YMCA’s Volunteer Of The Year Catches Coaching Bug

Zach Karikas, a Freedom High grad, receives his award from New Tampa YMCA sports and teen program director Eamonn O’Sullivan. (Photo provided by the YMCA) 

For the past five years, Zach Karikas has been a fixture at the New Tampa Family YMCA in Tampa Palms. If there was a youth league basketball game going on, Karikas was almost definitely there. Prior to the Coronavirus outbreak, he was a volunteer coach for four different teams in the league, which included the 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-15 age groups. 

When the gym at the New Tampa Y opened again for limited 3-on-3 leagues in the fall, Karikas continued coaching. The 5-on-5 leagues finally started up again in January. 

Karikas, 28, was recognized for his dedication when he was awarded the 2021 New Tampa Family YMCA Volunteer of the Year award. He received the honor from Sports Director Eamonn O’Sullivan in a virtual ceremony held in late March.

“I didn’t even know the Y did a Volunteer of the Year,’’ said a surprised Karikas, who adds that he has always loved basketball, even if he wasn’t particularly good at it.

 A 2011 graduate of Freedom High, also in Tampa Palms, he said he tried out for the basketball team all four years and was cut every year.

He went off to Marshall University in West Virginia to pursue a degree in athletic training. When that didn’t work out, Karikas left Marshall in 2013 to return to Wesley Chapel. A few years later, he wanted to apply for a college scholarship and one requirement was community service hours. That’s when he started volunteer coaching at the YMCA despite not having any kids of his own.

Zach Karikas

At first, he coached just one team. But, that quickly became four teams.

“I just fell in love with it,’’ he says. 

He currently is enrolled at Pasco-Hernando State College and his full-time job right now is installing shower doors. Ultimately, Karikas says he would like to earn a degree in sports management and coach basketball at either the high school or middle school level. It’s a passion he discovered five years ago at the New Tampa Family YMCA. 

“I caught the coaching bug,’’ Karikas says. “I really enjoy coaching the youth, both on and off the court, showing them that you don’t have to be Lebron James to succeed on or off the court. It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows — there are ups and downs. You just have to keep going with whatever you want to do. Being a positive role model is a good feeling. Right when I walk into that gym I’ve got like five kids coming up to me and saying ‘Hey, coach Zach.’ I love the ability to give back to the younger generation.’’

For more information about the New Tampa Family YMCA, located at 16221 Compton Dr., call (813) 866-9622 or visit TampaYMCA.org.

Commissioners Vote For Moratorium

Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore

As expected, the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted unanimously to put a temporary moratorium on new applications and approvals for multifamily dwellings at Tuesday’s BCC meeting in Dade City.

The 180-day moratorium was approved by a 5-0 vote, following a reading of 50 emails submitted by residents that were unanimously in favor of the pause.

Commissioner Mike Moore, who represents District 2, which includes most of Wesley Chapel, spearheaded the moratorium. He claims that the moratorium area, which is between S.R. 52 to the north and S.R. 54 to the south, as well as U.S. 41 to the west and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. to the east, is oversaturated with apartments. Moore says the argument against more multi-family entitlements is centered on developers attempting to rezone property to build more apartments and townhomes, as opposed to using the property for its original commercial purposes. 

Opponents of the moratorium, like Eric Garduno of the Bay Area Apartment Association, argued multi-family residences play a vital role with providing affordable housing in a market where the median home price is rising. 

According to Realtor.com, the median list price of homes in Wesley Chapel is currently $320,000; according to Zillow.com, it’s $288,000.

However, the residents who emailed the county — mostly from Seven Oaks, where a proposed apartment complex on Eagleston Blvd. was the impetus for the moratorium — cited concerns about schools, traffic, road safety and the ability of the current infrastructure to handle additional people.

The county intends to collect data over the course of the 180 days, and will decide if there is indeed oversaturation, as Moore claims, and what should be done about it. 

Garduno says he is confident the data will show there is a high demand for multi-family dwellings.

Moore, however, believes otherwise.

“We do need to analyze and look very closely at the impacts multifamily can have in the area when it comes to economic development, when it comes to public safety, traffic, schools, infrastructure,” Moore says. “This gives us the time to do it…we can really, really dig in and see what impact these are going to really have.”