Youngsters are tackling another season

Football for players 15-and-younger is underway in St.Petersburg to Tarpon Springs.

The organizations, which include cheerleading, are comprised of three conferences.

The Pinellas Youth Football Conference (PYFC) has nine programs, as does the Suncoast Youth Football Conference (SYFC). The Pasco Police Athletic League (PPAL) consists of two sub-conferences, with the East Lake Eagles as the lone Pinellas County participant.

The 36-year-old PYFC includes the Childs Park Jr. Rattlers, Gibbs Jr. Gladiators, Greenwood Panthers, Lakewood Jr. Spartans, Largo Jr. Spartans, St.Pete Lil Devils, Silver Raiders, Manatee Mustangs and Palmetto Trojans.

Each program has a varsity team in the Flyweight, Mighty Mite, Pee Wee and Midget divisions and as many JV squads as it can accommodate.

"Our organization really feeds into high schools such as Gibbs, Lakewood, Northeast, Boca Ciega, Dixie Hollins and St.Pete," Gibbs youth president Harrell Kicklighter said.

"We have an opportunity to prepare players for these various schools' teams. We would hope more high school coaches would come out to watch the kids and even offer some tips.

"After our first week, we look pretty good," Kicklighter said. "I would say most of our teams have a pretty good chance of being in there near the end of the season."

In the first week of PYFC action, Gibbs won six of nine, including the varsity Flyweight, Mighty Mite and Pee Wee games.

"Our flag football program is the strength of our organization." Kicklighter said. "The flag program helps the kids get some idea of what football is all about before they reach the Flyweight level.

"The best way to develop an organization is to first develop the varsity, then the JV. That way, your varsity can always be competitive."

Perennial powerhouse St.Pete enjoyed a good sign-up period and, therefore, will continue to be a factor in the PYFC championship run.

But winning isn't everything, said longtime Lil Devil volunteer coach and organization president Cecil Odom.

"My win-loss record is judged by how the kids behave and how they do in school," Odom said.

"We meet with our coaches year-round, so they know what we want to focus on, and that's academics," he said. "Once an organization establishes its goals and criteria, everything else seems to follow."

Last year's varsity champions included the Lil Devils in the Flyweight and Midget divisions and the junior varsity Flyweight and Midget, Gibbs in varsity Flyweight and Largo Pee Wee. Manatee won the JV Mighty Mite title.

The organizations in the seven-year-old SYFC are the Azalea Bulldogs, Clearwater Jr. Tornadoes, Countryside Jr. Cougars, Dixie Jr. Rebels, Dunedin Jr. Falcons, Northeast Bandits, Pinellas Park Thunderbirds, Seminole Chiefs and Tarpon Springs Spongers.

The defending SYFC champs are Clearwater (Flyweight and Midget), Countryside (Mighty Mite) and Northeast (Pee Wee) on the varsity side and Countryside (Flyweight and Mighty Mite) and Azalea (Pee Wee) in JV.

Games in the 10-week season are on Saturdays. The playoffs are scheduled for November.

SWIMMING: Megan Romano of St.Petersburg Aquatics swam to a second-place finish for the Florida team in the two-mile freestyle and to eighth in the 50 backstroke in the Southern Zone Championships in San Antonio.

In all, 15 states competed.

GYMNASTICS: Medalist All-Star Gymnastics was represented by eight Level 9 athletes in the AAU Junior Olympics in Knoxville, Tenn.

Among competitors 8-11, Briana Stiles placed 15th all-around, 10th on balance beam, 12th on uneven bars and 14th in floor exercise.

Dalila Lemezan was 13th in all-around and on the bars, 11th on vault and third in floor. Lemezan made the floor finals, and took fifth overall.

Among gymnasts 12-13, Jamie Oakes was 11th on the vault and 20th in the floor exercise. Marissa Bragg placed 18th all-around, third on vault, 17th in floor and 19th on bars. Bragg competed in the vault finals, and was 10th overall.

Amanda Crane took 19th all-around, 11th on bars and 15th on beam among athletes 14-15. Stacy Ostlund was 10th on vault, and Tirzah Bailey placed 13th. Jeniece Rahn finished 15th all-around, 14th on bars, 16th on vault and 18th in floor.

LaFleur's Gymnastics in Largo was represented in the Level 9 National Championships by Elizabeth Hermann and Whitney Eberhardt.

To qualify, Hermann placed second on the vault in a regional meet and fourth all-around. Eberhardt was fifth all-around.

At the national, Hermann took fifth on the bars and sixth on vault.

LaFleur's Level 8 member Briana Melander qualified for the Florida Team and competed in the eight-state southeast region.

Melander was second on the bars to help the squad capture gold.

LaFleur's starts the compulsory season with its Hurricane Invite. The meet for Levels 4 and 5 is scheduled for Sept.7-8.

The Sunburst Power Kids collected five gold medals, two silver and a bronze in the AAU Junior Olympic Championships in Knoxville, Tenn.

Capturing gold were Drake Fagan (four medals) and Joseph Rosario. Silver was earned by Krystal Lewis and Rosario, who also got a bronze award.

Ten athletes advanced to 22 final rounds. The others who competed were Alia and Raven Goodall, Adrian Rosario, Nick Brunk, Ann Gunter, Sheree Fagan and Kelly Cannon.

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