On & Off The Field, Former Wiregrass Ranch High Star Chris Faddoul Stands Out

Former Wiregrass Ranch High multi-sport standout Chris Faddoul continues to excel on & off the field at Florida A&M University, where he led the nation in punting average.
Seemingly everything Chris Faddoul did while a student at Wiregrass Ranch High led to success. A fantastic student, an on-campus leader and an athlete who excelled at football, soccer, tennis, track & field, and heck, even table tennis (as a member of the school’s ping-pong club).

But in the two years since he’s graduated and moved on to college at Florida A&M University, Faddoul has narrowed his athletic scope to just football, and the results have been spectacular — on Tuesday, Dec. 11, the Rattlers’ starting punter was selected as a first-team All American by the Associated Press.

Faddoul is the first Rattler since Leroy Vann in 2009 to be selected to the NCAA Division I Football Champion Subdivision (FCS) team.

Add it to Faddoul’s growing list of athletic accomplishments. At Wiregrass Ranch, whether it was as a captain, quarterback, kicker and punter on the football team, a district champion long jumper for the track team, a standout scorer for the Bulls soccer team, which he helped to a state semifinal finish as a sophomore, a tennis player, who went 15-0 as a senior and reached the state series tournament after never having played competitive tennis before the season began, Faddoul excelled on the fields, courts and tracks across the area.

But for his coaches, past and present, the best attribute Faddoul may have on his talented resume is his character.

“Chris was genetically given the gift of great athleticism,” WRH athletic director Dave Wilson, the school’s soccer and tennis coach, says. “But, on top of that, you add the strongest work ethic you’re going to find 
 it’s just the character on top of all of it. He’s just this tremendous person, and you look to find where this kid’s faults lie, but you just aren’t going to find them. He is a coach’s dream.”

As far has his success on the football field is concerned, that has continued, as Faddoul has taken to the college ranks the past two seasons.

Faddoul was outstanding for FAMU in his 2018 season, ending the regular season as the leading punter in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

As a freshman, he averaged 39.6 yards-per-punt, with a long of 55 yards. But in his sophomore campaign, he improved in a big way, finishing the season with a 46.8-yard average on 41 punts, including 16 punts of 50 yards or better. He also pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard-line 17 times, with just seven kicks reaching the end zone for a touchback.

His per-punt average and single game average of 60 yards (against Fort Valley State, 9/1/18) are school records at FAMU.

Faddoul even took on the kickoff duties for the Rattlers’ final three games of the season, recording 12 kicks with a 56.7-yard average.

“Chris worked extremely hard during the offseason to improve his technique, and he has become a critical part of our game plan each week,” FAMU head coach Willie Simmons says. “He has been one of our team leaders (this year), and he’s a young man of high character.”

His successes at the college level were almost put in jeopardy by two leg injuries in his high school career, first breaking his leg as a junior, then tearing his ACL as a senior.

However, Faddoul’s drive for success meant the potentially career-ending injuries were mere bumps in the road.

“Those injuries, especially the ACL (tear), were either going to be the breaking point or the thing that I got past to come back stronger than I ever was,” Faddoul says. “The senior year injury took a toll mentally. An ACL injury can be a career-ender for some players, but I love athletics and for me, there was no question how hard I was going to work to get back.”

Faddoul credits his athletic prowess to genetics from his father, Ghassan, who represented Lebanon at the 1976 Summer Olympic,s competing in the long jump and javelin, as well as playing basketball and college football in Virginia.

It was his father’s competitiveness that the younger Faddoul says drove his love of athletics and desire to keep competing, no matter what.

“My Dad has always pushed me and set the bar a little higher for me,” Faddoul says. “He always expected me to do well and then do a little bit better. I loved that push. He made me want to be better and it gave me a competitive edge that made me drive to be my best.”

Meanwhile, Off The Field….

It wasn’t just the athletic fields, tracks and courts where Faddoul excelled as a leader. He also was a standout student at WRH, something he also has continued at FAMU, where the sophomore is focused on his major in Biology and carries a 4.0 GPA with plans to attend dental school.

He also has served as president of FAMU’s Special Olympics planning club. Faddoul garnered some national acclaim when a video surfaced of him his senior season at WRH, gifting a football-team signed helmet to his classmate Andrew Hayne — a friendship Faddoul has maintained since middle school.

“Andrew has been a friend since middle school,” Faddoul says. “Every time I saw him in school back then he would yell, ‘Fad-doodle,’ at me, run at me and give me a hug. We’ve been great friends since then. He’d look for me each Friday so I could give him my jersey to wear for the (school) day. It was always special for me to see him there supporting me each game.”

The character part of Faddoul’s makeup also includes a maturity that is impressive for a 19-year-old. When he made his choice to attend FAMU, over his other college football scholarship offer to attend Valparaiso University in Indiana, he showed maturity beyond his years.

“Obviously, I’m a Caucasian attending an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities),” Faddoul says. Although that didn’t play a role in my college decision, I was a little worried that I might impede, or interfere with the other students who were coming here to immerse themselves in the cultural experience of attending an HBCU. But, this experience couldn’t be better. Everyone, from the coaches, to the faculty, to my fellow students, have welcomed me with open arms. I’m really at home here.”

Local ‘Wreaths Across America’ Group To Lay 30,000+ Wreaths At Florida Nat’l. Cemetery

Wesley Chapel resident Randy Lewer has led volunteers in placing wreaths at the graves of thousands of U.S. military veterans buried at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell since 2006.

Before Christmas every year, volunteers across the country visit national cemeteries where U.S. military veterans are buried to honor them by placing a Christmas wreath on their graves, in an effort called Wreaths Across America.

One of the largest Wreaths Across America programs in the country takes place tomorrow morning just a short drive north of Wesley Chapel at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell (which is located in Sumter County, northeast of Brooksville).

Florida National Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 100,000 U.S. military veterans and 30,000 spouses.

Wesley Chapel resident and Vietnam veteran Randy Lewer has been leading the charge to honor the men and women buried at Florida National Cemetery since 2006. Back then, he and a couple of his buddies from the U.S. Military Vets Motorcycle Club held a small, brief ceremony, where just a few people gathered in the rain.

Now, Randy continues to spend his time, energy and resources every year to be sure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to live out the mission statement of Wreaths Across America, which is, “Remember our fallen U.S. veterans, honor those who serve, and teach your children the value of freedom.”

Last year, more than 8,000 volunteers helped Randy place 27,000 wreaths throughout Florida National Cemetery.

This year, he says, the goal is to place 30,000 wreaths, and up to 10,000 volunteers are expected to help place them on the graves, then participate in a ceremony that honors and remembers U.S. military service men and women.

Since Lewer hasn’t ever received enough wreaths to place one on each and every grave in the cemetery, ceremonial wreaths are presented during the ceremony to honor all members of the military. Seven ceremonial wreaths honor the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, POW (Prisoners of War)/MIA (Missing In Action) and Merchant Marines.

This year, an additional ceremonial wreath will be placed by “Gold Star” families, which are families who have lost a loved one during their military service. While the wreath will honor all veterans, it is a special tribute recognizing those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Collecting the funds to purchase 30,000 wreaths is a year-round undertaking for Randy. As of our press time, about 28,000 wreaths have been sponsored.

“Since we started in 2006, we have always grown from the prior year,” Randy says. He says he wasn’t sure they would be able to top last year’s number, but this year’s sponsorships have now surpassed 2017’s.

Many local organizations and community groups, such as the Boy and Cub Scouts, Civil Air Patrol, and even companies, ask friends, family and neighbors to sponsor the wreaths for $15 each.

A Family Tradition…

Monica Riley is the coordinator for American Heritage Girls (AHG) Troop FL2212 at Faith Baptist Church in Wesley Chapel. Her troop sold 75 wreath sponsorships to support Wreaths Across America.

“Placing wreaths on the graves of soldiers is an amazing way to teach our girls to remember our fallen heroes,” she says.

Monica, who has lived in Wesley Chapel for 13 years, says she will be attending the wreath-laying event this year for the third time.

“My father-in-law was on the Battleship Texas on D-Day,” says Monica, explaining why her family first got involved with Wreaths Across America, “so it was important for us to teach our daughter, who was then 11, about his sacrifice by honoring him with a wreath.”

Randy says groups like Monica’s are essential to the massive effort that it takes to purchase that many wreaths for the graves.

“People think, ‘My one wreath won’t make a difference,’ but the one-wreath-at-a-time sponsorships account for at least 90 percent of what we bring in,” says Randy.

He says he gets a couple of corporate donations that purchase a thousand wreaths at a time, but most wreaths are purchased by individuals or groups that typically solicit sponsorships one or a few at a time.

Randy hopes that after people sponsor a wreath or two, they’ll come out to see the wreath-laying and the ceremony for themselves to help them really see what happens on this special day.

“When I was in the service, I was in the color guard and participated in funerals,” explains Randy. “The saddest ones were when there was no one there except a funeral director. That stuck with me.”

He adds that members of “the greatest generation” from World War II may be no longer remembered because they have no surviving family members, or that their families are too far away to visit them.

“So it’s kind of sad, but it’s also kind of cool that we can do this,” Randy says. “We can honor them so they are not forgotten.”

Wreaths can be sponsored year-round. Wreaths purchased now would start the fundraising toward the event in 2019, which Randy says would be a huge help to kick off the efforts and ensure the event is successful next year.

 

This year’s event takes place on Saturday, December 15, at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell (6502 SW 102nd Ave.). Wreath-laying begins at 10:30 a.m. and the hour-long ceremony starts at 11:45 a.m. Event organizers encourage guests to arrive between 9 and 9:30 a.m., due to heavy traffic into the cemetery.

For additional information about Wreaths Across America or to sponsor one or more wreaths, visit WreathsAcrossAmerica.org/FL0021.

There’s Still Time To Get In The Holiday Spirit!

You can have breakfast with Santa (aka Paul Bartell) tomorrow.

The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel will host its third annual “Breakfast with Santa” tomorrow — Saturday, December 15, 8 a.m.-10 a.m., at Applebee’s (28422 S.R. 54).

Don’t tell your kids, but Santa will actually be played by one of our favorite people — Paul Bartell — and of course, the event will benefit the Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary Fund, which donates money to many local nonprofits. The cost to attend the breakfast is only $7, which includes breakfast and a picture with Santa, but due to limited seating, walk-ins will not be accepted. To purchase tickets online today, please visit https://bit.ly/2By54pg.

Bartell and his wife Jamie and their surviving son James, also hosted their third annual “Quarter Auction” to benefit the Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation, in honor of the Bartells’ younger son, who passed away suddenly from a rare illness. Around 100 people attended the auction for some great prizes, and helped the Bartells’ raise several thousand dollars for $1,000 college scholarships the foundation has donated each year for local high school seniors. To make a donation to the Foundation, please visit SeanBartell.org.

Other local holiday festivities include:

The Shops at Wiregrass “Symphony In Lights” — The always popular show, which you can catch nightly through Monday, December 31, 6 p.m.-9 p.m., features holiday lights, dazzling decor and even snow, all to the sounds of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Free! (See pg. 34)

Christmas Movies Under The Stars! — On Saturday, December 15, 5:30 p.m., catch “Jingle All The Way” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which will be shown at the Under Armour entrance to Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO). Free!

Still Time To See Santa — Santa is in town and you can still give him your Christmas list and get a photo with him at the Christmas Tree in Lagoon Court at TPO. Stop by from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. on the next two Saturdays, Dec. 15 & Dec. 22. Free!

Local Teen Lands Role In NYC Musical For Teens With Bleeding Disorders

Natalie Rubin says she lives by a personal mantra.

“Although having an illness limits you,” she says, “for every one thing you can’t do, there are a million things you can do.”

The Freedom High senior has a blood disease called Von Willebrand disease, a genetic disorder caused by a low level of clotting proteins in the blood. It was discovered when Natalie was 12. She got really sick, and the medications prescribed to her thinned her blood, resulting in her entire body being covered with bruises and petechial, or small red or purple spots caused by bleeding into the skin.

Now 17, Natalie has lived with the disease ever since. She tries to focus on things she loves, such as music and her position as a woodwind captain in Freedom’s band, playing tenor sax in marching band and bass clarinet in concert band.

She has to be extra cautious, though, because she bruises so easily, and her disorder can mean her blood doesn’t clot.

“When they throw rifles in marching band, I always think that I have to be very careful,” she says, as a bump to the head could be catastrophic for her.

While Natalie recognizes her limitations — she can’t play lacrosse or give boxing a try, both things she says she’s wanted to do — she looks for opportunities to live out her personal mantra and focus on the things she can enjoy to the fullest.

When the opportunity to audition for a unique opportunity to be in a New York City musical focusing on teenagers affected by blood disorders such as hemophilia and Von Willebrand disease, Natalie submitted an audition video and an essay, where she shared her personal mantra.

Although she called it “a long shot,” Natalie was one of only 25 teenagers from across the U.S. who ultimately were chosen for the performance,  called “Hemophilia: The Musical.”

Their essays were the inspiration for the songs that were written for the production.

Natalie’s aforementioned personal mantra was used in the production.

On Nov. 9, Natalie and the other teenagers arrived in New York City. and the spent some time touring the city, as well as many hours in rehearsals.

They had prepared at home, where their rehearsals were spent working with a professional voice coach, choreographer and others to bring their voices together for the one performance of the musical, held just a few days later — on Nov. 12, at the New World Stages in Manhattan.

“It was such an amazing, extravagant trip,” Natalie says, explaining that it was provided to the students at no cost to them, and included a stay in NYC’s Fashion District and being shuttled around the city to tourist destinations such as Times Square, where Natalie and the other teens’ names were highlighted on one of the city’s famous huge billboards, advertising the musical.

She says her favorite thing about participating was all the people she met, and she took away from it a message of how precious life is.

As a high school senior, Natalie is looking toward her future. She says she plans to major in medical genetics.

“Growing up with a health condition, it makes you feel different,” Natalie explains. “Then, maybe you go to camp and meet people like you and feel like you fit in, but you realize you’ve bonded over a sad thing. I want to cure something so kids don’t have to feel like that.”

She volunteers as a youth ambassador for the Hemophilia Foundation of Greater Florida, which serves people with bleeding disorders such as hemophilia, Von Willebrand disease, and others. She says the foundation is a great source of support to her.

Natalie adds that her participation in “Hemophilia: The Musical”  helped her think about what it really means to be a teenager living with a bleeding disorder. She explains that she is part of the first generation to have access to blood factor products, which are lifesaving to people with conditions like hers.

“I’m not lucky that I have this illness,” Natalie says, “but I am lucky that I have a full life and I can live with it. The last line of the musical is, ‘We’re still here today.’ It’s powerful because we’re here in honor of all the people who can’t be here because of their bleeding disorders.”

To view the performance, visit BreakingThroughHemophilia.com.

How New Tampa Voted: Blue Wave Floods Longtime Local Pols Out Of Office

Victor Crist

As it turns out, there was a Blue Wave after all.

Locally, though, it was more like a Blue Tidal Wave.

While Democrats lost ground in the U.S. Senate nationally, despite picking up a slew of House seats, the local wave, by a surprisingly large margin, washed a pair of longtime New Tampa Republicans out to sea — Hillsborough County commissioner and Tampa Palms resident and Dist. 2 Hillsborough County commissioner Victor Crist, and Dist. 63 State House Representative and Hunter’s Green resident Shawn Harrison.

And, a third local Republican, county commissioner and former New Tampa resident Ken Hagan, won his election by a much narrower margin than expected.

In the race for the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) District 2 seat previously held by Crist, Hagan had a huge advantage in both name recognition (as the point man in luring the Tampa Bay Rays to Tampa) and in money — he raised more than 10 times what Democrat and political newcomer Angela Birdsong was able to raise.

But, that only translated to a narrow 52-48 percent victory for the seat Crist vacated due to term limits that represents Citrus Park, Lutz, Temple Terrace, Brandon and New Tampa.

“I would say that I expected the margin to be closer than I’ve been accustomed to, so it wasn’t completely unexpected,” said Hagan, who won his previous two elections by double digits. “The reality is, Hillsborough County has gone from a Republican county to a Democratic stronghold. That was reflected up and down the ballot. And, New Tampa also has gone from Republican to Democrat.”

Hagan, who has spearheaded a number of big projects here in New Tampa and has attended two town halls in the area the past year alone, lost New Tampa’s 18 precincts to Birdsong by a surprisingly large number: nearly 3,000 votes. Hagan won just two precincts, 357 (which includes part of Tampa Palms) and 361, which is Hunter’s Green.

Fentrice Driskell

Harrison lost his Florida House District 63 seat to another political neophyte in Democrat Fentrice Driskell, although what is typically a fairly close race wasn’t this time around.

Driskell, seen as one of the rising stars to emerge from the 2018 election, beat Harrison by more than 4,500 votes. She focused some of her campaign energy on New Tampa, and it apparently paid off, as she defeated Harrison 57-43 percent in New Tampa.

Shawn Harrison

The only precinct Harrison won was Hunter’s Green, where he is a resident, and even that was only by a 55-vote margin. In 2016, Harrison beat Lisa Montelione partly on the strength of almost 600 more votes in his home precinct.

The District 63 seat, which also represents Lutz, Carrollwood and the University of South Florida area, is back in Democratic hands for the first time since 2014.

Crist, a visible New Tampa figure who has worked diligently to bring a cultural center to the area, failed in an attempt to win Hagan’s old countywide seat in District 5. He lost handily to Democrat Mariella Smith 52-45 percent, or by nearly 39,000 votes. Crist, who had never lost an election since entering politics more than 20 years ago, had won his last two District 2 races by 38,000 and 12,000 votes.

“It’s something I saw coming,” said Crist. “I believe in scientific polling and we polled early on and saw that there was going to be trouble. I knew even before I had an opponent that I would most likely face a tough time in this election.”

Even on what is essentially his home turf, Crist could not find any footing in New Tampa, losing every precinct by sizable numbers and by a 60-40 percentage.

In the other countywide county commission face, Democrat Kim Overman defeated Republican Todd Marks by 53-45 percent in District 7.

Pebble Creek resident Karen Perez will join the Hillsborough County School Board after besting Henry “Shake” Washington 54-45 percent. Perez, who ran unsuccessfully for the Florida House in 2006, was the voter’s choice in every New Tampa precinct.

In other news, tax referendums to raise money for transportation and education passed by a greater percentage in New Tampa than in the rest of the county.

While the one-cent transportation tax passed with 57.3 percent of the vote countywide, New Tampa voters favored the measure with 60.1 percent saying yes.

The education tax, which passed all of Hillsborough with 56.3 percent of the vote, received 60.5 percent of the votes cast in New Tampa.