By Rachel Galvin

If the wind is blowing, Tom Leeman is kiteboarding. He began back in 2002 when he saw a friend, who is a professional kiteboarder, braving the surf. He learned by trial and error, but he suggests learning from an expert.

“Anyone who wants to learn how to kiteboard should take a lesson from a qualified instructor who is licensed and insured. That’s the safest way to get started. Kiteboarding is an extreme sport and there is a lot of inherent risk. The ocean can be very unforgiving. Sometimes, the waves are 20 ft. in the currents running 5 to 8 knots. It’s a dangerous place for the inexperienced,” said Leeman, adding, “It’s not too expensive [to get set up]. You’ll probably end up spending about $1500. You need a harness, a board and a couple kites and a bar. Most people start out with a 12 m kite.”

He added, “I was kitesurfing with my friend Jay in Hurricane Dennis and my kite went down into a huge wave that dragged me under. The winds were about 40 kn and it was a pretty hairy situation. When I got back, my friend Jay had broken both bones in his right leg. We had to rush him to the hospital so it was a pretty crazy day.”

Despite the dangers, Leeman likes nothing more than being out in the elements in the blue sea off South Florida shores. Depending on the wind, he may surf all the way up to Boynton.

“Kitesurfing is an addictive sport if you’re an adrenaline junkie you’re going to love it, but if you’re afraid of the ocean and you’re afraid of sharks, and you’re afraid of big waves, you’re not going to like it. Kitesurfing immerses you in nature. You use the energy of the wind to propel you over the ocean. It’s like nothing else on earth. It is experiential. You have to experience it to understand it.”

When not kiteboarding, Leeman is teaching it at Delray Beach Kiteboarding. To get a lesson, give them a call at 561-703-5367 or find them on Facebook. They have teachers who are licensed and insured.

“You’ll learn the proper way to kitesurf and all of the safety systems, including how to rescue yourself in case of emergencies,” he said.

When on land, Leeman also teaches JKA Karate, works on producing movies occasionally and works for BirthdayComp, which provides free birthday discounts and gifts from local businesses on people’s birthdays (www.birthdaycomp.com).

The local to Deerfield Island Water Sports might not have the gear needed for kiteboarding, but they have plenty of surfboards to get your feet wet out in the ocean. They are located at 1985 NE 2 St. in Deerfield Beach.

Find your fellow fans at these locations

Denver Broncos vs. the Carolina Panthers, baby! Tonight at 8:30 p.m. football season officially opens at Sports Authority Field in Denver, CO. This year’s Super Bowl winning Broncos – complete with Super Bowl MVP Von Miller back on board – will come up against the Panthers, who seek redemption after falling short in last season’s superbowl. Sports bars in every corner of the country have stocked up on wings and beer, and many have had shiny new HDTV screens installed for the season opener.

We all know that most residents of Florida came from somewhere else, so while we may support the Miami Dolphins, many of us also have a first football love that still rules our hometown hearts. Here’s a rundown of where in and around our neighborhoods that you can find your fellow fans, and what specials to expect at that location:

• The Cabin Sports Bar — 154 N. Federal Hwy., Deerfield – Patriots fans hang-out! This Sunday there is a pre-Patriot party from 5 to 7 p.m. with “give-a-ways.” In addition, all fans of any team are welcome here. Bucket Specials every Sunday throughout football season. 954-428-6438.

• Bonefish Mac’s — 2002 Sample Rd., Pompano – Steelers fans are rumored to gather at Bonefish, so it should be jam-packed with excited fans every Steeler night! 954-781-6227.

• Two Georges — 1754 SE 3 Ct., Deerfield Beach – Supports all teams with a football special menu and $2.50 selected beers in the bar area. Only Two Georges offers a 10’ X 8’ projection TV screen that extends out over the water for the big game. Plus 20 regular TVs, to keep everyone happy. All fans are welcome. 954-421-9272.

• City Pub — 956 S. Federal Hwy., Deerfield – The City Pub boasts approx. 200 Buffalo Bill fans. See the Baltimore Raven vs. the Buffalo Bills this Sunday at 1p.m. Enjoy their signature Buffalo Roast Beef Sandwich or the Buffalo Hot Dog for eats while watching the game. Buffalo Bills fans have found a home at City Pub, but everyone is always welcome. 954-427-8213

• Bru’s Room Deerfield —120 NE 20 Ave., Deerfield – Former Dolphin Bob Brudzinski is the owner and has made Bru’s Room into a special home for all Dolphins fans. You know they’ll have plenty of specials on food and drinks throughout football season. With enough TVs to show every game at the same time, you can stop by early in the week and check the labels on each TV to find out which one will show your game this weekend. 954-420-5959. Their Coral Springs location (1000 N. University Dr.) caters to Cleveland Browns fans — 954-656-8041.

• Hott Leggz — 3128 N. Federal Hwy., Lighthouse Point – Chicago Bears (and Cubs) fans make their Florida home at Hott Leggz, where they can get traditional Chicago Beef sandwich of roast beef on Italian bread smothered in giardiniera (sautéed Italian peppers). There’s also a TV on every table. 754-307-2444.

• Legends Tavern & Grill — 1391 S. Military Tr., Deerfield Beach – They’re offering specials on game weekends including $13 Bud Lite buckets and $2.50 pints on selected beers, as well as All Day Happy Hour on Sundays. Fans from all teams come here. 754-212-2655.

• Packy’s Sports Pub — 4480 N. Federal Hwy., Lighthouse Point – Packy’s is another great gathering spot for Buffalo Bills fans. With 26 HDTV’s scattered around the bar, Packy’s is taking reservations for the Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphin game on Oct. 23. Beer will be provided on the bus and some tailgating food too. 954-657-8423

Football Season starts this week. This is just a sampling of some local football hangouts. Send your game-day fun pictures to observereditor@comcast.net.

By Gary Curreri

When it comes to the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguards, summer and surf equals success.

Team Pompano turned in stellar performances this year at the three Junior Lifeguard competitions – Regional meet in Hollywood, State meet in Fort Lauderdale and then the 2016 USLA National Junior Lifeguard Competition at Hermosa Beach, California.

Summer Schulte, 13, an eighth-grader at Pompano Beach Middle School, turned in a career-best performance at the recent National Junior Lifeguard competition. Schulte won four events in the B Group Division (12 and 13-year-olds) and placed second in her other event to pace Pompano.

Schulte won the Surf Swim (Distance Swim), Paddleboard, Rescue Relay and Ironguard and was just edged out at the line in placing second in the Run-Swim-Run. She said winning her first event – the surf swim – gave her a lot of confidence for the rest of the competition because she had never won that event before.

“It felt really cool,” said Schulte, who was doing exhibition races with the junior lifeguards at age 8. Competitors need to be 9 to officially compete. “I didn’t think I was going to win that many (events at Nationals)…I learned a lot at this year’s camp and practiced in the California waters before the race so when I got to the actual race I knew which spots would work better. There were a lot of holes and the other girls were falling because they didn’t know where to go.”

The competition in California was difficult with approximately 4,500 Junior Lifeguards in Los Angeles County alone. Competitors from this county had to compete in a “prelims” event so that only the top competitors were able to compete at Nationals.

Notwithstanding, Team Pompano prevailed as National Champions in five events and Team Pompano won 25 medals at nationals (the top five finishers in each event earn medals). Team Pompano was the most medaled Florida team.

In the Girls B Division, Bella Taylor took first in the Rescue Relay; second in Ironguard, third in Run-Swim-Run and fifth in both the paddleboard and Surf Swim (Distance Swim). In the Boys C, Jake Schulte won the Ironguard was second in the Run-Swim-Run and was third in the Surf Swim (Distance Swim). Juliana Freire was fifth in the Distance Run and Alejandro Quinones took fifth in Surf Ski.

The “A” Division Swim Relay (Ronald Hache, Shane Schulte, Mia Marquez, Alex Marquez and Aaron Blanco) placed fourth, while the U-19 Swim Relay (Taylor Barton, Kelly Schulte, Alejandro Quinones, Ala Zielinski and Victoria Zielinski) was third.

“We were up against the best of the best on their home turf and we did really well,” said Nemia Schulte, president of the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard Association. She has been president for the past four years of the group and has five children in the program, including Julia Schulte, 20, who represented the United States in Australia (2012) and in France (2014).

Team Pompano, with 208 total junior lifeguards in the program, won the state competition by more than 100 points over runner-up Fort Lauderdale.

At the state competition, winners included Grace Parnas (paddleboard, beach flags and surf-swim) in the C Division; Jake Schulte in the C boys division with wins in the distance swim, paddleboard, run-swim-run; Bella Taylor (distance swim, paddleboard, run-swim-run) in the Girls B Division; Victoria Scarpinito won beach flags for Girls A group and third in ironguard girls; the Under-19 ironguard swim relay also won. The team was composed of Mattheus Santos, Kelly Schulte, Tyler Zuyus and Victoria Scarpinito.

Another strong performance at state came from the C Division Ironguard: Yvonne Lane, Jake Schulte, Reese Andres, and Grace Parnas, who finished third. Two brothers also did well at the state competition as Alejandro Quinones finished third in Paddleboard in the U-19 Division, while his younger brother, Christian Quinones (B Division) also came in third in both the beach flags and paddleboard.

Fort Lauderdale’s Jackie Nava, 13, won the B Girls Beach Flag event at both the Regional and state competitions. It is only her second year competing.

“There is a lot of competition, but you just have to be more competitive,” said Nava, an eighth-grader at Westminster Academy. “This (program) teaches you that you have to be a good teammate and they support you. It is also good to win.”

Other top performances at regionals included: Shane Schulte (Pompano, Boys A), Alejandro Quinones (Pompano, Boys Under-19), Summer Schulte (Pompano, Girls B), Nicolas Calice (Boys B), Grace Parnas (Girls C), Reese Andres (Girls C) and Bella Taylor (Pompano, Girls B).

By Gary Curreri

While the overall results weren’t exactly what he wanted, Pompano Beach Piranhas swim team coach Jesse Vassallo still received some outstanding performances in the recent Florida Gold Coast Long Course Senior Championships at the Coral Springs Aquatics Complex.

Vassallo, who has been with the program for the past five years, brought just 12 swimmers to the Senior Championships. The Piranhas finished 13th as a team with 317.50 points, just a dozen points behind Westminster Academy Swim Club (329) in the combined standings.

“We did have some good swims from Sloan Sizemore, Tyler Zuyus and Mateos Santos, but I expected a little more from the kids,” Vassallo said. “This group is an 18-Under group and I wanted to come here and get lower times.

“We took a smaller group (10) to the (14-Under Florida Gold Coast Long Course Junior Olympics) meet in Stuart the week before and they actually impressed me,” Vassallo added. “I was very, very excited about the new ones.”

Vassallo gushed over two new swimmers in the 10 and Unders who performed well Lilia Blanco, 9, and Steven Gary, 10.

“Steven got into the finals in all seven of his events,” Vassallo said. “Lilia swam 9 events and got into three finals. We also had some good swims from Raphael Santos, 13, who finaled in five of his events, which is pretty good because that is a competitive age group.”

Pompano Beach Piranhas has 143 swimmers in the program.

“We have been up and down,” Vassallo said. “We are a little low. It is healthy to be about 160, and 180 would be great. I hope to go up a little bit after the Olympics when kids get excited about swimming again.”

The swimmers abilities in the program range from beginners to swimmers hoping to go on to college.

“You are talking about kids who are learning to swim, to learning the different strokes and starting to compete,” Vassallo said, “to these kids who are age group elite level.”

One such swimmer is Sizemore, 16, who finished 8th in the high point standings for Girls 15-16 with 71 points. She was eight points out of fifth place.

“Competitions like this are very important,” Sizemore said. “We taper for them and I mentally get ready myself for them. I imagine myself beforehand what I am going to do and how I am going to swim my races.

“I like that it is new each time,” added Sizemore, a junior at Boca Raton High School, who has been swimming half her life. “You meet new people each time. You have a new experience each time and you get to do a new stroke each time.

She said the camaraderie on the pool deck is important. Pompano Beach is where she has been swimming for those eight years.

“I like how we always have get-togethers and we are not afraid to ask for help,” Sizemore said. “We are all close in a way and what I like about it is it’s different from other groups. We do a minimum of 8,000 yards each day up to 10,000 yards each day for each practice and we do doubles (two practices a day), except Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays during the summer when we don’t have school.”

“The best part about swimming is getting up on the blocks and having a happy feeling that you are going to do your best,” she added. “That you are going to go all out and not have any regrets.”

Zuyus, 16, was third in the Boys 15-16 high points with 87 points, just two points behind third place finisher Grant Dodge, 16, of the North Palm Beach Swim Club. Santos, 15, finished 10 with 70.50 points.

By Gary Curreri

In the past five years, there has been an explosion of collegiate opportunities for playing beach volleyball.

Two sisters from Deerfield Beach – Alanna and Audrey Hodge – recently placed third in the AVPFirst Girls 14-Under volleyball championship on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Alanna, age 14, is a freshman at Monarch High School and has played beach volleyball for five years.

“I like beach volleyball more than indoor because you get more touches on the ball and it is fun to play with new partners to see how you do with other people,” she said.

Audrey, age 12, a seventh-grader at Boca Christian, also played beach volleyball for five years.

“There is a lot of pressure because I am playing in a higher division than I normally would,” Audrey said. “I like it because it is mostly all on you. You are responsible for half of the court.”

Shawn Taylor, of the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) and the coach at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, said with more juniors playing the game, more and more schools are offering scholarships.

“For years it was just the pro beach tour and there was no avenue to get there, and with colleges coming in as a player, it gave juniors something to shoot for,” Taylor said. “Now with more juniors playing the game, it has provided us with an avenue to create a pipeline and a clear path for them to go from playing junior recreational to, hopefully, playing at the collegiate level and then carrying on past that to the professional level.”

Taylor said there are schools adding the sport “everyday” and estimated there were about 65 schools offering beach volleyball.

“They anticipate being at 100 (schools) in a year or two,” Taylor said. “They were at zero (schools) five years ago. It was a pipe dream and a myth. It was like crazy talk going around.”

Florida Beach Volleyball Tour tournament director Gino Ferraro is in his 27th year and hosted eight events this year – including stops in Pompano Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Siesta Key, Hollywood, and plans to hold one in Delray Beach next year.

“The season starts at the beginning of May and runs through the second week of August,” Ferraro said. “Because of the size of the field, it is hard to find beaches that will hold us anymore.”

Jeudy commits to Alabama

Deerfield Beach High School senior wideout Jerry Jeudy is taking his talents to the University of Alabama next season.

Ranked the fourth-best receiver in the nation by ESPN, Jeudy earned a spot on the all-offense team in July at Nike’s The Opening, one of the top camps in the country in Beaverton, OR It helped parlay him into a good spot to choose his next destination.

“I’m excited,” said Jeudy, who chose the Crimson Tide over Florida, Miami, Florida State University and Tennessee. The four-star recruit had offers from more than 20 different schools. “It was the best fit for me. It’s a great program with great coaches, great players and that’s a winning team. I feel like I can go there and do what I have to do and step on the field and make plays.”

“It was a very hard decision for me,” added Jeudy, who caught 41 passes for 496 yards and 10 scores last season for the Bucks. “I prayed a lot and felt that Alabama was more of a home.”

Deerfield teammate Daewood Davis, who transferred from Stranahan in the spring, previously announced he was committing to the University of South Florida.

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach High School’s Jalal Jean-Charles exchanged his sneakers for football cleats.

“I used to play basketball and this is more physical,” said Charles, 15, who will be a junior at Pompano this fall. This is his first year playing football. “The biggest adjustment I had was getting into a big team. In basketball, there are only 15 players and in football there could be anywhere from 30 to 50 players playing with you and it is more of a brotherhood.”

The Tornadoes were among 50 teams from the tri-county area (Broward, Palm and Miami-Dade) that played in the 9th annual Dolphins Academy Youth and High School 7-on-7 tournament at Plantation Central Park.

“I like playing with pads,” he said. “I like to be physical. We had a lot of good competition, but we were hoping to win. Tournaments like this helps us get better as a team. We run routes and it lets the quarterback adjust to our play style and we adjust to the quarterback’s play style.”

The high school football tournament consisted of round robin play and then moved into a single elimination format. The high school teams competed in the championship round with Carol City defending its title with a 35-31 victory over Miami Northwestern. Pompano lost both of its games in the tournament (Miami Northwestern, 35-17, and Spanish River, 24-10, but it was good competition for coach Rick Nagy, who was missing several of his top players, including John Padgett Jr. who was on vacation.

Pompano Beach capped the 2015 season with a 28-12 victory over St. Andrew’s School in the Southeastern Football Conference and will move to the Gold Coast Football Conference this upcoming season.

“It’s a grind,” said Nagy, who is in his fourth year as coach. “We coach from February through November so there is not much down time. This is an important part of football because it gives those young kids an opportunity to show their skills. We are a small school and we don’t have those tremendous athletes. We are missing like three or four starters today. It’s the summer and they are out and away on vacation.”

Pompano plays in five 7-on-7s this summer. They finished fourth out of 20 teams in a BCAA event, and said the Dolphins event helps them with their skill positions and he liked what he saw.

“I think we will be okay this year,” Nagy said. “The top four teams make the playoffs and I think we will make the playoffs. I am not much into predicting. I am a coach who doesn’t even go week by week. I like to go play by play. I don’t try to think too far ahead. I think we will be okay in the new conference.”

Pompano Beach senior quarterback Logan Good said his team benefitted from the competition. The 17-year-old said it helped him work on his timing with his receivers.

“You learn that not every play matters,” Good said. “It’s pretty cool to have the Dolphins do something like this. We are running the same offense as last year so we came into this hoping to get better. I am kind of trying to find the open man and get it to him.”

Tornadoes’ 6-foot, 4-inch junior receiver Andre Francis also enjoyed the experience.

“This was pretty fun and it is good competition,” Francis said. “We learned a lot about each other in this. This is the most organized 7-on-7 I have been a part of.”

“Our mission is to be the stewards of the game of football in South Florida and we were excited to host athletes and coaches at our symposium and tournament,” Miami Dolphins Senior Director of Community Affairs Twan Russell said. “We were able to engage students not only on the field, but had the opportunity to develop their character beyond sports, which is equally important.”

By Gary Curreri

In a little more than six months, Pompano Beach’s Samantha Finazzo has found a sport she loves.

Finazzo, 15, who will enter her sophomore year at Pompano Beach High School next month, joined the newly-formed Pompano Beach Piranhas water polo program and it has been an enjoyable experience.

“This was a lot of fun,” said Finazzo, who plays goalie for the Girls 18-Under team. “It was a good experience to meet new people and get a variety of players and teams we were playing against.

“I expected it to be a lot harder, but I improved my skills over the past couple of months and it came a lot easier than I thought it would be,” she said. “I just wanted to become a better overall athlete. It wasn’t anything that I expected. It was really fun and I loved it.”

The Pompano Beach Piranhas made their club water polo debut in the Sunshine State Games recently at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex.

Both teams played in the 18-Under Division. The boys went 1-3, while the girls were winless in four games.

Teammate Christine Bergamini, 17, of Lighthouse Point, is normally a swimmer, but has found water polo to be more enjoyable.

“I like water polo because it is a team sport,” said Bergamini, who will be a senior at Cardinal Gibbons. “The difference is you have to think more about how you are going to swim or who you are going to pass to. It’s been a lot of fun. Even though we lost, I learned a lot. I think we definitely improved each game.”

Pompano Beach coach Scott Moore used to coach in the 1990s and early 2000s, but took some time off. He returned to the pool deck when his son started playing water polo in high school and was looking for a team to play on.

“They have been playing a month together and we had a great time,” Moore said. “We have a set of twins, Victoria and Alicja Zielinski, and triplets — Megan, Brooke and Kelly Gest — on the girls team, so that makes it interesting. The Zielinski’s attend Northeast High School, while the Guess girls attend Cardinal Gibbons.

“This is new to me,” said Victoria Zielinski, 16, of Oakland Park. “I have never played club before. I have only played high school, so it is good to experience other high school people on a team together. Hopefully, we can do great things together. I knew some of the other water polo players, so I knew that if we all worked together that we would click. It was good getting new water polo players too.”

Zielinski, who will be a junior at Northeast next month, said water polo is a lot different than swimming. She’s played the sport for two years.

“It is totally different than an individual sport like swimming,” she said. “There is a lot of adrenaline getting into you. It is a lot of fun. There are girls trying to attack you and you are trying to get away and shoot.”

Zielinski said playing in the Sunshine State Games was a lot of pressure.

“I have never played two games in one day or four games in a weekend,” Zielinski said. “We only play once or twice a week in high school. I have only played with this team for two weeks, so there was a lot of pressure going in from not playing water polo in a month or so (since high school season ended).”

Her sister, Alicja, agreed: “The girls here are more intense than high school. I pretty much know most of the girls from high school. They are pretty friendly and it is a good team environment.”

Alicja is more of the swimmer and Victoria is the water polo player. Alicja competed in the 100-yard breaststroke at the state meet and finished 24th.

“It is fun to play with her,” Alicja said. “We just have to find each other and yell, ‘twin.’ I would like to play water polo in high school and then maybe college.”

By Gary Curreri

For more than three decades, the Highlands Christian Academy basketball camp has brought smiles to its participants and this year was no different.

Former athletic director and head boys basketball coach Reg Cook began the camp in 1986 with 19 players and this year there were more than 100 participants in the 31st annual camp.

“It is the most popular athletic camp we offer here at Highlands,” said Jim Good, who succeeded Cook in both capacities at the school. They also offer gymnastics, softball, indoor soccer, track, volleyball, and golf during the summer.

The camp was split into two weeks – one for 2nd through 6th graders and the other for 7th through 12th graders. The first week attracted 45 campers; while the second week had 60 campers.

“We had an amazing group of coaches work the camp this summer,” said Good, who has been involved in the program for the past 20 years. He was assisted by Luke Still (Boys Junior Varsity), Josh Good (Boys Junior High), John Wilson (Girls Varsity) and two Highlands Christian School alumni – Jeff Sullivan and Caris Everette. Also in attendance was North Broward Prep School head coach and Ball by Design Director Casey Wohlleb.

“Our philosophy has always been to create a safe and competitive environment, to have fun by working hard, and to teach basketball as well as life skills,” Good said. “Each morning, our coaches had the opportunity to share a devotion and personal testimony emphasizing that God needs to be at the top of our priority list.”

The morning session included warm-up runs, stretching, ball handling, dribbling and agility/speed stations. Each day, there was a trophy contest that included 1-on-1, 2-on-2, foul shooting and hot shots.

“We would go off campus every day for lunch eating at Chick-Fil-A and CiCi’s Pizza,” Good said. “Coach Casey came in every afternoon with our 7th-12th grade camp and did a tremendous job on breaking down footwork and proper mechanics on shooting. He provided several quality drills each afternoon.”

The group then ended the day by playing 5-on-5 full court games.

Good believes the biggest reason the camp has been able to thrive as long as it has because of the quality of the coaching staff.

“Our coaches are extremely committed in focusing their attention on the campers and really giving 100 percent to help each player improve,” Good said. “We have done a pretty good job with being consistent but also relevant. Our camp is very organized with a specific agenda each day.

“We focus a lot on encouragement and motivation; there’s always a great “vibe” and interaction with the campers and coaching staff,” he added. “Also, I really feel we have gained the trust of so many of the parents that they feel their kids are involved in a safe environment where learning the game of basketball is happening but also learning the game of life.”

Denard “Shoelace” Robinson gives back to his community

By Rachel Galvin

Two hundred and thirty kids from age 5 to 18 came out on the field at Deerfield Beach High School (DBHS) last Saturday, July 9, to be a part of the Lace Up Football Camp, put together by the Shoelace Foundation.

The kids all ran drills, did ladders and other circuit training in their T-shirts provided by the organization. They split up into age categories and ran races to see who was the fastest. They battled the hot sun, but they were all smiles.

This was the second year for the event created by Jacksonville Jaguars football player Denard “Shoelace” Robinson, a running back and wide receiver. Robinson knows this school. He knows this community. He grew up here, and started school at Park Ridge Elementary and eventually graduated from Deerfield High. For him, this event is all about giving back.

“I love my community,” he said. “I want to be the change I want to see.”

Shoelace Foundation board member Jerry Jasmin added, “Denard always wants to give back. He is in a unique situation in that he plays in the same state he is from. He wants to empower underprivileged children to become better citizens.”

Besides local kids, children and teens from other cities, like Lauderhill came out to participate. Coach T. Anderson coaches youth football in the 7U category there. Two of his grandchildren, age 7 and 8, participated in the camp and he sat with other parents on the sidelines beneath tents in the shade.

“I love it,” he said of the event. This is a great thing for our youth … to have a positive role model. We need more of this all the time.”

DBHS student 16-year-old Joell hopes to play football in college. He is a linebacker right now for the school. He loved doing the drills.

“[My favorite part is] we had to run inside the box [ladder] and outside of it and do burpies,” he said as he described some of the drills.

Nine-year-old Mickeelah, who was one of the few girls in the group, came out because Denard is her cousin. She normally gets to see him only on holidays so this day was special.

“Racing is my favorite part. I did some drills. Some of them were hard for me,” she said, adding, “[For lunch], we had a hot dog, Pringles, a granola [bar] and some juice [among other items available].”

Volunteer Bruny Colquhour felt the event went well.

“Everything is very organized. The kids look forward to it every year. Shoelace is doing great for the community. It inspires the kids to dream big,” she said.

Besides Denard, there were other well-known players who attended either the event this day or the 1st annual basketball event that happened the night before. They included Robinson’s teammates from the Jaguars, including wide receivers Tony Washington and Rashad Lawrence; J.T. Thomas from the New York Giants; Rashard Robinson from the San Francisco 49ers, Adrian Witty from the Cincinnati Bearcats and rapper Ace Hood.

Denard not only helped kids to improve their skills, but taught them the importance of education.

He explained to one student who did not like to read, “In order for you to play football, you have to have your education first. You have to use school to get you there. If I could do all this work in football, I can do it in school.”

Besides doing football drills and having lunch, students got to enjoy themselves jumping in bounce houses.

He didn’t let students leave without delivering one last powerful message, saying, “Always have a role model. My role model was my dad. I want to be that person [for you all]. If I see somebody I look up to, I always want to be better than them. You all can do whatever you want. You can be president; you can be an astronaut; you can be a football player … It is here for the taking. Never do it for the haters. Every time I step on the field, I do it for love. I do it for people who support me. Do it for the people who support you.”

For more on the Shoelace Foundation, visit www.theshoelacefoundation.org.

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach’s Jackson McKenna got a head start on this summer’s Olympics.

McKenna, 15, who will be a sophomore at Pompano Beach High School in the fall, cleaned up at the recent Transplant Games in Cleveland, Ohio by winning 10 medals for Team Florida.

He also earned the Youth Athlete of the Year award for the entire country for participants ages 3 to 17. Australia and Puerto Rico also had representation at the competition in addition to athletes from around the country.

“I didn’t expect it whatsoever,” said McKenna, who as an infant needed a life-saving liver transplant. “It was very surprising to say the least. I was shocked at first. I thought it was a joke. It was really a lot of work and I was grateful they selected me.”

McKenna captured gold medals in four events – 100-meter dash, long jump, high jump and darts (cricket) and five silver medals in softball throw, discus, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash and darts (501). He picked up a bronze medal in the shot put – all in the 14 to 17 age group.

The efforts in shot and discus were surprising given the fact that he had never competed in either event and watched YouTube videos to learn the technique. He had also never competed in darts.

At 5 months old, he was diagnosed with biliary (tract) ectasia and needed a life-saving liver transplant. McKenna received his liver on Feb. 17, 2001, has been healthy ever since, and, every two years, he competes in the Transplant Games of America.

The Transplant Games of America include track and field events, swimming, table tennis, cycling, long jump, table tennis and the softball throw.

The 10 medals this year easily surpassed his previous record high of six that he earned in Michigan four years ago and the five he won in Texas two years ago. Yet, McKenna said winning is not the driving force.

“I just tried my best to see what I could do,” said Jackson, who has turned from sports to a new interest – playing the guitar. “I just wanted to win one medal. I had no idea I would do this well. The last few years have been pretty great. It is really fun. It is great to see the old friends you met from all around the world and then to meet new people.”

He took up the guitar two years ago and is in a music program in Boca Raton. He hopes to be a marine biologist or a guitar player when he gets older.

“When you are competing, you are trying to prove whatever it is,” McKenna said. “Through guitar you can let out your emotions. How you feel is how you are going to play.”

The Transplant Games showcase the success of transplantation and calls attention to the life saving importance of organ donation, and honors organ donors and their families.

“Health-wise he’s been doing great the past couple of years,” said his mother Jina McKenna. “We weren’t sure how he would do this year because he didn’t really put in as much time training for this as he had done in the past, but he really brought it when it came time for the Games. Winning the Youth Athlete of the Year was really special. It was really cool. We were shocked and surprised. We were happy and really honored.”

“He won it because of the medals, but also his participation with Team Florida and his fundraising,” she added. “It also went to his helping create awareness and his longevity in the Games since he has been competing since before he was 2.”

McKenna was the youngest participant in his first Transplant Games in Orlando in 2002 at 18 months as he competed in the softball throw.

“This experience has just shown me that you also go as hard as you can and you always try,” McKenna said. “Even if you think you can’t do something, you always try.”