finish.

“We have one of the toughest districts in the state,” he said. That includes Sickles, currently 14-4 overall and 2-3 in the district, as well as Freedom, which is 13-3 overall, and 2-3 in the district.

Of course, no one can forget Steinbrenner, which is currently 19-2, and 5-1 in the district.

“And we’re all very good,” Gant said. “You’re going to have a tough opponent no matter where you are.”

Rather than worry about tournament seeding, part of the team’s philosophy is to just take things one game at a time and not look ahead or take anything for granted. In fact, the coach believes that there’s nothing to take for granted yet, since they haven’t guaranteed themselves anything.

“We’re 19-1, and we’re 5-1 in district,” Gant said. “What’s it mean? Absolutely nothing if you don’t take care of business.”

Their next piece of business is a home game against Freedom on Jan. 8.

His team has also bought into that message as well. When asked how far she thought the team could go this year, Seoane responded with an answer that would make her coach proud: “We just have to take it step by step.”

Sunlake’s cheerleaders named ‘Best of Pasco’

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The high school football season is over, and the Sunlake Seahawks had a good year.

They made the playoffs and defeated most of their competition. Now, the team’s cheerleaders have begun their own competitive season, and they’re on track for similar success.

The cheerleading squad from Sunlake High School helped earn coach Pennye Garcia yet another Best of Pasco cheerleading title, defeating 11 other squads during a recent competition. Garcia has won the title in the past with Land O’ Lakes and Hudson high schools. (Photo courtesy of Tammy Price)
The cheerleading squad from Sunlake High School helped earn coach Pennye Garcia yet another Best of Pasco cheerleading title, defeating 11 other squads during a recent competition. Garcia has won the title in the past with Land O’ Lakes and Hudson high schools. (Photo courtesy of Tammy Price)

After placing first at the Universal Cheerleading Association’s Central Regionals on Dec. 7, the squad moved on to the Best of Pasco Sunshine Athletic Conference Cheerleading Competition. There they defeated 11 other squads to take first place in the county, claim the competition’s highest score, and earn another title for the school.

According to Head Coach Pennye Garcia, there were tense moments before the winner was named.

“We dropped two stunts in our routine, so we were really down. We didn’t think that we were going to win,” she said. But because the rest of their two-and-a-half-minute performance was so strong and had earned such a high degree of difficulty, the team was able to overcome a couple of mistakes and still claim the county title.

Garcia is proud of her team’s ability to work hard throughout the competition and earn the top spot despite the challenges.

And praise from Garcia carries significant weight. When the team walked into Land O’ Lakes High School for the competition, they saw plenty of cheerleading titles indicating that school’s own success.

“I coached at Land O’ Lakes for a long time,” Garcia explained. “It was kind of funny being over there and seeing the banner in the gym. I said, ‘Those are my winnings.’ I won Best of Pasco for a lot of years when I was at Land O Lakes.”

Garcia left Land O’ Lakes to start Sunlake’s cheerleading program when the school opened back in 2007. But soon after, she left Sunlake for a short stint at Hudson, where she claimed a Best of Pasco title for that school. Now she’s returned to Sunlake and another first-place finish has followed.

Since the team has shown an ability to overcome adversity, Garcia said they’re proving they deserve a designation not always associated with cheerleaders. “They’re the athletes that they say they are,” Garcia said. “With cheerleading, a lot of people still don’t see it as a sport. So I put it in front of them that if they’re true athletes, then they need to act like athletes and be able to overcome whatever they do and move on and make it better the next time.”

Senior Joy Wennlund, a team captain who has spent her entire high school career on the cheerleading team, understands that many people don’t consider it a sport. But she says that’s because they usually see the team when they’re supporting the football program. While that’s important for school spirit, there’s more to cheerleading than what fans see on the sidelines.

“There’s another side to that; the competitive side,” Wennlund said. “When we’re at practice is the only time we’re showing all of those skills. So no one really gets to see that competitive edge that we have until we go to competition.”

Although football games are played every week, there are only a handful of cheerleading competitions each season.

“There’s a lot less opportunities to show all the hard work and dedication we’ve put in as a team,” she said.

Still, Wennlund finds the experience rewarding and likes seeing the team come together, experience success and execute their routines after working so hard on them.

Those routines are Garcia’s own creations, and the longtime coach understands that a good team can’t focus on previous victories. Just like any group of successful athletes, she wants her cheerleading team to remain on an even keel and prepare for the competitions ahead of them.

“They need to be level-headed, but they also need to be focused on what they need to do to keep their stamina up,” Garcia said. “Because when they come back in January they need to be ready to go, and they know that I’m going to be pushing them.”

Bonk finds peace in busy career as tennis official

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You always know when a professional tennis player is performing well. They’re defeating opponents, earning trophies and hearing cheers from the crowd.

The best players become popular and wealthy, and tennis enthusiasts know their name.

Kim Bonk enjoys her love of tennis as an official, working at all levels of the game — from amateur to professional. She was recently recognized by the U.S. Tennis Association for her work behind the scenes of tennis.
Kim Bonk enjoys her love of tennis as an official, working at all levels of the game — from amateur to professional. She was recently recognized by the U.S. Tennis Association for her work behind the scenes of tennis.

But what about tennis officials? They don’t hear any supporters cheer their success. They aren’t popular. They don’t endorse athletic shoes or equipment. And fans don’t know their name.

Usually when they’re recognized it’s because of an unpopular call or a verbal dispute with a player, like the famous court conflicts with player John McEnroe back in the 1980s.

Officials don’t get the accolades, the glory or the money that some players earn, but their job is just as difficult. A player makes several mistakes each game, but can forget about them and bounce back for a victory. But an official is expected to be perfect all the time, stay focused for every point of every game in every set of a match, and stay composed no matter what challenges they have to face.

And they do it sitting by themselves in a large chair overseeing the match, both an integral part of the contest and an invisible spectator.

But occasionally, the best officials will get some recognition for their hard work. On Dec. 7, the U.S. Tennis Association’s Florida section awarded Lutz resident Kim Bonk the Official of the Year award at its annual meeting in Orlando.

“It’s an honor and it’s very humbling,” said Bonk, who also was elected president of the Bay Area Tennis Officials Association in 2013. “After 10 years of hard work, it’s an honor to be recognized.”

Bonk’s desire to become an official stemmed partially from her late entry into the world of tennis. She didn’t start playing until her mid-30s — when many singles players would be retiring — so a lucrative professional career wasn’t in the cards. But after her husband (and avid player) Pete drew her into the game, she wanted to be part of the action.

When the opportunity came up to learn officiating, Bonk took advantage and excelled in the role. Now she works matches at the junior, collegiate and professional level, even serving as line judge at U.S. Open matches.

But regardless of the level of play, Bonk maintains the same attitude heading into the match: She wants to know everything about the rules, and almost nothing about the players.

“Unless I’m in the chair, a lot of times I don’t know who the players are,” she said. “I’ll recognize the face, but I don’t like to know their name, I don’t like to know their seeding, I don’t like to know their ranking. To me they’re just another player on the court. I try not to know anything about them or their playing history so that (the officiating) stays as a non-biased opinion.”

While Bonk remains non-biased, she realizes that those playing the game are naturally biased and emotional, and sometimes that emotion turns into anger and conflict with officials. But when coaches or players get upset, she responds calmly.

When they react unprofessionally, she doles out the appropriate punishment (such as warnings or point or game penalties). And when they later come back and apologize for their behavior — which they often do — she accepts and doesn’t take offense at the outburst.

“People can be upset at you, but it’s not necessarily that they’re upset with you,” Bonk said. “As an official, you have to be there and willing to listen to them, not take it personally and make a decision based on the rules.”

If it sounds like Bonk has an almost superhuman ability to stay calm, her background contributed to her officiating skills. As a former pharmaceutical sales representative, she learned how to interact with a wide variety of customers, read body language, and hone people and listening skills. Now, those same traits have helped her deal with players of different ages, abilities and personalities in her job as an official.

And while it’s a full-time job, being an official is not a traditional 40-hour a week position. She’ll spend many days on the road, then have some time off, then gear up for the start of different seasons. Currently she’s on break, but will have a full schedule from January until May, which will mean officiating junior, college and professional matches all in the span of just a few months.

When Bonk does get some free time, she doesn’t stray far from the court. She’s happy to grab a racket and play recreationally or in a league, and said that playing the game is an important activity for a good official because it allows them to better understand the players and their motivations. But when asked whether she would prefer a great day on the court as a player or as an official, she made a tough-but-decisive call befitting an award-winning official:

“That’s a draw,” she said with a laugh. “They’re both good.”

Pee Wee Predators cheer way to nationals

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When you attend a Pop Warner football game, you might not realize that you’re seeing more than two teams on the field.

The first, of course, is the football team. But there’s another group of athletes performing, and they also practice, work hard and compete against opponents at the conference, regional and national levels. And they’re part of every game.

They’re the cheerleaders.

Kate Allmond, Shae-Lynn Gibbs and Kylee Brown lift Lila Zois as part of the award-winning routines of the South Pasco Predators in the Pop Warner Pee Wee division. The girls are heading to Orlando to compete at the national level. (Photo courtesy of Kayla Hensley)
Kate Allmond, Shae-Lynn Gibbs and Kylee Brown lift Lila Zois as part of the award-winning routines of the South Pasco Predators in the Pop Warner Pee Wee division. The girls are heading to Orlando to compete at the national level. (Photo courtesy of Kayla Hensley)

Cheerleading isn’t simply a side activity that complements the football programs. It’s an organized sport in its own right that requires patience and skill to compete at a high level. And in the Pee Wee division, the South Pasco Predators have demonstrated their ability to not only compete, but stand out: The team took first place at the conference level, compiling the highest score and earning a trip to regionals.

But there were more reasons to cheer for the Predators. At the regional competition, the team again placed first and again had the highest score of any squad (including teams from the rest of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia). That accomplishment has earned them a spot in the national competition, which will be this week at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

For Coach Kayla Hensley, the team’s success validates not just the Pee Wee Predators, but the sport of cheerleading.

“If you don’t have any experience watching cheerleading, they make it look so easy that it doesn’t seem like it should be a sport,” she said. “That’s the real challenge of cheerleading. You’re supposed to make it look easy and effortless.”

People see cheerleaders from professional football teams — who mostly perform dance routines — and they think that’s all there is to it, Hensley said. But competitively, there’s a lot of skill necessary, a lot of dedication required and a lot of preparation and practice to perform the team’s complex routines correctly.

Hensley seems to have found the formula for cheerleading success: This is the second team she’s coached that reached nationals (she coached Junior Pee Wee for the Predators last year, and that team placed fourth at the national competition). She’s also a former Predator herself, cheerleading in her youth for the team before becoming a cheerleader for Land O’ Lakes High School.

Hensley said that she feels more stress as a coach than when she was doing the routines herself.

“It’s way more nerve-racking on the coaching side of things, because you have no control over their performance,” she said. “You’re not out there so you can’t do anything to help them.”

But her athletes think she’s done a lot to help them get where they are today.

“Kayla, she’s amazing. I really like her,” said Kylee Brown, one of the team’s cheerleaders. “She encourages us. Every time we go on the stage, she gives us a pep talk.”

Hensley also reminds the team that no matter how the national competition turns out, they should be proud of making it this far and enjoy the level of success the Predators have already attained, Brown said.

Another cheerleader, Elizabeth Harmon, said that Henley’s experience has helped them recognize what’s important to judges and how to maximize their points to have the best showing possible.

“She knows what’s expected, and she knows how many points you can get (for different parts of a routine) so she knows how to get us a really high score,” Harmon said.

She admits to be a little nervous about competing at nationals, but also is excited about the chance to perform at Disney World.

Hensley will be proud of the team regardless of how they finish. But that day will be a mix of pride and anxiety, and the coach might even be more nervous than the girls who will be competing.

“The nervous feeling that I used to get right before I went on the mat, I have the whole entire day of the competition,” she said. “Whenever I watch them, I just have a huge smile on my face and my eyes get watery. I feel like I’m watching my own kids out there.”

Land O’ Lakes girls soccer: Undefeated and focused

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When a high school team is undefeated after winning games by scores such as 8-0, 7-0, 9-1 and 6-1, you might think they have a very good baseball program with talented athletes on offense and defense.

And that assumption would be correct. Except for one thing: Those aren’t baseball scores. They’re soccer scores.

Land O’ Lakes coach Vicky King gives a pep talk last winter to a team that finished with its second straight district title. The Gators have a strong start to this season, off to an 11-0 start, and averaging just under six goals a game. (File photo)
Land O’ Lakes coach Vicky King gives a pep talk last winter to a team that finished with its second straight district title. The Gators have a strong start to this season, off to an 11-0 start, and averaging just under six goals a game. (File photo)

The girls soccer team at Land O’ Lakes High School isn’t just beating their opponents on their way to an 11-0 record, they’re burying them with 65 goals in 11 games, versus just eight goals scored against them. Only two games have been close (each decided by one goal), and they rule Class 3A-District 8 with a 10-0 record.

Land O’ Lakes has a strong history — they’ve won their district the past two seasons — and a very bright future this year. But don’t tell that to Coach Vicky King. She doesn’t let her players rest on their laurels or look past opponents toward the end of the season. They focus only on the practice ahead of them, the next opponent and playing good soccer every time they step onto the pitch.

“We don’t even talk about our wins and losses. No one has talked about our record at all,” King said with a decisive tone. “We don’t take anything for granted. We have to earn every goal. Nothing will be given to us.”

In fact, King said she doesn’t even remember her team’s record last year, even though they won the district title. Her time isn’t spent on the past, but getting the Gators ready for their next opponent.

Now in her 27th year coaching soccer at Land O’ Lakes, King has guided dozens of different teams. She noted that this squad is very talented, and while they do have a standout scorer — sophomore Victoria Cannata leads the team with 12 goals — the Gators have 16 players who have scored at least one goal so far this season. That diversity in offense makes them difficult to defend, and gives the team a number of options they can use to attack their opponent.

“You can’t shut us down by shutting down one person,” King said. “We have a lot of depth. We’ve created a lot of scoring opportunities that we haven’t created the past two years.”

Senior Brooke Silvest has played soccer all throughout high school, and notices something special about this year’s team. Even though they’re very young and skilled, it’s been improved team chemistry that has made a difference.

“We all work really well together,” she said. “We all get along much better than we ever have in the past. That helps a lot.”

Players aren’t selfish with the ball, often choosing to earn an assist rather than take the shot themselves. Talented underclassmen have chemistry with the more experienced players, and as a result, Silvest believes this is the school’s best girls soccer team since she’s been a member.

Silvest and the team have also bought into King’s philosophy, making no assumptions before a game and maintaining focus throughout their matches, regardless of the score. She admits that some of the earlier games were closer than they should have been because they weren’t playing their best (and possibly looking ahead on the schedule), but their focus is now always on the task in front of them.

The team goes into each match with the simple goal of working hard, rather than considering opponents’ records or their own past performances, Silvest said.

And while she doesn’t want to deviate from that strategy, Silvest has a lot of optimism about the team’s potential, and believes they have a chance to eclipse last year’s accomplishments.

“Last year we got knocked out in regional semis, and I think we can go to state this year,” Silvest said. “We’re a much better team, and I think we can beat the team that knocked us out.”

The Gators still have a half-dozen district games remaining on the schedule, including a rematch against Sunlake, whose only loss was a 2-1 defeat to Land O’ Lakes last month. But whatever they accomplish this year, it will be with a commitment to growing as a team and getting better with each game.

“We should improve,” King said. “We don’t want to peak too early. We want to improve as the season goes on.”