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Football league offers 2nd chance

The Pasco Police Athletic League lets high-schoolers with academic or other problems get back in the game.

By CHRIS WAGENHEIM
Published August 31, 2007

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Ball carrier Joshua Tannehill, 17, bowls over would be tackler Christian Rodriguez, 15, during a practice of the varsity squad of the New Port Richey Buccaneers, a rec team for the Pasco Police Athletic League.
	[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes] Junior Fly Weight Logan McEnery, 5, practices his game face as lines up for a snap during practice in New Port Richey.

For some high school football players, the Pasco Police Athletic League is a real-life two-minute drill: one last chance to get their head on straight and come away with a victory. And these kids have a whole crowd of supporters cheering them on.

"A lot of kids have come here, got their act together and gone back to school ball," New Port Richey PPAL director Dollie Dearsman said. "It means we must be doing something right. We try."

PPAL is a community-supported, volunteer-run program that organizes competitive football and cheerleading.

With 11 teams in three counties, PPAL supports five different groups starting with junior fly weights 5- to 7-year-olds and ending with varsity (14- to 17-year-olds).

Many varsity players play football with PPAL because of issues with grades, discipline or both. Instead of staying idle, players are encouraged by their coaches and parents to play in PPAL.

"I don't like to say bad things about kids, but some of them are out here because of grades; for some of them its personal," New Port Richey Buccaneers coach Scott Matheson said. "It is their last chance, basically; it is their last chance to play organized football."

The coaches and players insist that this is not a last stop, but a stepping stone along the path to academic and athletic success.

Every season, New Port Richey Buccaneers head coach John Kary watches players boost their grades and change their attitudes.

"(Without PPAL) I would say that a lot of them would either lose interest in football, or do things that they shouldn't be doing, because they have no place to go and nothing to do with their time," Kary said. "I feel like a lot of them I've kept on the straight and narrow.

"I think PPAL is a great opportunity for these kids," Kary added. "I work closely with the Gulf High School coaches. Coach Jay Fulmer is doing a great job getting the kids into college, getting them looked at. And he knows that the program I run over here is essential to his program."

Four starters on last season's successful Gulf High football team played for Kary their junior year. Shawn Williamson, Chris Mazzeo, Timmy Longnecker and John Palasky were not eligible to play for Gulf as juniors.

But by keeping in shape and getting support, they were able to get back onto the team as seniors.

Once such athlete this season is Slater Moody. Moody said he got into nonacademic trouble at school and couldn't play with Gulf this season. He said he couldn't imagine his life without football, so he came out and played in the PPAL.

"Now that this trouble is all gone and done with, I plan on playing football right after basketball season," Moody said. "I love this sport, and I love being around football. I can't stand not being around it, so I had to do something."

Moody said that he would have been lost without PPAL and was glad he had a place to go and play football.

"This place has given me a different perspective on things," Moody said. "When I get back to Gulf I am going to be a much better player, because I am inspired to do something with my life now."

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[Last modified August 30, 2007, 23:39:28]

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