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By Compiled by JAMAL THALJI
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 19, 2000
Quotable
"It was pretty important to shoot a good score to kind of scare the other district teams, but we'll show 'em."
-- Mark Dunn, The Zephyrhills golfer who won the individual medal at Tuesday's Sunshine Athletic Conference tournament. The Bulldogs won the SAC title by 10 strokes but in a sub-par performance compared to their usual standards. Zephyrhills faces a tougher challenge at the Class A, District 5 tournament on Oct. 24 against Hernando and Saddlebrook.
Very long wait ends for new Mitchell coach
Steve Gray has just about a month to prepare for the upcoming soccer season.
Then again, he has been waiting for it for more a decade.
Gray, a 40-year-old Pasco County businessman, was named Mitchell's boys soccer coach Wednesday.
A former member of the Tampa Bay Rowdies farm system who has played for a variety of professional soccer teams and organized a variety of local youth leagues, Gray said he has been waiting for this opportunity since he turned down his last offer to coach -- at Ridgewood more than a decade ago.
"It was back when Ridgewood High School had been initially built," he said. "I had been offered to coach that school, but everything comes with timing.
"I was growing my business, but it has always been my goal to get into high school soccer and start coaching high school."
Gray is not a full-time teacher at the school but will be classified as a part-time coach. He will meet with prospective players and parents Friday at the school.
Tuesday is the first day teams can practice.
Gray was a standout prep player in Massachusetts, but when he moved to Florida in the 1970s, he was surprised to find soccer wasn't offered at Tarpon Springs High School. So he played for the Florida All-Select team, joined the Rowdies' high school farm system, bounced around from team to team then decided to end his career because of various injuries. "Since then, I've been putting on goalie clinics for the Mutiny, doing professional training, been coaching in the West Pasco and Pinellas soccer leagues for the past 22 years and coaching traveling clubs, too," he said.
Adventures in prep golf ... conference tourney style
Mitchell's Julie Reeves and most of Ridgewood's team had some trouble getting started at Tuesday's Sunshine Athletic Conference girls tournament at River Ridge golf course.
Reeves was working on her third hole when her ball landed next to a tree. Reeves tried to make the tough shot, but she ended up hitting the trunk of the tree.
The next thing Reeves knew, her forehead was throbbing terribly and the ball was still at her feet. The ball had bounced off the tree and struck her right between the eyes.
More stunned than anything else, Reeves withdrew from the event. Mitchell's other players heard about the injury but knew little else.
"After the ninth hole, when I got off the green, I heard about Julie's accident," said Amanda Moore, who was the tournament medalist. "I just wanted to get in (the clubhouse) and make sure she was okay."
Reeves was fine by the end of the day except for a nasty bump on her forehead.
Ridgewood's Miranda Rembiesa and Rachel Rauber were ready to go well before the 1 p.m. tee time. The trouble was that Rembiesa and Rauber were the only Rams to show.
Ridgewood's other three players did not arrive in time. Kathleen Cummings, Shannon Savaria and Debbie Romer were disqualified, leaving Ridgewood without a team score. The Rams finished last.
Finally, River Ridge coach Ron Spriggs said the boys tournament wouldn't have happened without Seven Springs' last-second cooperation -- okay, three weeks, but that's last second for a golf course.
Seven Springs pro Mike Glenn said courses enjoy helping out the local high school teams.
"I'm all for the kids getting every chance to play," he said.