Zephyrhills and East Pasco Sports

Tampa Bay Rebels may look abroad for competition next year

September 11, 2013 By Michael Murillo

If you’ve never seen the Tampa Bay Rebels, a semipro basketball team that plays its home games at Freedom High School in New Tampa, you might wonder if they’re any good. Can a local team really play entertaining basketball at a high level?

According to team founder and head coach Fernando Rojas, you’d be pleasantly surprised.

Tampa Bay Rebels head coach Fernando Rojas gives his semipro basketball team a pep talk from the bench during last year’s 10-2 regular season campaign. (Photo courtesy of Fernando Rojas)

“My opinion is this: We play the highest level of basketball in the Bay area,” he said. “We have had players from the NBA’s Developmental League, players that played on NCAA championship teams, and many players with experience in European basketball. This combination of skill and maturity elevates the game higher than any college level.”

If Rojas sounds confident in his team, it’s because they have the history to back it up. Playing in the Florida Basketball Association, the team went 11-1 last year before dismantling the Heartland Prowl in the league’s championship game. And in 2013, they followed it up with a 10-2 regular season and another trip to the championship game.

This year, the Rebels came within a basket of back-to-back titles, losing 111-109 to that same Heartland Prowl club they defeated the year before.

According to Rojas, building a winner in such a short time — the club started operations in 2011 — is no accident. He follows a corporate philosophy, which involves individual responsibility and goal setting, and he wants everyone onboard.

That includes staff as well as players. Rojas’ director of scouting, Andrew Phillips, has been onboard since before the Rebels existed. Phillips was also involved with the Tampa Bay Sharks, a touring team Rojas founded before the Rebels, and he believes the Rebels’ success begins with its founder.

“I think a lot of it just has to do with leadership and the vision that Fernando has put into place,” Phillips said. “From an organizational standpoint, we try to have clear goals and objectives, and we’ve been fortunate to be able to meet most of those.”

Those goals include finding talent and executing on the court, but it doesn’t stop there. The Rebels stay involved in the community, Rojas said, and he believes it’s important for a local team to partner with local charities.

“We all live in the same community: Players, fans and coaches,” he said. “It just makes sense to participate and make the lives of others better.”

The Rebels already have supported groups like Boys & Girls Club and Habitat for Humanity, and will be involved with the Police Athletic League next season. Rojas said he hopes to work with others in the future as well.

The Rebels play their games at Freedom, but that’s not the only connection to the school. Rojas is in his fourth year as a volunteer assistant coach for the school’s varsity team, and he enjoys giving his student-athletes a chance to connect with veterans who have attained success at the collegiate and professional level.

“Bringing my semipro team to Freedom gives the young players an opportunity to see players who attended renowned college programs and follow their dreams,” Rojas said.

Even though the team’s season ended last month, the Rebels aren’t the kind of franchise to sit idle. Tryouts are scheduled for next March, and Rojas is looking into taking the team abroad to face some foreign competition.

And Phillips already is looking at improving the roster for next season with a focus on size at the power forward and center positions. He hopes to add players who will provide depth, and challenge existing team members for expanded playing time.

As part of his scouting, Phillips looks at local colleges and leagues for athletes who want to continue playing and have the skills to compete at the level the Rebels demand, which ensures that the team retains its local roots.

But regardless of the names on next year’s roster, Phillips has confidence in the team because he has confidence in the man guiding them.

“We know what we can do, we know what the goals are, and that they can be met,” Phillips said. “And there’s a willingness on (Rojas’) end to put in the time to get it done.”

For more information on the Rebels, visit www.tampabayrebels.com.

Performance-enhancing drugs hit high school level

August 14, 2013 By Jeff Odom

In light of the recent Biogenesis scandal that put a black eye on Major League Baseball, the Florida High School Athletic Association is conducting a major review of its policies against the use of performance-enhancing drugs for student-athletes.

In a release by the organization, which regulates interscholastic athletic programs for high school students at member public and private schools, FHSAA executive director Roger Dearing asked the Sports Medicine Advisory committee to perform a “top-to-bottom review” of existing policies to determine what can be done to eliminate PED use.

“The FHSAA’s overriding priority is the safety, well-being and constructive development of young student-athletes, whose bodies and character are still forming,” Dearing said. “Performance-enhancing drugs undermine every aspect of this goal, and so it is imperative that our student-athletes adhere to a zero tolerance policy toward these inherently unfair and dangerous substances.”

Existing FHSAA policies and bylaws state that student-athletes can be suspended from competing if they have used PEDs, but Dearing said it isn’t enough. Especially after a report by the Miami Herald alleged that two current high school baseball players were clients of the Biogenesis Anti-Aging Clinic in South Florida where many professional baseball players, including New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, were found to have allegedly obtained banned substances.

In total, MLB officials suspended 13 players for their involvement.

Dearing said the issue starts and ends with coaches.

“Here is the bottom line for me: As executive director of FHSAA, I believe we must draw a line in the sand against performance-enhancing drugs,” Dearing said. “School districts simply cannot tolerate coaches who encourage or look the other way when athletes use PEDs. Therefore, these coaches cannot be allowed to keep their jobs or have anything to do with young athletes.

“This is more than safeguarding fair play. It’s about saving lives.”

According to the release, Dearing has asked the 15-member committee, which includes 11 physicians, as well as athletic trainers, former coaches and educators, to review a full range of issues related to PED use, including but now limited to:

–Whether existing policies and procedures provide sufficient authority for schools to test and discipline student-athletes who may be using banned substances.

–The legal, policy and fiscal implications of heightened policies against performance-enhancing drugs; and

–Whether the FHSAA prohibition of PEDs would be more effective if set out as a stand-alone policy rather than existing as a part of a broader policy on sportsmanship.

Dearing was joined in his pledge for a review by State Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, who is a former school principal and superintendant and now serves as chief executive officer of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.

“Performance-enhancing drugs pose a very real, very dangerous threat to high school student-athletes, both physically and psychologically,” Montford said in the release. “I commend the FHSAA for being proactive in addressing the challenge presented by coaches, parents and young athletes who want to get ahead by any means possible, whatever the personal cost.”

Jennifer Roth Manyard, an assistant professor of family and sports medicine with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and member of the FHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, said the organization is making positive strides to eliminate PEDs.

“Teenagers are still developing … and PEDs have no place in their lives,” Maynard said in the release. “Whatever the FHSAA can do to stop PEDs from being used by high school student-athletes is a step in the right direction.”

Phillies’ Brown unfazed in All-Star Game spotlight

July 25, 2013 By Jeff Odom

When Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel called Domonic Brown into his office on July 7, the former Pasco High standout could only think of one reason — he was being traded.

Manuel and Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro sat Brown down and closed the door. They told him he needed to pack his bags, but not because he was being dealt away from the organization. No, this news was much better.

Philadelphia Phillies left fielder and former Pasco High standout Domonic Brown struck out in his only at-bat during the 84th annual MLB All-Star Game, but told MLB.com that the entire experience was “a lot of fun.” (File photo)

Brown was going to the MLB All-Star Game.

“I was always (rumored to be) being traded,” Brown told reporters during Media Day at Citi Field in New York where the 84th Midsummer classic was on July 16. “I was always hoping I wouldn’t be, but my name was always being mentioned.”

The 25-year-old Brown, a Zephyrhills native, spent his first three years of high school at Pasco, before moving to Stone Mountain, Ga. for his senior year. He was the second player from Pasco High to make a major-league roster. The only other Pirate to make it to the big leagues was Gene Nelson, who played parts of 13 seasons with six different teams.

And, although he did not have a marquee night in the National League’s 3-0 loss against the American League, striking out on just three pitches in his only at-bat against Toronto Blue Jays reliever Brett Cecil, Brown said he still enjoyed his first trip to the All-Star Game.

“It was unbelievable to be out there with all those great All-Stars,” Brown said. “It was a lot of fun, a lot of fun. I can’t believe it’s already over.”

Brown almost had another opportunity to put a ball in play in the bottom of the ninth, but was left in the on-deck circle when Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alverez popped out to center field to end the game.

“I was hoping Pedro would hit one and I’d come up in a special situation,” Brown quipped. “Maybe next year. I just have to keep working hard.”

During the first half of the season, Brown was one of the best hitters in baseball by batting .273 with 23 home runs and 67 RBIs. He’s currently tied for second in the NL for homers and is third in total bases with 175.

Production wasn’t always easy for Brown, though.

Despite being rated as Baseball America’s No. 1 minor-league prospect three seasons ago, Brown, who was a 20th round pick by the Phillies in 2006, struggled throughout his first two seasons at the professional ranks, before turning the corner this year.

“It takes some guys longer than other guys,” Brown said of his past struggles. “You definitely have to go through your own journey and see how it works out. But the biggest thing is never giving up. You just keep working on what you have to do, keep working hard and everything maybe works out.”

This season’s All-Star Game also featured another prominent talent from the Tampa Bay area as former Alonso High standout Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins pitched for the National League.

The 20-year-old Fernandez, a 2011 graduate and former first-round draft pick, was called up to the Marlins at the beginning of the season after never playing higher than Class-A minor-league ball. So far, the right-hander has performed well for Miami going 5-5 with a 2.75 ERA.

Fernandez, the Marlins’ lone representative at the Midsummer classic, pitched a perfect sixth inning for the NL, striking out two batters, including former AL MVP Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox and current home run leader, Chris Davis, of the Baltimore Orioles.

“I’m proud of how I went out there and didn’t try to overdo anything,” Fernandez said. “That was one of things that I look back and I’m pretty happy about. The result was good, but I’m happy I wasn’t trying to overdo stuff.”

–Information from MLB.com was used in this report. Follow Jeff Odom on Twitter @JOdomLaker

Freedom’s Williams commits to Broward College

July 25, 2013 By Jeff Odom

Freedom High girls basketball player Monet Williams committed to Broward College in Fort Lauderdale on July 18. The point guard was one of the Patriots’ key players during their run to the Class 7A state semifinals averaging 2.4 points and 3.7 assists per game. (File photo)

Another one of the Freedom High girls basketball team’s key contributors during its run to the Class 7A state final four is moving on to the next level, coach Laurie Pacholke announced.

Point guard Monet Williams signed with Broward College in Fort Lauderdale on July 18 after averaging 2.4 points, 3.7 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game for the Patriots last season.

Williams, who transferred to Freedom from Riverview prior to the start of the 2012-13 school year, overcame two major knee injuries in 2012 with the Sharks when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a game in January, and again five months later while rehabbing the injury.

For her comeback and contributions to Freedom’s region title, Williams was awarded with second-team honors on The Laker/Lutz News’ 2013 Girls Basketball All-Star Team.

Pacholke praised Williams for her hard work and said the team would not have made it as far without her.

“Mo was vital to our success. Not just on the court, but off the court as well,” Pacholke said. “The girls saw her drive and passion first-hand, watching her go through rehab and how hard she worked to get back on the court.

“Mo’s best basketball still lies ahead of her, and she is going to do great things at Broward and beyond. I’m so happy for her and extremely proud of her. Not many kids could or would do what she did.”

Broward College competes in the Southern Conference of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Seahawks finished with an overall record of 9-18 last season.

The Laker/Lutz News sports section earns state honor

July 25, 2013 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

For the second time in three years, the Florida Press Association has honored The Laker/Lutz News’ Community Sports section as one of the top in the state.

At the FPA/FSNE’s annual convention on July 19 in Orlando, judges from the association awarded former editor and sports editor Kyle LoJacono, staff writer Jeff Odom and art director Matthew Mistretta with a second-place finish for The Laker/Lutz News’ sports section out of thousands of entries in the Better Weekly Newspaper contest.

“This honor by the Florida Press Association is a true testament to the hard work, dedication and countless hours put in by Kyle LoJacono, Matthew Mistretta and each freelance correspondent that has aided in our coverage along the way,” Odom said. “It is an amazing feeling to work for such a wonderful staff and to serve our loyal readers each and every week with the best high school, college and youth sports coverage in all of Tampa Bay.”

The Laker/Lutz News sports staff also took home individual awards as LoJacono placed second in two categories for education reporting and on-the-spot sports reporting for two stories titled “Wiregrass Ranch leads on course, in classroom” and “Gaither’s improbable district championship run.”

The Florida Press Association was founded in 1879 as a nonprofit corporation to protect the freedoms and advance the professional standards of the press of Florida. It includes all of the daily newspapers and most of the weekly newspapers in the state of Florida in its membership.