Brendan Norgaard Wins JosΓ© Alvarez Award & Heads To England To Play Soccer!Β 

(L.-r.) Edward & Ann Pereira, their son Brendan Norgaard, his girlfriend Kacy Hauck & Grayson Pereira. (Photos by Charmaine George)

Congratulations to Brendan Norgaard, the 2024 Wharton High graduate who, on Aug. 7, received the JosΓ© Alvarez Memorial Award as the top Male Soccer Player of the Year in Hillsborough County for the 2023-24 season, after breaking five high school records and scoring 32 goals in 18 games for the Wildcats last season. 

Brendan received his award from Steven Alvarez, the son of the late JosΓ© Alvarez, at a surprise (at least for Brendan) dinner meeting at Florida Ave. Brewing Co. on S.R. 56. 

β€œYes, Brendan is a great soccer player, but not everyone who has received this award the last 40 years has been a great scorer,” Steven Alvarez told the Neighborhood News. β€œThe award considers everything β€” leadership, academics, volunteer work and soccer ability and Brendan was nominated by his coaches (Wharton head soccer coach Scott Ware and his assistant coach Jason Doughlin) and a committee of local high school coaches votes for one male and one female Player of the Year each year (since 1985).” 

Brendan’s mother, Ann Pereira (who invited us to the dinner), says her son completed Cambridge Assessment International Education qualifications and four Advanced Placement classes while at Wharton and also played club soccer locally for the Florida Premier FC. 

Brendan proudly shows off his JosΓ© Alvarez Award.Β 

β€œWe’re just so proud of Brendan,” Ann said, with her husband Edward by her side. β€œI’ve never had to ask him β€˜Are you practicing?’ or β€˜Are you doing your homework?,’ he’s just always excelled at everything and soccer is definitely his passion.” 

β€œHe has wanted to be a professional soccer player since he was four years old,” Edward added. β€œHe’s done nothing but eat, sleep and play soccer since we moved down here in 2013.” 

Brendan said that the award β€œceremony” at Florida Ave. Brewing Co. completely took him by surprise. β€œI thought we were just coming here for a family dinner,” he said, β€œbut I am very honored and excited to have received this award. I have a lot of friends that I think were very deserving, too, so this is pretty cool.” 

Ann added that after being named All-County and All-State and taking Wharton to the 6A Regional Tournament (where they lost 1-0 to Ft. Myers High in the Regional Quarterfinals in Feb.), β€œWe thought he was all done receiving honors, so we were so excited to hear that he had won this award as well.” 

She added that Brendan leaves Sept. 2 for England, where he will play for Macclesfield FC in Macclesfield, Cheshire, where he has participated in the club’s summer residency program the last two years. He played in Spain with the club for 10 days, where he played for Macclesfield’s first team in two international tournaments. 

β€œI also am going to attend the University of Central Lancashire (in Preston, Lancashire) and work to get my Bachelor’s degree in Sports Business,” Brendan says. β€œI just wanted to give this (soccer) a shot and see how far it takes me.” 

About The Alvarez Award 
Brendan with Steven Alvarez, the exec. director of the JosΓ© Alvarez Memorial Fund.Β 

Steven Alvarez, a director of the The Alvarez Company, an Certified Public Accounting firm based in Apollo Beach β€” and the executive director of the JosΓ© A. Alvarez Memorial Fund β€” says that his father, long-time soccer coach JosΓ© A. Alvarez, wondered way back in the 1980s why there were Player of the Year awards for football, basketball and baseball in Hillsborough County, but no such award for soccer. 

β€œDad was told by the county that if he wanted to have a soccer award, he should start β€” and pay for β€” it himself,” Steven said. β€œSo, that’s what he did. And, unlike the awards in those other sports, he decided to give his award to both a top boy and girl high school soccer player each year.” 

He added, β€œAnd he didn’t just want it be about stats or scoring, that’s why it hasn’t always been forwards winning the awards. We’ve had goalkeepers and even defenders win it before. He really wanted it to be an all-around award. Brendan didn’t just win it this year because he scored a lot of goals. He won it because of his academics and leadership, too. He was the team’s captain and he was all about the team, not himself. We have followed not just the soccer careers but our past winners’ lives, who they are as people, which is what my dad wanted.” 

Unfortunately, JosΓ© Alvarez passed away in 2015 at the age of 66 from what is known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or CJD, a rare neurodegenerative disease that has no treatment or cure. Sporadic CJD is similar to dementia in presentation but progresses much more rapidly, with the median duration of illness being only 4-5 months. There also is a genetic form of CJD that can sometimes linger for a year or more, with the person who survived the longest living 16 years after diagnosis. 

The CJD Foundation is based in Akron, OH, and, as it says on the JoseAlvarezMemorial.com website, β€œWe would love to continue his giving and good deeds by allowing us to continue this great award, have the ability to help others who may be in need through sport, and help the CJD Foundation continue to help find a stop to this progressive, fatal disease that took José’s life much too early.” 

β€œWe started this foundation shortly after my dad passed away, to keep his name. his memory and his award alive,” Steven said. β€œHe β€” and we β€” wanted to put the spotlight on the good kids because, hopefully, they’ll be our leaders in a few years down the road.” 

Alvarez also mentioned that Brendan is the fourth winner of the award from Wharton during the school’s 25-year history. There also have been two players from Freedom High who have won the award (see chart, above).Β 

The Coaches’ Perspective 
WhartonΒ 
assistant coach Jason Doughlin (left) & head coach Scott Ware were on hand to celebrate Brendan’s award with him.

Wharton head boys soccer coach Scott Ware and assistant coach Jason Doughlin were on hand for the dinner with Brendan, his parents, his girlfriend Kacy and his brother Grayson, and they agreed that Brendan was the right Wharton player to be nominated for β€” and win β€” the award. 

β€œEven as a freshman, he was an immediate impact player for us,” Coach Ware said. β€œHe started all four years for us. His stats don’t lie. He was a true striker on the field, but he also creates opportunities for other players to succeed. Plus, he improved every year and we could see the quality of his leadership develop and he held other kids accountable, but in a proper way. Great team player, great coach’s player, so for us, hands down, he was the guy. He will be missed. If there’s such a thing as a fifth-year senior, I’d take it.” 

Doughlin agreed, β€œBrendan definitely left a legacy, some big shoes to follow. But honestly, it was a no-brainer. Even as a freshman, we could see he was going to be something special. A lot of kids with his ability venture off into the soccer academies, but he stuck around all four years and it’s just an honor for us to be here to see him receive this award. He exceeded our expectations as well.”

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 β€” kind of β€” 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.

β€œFor 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. β€œBut, 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 β€˜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.Β 

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.

β€œThey are completely unselfish and there is no sense of entitlement with this group,” Leonard says. β€œEveryone 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.

β€œRight 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.Β 

Senior Abigail Pittman, who scored four goals last year, and the Fulop sisters β€” 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 β€” allowing only 10 goals while going 15-3-2 last season β€” 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.

β€œShe is not only an incredible athlete, but an amazing soccer player,” says coach Chloe Marie Mercado. β€œ(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)Β 

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.

β€œWe 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.

β€œIt’s a rebuilding year that we hope to turn into a reloading year,” Wilson says. β€œIt’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.Β  Β 

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

β€œI think we always expect to be in the hunt for the district title,” Wilson says. β€œThis group is just going to keep on getting better and better.”

β€˜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 β€” 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.

The Story of Justin Scott: Never Give Up!

Justin Scott, surrounding by his family and friends, got his first playing time on Senior Night against Durant. (Photo: Charmaine George)

Wharton senior Justin Scott took in every high five, every pat on the back and every hug on the most glorious night of his life.

The doctors who birthed him wouldn’t have believed it. His first teachers would be floored. Most anyone who knows anyone with cerebral palsy would be flabbergasted.

This kid can play.

Overcoming the greatest of odds, Justin held his head high as he walked off the field towards the locker room, still talking about the game, a 2-0 Wildcats win over Durant, a victory he started and played almost all 80 minutes of, like it was a dream he hoped would never end.

β€œI was told I would never walk, I would never walk, and I was told I was going to die before I was two year old,” Justin said. β€œNow look where I am β€” playing soccer for my high school team.”

On Jan. 14, 18-year-old Justin started at forward for the Wharton boys soccer team, a surprise reward for his years of perseverance, his positivity and his commitment to his teammates.

Justin says soccer has long been  his passion. He once had a hat trick in a league game at the YMCA and, in limited action at Turner-Bartels K-8, he was a goaltender who never allowed a shot past him.

But, in high school, as the players get bigger and stronger, Justin was outmatched.

He didn’t try out for the soccer team as a freshman, because he was too nervous. He was cut as a sophomore but, instead of giving up, he accepted a spot as the team’s manager and promised he would try out again.

He again was cut junior and senior years. β€œI really thought this year I had a chance,” Justin said.

His chance did finally come, on Senior Night, where friends, teachers and family β€” his mother Michelle and her husband Rob, his father Michael Scott and his wife Jennifer, and grandmother Blannie Whalen β€” gathered while waving cutouts of Justin’s head on a stick, to celebrate the young man  who just wouldn’t quit.

Justin’s teammates were as excited for him as he was, smiling as they welcomed him to the starting lineup. (Photo: Karl Greeson)

When he was introduced as part of Wharton’s starting lineup, he trotted out to the middle of the field where his smiling teammates high-fived him. When the first whistle blew, he took off like a bolt, chasing down the opponent, and blocking a long pass attempt by jumping in front of the ball, the thud sending a shiver down his mother’s spine.

β€œI was pretty nervous,” Michele said, β€œbut I was also so full of pride. He played so well. He was fearless.”

Justin was born prematurely, a childbirth during which Michelle had an allergic reaction β€œto a penicillin-type drug” and went into anaphylactic shock. Justin was born with brain damage and, sometime around the age of 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

He learned how to walk, which wasn’t supposed to happen, and learned how to talk, too. Eventually, he was running and jumping around and fell in love with soccer, and grew into a popular kid that teachers and classmates rallied around.

While cerebral palsy had stripped Justin of many of the motor skills and coordination needed to play, he never stopped once he started, not only playing but learning how to be a linesman and refereeing games and helping to coach his old middle school team.

And, of course, he was a great manager, always there, always encouraging, so eager to be part of the team. But of course, his dream was to play. And Wharton coach Scott Ware finally gave him his opportunity. 

Justin didn’t score, but he had a few chances. (Photo: Karl Greeson)

β€œHe deserved it,” Ware said. β€œHe’s definitely earned it.”

Justin called his mom when he first heard it might happen and, when it became official, he brought home his kit (uniform) and proudly tried it on for her. 

β€œHe told me, β€˜Mom, this isn’t just about me, I just want people with disabilities not to give up on themselves,’” Michelle said. β€œThat’s how he is.”

The next day, Justin, who has been accepted into a number of colleges but is really hoping to attend the University of Florida, wore his kit to school, and later that night played in it: No. 14.

And Justin played hard, as hard as he could, eager to make the most of the moment. He chased down opposing players who had the ball, mixed it up in the box with others trying to jostle for a shot, actually had a few potential goals go awry and even had a header. 

Every time he came close to a ball near the goal, his teammates on the bench would lean forward, and in unison yell β€œJustin” in anticipation of a miracle.

β€œWe were all excited for him that he was playing,” said senior Christian Lundblad. β€œIf he had scored, I would have stormed the field. I might have gotten in trouble for it, but I would have done it. We were all rooting for him tonight.”

At halftime, he was asked if he was tired. β€œI could keep going for another two days,” he said. 

In the second half, a ball was played into the box from the far side. The ball miraculously found its way through four players and the keeper, right to the feet of Justin. He was surprised it got to him, and reacted as quickly as he could, sliding and poking the shot just wide of the open net. It was agonizingly close.

β€œNine times out of 10 the goalkeeper stops that ball,” Justin said. β€œThat’s why I missed it. That will haunt me for days and years.”

But, it didn’t stop him from smiling afterwards.

Just playing in the game was a dream come true. Justin said he doubts his coach even knows just how much it meant to him. He was proud, and grateful beyond words for an opportunity he thought would never come.

β€œI just never gave up,” he said. β€œIt’s the story of my life.”

Play Ball!

The Neighborhood News wasn’t the only news medium on hand in June of 2018 when Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter, four of the five Pasco County commissioners, Pasco County/β€œFlorida’s Sports Coast” tourism director Adam Thomas, RADDSports president and founder Richard Blalock and several other local dignitaries threw some dirt in the air at the groundbreaking for a new indoor sports facility to be located just north of S.R. 56 and a mile or so from both the Shops at Wiregrass and AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. 

Also in attendance that day were representatives of Mainsail Development, which was getting ready to build a Marriott-branded Residence Inn with Wesley Chapel’s first and only rooftop bar adjacent to the planned sports campus.

Fast forward to Aug. 15 of this year, when the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County held its first-ever Open House to show off the brand-spankin’-new, 98,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art indoor sports facility to local families. This time around, photographer/videographer Charmaine George and I were the only media folks on hand to let you know about it. And, let me just say…WOW!

The fulfillment of the dream Blalock (pointing in top right photo) has had for more than four years is everything anyone could possibly have hoped for β€” and really, so much more. Although I obviously am raving about it, since my wife Jannah is the director of marketing for the facility, I could be accused of being unfairly biased about it.  

On the other hand, my favorite thing about the open house was walking around the facility, seeing the smiles (and often, gritty determination) on the young athletes’ faces, and hearing the buzz from all of the parents, all of whom were saying, β€œThis is exactly what we need here.” They all let me know that I wasn’t alone in feeling the excitement that day. 

β€œI’m speechless about the facility,” said parent and Wesley Chapel resident Yanet Hernandez. β€œIt’s amazing. Very clean and there’s a vibe that you get when you walk into the gym.”

Hernandez also pointed out something heartwarming, something that Blalock says also is part of his vision for training young athletes to be not only the best athletes they can be, but also the best people (and teammates) they can be. β€œSeeing the (volleyball) girls of all races and backgrounds playing together, being so polite to each other β€” it’s just such a great atmosphere!”

Open House Nuts & Bolts

Blalock (top right photo) and his RADDSports team have been chomping at the bit to get open (despite all of the obvious Covid concerns; more on that below), and he said the main purpose of the Open House was to help the local community get acquainted with this unique facility and everything it has to offer. 

Even though the Sports Campus will be bringing in tournaments in one of its four core sports β€” basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and soccer (both indoor and outdoor) β€” virtually every weekend, Blalock is equally excited about the programs that will be available just about every weekday throughout the year for local residents of all ages. 

He says all levels of athletes, from as young as three years old to adults, will be able to enjoy the Sports Campus during the week, and young athletes have three different levels (Developmental, Competitive & Elite) of instruction and competition in all four core sports β€” with evaluations and programs for each beginning this month.

Meet The RADD-Star Team!

The Open House also was an opportunity for most attendees to meet the amazing team of directors who will help pick the teams and the coaches who will be running the programs and training the kids. Cheer directors Matt McDonough and Lyric Hill, volleyball director Eric Praetorius, basketball director Ronnie Outen and soccer director Stuart Campbell were all on hand at the event, running the day’s program and meeting all of the interested young athletes. 

Hill and McDonough were helped with coaching and demonstrations of cheer stunts by the high school cheer squads from both Wiregrass Ranch and Cypress Creek high schools. Cheer participants even got to try their hands (and feet) on the 40-foot-long spring floor that looks very much like what Olympic gymnasts also use for training.

Praetorius brought in some of the truly outstanding high school volleyball players who have participated in other programs he has directed. The two volleyball courts set aside for the Open House were filled the entire four hours, with the elite players setting each other up to spike home winners and risking floor burns while diving on the shiny, new gym floor for digs, while everyone who was interested in the sport (no matter what level of player they were) received quick instructional tidbits from Praetorius and other coaches on hand β€” and lots of play time.

Outen somehow recruited an early morning adult full-court basketball game for the event, with separate full courts set aside for younger players. You could hear several parents and coaches cheering on the young hopefuls β€” including several talented girls, one of whom repeatedly did a great job of taking older, bigger boys to the hoop β€” from the sidelines.

And, although I left before he got there, Outen’s son Tyriq, a 6’-4” ice hockey goalie who recently was named the MVP of a major invitational tournament in Canada with his all-minority hockey team that was the surprise winner of the tournament, showed up to take pictures with his dad. We’ll tell you Tyriq’s story next issue.

And, you could just see soccer director Stuart Campbell, a former professional β€œfootballer” in England (he’s actually of Scottish descent) and a former player and head coach for the Tampa Bay Rowdies β€” who probably is the RADDSports director who has most anticipated the day he can start actually coaching, rather than sitting in all-day meetings β€” absolutely beaming as he checked out the local soccer talent.

β€œThis is quite an event,” Campbell said. β€œThe kids are just loving the place!”

RADDSports director of programs Nicole Baker (another former cheerleader herself) also was on hand, doing temperature checks of everyone who entered the building, and helping Jannah and several volunteers make sure every participant signed an online or on-paper waiver before they entered the gym. There was plenty of hand sanitizer available and even though there were at least 300-400 people who stopped by at some point during the event, the spacious interior of the Sports Campus had plenty of space for social distancing.

One of my favorite things was the mezzanine, which has viewing available of the action in both Arenas A & B of the Sports Campus β€” each of which was designed for four basketball or eight volleyball courts. There’s also seating in the mezzanine overlooking the amazing cheer area.

The Wesley Chapel Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton Inn, two of the Sports Campus’ hotel partners, and Culver’s and Bubba’s 33 restaurants β€” which are located on S.R. 56 and stand to receive a lot of out-of-town business from the facility on the weekends β€” had tables inside the lobby to show their support for the RADDSports team (which has held most of its meetings at the Hilton during the construction).

β€œWe had a few potential sponsors come through to check us out, too,” Blalock said. β€œI can’t even tell you how happy we are to be (almost) open.”

Pasco County Tourism, aka the Florida Sports Coast, was scheduled to hold the actual ribbon cutting for the Sports Campus on Aug. 27, which was after we went to press with this issue. RADDSports is the county’s private partner which is managing the building that was funded by a recent voter-approved 2-cent increase in the county’s tourism (or β€œbed”) tax. 

β€œPlay Ball,” indeed!

For sponsorship opportunities at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County (3021 Sports Coast Way), email Jannah@RADDSports.com. For program information, email Nicole@RADDSports.com. For sponsorship opportunities at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County (3021 Sports Coast Way), email Jannah@RADDSports.com. For program information, email Nicole@RADDSports.com. Also, you can call (833) TEAM-RADD (832-6723).