Category: Featured

Benito Boys Blast Way To 1st County Volleyball Championship

The Benito Middle School boys volleyball team had been 9-0 before. It had been dominant in previous years. It had won its cluster, or league, multiple times.

However, the Cougars had never won a Hillsborough County championship.

This year, however, was different.

This year, they just happened to have a Hand up on the opposition.

Rolling behind the best player the school has ever had, 8th grader Dillon Hand, the Cougars dropped only one set all season and captured the school’s first-ever boys volleyball county championship.

Benito defeated Roland Park 25-9, 25-12 last month to take home the school’s first-ever County title.

“We went into the season thinking we had a really good shot,” says coach Chris Ellis. “They practiced like all-stars, but sometimes got into games and were tight. We were winning by five points against teams we should have been blowing out.”

If there were any doubts about the Cougars rising to the challenge, they answered it in the first game of the playoffs against defending County Champion Tomlin Middle School, which many saw as the real county championship game.

After splitting the first two sets, the match went to a decisive 15-point third set. Tomlin raced to a 6-0 lead, and then the lead was 11-5. Time was running out.

“I called a timeout and just tried to relax everyone,” Ellis said. “I told them that this was going to be the greatest story in 40 minutes, that they would be in their cars on the way home just going crazy that they came back and won the county championship. So, just relax and let’s take this thing over.”

The Cougars responded with nearly flawless play, scoring 10 of the final 12 points for a 15-13 win, and coasted to wins in the semifinals and final the next two days.

“We were getting pounded, and then they started making mistakes and we didn’t,” said assistant coach Karen Burchfield. “We just got on a roll.”

Burchfield also coaches the Benito girls volleyball team (with Ellis assisting), which was 9-1 this season. She won a county title in 2013, with star Kathryn Attar, who also was a standout at Wharton and is currently an All-Ivy League Conference performer at Yale University.

The 6’-2” Hand has drawn comparisons to Attar, for his dominance and leadership in a championship season. Ellis says Hand is arguably the best eighth-grader in the state, able to control the action at the net as well as possessing a major league jump serve.

Hand’s brother Austin was on the first-ever boys volleyball team at Benito in 2017 and helped as an assistant coach on the team this year.

Ellis says the team’s one play this season was setting Hand for the kill, but the rest of the Cougars definitely helped make that possible.

*Owen Brown (far left) delivers a header for a point on what Ellis calls Benito’s Play of the Year*.

Setter Arman Razavi, also an eighth-grader, was the only Cougar with prior experience other than Hand. His ability to get the ball to Hand was the team’s primary source of offense, but he also served out the last four points of the Tomlin match when there was no room for error.

Libero Kamal Abutaha was a rarity — a sixth-grader who started at one of the sport’s toughest positions. He managed, however, to dig enough balls to Razavi to keep the offense humming, even in the county semifinals, when he had to wear his sister’s Vans because he forgot his shoes.

Sully Al-Qadheeb was the emotional leader on the team, who received a tryout — after the team had already been selected — at the recommendation of track/football coach Rodney Sharpe.

“Coach, I know you already announced the team, but this kid can jump out of the gym,” he told Ellis. “You should give him a look.”

Ellis says five minutes into his tryout, and despite zero volleyball experience, Sully was a starter. He made a number of big plays during the season, including a tip in the third set against Tomlin that tied the score at 12 and swung the momentum in Benito’s favor for good.

Eighth-grader and co-captain Nikhil Katiyar put off soccer to commit to the volleyball team, and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Owen Brown — also an eighth-grade co-captain — was consistent at the net but will probably be remembered most for heading the ball during the second set of the championship game, which scored a point and fired up the team so much they had to make a TikTok video of the feat.

Another eighth-grader, Boden Houck, earned his way into the rotation because of his serve, and he led the team off with his serve in every match, and Druve Kulkarni also chipped in with some big serves during the playoffs.

“Dillon was very good, obviously,” Ellis said. “He was ridiculous this season. But, this was a great team. Everyone had a role, and they played it perfectly.”

Benito Middle School volleyball

New Tampa Performing Arts Center Making Progress

The New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC) has finally gone vertical, and one of the final questions remaining before it opens sometime in the fall of 2022 is who will run the facility.

Ken Hagan, the Hillsborough County Commissioner for District 2, which includes New Tampa, said that decision could come by March 2022, now that the deadline for interested parties to respond to the county’s request for proposals (RFP) has passed.

The RFP was issued on Nov. 10 and expired Dec. 3, or after we went to press with this issue. The county is looking a performing arts resident company to manage all aspects of the NTPAC for 10 years, with renewal options for another 10 years, subject to annual satisfactory performance evaluations.

One of the groups that was expected to bid to manage the 20,000-sq.-ft. center is Florida Cultural Group, which was originally selected by the county staff. But, during a vote about the PAC’s funding in May, four commissioners — Mariella Smith, Kimberly Overman, Gwen Myers and Harry Cohen — voiced concerns about the organization, primarily because of its location in Manatee County.

Coomissioner Smith and Kemp, who were the dissenters in a 5-2 vote to approve the funding for the PAC, wanted a local group to run it. They also questioned the $1.4 million in county subsidies over the next four years requested by Florida Cultural Group.

The commissioners then unanimously voted to open up the facility’s management with an RFP.

Both commissioners specifically mentioned the New Tampa Players (NTP), a 20-year-old organization that was started by residents of Hunter’s Green and Tampa Palms. A large part of the effort to build the NTPAC, which is under construction off Bruce B. Downs Blvd. across from the entrance to the Hunter’s Green development, was to deliver a home for the NTP, which has staged performances at numerous locations, but none the group could call its own.

“The NTP are the driving force behind my championing the New Tampa Performing Arts Center,” Hagan says. “They are the reason. It will be their home and they are an essential partner in this being a successful and sustainable facility for generations to come.”

But, will NTPalso get to manage it? While producing artistic director Nora Paine declined comment, it is believed that NTP planned to submit a proposal. The troupe has held meetings with those involved in New Tampa’s performing arts scene in order to bolster its standing by forming a larger local and more inclusive group that includes dance and ballet.

Paine did say that NTP has not been involved in many large fund-raising campaigns. That is likely to be a major requirement for any organization that is selected to manage the new center.

About The Florida Cultural Group

Formerly known as The Manatee Players, Inc., which was created in 1947, the Florida Cultural Group is an umbrella organization that operates the Manatee Performing Arts Center and the Manatee Players community theater. It has a long track record marked by successful fundraising.

“When this issue came in front of us before, our staff was very enthusiastic about that group because of their fundraising track record,” Comm. Hagan said. “It’s paramount that we have local representation driving this partnership, but I don’t think you can ignore the importance of fundraising throughout this process.”

Hagan says he will let the county staff make the determination as to who should manage the NTPAC, but no matter who is selected, he would like to see a Board formed, and “it’s critically important that there’s a majority of New Tampa representation on that Board.”

New Tampa Performing Arts Center new tampa players

New Bell Times For Wesley Chapel Schools Start Jan. 4

When Wesley Chapel students return to school after the winter holiday break, every single school will have new start and end times, with some changing by as much as 90 minutes (see chart on next page).

A shortage of drivers countywide has been causing buses to run late every day throughout the Pasco County School District, so the School Board approved a plan that moves schools into four “tiers” — instead of the current three — to allow existing bus drivers to run an additional route each day.

When the change was proposed, Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning explained in a video to parents, “The result of this acute shortage is that many of our students are late arriving to school in the morning, which results in loss of instructional time, and they are late arriving at home in the afternoon and early evening, which puts a strain on families.”

Students at Wiregrass Elementary will see the biggest change in Wesley Chapel, with school times moving 90 minutes earlier. The students currently attend from 9:40 a.m. to 3:50 p.m., but the new schedule has them starting at 8:10 a.m. and ending at 2:20 p.m.

Another big change in Wesley Chapel is that a couple of schools that already start late will start even later. New River and Quail Hollow elementary schools, which currently go from 9:40 a.m. to 3:50 p.m., won’t start school until 30 minutes later, both beginning their day at 10:10 a.m. and ending at 4:20 p.m.

The other six elementary and three middle schools in Wesley Chapel are all changing by 20 or 30 minutes; some starting earlier and others later.

Wiregrass Ranch High students will likely appreciate the extra sleep they will get by their school start time moving 46 minutes later, to 8:10 a.m. instead of their current 7:24 a.m. And, while the other Wesley Chapel high schools are only moving by 15 minutes, those students are now expected to be in their classes, ready to learn, at 7:10 a.m.

A 2017 proposal in Hillsborough County to have high schools start similarly early was widely opposed by parents who cited the American Association of Pediatrics’ recommendation that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later to give students more time for adequate sleep, but that change ultimately was not approved by the School Board.

The changes in Pasco County were approved unanimously at the School Board meeting on November 2, and go into effect on January 4.

While the new schedule should allow school buses to run on time and get more kids in the classroom for instructional time, Browning acknowledged that it puts a strain on families to shift their schedules around and find new solutions for childcare during the times they are not in school.

“I don’t like it,” Browning said at the School Board meeting. “I don’t like anything about it. But, I equally dislike having kids miss instructional time before the great teachers we have in this District.”

The new start times will remain in effect for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year and will be reevaluated for the 2022-23 school year.

bus school times

Metro Development Communities Lead The Way In New Home Sales

Metro Development Group, which brought the country’s first Crystal Lagoon amenity to Wesley Chapel and will soon unveil a second one at the Mirada development (technically located in San Antonio, but just north of Wesley Chapel), continues to experience growth in the area.

In fact, according to housing market analysts Zonda.com, the Wesley Chapel area has five of the Top 20 fastest-growing new home communities in the Tampa Bay area, and three of them — Epperson, Mirada and Union Park — are Metro properties.

Epperson is the fastest-growing, according to Zonda, which was formerly Metrostudy, with 705 new home starts and 493 closings from September 2020 to September 2021.

Epperson also ranked No. 21 in Zonda’s national rankings for new home starts in that same timeframe.

The other Metro Development properties located in Wesley Chapel that made the Top 20 include:

• Mirada, ranked No. 8 on the Tampa Bay-area list, had 333 new home starts and 308 closings. The community includes Medley, an active adult community, and plans for a 15-acre Metro Lagoon, which will be the largest Crystal Lagoon amenity in the nation.

• Union Park, ranked No. 14, had 258 new home starts and 206 closings in the community, which is now almost completely built out.

Metro also is developing the No. 11 community (Southshore Bay in south Hillsborough, which is also getting a Crystal Lagoon as its primary amenity) and No. 15 (Cypress Creek in Ruskin) community on the list.

“Homebuyer interest in our Metro Places communities continues to be extremely strong, thanks to the convenient locations, the quality of our builder team, and the extensive and unique amenities we offer,” said Vaike O’Grady, VP of Marketing & Communications for Metro Development Group. “Our communities are simply a great value for homebuyers.”

Two other Wesley Chapel communities also were on the list, with Wiregrass Ranch at No. 5, with 433 home starts, but ranking No. 4 on closings with 360.

Watergrass was No. 6, with 388 home starts and 304 closings.

Pasco County continues to be hot, with New Port Richey’s Starkey Ranch and Land O’Lakes’ Bexley communities also ranking in the top 10.

With south Hillsborough county going through its own growth spurt, don’t expect to see any slowdowns in the near future.

“Demand in the suburban areas of Pasco and Hillsborough counties is coming from homebuyers moving to Florida from other areas of the country, from renters deciding to buy, and from people who simply want a new home,” said Tony Polito, Zonda’s regional director for Tampa and Central Florida. “We see this strong demand continuing into 2022.”

epperson ranch mirada union park WaterGrass Wiregrass Ranch

Wildcats Just Miss State Volleyball Finals (with photo gallery)

The Wesley Chapel High volleyball team won its first District title since 2004, won two Regional playoff games for the first time in program history and played in its first-ever Region championship, but fell short of a State finals appearance when the ‘Cats dropped a heartbreaking 25-27, 25-17, 25-23, 25-20 decision to Ocala Vanguard on Nov. 6 in the 5A-Region 2 title game.

But Wesley Chapel, which finished with a 19-6 record and made the playoffs for the second straight year under coach Brittany Collison, will be expecting to better their historic season next year, as they will return the core of the team and the leader in every statistical category.

Junior hitter Chloe Danielson, who set a school record with 375 kills, including 20 in the Region championship match, and is a contender for Pasco County Player of the Year honors, is the biggest piece of the puzzle.

But, the Wildcats also should return junior setter Jenna Ly (631 assists and 46 aces, both team highs), sophomore libero Brooke Ashkenase (school record 367 digs) and sophomore hitters Grace Korta and Lizzy Ekechi, who each had more than 100 kills. You’ll get ‘em next year, girls! — JCC