The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County is doing more than just helping drive sports tourism in Pasco. It is providing a unique venue for locals, both children and adults, to enjoy a variety of indoor and outdoor sports. On Jan. 3, the Sports Campus hosted a Community Open House inside the AdventHealth Sports Arena, which introduced mask-wearing, socially distant locals to these programs. And yes, it was a great success.
“We signed up more than 40 new people, mostly kids, from the event,” says RADDSports director of marketing Jannah Nager. “The event also introduced people who attended to our Sports Campus sponsors.”
At the Jan. 3 Community Open House for the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, every attendee was temperature checked. The USF Bulls cheer squad held a practice inside the AdventHealth Sports Arena at the Sports Campus. Attendees got to meet the Sports Campus sponsors, including Abdoney Orthodontics, which provided a putting green, and Island Fin Poké Co., which had people hula-hooping.
RADD Sports is the private company providing the programs and managing the Sports Campus through a public-private partnership between RADD and the county. RADD Sports founder and CEO Richard Blalock says that although the Sports Campus is already proving to be popular for both locals and competitive tournaments in the “core” sports being offered — basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and soccer (both in and outside of the AdventHealth Sports Arena) — “Events like the Open House allow more local residents the opportunity to check us out and see everything we have to offer.”
Among the sponsors with booths at the Open House were Island Fin Poké Co. (see story on pgs. 34-35), Abdoney Orthodontics, Glory Days Grill, Culver’s, Urban Air Adventure Park, the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel, the Hampton Inn and the Neighborhood News.
For more info about programs at the Sports Campus, call (833) TEAM-RADD. For sponsorships, email Jannah@RADDSports.com.
The Wharton boys basketball program has churned out 20-win seasons for 15 straight seasons under coach Tommy Tonelli, and once again he has a roster strong enough to reach that total in 2020-21.
Just as long as Covid doesn’t get in the way.
Elijah Barnes (left) moves over to PG this season, while Trevor Dyson is the Wildcats’ top rebounder. (Photos: Charmaine George)
The fall sports seasons at Wharton and Freedom survived the pandemic’s effects due mostly to the fact that they were mostly outside events. The winter season, however, means indoor sports like basketball. Even before the season was a week old, the Wildcats had gotten into a preseason classic and a regular season tournament (going 1-1 to start the season) due to teams bowing out due to Covid.
With a total of only 23 games scheduled this season (not including an extra tournament game or two, as well as the Class 7A, District 7 tournament, there will be little margin for error when it comes to Wharton again reaching 20 wins.
Last year, the Wildcats finished 25-4 and a captured a third straight district title.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Tonelli says. “Literally, you can only take it day-to-day and can’t look too far ahead, or you’re potentially setting yourself up for disappointment. You can get shut down in the blink of an eye.”
If the season is unmarred by Covid, Tonelli thinks he has another strong team, led by returning starters Elijah Barnes and Trevor Dyson.
Barnes averaged seven points a game and was a top defender last year playing primarily off guard, but as a senior this season will take over the point guard duties. Dyson, a junior forward who averaged 11 points and led the team in rebounding, is coming off a standout season, his first as a starter.
“They will be two guys we rely on this year,” Tonelli says. “They are both very skilled, can do a lot of different things on the court and are team leaders.”
Sophomore guard Chandler Davis is hoping to carry over a strong 2019-20 campaign — where he emerged as a starter towards the end of the season — into a prominent role as a full-time starter. And, Tonelli is expecting big things from junior forward Carlos Nesbitt.
“I think he (Carlos) is really ready to have a breakout year,” Tonelli says. “He’s really starting to blossom and find his confidence. “
Junior guard Jordan Brown, who is coming off a knee injury, and Kay Julius, who is currently in the starting lineup, were both on varsity last season although neither received a lot of game experience. And, sophomore forward Reginald “RJ” Bell was a junior varsity standout. The three, along with a promising group of sophomores, help give the ‘Cats a deep rotation.
Freedom Boys Trying To Unlock The Hoop
Ken Angel took over Freedom High’s boys basketball program in 2018-19 and promptly went 25-4 in his first season with a senior-laden team. But, Angel quickly learned that whatever high school basketball giveth, it can taketh away, following graduation. Last season (2019-20), the Patriots dropped to 6-19.
“It was a tough season,” says Angel.
And, one he says the Patriots have no intention of repeating.
Angel has begun the rebuilding process at Freedom, and will do so around senior guard Jack Stone (pictured above) and junior guard Josh Germain.
Stone, the team’s leading returning scorer from last year at 10 points per contest, saw playing time on that 25-4 team, and knows what it takes it win. He is the team’s best shooter, and scored 26 and 20 points in a pair of preseason classics.
Germain is a slasher who Angel thinks will be one of the team’s top scorers. Senior forward Javil Hamlet will be Freedom’s top player in the post.
A focus on scoring points has been a point of emphasis for Angel during the offseason. Last year, the Patriots scored 50 or more points in their first three games, and managed to equal that number only four more times the rest of the season.
The defense, however, was pretty stout. The problem was that the Pats actually lost games in which they allowed only 25 and 33 points.
“Defensively, we were good,” Angel says. “I wish I knew the answer to the question (on how to score more).”
Even so, Angel says he expects marked improvement this season.
“We have quite a few seniors this year,” Angel says, “it’s just a matter of who is going to step up. Last year, we had seniors, but they just didn’t get a lot of playing time the previous season. But, we’ve been in the gym, played as many fall league games as we could, and have gotten better and stronger. It’s going to be a hard road for us, but passion and heart can go a long way and these guys are hungry and aggressive.”
Wharton Girls Ready To Break Out
With Freedom unable to field a girls basketball team this season, Wharton will be the only show in town for the 2020-21 season.
And for coach Terry Thompson, it should be his best team yet, as it assumes center stage. After back-to-back 8-win seasons, the Wildcats return every player but one from last year’s team.
“Our biggest goal is to play physical and play disciplined basketball,” Thompson says. “If we do those two things, we’ll be okay. And, we hope to be competing for a District championship. We think we have the depth to be more competitive (with last year’s champion Plant, which ended Wharton’s 2019-20 season with a 72-4 massacre).”
Marinique Redding
Marinique Redding, an All-County selection last year, is the top returner. The senior forward scored 16 points in a season-opening 51-25 win over Spoto. Junior forward Leah Jessup added eight rebounds, and senior point guard Candice Green had six steals. The play of these three veterans will determine how far the Wildcats can go this season.
Wharton also does have depth. Senior captain Jenna Onderko is “the glue” that keeps the team together, and Thompson is hoping for a breakout season from junior Nilaja Bythewood. Her sister Nielle, as well as Candice Green’s freshman sister Nina, also are expected to produce this season.
“Our defense is our strength,” Thompson says. “But offensively, for the first time, we have multiple people that can score the ball. This year, our offense is a whole lot better, and so is the team.”
Avery Walker began last school year as the head coach for the Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) boys soccer junior varsity team, and finished it as the coach of two teams when he stepped in and took over the girls varsity soccer team midway through the season.
But, when it came to choosing which squad to coach this season, it was an easy call for Walker.
“The girls won me over,” he says.
Walker split the girls duties last year with boys varsity coach Dave Smith after Edwin Acosta resigned for personal reasons following a 6-1-1 start. Walker remembers his first game against River Ridge, when he had former player Ysa Novak make out the lineup. Walker jokes that he just kind of watched as he became familiar with his new players.
The Bulls won that game 4-3, and then won the next 13, including the Class 6A, District 5 championship and a first-round Regional playoff game before falling to St. Petersburg on penalty kicks.
Overall, not a bad debut. And the girls, who finished with a school-record 19-2-1 record last season, were happy to welcome him back.
“It was definitely a shock in the beginning (when Costa resigned),” says junior co-captain Kayla Ojeda. “But, I felt like we adjusted really well. Coach Walker came in and did a great job coaching us and helping us make it to Regionals. I was hoping he would sign up for the job and was really excited when he got it.”
Ojeda, a defender, is one of the keys if the Bulls are going to repeat the success of last season. While the team loses its top two scorers in Avery Damjanovic (34 goals, 11 assists) and Kylee Ehmann (12 goals, 20 assists), Ojeda heads up a defense that is stout. Walker, who played defense in college at Division III Bridgewater College in Virginia, loves what he sees.
Freshman Lola Vargas, sophomore Ashtyn Warner and seniors Taylor Pryor and Savannah Yoder comprise a group that Walker says is “extremely” good. If you happen to sneak by the Wiregrass wall, then co-captain and starting keeper Ella McGahey will be waiting.
“I think our backline is going to be really solid this year and, as a goalkeeper, it’s something you always want to have confidence in,” McGahey says. “Our goal is to concede fewer than 10 goals this season.”
That would appear to be a reasonable goal, since the Bulls allowed only 12 last year, as McGahey set a school record by allowing just 0.372 goals per game. The Bulls are 3-0-1 so far this season and haven’t allowed a goal.
Offensively, Walker feels he can fill the holes with junior midfielders Ellie Klem, who missed last season with an injury, and Natalia Kaminski, a newcomer.
The Bulls also return junior forwards Rylee Humphries, the leading returning scorer with 11 goals and nine assists, and Aiya Harrell (eight goals last season). Junior McKayla Battle scored six goals last year and picked up four in an 8-0 win over Anclote, and sophomore Emily Erker scored the only goals in 1-0 wins this season over Mitchell (which is now coached by Costa) is the season opener and their last game against Berkeley Prep.
Newcomer Bella Maldonado, who scored twice in the win over Anclote, also is expected to make an impact at midfield this season as well.
After back-to-back 19-win seasons, the sky may be the limit for the Bulls in 2020-21. Always in the shadow of a boys soccer program that is regarded as a state title contender every year, the girls look ready to step out this season.
“I definitely think we’re making a name for ourselves,” Ojeda says. “I think we’re going to keep it going this year.”
Cypress Creek High girls soccer coach Jessica Herzek is high on her freshmen and sophomores this season, and why not? Allison Souers, one of those freshmen Herzek is happy about, scored five goals in her first-ever high school game, an 11-0 season-opening win over South Sumter.
The still-young Coyotes, coming off a 9-7-1 season, have only one senior on their roster.
Youngsters like junior Hailey Canady (two goals in the season-opening win), sophomore Hannah Fulpo (a goal and two assists) and sophomore keeper Alex Capocy (1.16 goals-against-average) will lead the way.
“I have numerous girls who, if they choose, could go on to play at the collegiate level,” Herzek says. “I feel this will be an amazing season, but the next few years will get better and better.”
The Coyotes are 1-0-1, with a 2-2 tie against rival Wesley Chapel.
Since taking over in 2017, Wesley Chapel High coach Mark Leonard has set a school record for wins every year, including last year’s 20-4 mark, and won three straight District 4A-6 titles.
Keeping that going will be the goal for this season, though the Wildcats were outscored 22-1 in their first three games before earning a draw with the Coyotes.
Leonard says returning seniors Sydney Bauer, Kaylei Koschman (11 goals last year) and keeper Madison Holcombe, as well as junior Maddy Golka (nine goals) comprise the team’s core, and he expects newcomer Tatum Moore and sophomores Kiera McFeron and Kacey Snead to have breakout seasons on offense.
The Freedom girls swim team turned in another strong performance at the Class 3A-Region 2 championships last week, finishing second behind Sunlake by 33.5 points.
The performance qualified six of the Patriots’ swimmers in nine events for the State championships, which are being held in Stuart today. Finals begin shortly, for more information on how to follow along check out fhsaa.org.
“The girls were terrific,” said first-year coach John Olewski. “I couldn’t be prouder of their performance.”
Junior Michelle Morgan, who posted an Olympic Trials-qualifying time last year in the 500 yard freestyle, won all three of her events — the 500 free, 200 individual medley and as the anchor on the 400 free relay team — at the Regional meet and is one of the top contenders for gold at States. Morgan is seeded third at State meet in the 500 free after winning Regionals by 11 seconds with her time of 4:57.78. She also will be seeded third in the 200 IM.
Junior Carly Joerin was second in the 200 free and third in the 500 free, while senior Hannah LaBohn was third in the 50 free and 100 free. Both swimmers advanced to the State meet in those events.
Joerin also swam on the state-qualifying 400 free relay that won at Regionals by 11 seconds, along with Morgan, freshman Karis Kraf and junior Alexa Valdez-Velez.
The Freedom boys advanced one boys swimmer to States — senior Zachary Kopel, who won both the 200 and 500 free events at Regionals.
Cross Country Teams Battle For State Berths
The Freedom High boys and girls cross country teams pulled off a team sweep of the races at the Class 3A, District 8 meet in Brandon on Oct. 31. Meanwhile, at the Class 4A-11 meet, the Wharton boys finished second.
All three teams advanced to Saturday’s Regional meets.
The Wildcats earned their fifth straight trip to Regionals (Note-the top three teams and top four individuals who are not members of an advancing team all move on).
The Freedom cross country team won the Class 3A-8 meet. (Photo: @FHS_Revolution)
At the 3A-8 meet, Freedom senior Maria Melara and junior Keira Eckhardt finished 1-2, with Melara’s time of 21 minutes, 50 seconds bettering her teammate by 15 seconds. The Pats’ Katherine Vivas finished seventh.
The Freedom boys placed all five scorers in the top 14. (Photo: @FHS_Revolution)
In the boys race, all five Freedom scorers finished in the top 14, with senior Andrew Cory (17:18) leading the with his second-place finish. Senior Owen Smith (17:58) was fifth, followed by junior Brian Gardner in eighth, with a time of 18:24.
The Patriots’ girls finished with 26 points (the lower the team’s score, the better) in the three-team competition, while the Freedom boys beat second-place King 34-74.
The Freedom teams will compete at Lake Region beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.
Jared Hammill
Brooke Reif
Wharton senior Jared Hammill, who set a school record at the Hillsborough County meet the week before, won the 4A-11 meet in 16:37.
Junior Alan Meriga finished seventh (17:30), and senior Thomas Walter was 11th in 17:47.
The Wharton boys scored 59 points at the district meet, behind the District’s team champion Steinbrenner, which scored 31.
The Wharton girls team finished fourth overall, missing out on advancing by just seven points, but the Wildcats’ Brooke Reif and Alex Frye, both juniors, did advance to Regionals.
Reif finished second in 19:13, while Frye took eighth in 21:53.
The Wharton teams will compete at Holloway Park in Lakeland, with the girls running at 7:30 a.m. and the boys running at 8 a.m.
The State championships for Freedom and Wharton are scheduled for Nov. 14 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.
Tyriq Outen honed his hockey skills while living in New Tampa, and is riding high after an MVP performance in a major invitational tournament this summer has him a little closer to his dream of playing goalie in the NHL. (Photo courtesy of the Outen family).
The first time Tyriq Outen skated on ice at the Brandon’s Ice Sports Forum, he was 4 years old and decided immediately he wanted to be a goalie.
A few weeks later, during his first lesson, his promising ice hockey career began…with his pads on backwards.
“Then, he fell behind the net and got his helmet caught in the net,” recalls his father, Ronnie. “It was a comedy of errors.”
That imperfect start, however, soon gave way to success at nearly every level at which “Ty,” as his family calls him, has played since. He went from being entangled in the nets to starring in them, and from being a junior standout to a legitimate NHL draft prospect with a bright future ahead of him.
“I feel like this is where I belong,” he says. “I fell in love with it right away.”
Tyriq grew up in New Tampa, and attended Turner Bartels Middle School. While his friends played Little League baseball and basketball and soccer at the New Tampa YMCA, Tyriq was part of a small but budding hockey community.
He played for one of the best youth hockey teams in Florida, comprised of players from all over the state, but that meant lots of travel. He traveled by plane 2-3 times a month for big tournaments in the northeast and Canada, but mostly spent lots of time in the car with Ronnie driving all over the southeast.
Ronnie, the basketball director at the new Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, understood the lifestyle and demands for a high-caliber youth athlete. A former college basketball player who played professionally overseas, Ronnie understood it was all about exposure and training. When it was time to choose a high school, Ronnie and Tyriq moved to hockey-hotbed Boston and lived in an apartment.
“When we were in Boston, he was literally on the ice 5-6 days a week,” he says. “No knock on Florida, but there was a rink in every neighborhood. Imagine if Hunter’s Green had one, and Arbor Greene and Live Oak had one, if you had 5-6 rinks in this area, think of the pool of talent you’d have to draw from. That’s how it is up there. That is why the competition was so good.”
First Stop – Foxboro
Tyriq hooked up with the South Shore Kings in Foxboro, MA, and began to take off as a player. He had a 3.08 goals-against average (GAA) and a 90% save percentage in his two seasons.
At the age of 17, Tyriq made it onto the coveted NHL Central Scouting list as No. 19 among all North American goalie prospects. His athleticism, Ronnie says, is off the charts — he can roll out of bed and dunk a basketball — and his skating and stick skills are exceptional. Tyriq’s vision and game management continue to improve.
Toronto Maple Leafs development camp, June 30, 2018. Mark Blinch/Toronto Maple Leafs
Once a growth spurt got him to 6-feet, 3-inches, it completed the package, making him an enticing prospect at a position where taller, athletic goaltenders — like the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andre Vasilevskiy, who also is 6’-3” —seem to be the future.
In Boston, NHL scouts were watching every game. “It definitely got the heart pumping,” Tyriq says.
Although Ronnie had spent most of his life playing and coaching basketball, he had married Heather, a native Canadian, who came from a family of goalies.
Tyriq was born in Miramichi, New Brunswick, where his grandfather Hugh Moar — Tyriq called him Grampy — was in the town’s Hall of Fame and his uncles were accomplished junior goaltenders.
Ronnie jokes that basketball never had a chance. Which, he adds, was fine by him.
“It wasn’t a disappointment at all,” he says. “I didn’t want him growing up with anyone comparing him to me or anything like that. I was just happy that every time he came off the ice, whether after practice or a game, he had a smile, and five minutes into the drive home, he wanted to talk about the game.”
Dealing With Adversity
After graduating high school in Boston, Tyriq had to choose between pursuing a Division I college career, or signing with a major junior hockey team, which would end his amateur status.
Tyriq with “Grampy”, Hugh Moar.
With a chance to sign with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), the former team of NHL stars like Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Roberto Luongo, and just an hour north from his birthplace, where his goalkeeping family had built a following, how could he resist?
It turned out to be the first speed bump in Tyriq’s career.
The QMJHL is one of three major junior ice hockey leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League, along with the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL). Acadie-Bathurst had loaded up the previous season to win the QMJHL President’s Cup, and they captured the Memorial Cup against the winners from the OHL and WHL.
Tyriq says many of the players acquired to win the title in 2017-18 departed after that season. His new team won just eight games in 2018-19, and he finished with an 0-20 record, a 5.89 goals against average and faced nearly 1,000 shots in only 1,364 minutes. After a coaching change, Tyriq was released.
“The fact that it was (so close to Miramichi) made it even worse,” Ronnie says. “The whole town was hurrah hurrah, the hometown boy is coming, everybody was happy for that to happen. So, it made it double the monkey on his back.”
Ronnie worried about how Tyriq would handle his first-ever adversity. “I would be lying and he wouldn’t be human if I said it didn’t get him down.”
Ronnie says he reached out to Tampa Bay Lightning goalkeeping coach Frantz Jean for some guidance, concerned his son might retire his pads. Jean, however, reassured Ronnie that Tyriq was still highly regarded, and that NHL scouts will be watching to see how he reacted to his adversity.
“The ones that are successful come out the other side stronger,” Ronnie remembers being told.
Getting Back In The Pads
Tyriq got back to work. Determined to come back even stronger, rather than give up, he doubled down on his efforts. When he was tired, he thought about Bathurst. When he didn’t want to work out, he thought about Bathurst.
“I’m already up,” Tyriq would say as his dad walked into his room to wake him up early in the morning.
“That showed me just how tough he really is,” Ronnie says.
The Outen family — (l.-r) Tyriq, Kiana, Heather and Ronnie — has lived in Live Oak Preserve in New Tampa since 2006.
Tyriq’s bounceback started in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, in the Maritime Hockey League, a league below major junior. If playing near his hometown made the Bathurst experience more painful, then his first appearance at the Miramichi Civic Centre, against the hometown Timberwolves, offered some redemption — he stopped 34 of 35 shots in a 6-1 win.
He went on to beat the Timberwolves two more times at the Civic Centre, and stopped 145 of 156 shots the hometown team fired at him over five games.
Covid-19 ended the 2019-20 season early, so Tyriq returned to New Tampa. He worked out with the Lightning before the team entered the bubble en route to the Stanley Cup. Tyriq continued to grind, ready for his next challenge, which came when he was chosen to play at the prestigious invite-only Beantown Summer Classic in August in Exeter, NH, where NHL scouts handle the coaching duties.
“He was so proud of having some of the Lightning players’ phone numbers in his phone,” Ronnie says. “That was pretty cool for him.”
The NextGen MVP!
Tyriq was the only goalie invited to play for an all-minority team — NextGen AAA Foundation, a nonprofit that offers mentoring to hockey programs in underserved communities.
NextGen, which is coached by NHL players Bryce Salvador and Mike Grier, steamrolled the competition at the annual Beantown Classic in Boston, and went undefeated to win the title. Tyriq was 4-0, and even added five assists — a shockingly high number for a goalie but a tribute to his stick skills — and was named the tournament’s MVP.
“That was a big deal for me,” Tyriq says. “I feel like I’m ready to do bigger things. It was a great experience.”
Tyriq can’t return to Canada right now due to Covid, but was approached by a Calgary Flames scout at the Beantown Classic, who hooked him up the Maine Nordiques of the North American Hockey League. He left New Tampa last month to begin training, and the season began earlier this month.
In three games so far with Maine, Tyriq is 2-1 with a 2.94 goals-against-average and a .924 percent save percentage.
“He was in a bad situation before, but he’s recalibrated now,” Ronnie says. “This is a good situation for him. It’s going to be a good year. He is totally happy — you can hear it in his voice. And, that’s the best thing.”
