Sheriff says league growth also on the horizon
By Kyle LoJacono
The Pasco Police Athletic League (PPAL) explored a merger with a larger organization this year, but Sheriff Chris Nocco made it clear any possibility is off the table.
“The Pasco Sheriff’s Office Police Athletic League is going to stay intact,” Nocco said. “We’re not going to merge with any other league and from this point forward we’re going to try and expand even bigger.”
Nocco cited adding a team in the Wiregrass/Wesley Chapel area. Then in a few years PPAL might include other sports for the first time in the league’s 38-year-history.
“When times get better and we have the opportunity, we would like to go to another sport,” Nocco said. “Maybe it’s basketball, maybe it’s baseball and softball, but we want to expand this opportunity for our kids.”
Talk of a merger started in the spring. Right around that time, the Wesley Chapel Bulls and West Hernando Cougars, which had been part of PPAL, joined the Mid Florida Football and Cheerleading Conference. In addition, several adult leaders from the Dade City Pirates split off to form a program with the same name that now plays in Mid Florida.
Despite the small setback, league executive director Tim Couet is confident about the future of the Pirates.
“That program has a lot of community support and backing from businesses in the area,” Couet said. “That’s an area that can really use a league like PPAL and we’re excited about offering it to those kids.”
Couet said the league has received approval from the county to build a secondary football field at the Pirates home at Stanley Park.
Merger talks involved making sure the league would continue in some form while also giving kids the chance to play in regional and state championships within Mid Florida.
“The overwhelming desire of the parents to keep the league local killed those talks,” Couet said. “The parents, coaches and league directors wanted to keep things local.”
That idea of keeping teams local has been a major emphasis for PPAL for years.
When Lutz Chiefs moved from PPAL to the Tampa Bay Youth Football League (TBYFL) in 2010, it dropped the number of PPAL teams to nine. Couet said the league looked at adding a team from Clearwater to give them an even 10 clubs, but decided against it because of the distance. Travel would have been even greater with Mid Florida.
“It goes back to community,” Nocco said. “The fact that our parents would have to travel 30 miles, 50 miles, maybe even two-hour trips outside of Pasco County. People want to stay within the county.”
Couet said PPAL also wanted to maintain its very strict background checks, something Mid Florida could not provide.
“We probably have one of the highest standards for background checks for coaches and for anyone who participates in the league adult-wise because we want our children to be safe,” Nocco said. “So there were some other leagues that we explored, but they did not have the higher standards that we do.”
As the sheriff, Nocco sees a connection with sports and keeping kids away from trouble.
“From our standpoint there’s no better way to do crime prevention than to get these kids early and give them a skill, learn about teamwork, learn about competition and learn just how to succeed in life,” Nocco said.
Nocco also has a special connection to football. He was an offensive lineman in high school and played left tackle for the University of Delaware. While at the Division I program, he was one of the biggest members of the Blue Hens at 6-foot-4, 270 pounds.
Nocco, who was an academic All-American in college, said he learned about hard work and coming together as a team while at Delaware. Couet said it is “huge” for PPAL to have a sheriff with experience in football.
Nocco has fond memories playing football at Delaware — that is except for one game in 1997 against Marshall University. He said he gave up at least three sacks in the contest while a redshirt junior.
“And it may have been more,” Nocco said with a laugh. “The Marshall game was really bad.”
The competition on the Marshall squad was tough, including long-time NFL players Randy Moss and Chad Pennington.
“That team was loaded,” Nocco said.
Nocco attended PPAL’s annual preseason jamboree and plans to make it out to several more games this year to offer more support to the clubs.
PPAL now has seven teams, which include the Land O’ Lakes Gators, Zephyrhills Bulldogs, New Port Richey Buccaneers, Crews Lake Cowboys, Hudson Cobras, Trinity Mustangs and the Pirates. Couet said the group has about 1,200 football players and cheerleaders ages 5-14. Couet said the sheriff’s office contributes about $5,000 a year to the league.
The PPAL Super Bowl will be in Hudson on Nov. 19. For more information on the league, visit www.pascopal.org.
