Porter Donation Brings Porter Family Indoor Performance Facility To Life

Local dignitaries and members of the Porter family were on hand on Jan. 10 for the unveiling of the new Porter Family Indoor Performance Facility on the USF Tampa Campus.

Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter says that athletics have always been important to his family, so when the chance came to play a significant role in helping the University of South Florida add a state-of-the-art training facility, Porter said it was impossible for him to resist.

On Jan. 10, Porter and his family were on hand to celebrate the opening of the Porter Family Indoor Performance Facility on USF’s Tampa campus. The 88,000-sq.-ft. facility features a 100-yard turf field, an observation deck, scoreboards, locker rooms, a reception lobby and more.

“We think it’s going to be a difference maker,” said Porter, echoing the sentiment of everyone involved.

For decades, the lack of quality on-campus facilities has been a detriment to recruiting, particularly for football, which also has been saddled by the lack of an on-campus stadium.

But, the Porter family’s $5.1-million donation is the first step towards correcting those deficiencies, and a new on-campus football stadium is right around the corner, perhaps as soon as fall 2026.

At the event on Jan. 10, new USF football coach Alex Golesh said that not having this type of training facility is a huge disadvantage, “but I think a facility like this puts you on a level playing field.”

The Porter family has steadfastly supported USF. The James H. and Martha M. Porter Endowment for Alzheimer’s Research was established to benefit the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s pursuit of collaborative Alzheimer’s research with the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute. In addition, the Porter family started the James H. & Martha M. Porter Alzheimer’s Research Equipment Operating Fund to support equipment purchases for use in that collaborative research.

Porter said his family, which founded a branch campus of Pasco-Hernando State College in Wiregrass Ranch and donated the land for the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, was happy to help, and applauded the team that helped make it happen, which included Wesley Chapel resident (and former Speaker of the Florida House) Will Weatherford, who currently is the chairman of the USF Board of Trustees.

“It was a natural fit,” Porter said. “Athletics and education have always been important to our family, and this was just a great opportunity. Knowing that the right team was at the helm to actually execute the plan made it a fairly easy decision for us.”

Girls Soccer Preview: Another Banner Year Expected

The Wesley Chapel girls soccer team. (Photos from Twitter)

Wesley Chapel High’s Mark Leonard coaches one of the top girls soccer programs in Pasco County, but he jokes — kind of — that no one seems to agree, at least until the season is over.

In the preseason, though, it always seems that mum’s the word.

“For a few years, it was Pasco High and Nature Coast that were talked about as the best teams, now it’s Cypress Creek and River Ridge,” Leonard says. “But, that’s okay.”

The Wildcats, 13-8-1 last year, have won district titles four of the last five seasons, including last year when, as the No. 3 seed, they knocked off No. 2 Cypress Creek and No. 1 River Ridge in the District 5A-6 tournament to advance to the State playoffs. The ‘Cats are in District 5A-7 this year.

There are many secrets to the Wildcats’ success. They have an elite goal scorer in junior forward Tatum Moore, who has seven of the Wildcats’ 13 goals (after scoring 30 last year to go with 12 assists). They also have veterans like seniors Emily Doonan (F), Nemsis Arroyo (MF), Alyssa Roberts (F/MF) and Kiera McFeron (F/MF), who combined for 32 goals and 21 assists last year. 

Senior captain Lexi Mangione is a steadying force in the middle, and fellow captains Marianna Portillo and Kacey Snead help anchor the defense. 

When teams effectively mark Moore, who has verbally committed to Division-I Coastal Carolina, youngsters like freshman forward Jessenia Joseph, who already has three goals, and sophomore midfielder Ali Goines already have stepped up offensively.

So, despite having a talent like Moore on the roster, Leonard says the biggest secret to the Wildcats’ success is turning in a total team effort.

“They are completely unselfish and there is no sense of entitlement with this group,” Leonard says. “Everyone contributes.”

The Wildcats are only off to a 3-3-1 start, but history tells us they will be a force to be reckoned with by the end of the season. Last year, the Wildcats went 4-1 in their last five games. The year before that, after a 5-8-1 start, they finished 5-1 in their last six games.

In 2019-20, they finished 9-1 and in 2018-19 they finished 8-1.

“Right around midseason every year, we really start to click,” Leonard says.

Coyotes Look To Improve

Cypress Creek, a 3-2 loser to Wesley Chapel in last year’s Class 5A, District 6  final, would like to reverse that trend.

The Coyotes, 4-2 this season, return one of the county’s top 1-2 tandems in junior forwards Ashley Souers and Ashley Olds. The duo has seven goals each and have assisted on four others already, after combining for 34 goals and 11 assists in 2020-21 when they led the Coyotes to an 11-7-1 record. 

Senior Abigail Pittman, who scored four goals last year, and the Fulop sisters — senior Hannah, junior Jordan and freshman Lindsay – are all expected to be key contributors, and sophomore Avery Blevins has scored four times. Keeper Alex Capocy, who had 81 saves and a 1.72 goals against average in 2021-22, is expected to post similar numbers in 2022-23.

Are The Bulls Charging Back?

The top team in Wesley Chapel the past few years has been Wiregrass Ranch High, and while they did suffer some losses on their vaunted defense — allowing only 10 goals while going 15-3-2 last season — the Bulls are poised to contend for the playoffs again.

It has been feast or famine for the Bulls, who are 3-2 and have scored eight goals in each of their wins, but been shut out in both losses. Isabella Maldonado has nine goals after scoring just three all of last season. In fact, last year’s leading scorer only had 10, a mark the senior midfielder seems poised to eclipse.

Senior Siena Booth has four goals, and junior Sydney Spitzer already has matched her season total of a year ago with three goals. Seven different Bulls have scored, many on assists from Aixa Barrera and Kennedy Bequette, who each have four.

Defense has been the Bulls’ calling card in past seasons, having yielded only 53 goals in their last 89 matches dating back to 2018.

Speedy senior defender Ashtyn Warner, one of the team’s captains, heads up the defense this season, and is also dangerous on the counter attack.

“She is not only an incredible athlete, but an amazing soccer player,” says coach Chloe Marie Mercado. “(Ashtyn) is such a versatile player that can move to different positions and continue to do such a great job on the field. She is able to attack and get forward which is something not a lot of defensive players are capable of doing, so that is fun to watch.”

If freshman Caitlynn Figueroa can mind the nets effectively, the Bulls appear equipped to make a run at a fifth straight district title.

Boys High School Soccer Preview: Wiregrass Ranch Rebuilding

Midfielder Jeremy Caruso, who had 27 assists for Wiregrass Ranch High last year, as well as five goals, works on his shot at a recent practice. (Photo: Charmaine George) 

In just about every year of its existence, the Wiregrass Ranch High boys soccer program has been able to reload.

This year, for the first time in a long time, it is rebuilding.

“We haven’t had to do this since, well, our first year,” says head coach Dave Wilson.

However, as the 2022-23 soccer season kicks off, Wilson finds himself dealing with a significant amount of newcomers as he tries to keep the Bulls atop the local boys soccer scene.

Wiregrass Ranch lost 13 of last year’s 19 players to graduation, and 10 of the 17 players on his roster this year are either freshmen or sophomores.

And yet, that hasn’t stopped the Bulls from getting off to a 7-2 start.

“It’s a rebuilding year that we hope to turn into a reloading year,” Wilson says. “It’s basically a whole new team. But, we have the tradition here, that bar has been raised and it makes the guys know what is expected.”

What is expected is a ninth straight Sunshine Athletic Conference East title, a Class 6A, District 9 title and maybe a playoff win or two.

The Bulls have the talent, with seniors Cole Turner (MF/D), Jeremy Caruso (MF) and Briggs Bent (D/F) leading the way.

Wiregrass Ranch also has been bolstered by the addition of senior forward Alex Rodriguez, playing his first season for the Bulls after playing in the U.S. Academy program the past three years. He scored four goals in the first three games, and leads the team with eight goals in seven matches. Sophomore forward Alexei Leon, who scored nine times last year as a freshman, is second on the team with five goals.

Caruso led the Bulls with 27 assists and already has nine early on this season.   

Wilson also expects big things from sophomore twins Malachi and Mykall Lewis, whose brothers Malcom and Maurice are former Bulls standouts. 

“I think we always expect to be in the hunt for the district title,” Wilson says. “This group is just going to keep on getting better and better.”

‘Cats Look For Repeat

Wesley Chapel, 17-6-1 and District 5A-6 champs last year, must replace its leading scorer, but senior forward Josh Lindo (12 goals, 5 assists last season) and senior midfielder Lucas Herrera (11 goals, 15 assists) are up for the challenge. Lindo (five goals so far) and sophomore striker Cameron Brunner (three goals) are leading the way for WCH so far, as the Wildcats have started out 3-1-1.

Coyotes Contending Again

The Cypress Creek High Coyotes are coming off an 11-6-2 season where they finished as the District 5A-6 runners-up behind Wesley Chapel.

At 4-2 so far with losses to undefeated Sunlake and Wesley Chapel, the Coyotes return a wealth of talent and should contend for the district title again.

The two players who combined to scored 30 of the team’s 53 goals return — junior striker Jackson Stump and sophomore striker Chase Lasasso.

Stump had 22 goals and four assists last year, and has five goals in the season-opening win against Gulf and leads the team with eight this season. Lasasso had eight goals last year and has four this season.

Midfielders Nicolas Cifuentes (6), Max Laframboise (8) and Jose Pacheco (3) lead the Coyotes in assists so far and keeper Dylan Lolley, who had 142 saves and 2.12 goals-against average in 2021-22, is back in net. Lolley has 27 saves and a 0.90 GAA this season.

Spotlight On: Bounty Hunters Basketball!

The Bounty Hunters, a local AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) competitive basketball program, is hosting tryouts for its girls travel teams on Sunday, October 23, and invites girls in grades 5-11 in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel to try out for the squad. 

Coach Max Guevara (photo, with assistant coach Jess Cumba), who played AAU ball when he was a kid (“Which probably saved my life,” he says, since he grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in Philadelphia) and in various adult leagues, played an assistant coach role with other organizations and the feedback he received from other parents was always overwhelmingly positive. 

“When you hear; ‘You should have your own team’ enough times, you start to consider it,” Guevara says. “It frustrated me seeing my own daughter go from program to program being told what to do but not being shown how to do it. About a year ago, I contacted the AAU to see what it would take to start my own club.”

Guevara sought corporate sponsorship for 6 months, but says he was told by corporate CEOs and general managers that, “‘No one cares about girls’ basketball’ and that they failed to see the return on their investment. So, I funded the Bounty Hunters out of my own pocket.  We ran our first camp this past summer and it sold out in less than 2 weeks.”

The Bounty Hunters is a year-round program, but from March to August, Guevara says his Junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity teams will travel in and out of the state, participating in tournaments against the best their age group has to offer.  “We also teach these kids to be productive members of the community through volunteering and teaching them respect, communication skills, self-esteem and even money management,” he says. 

The Bounty Hunters JV team is for girls in grades 5-8, and the Varsity team is for girls in grades 9-11. A total of 13 players per travel team will be selected, although the program also offers a Developmental Team. 

The tryouts to be held on Oct. 23 will be free of charge. “As a nonprofit organization, we must rely of the generosity of the community to survive,” Guevara says. “You can help us keep this going by making a contribution on our website (BountyHunterBasketball.com).” For more details, please email info@bountyhunterbasketball.com. 

Florida’s Sports Coast To Host 2022-24 Florida Senior Games

The Wesley Chapel area already is host to some of the largest youth sports tournaments in the Tampa Bay area and will now expand its reach to a new demographic — seniors.

The Florida Sports Foundation, the state of Florida’s sports promotion and development organization, and Florida’s Sports Coast (Pasco County’s sports tourism arm) will team up to be the primary host of Florida Senior Games for the next three years, starting in December of this year.

“It’s definitely a different demographic than what we tend to go after,” said Adam Thomas, the director of Florida’s Sports Coast. “Out of all of our sports, 95% of them are youth sports. This will be a new audience to tap into.”

The Florida Senior Games is an Olympic-style sports festival, for athletes over the age of 50 (and there is even a 100+ age group). The 31st annual Games in December will consist of 22 sports — half of which will be staged in Wesley Chapel — and will be held December 3-11. The event is a qualifier for the 2023 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, PA.

The county has hosted various Senior Games events in the past. The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County hosted bag toss, basketball shooting, 3-on-3 basketball and volleyball in December 2020, while pickleball was played at the Sarah Vande Berg (SVB) Tennis & Wellness Center in Zephyrhills. 

This year, however, will mark the county’s first time as the primary host of the entire event.

And, because of the growth of sports venues in Wesley Chapel over the past decade, many of the events will take place here.

The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus will host archery, basketball shooting and 3-on-3 basketball (Dec. 3), and volleyball (Dec. 10-11), while Saddlebrook Resort will host foot golf Dec. 10.

SVB will host almost every racquet sport, including padel (which will be played for the first time in the Senior Games Dec. 9-11), tennis (Dec. 3-8) and pickleball (Dec. 8-11).

Cypress Creek High and its rubber track will be home for many of the running events. Track & field is scheduled for Dec. 9-11, with a 1,500-meter power walk and 1,500-meter race walk set for Dec. 11.

Events like bowling and shuffleboard (Zephyrhills), golf (Trinity), and even power lifting (Land O’Lakes) will be held across the county.

“We’ve always been involved with the Senior Games in some form or fashion,” Thomas says, “but landing the actual games as the host destination, that will bring in close to 2,000 (hotel) rooms for a week-long event, and it will bring up to 3,000 athletes and their families here for that same time period. So we’re looking at total visitors per day of 4,000.”

Thomas says that, according to Florida’s Sports Coast’s projections, the Senior Games will have an economic impact of $1.2 million per day throughout Pasco County. And, because the event is a national qualifier, Thomas is hoping the Florida games can put Florida’s Sports Coast in line to host the national event at some point down the road.

“This opens the door for us,” Thomas says. “We’ve definitely got our eyes on that.”

For more information about the 2022 Florida Senior Games, visit FloridaSeniorGames.com or follow FloridaSeniorGames on Facebook. For more information about Florida’s Sports Coast, visit FLSportsCoast.com.