RADDSports Charity Hosts Golf Tournament On Dec. 6!

We’ve been telling you about RADDSports, the private company that has been responsible for the management and all of the programs at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, since long before the 98,000-sq.-ft. AdventHealth Sports Arena opened to the public at the Sports Campus in August of 2020.

But, one of the things the management at RADDSports had noticed since it opened is that there are a lot of outstanding athletes throughout the Tampa Bay area who can’t afford to pay for the basketball, volleyball, soccer, cheerleading and lacrosse programs offered at the Sports Campus, and that just didn’t sit well with president and CEO Richard Blalock and his management team.

In order to rectify that situation, Blalock and his director of marketing Jannah Nager, who had years of prior experience in similar positions for nonprofit organizations like the American Cancer Society and the Pasco Education Foundation, decided to start their own nonprofit charity in order to provide scholarships for kids of all ages and ability levels who couldn’t afford to participate in the programs at the Sports Campus.

 â€œRADDSports Charity wants to change the culture of youth sports by promoting equal access to quality sports and fitness programs, regardless of their ability to pay,” says Blalock, who also serves as the new Charity’s Chairman of the Board. “We decided we needed to start our charity to provide these kids who couldn’t afford our programs with scholarships to participate in their choice of sports at the Wiregrass Sports Campus of Pasco County. Our goal is to promote the total overall well-being and development of each child through education, discipline, physical fitness and teaching proper technique of each sport, and we don’t want cost to be an issue.”


Former NFL players Brandon Ghee (left) and Chris Pressley are among the former pro and college athletes on the Board of Directors of the new RADDSports Charity, which will be hosting its first-ever fund-raising golf tournament at Lexington Oaks Golf Club on Dec. 6. 

How You Can Help

In order to kick off the fund-raising arm of the new RADDSports Charity, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Nager decided to organize a charity golf tournament, which will be held on Monday, December 6, at the recently upgraded Lexington Oaks Golf Club.

“This event is our first of hopefully many fund raisers for the RADDSports Charity,” Nager says. “It should allow us to fund our first round of scholarships, and we’re still looking for not only golfers to play in the tournament, but also businesses who want to help young athletes in need by supporting this and other upcoming events.”

Blalock, Nager, and their fellow original RADDSports management team members Anthony Homer and Arika DeLazzer all serve on the new RADDSports Charity’s Board of Directors. Other members of the Board include former NFL defensive back Brandon Ghee, who is the director of operations for Yo Murphy Performance, the sports training company that operates at the Sports Campus, Realtor and former NFL fullback Chris Pressley (who played a few games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and former Florida State University tight end Carver Donaldson.

“We’re excited to kick off our fund-raising for RADDSports Charity at Lexington Oaks,” Nager says. “We thank owner Anass El-Omari, who gave us a price for golfers that ensures we will be able to raise money for our charity with this event.”

To play in the first RADDSports Charity Golf Tournament, or to help sponsor it, visit RADDSportsCharity.org, email development director Lauren Cione at Lauren@RADDSports.com or call (727) 271-4873. Sponsorships start at as little as $250 and your company’s logo/graphics will be displayed at the event.   

New Bell Times For Wesley Chapel Schools Start Jan. 4


Because of a countywide bus driver shortage, Pasco County school start times will change in January. Some schools will see changes of only 15 minutes (Cypress Creek High), while others will change by up to 90 minutes (Wiregrass Elementary). (Photo: Charmaine George)

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.

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.”

The 2021 Holiday Shopping Season Begins With Two 5K Runs

Although I always try to support our local business community, I’ve never really been a big fan of the holiday shopping season. And, I generally shake my head when I see and hear of so many people who are willing to wait on line outside a store for hours on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday in order to save a few dollars on a big-ticket item.

Gary Nager Editorial

But, if you’re the type of person who doesn’t think your time is worth more than that, I’ve always said “more power to you.”

What I will say is that this year, I’m genuinely hoping that all of our local mom-and-pop businesses — including our advertisers, of course — will be able to rebound from last year’s Covid-induced coma.

And, since this is our pre-Christmas issue for New Tampa, I promise to do my part to help as many small businesses as possible this holiday season. I also would like to help as many charitable organizations as possible, because I know that Covid also was brutal to nonprofits, especially those whose mission is to help people in need.

So, feel free to email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com or post on our “Neighborhood News” page on Facebook with information about your locally owned small business or a nonprofit organization that you support anytime between now and December 23 and I’ll share that information with our online audience. Considering that we have more than 12,000 followers of our Neighborhood News page on Facebook, I hope it’ll help.

About Supply Chain Issues & Employee Shortages 

  I also will admit that I don’t really understand why Covid also has caused the worldwide supply chain problem, but I do know that it’s real and that the issue doesn’t bode well for the holiday shopping season.

What I do have a better first-hand understanding about are the ongoing employee shortages that also are making things more difficult for local businesses. In addition to having difficulty finding one part-time office and sales assistant, despite months of looking, I also have had a number of restaurant owners tell me that they couldn’t afford for me to do a Dining Feature story about their place because they’re short-staffed and couldn’t handle the expected huge influx all at once of new patrons when the story would break. This is literally a problem I had never heard of before in my nearly 28 years in this business.

And, as someone who dines out as often as possible for both business and pleasure, this obvious shortage of employees — despite more employers paying (or offering to pay) their people more money — has greatly affected me personally. 

It seems that every local restaurant is hiring and many across the country are facing, according to a recent New York Times article, “a potentially catastrophic inability to hire,” because of Covid fears, too-generous government benefits (that make it too easy for people to not work) and other factors.

Even though Florida’s minimum wage has been raised to $10 per hour (and will rise by $1 per hour per year, to $15 per hour, by 2026), it’s apparently not enough, especially since the increase for tipped workers is currently only from a minimum of $6.98 per hour plus tips now and will increase to $11.98 per hour plus tips in 2026. 

The bottom line appears to be that despite my best hopes, wishes and prayers, despite the minimum wage increases and still-declining Covid hospitalizations, the 2021 holiday shopping season still may not be everything yours truly and so many other small business owners are hoping it will be.

And then, there’s the new Omicron variant that I hope won’t put yet another monkey wrench into the works for restaurant and retail business owners. So, if you‘re not already vaccinated, please do so ASAP.

A Turkey Trot By Any Other Name

If you were confused on Thanksgiving morning by the fact that there were two 5K “Turkey Trot” events in Wesley Chapel, you weren’t alone. Rich Wills, the former owner of the FitNiche (now Fit2Run) store in the Shops at Wiregrass, had started the annual “Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot 5K” eight years ago, but was told that since he no longer owned the store, the mall was still going to host a “Wiregrass Turkey Trot 5K,” with the New Tampa Rotary (again) as a partner, without him. 

Undeterred, Wills moved the “official” Wiregrass Wobble 5K and 1(tur)K runs to the Tampa Premium Outlets and the events at both malls attracted more than 1,000 runners and walkers and raised money for worthy causes. We were happy to help Wills promote his 8th annual run, the first ever held at the Outlets, and people raved about the new course, the camaraderie and the weather. Congrats, Rich!  

Dr. Teena Hughes Pediatrics Adds Dr. Roger Hughes & Celebrates 20 Years!


Dr. Teena Hughes (red shirt), Dr. Roger Hughes, III, and the staff at Teena Hughes, M.D., P.A. Pediatrics on E. Fletcher Ave. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Teena Hughes)

For two decades now, Teena Hughes, M.D., has treated children at her private practice in the University Medical Park at E. Fletcher Ave. and N. 46th St., about five minutes south of Tampa Palms.

As her practice celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2021, Dr. Hughes is excited to welcome her son, Roger Hughes, III, D.O., to Teena Hughes, M.D., P.A., Pediatrics.

For now, the name remains unchanged, but both doctors agree the partnership reflects exciting growth.

Caregivers bring their children for routine care and well checks, including free prenatal consultations for moms-to-be. School and sports physicals are offered, as are vaccines. The providers also treat illnesses and injuries in children, and the doctors also are on staff at AdventHealth Tampa.

Dr. Teena Hughes is a Board-certified pediatrician who earned her M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) degree from the University of South Florida (now known as the Morsani) College of Medicine, followed by a three-year residency at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. She then spent seven years practicing in a health care group before launching her own private practice. 

Dr. Roger Hughes, III, joined the practice last July after completing a three-year pediatric residency through the University of Florida at Sacred Heart hospital in Pensacola, FL. Prior to that, he earned a Bachelor of Science in microbiology from the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2013. He then earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Bradenton, FL, in 2017.

“Initially I went to medical school thinking I would see adults, but in the third year you do rotations and I did pediatrics here in Tampa,” he says. “I loved it, so from there, it just kind of worked out.”

While Dr. Teena doesn’t expect it to happen anytime soon, the long-term plan is for Dr. Roger to eventually run the practice when the time comes for her to retire.

“The patients are excited and thrilled to meet him,” she says. “They’ve all heard about him over the years, and it’s nice to have someone to learn the ropes and get to know all the patients.”

In addition to helping with hospital rounds at AdventHealth Tampa and sharing the after-hours phone calls, Dr. Roger brings an influx of fresh ideas to the practice.

“It’s nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and ask questions to,” says Dr. Teena.

She also says that some patients prefer to see a man, so she’s glad that he is now available to those patients.

Because she’s been in practice for more than two decades, Dr. Teena now sees the children of people who were her patients when they were kids.

“You have to be flattered,” she says, “It’s nice to see everybody grow up.”

In addition to the two doctors, patients also may see the practice’s two advanced nurse practitioners — Kelsy Overton, APRN, and Ashleigh Mader, APRN.

As a private practice, Dr. Teena says she and the other practitioners in her office offer more individualized service and have a better rapport with their patients than what you might find at some of the big pediatric groups. 

For example, when her patients call after hours, she knows exactly who she’s talking to. That’s different than the big groups, where doctors have to see patients from several different offices.

Dr. Teena Hughes Pediatrics offers benefits typically associated with a larger practice, such as extended hours. In fact, the office open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, but the plan is to expand those weekday hours to 8 p.m.

“We want to be more available for working parents,” she says, “and prevent emergency room visits.”

Jennifer Statz is a mom of three kids who moved to Westchase, but wouldn’t even consider finding a new pediatrician.

“I love them so much that I happily drive 30 minutes,” she says. “They’ve seen my kids grow up, and they’re almost like friends to me.”

While her kids have been cared for by Dr. Teena since her oldest child was born, they have seen Dr. Roger, too.

“I feel equally comfortable with them both,” she says. “I love seeing Dr. [Teena] Hughes, but it’s great to have both of them there. She’s got the experience and he’s full of all this new knowledge.”

Jennifer says that all of the practitioners at the office — and the staff members, too — are warm and genuine, and make her feel at ease, especially when her kids are anxious about vaccines or seeing the doctor in general.

“I always feel like they listen to my concerns, address them appropriately, and do whatever it takes to help me understand why they’re recommending a particular medicine or whatever it might be,” she explains. “I always leave there with everything I need.”

Covid Testing & Vaccines

While the office never closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Hughes says there were many fewer patients over the past year, who would usually be seen for school physicals, sports physicals, and to be treated for illnesses they may have picked up at school.

“It’s now ramping back up,” she says, while the office continues to follow all protocols and guidelines recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) & Prevention.

The office also offers Covid-19 testing, which does take a couple of days to get results from the lab. And, thanks to the new CDC guidelines, the Pfizer Covid vaccine is now available at the office for anyone ages 5 and older and the Moderna vaccine is available to anyone ages 18 and older. 

“You do not have to be a patient to come in for the vaccine,” Dr. Teena says. 

The practice also has ramped up its partnerships with manufacturers and companies looking to improve their products, offering research trials to patients, if they want to participate.

For example, a current study gives new parents six months of free infant formula plus incentives to participate.

“Formula companies are always doing research to improve,” Dr. Teena says. “It’s great for a new mom who needs formula. These are tried-and-true companies, so it’s not experimental.”

She says the current projects have created an entire research department at her practice, which now includes five people. Active projects include vaccine trials for meningitis and pneumococcal pneumonia. Dr. Teena says rapid Covid testing should begin soon, and she’s also hoping to start Covid vaccine trials for children.

“It’s completely voluntary and if people don’t feel comfortable, they don’t have to participate,” she says. “We participate because it helps medicine to be new and innovative and helps patients.”

Teena Hughes, M.D., P.A., Pediatrics is located at 4444 E. Fletcher Ave. at N. 46th St. in Tampa. For appointments and more information, call (813) 903-0060 or visit TeenaHughesPediatrics.com.