By Gary Curreri

Jacob Pybus has the city of Pompano Beach’s Start Smart T-Ball program figured out. The 4-year-old swings and hits the ball off the tee and runs up the first base line. Instead of stopping at the base and running to second, he continues his jaunt to the fence bordering the field and then returns for another swing.

“He likes hitting and running the best,” said his mother, Rachael Pybus, who also helped the youth with his batting stance. She likes what the program offers. “I like that it is mainly an introduction to the sports and they get a feel for it and they can decide the ones they like the most.”

Jacob Pybus was one of 20 youngsters who came out on a Wednesday night at the Four Fields Athletic Complex at Pompano Community Park to not only connect with the Tballs, but to connect with other friends between the ages of 3 and 5.

“This is our second year in their programs,” Rachael Pybus said. “He likes T-Ball and soccer best. We have done all of their programs. I definitely like the social aspect and that there is no pressure and they can just come out here, have fun and learn about the sport.”

The Pompano Start Smart T-Ball program, which recently concluded its six-week run, attracted 80 children from 3- to 5-years-old on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 5:45-6:45 p.m. It is one of four such sport offerings by the city. The city also has flag football, basketball and soccer.

“We want to get the parents involved in teaching them the basics and, at 3 years old, it is kind of hard,” said Bobbi Palat, a recreation leader with the city of Pompano Beach Parks and Recreation Dept. She has been with the city for the past 15 years and is a Pompano Beach native. “We want the kids to have fun.”

Families came from as far away as Lighthouse Point, Deerfield Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and the surrounding communities, including Pompano Beach. Participants recieve a ball, bat, glove and T-shirt for their participation in T-Ball. In soccer, they get a soccer ball and shin guards; in basketball, they get a basketball and, in football, they get a football, flags and a kicking tee.

Cost for six-week program is $25 for residents, $50 non-residents. For more information, call 954-786- 4119.

By Gary Curreri

Melvin Randall admits he was “caught a little off guard” when he was told he was no longer going to be the Blanche Ely’s boys’ basketball coach after leading the team to back-to-back Class 7A state titles.

Randall said he was informed on June 7 that his 13 years at the school that yielded three state titles was over. Randall, who has been a math teacher at the Pompano Beach school for the past 26 years, has compiled a 456-136 record and five state titles between Deerfield Beach and Blanche Ely high schools.

“This has been going on for the last two years and it basically boils down to something personal,” said Randall, who was informed in a 10:30 a.m. meeting with Blanche Ely assistant principal Malcolm Spence (Blanche Ely administrator over sports) and assistant principal Antonio Womack. “There was no explanation, no nothing. I was kind of shocked. I am not bitter. There have been many placed in my position who have said ‘forget it’ and have just walked away. I am not going to walk away.”

“I am still teaching (math) there, but with the coaching it’s pending,” Randall continued. “I may go into the private sector. You have to have a better excuse than we are moving in a different direction. Which direction is that? Are you going down? I am not being cocky, but that is the only direction I can think of. We only lost five games the past two years.”

Randall finished the 2012- 13 season at Ely by winning his second consecutive Class 7A state championship and earning its second consecutive national ranking.

Randall, 50, of Ft. Lauderdale, has expressed his frustration with the school’s administration by not being allowed to keep two of his long-time assistant coaches (Morris Grooms and Reginald McNair, both former players of his,) from the 2011-12 season and also is upset at how he was treated by Ely principal Karlton Johnson after leading the team to a state championship in 2012 when he had to apply for his position twice.

“Whatever the situation was, it didn’t warrant dismissal,” said Randall, the only coach in Broward to lead two different teams to national rankings – Deerfield Beach in 1999 and Blanche Ely the past two seasons. “It could have warranted suspensions maybe, instead of the harshest thing (firing).”

I am very proud of what I have done at Ely as the boys head basketball coach,” Randall said. “And really doing it the hard way and being successful and running into a situation that I have been in a few years and being successful.”

“My job is to educate 9th grade students and above and also, when I am in the gym, I am trying to do the same thing through that crazy sport of basketball,” Randall said. “It is not just bouncing a basketball and getting Ws and Ls. It is about mentoring these kids and giving them lifelong skills.”

Randall said he didn’t want his name to be tarnished as he moved past the situation.

“I am going to be heard because they are not going to tarnish my name,” Randall said. “I don’t want people to say maybe he did something drastic because he won two state titles, and he must have done something (wrong). And to be put in a spot to coach at the next level, and that is what athletic directors would be thinking as well. It is going to be pretty interesting.”

Efforts to reach school officials were unsuccessful.

By Gary Curreri

No track. No problem! Highlands Christian Academy seniors Ryan Davis and Kyle Audet picked up where they left off last year as they advanced to the state track meet and came away with stellar performances.

Davis successfully defended his state title in the Class 1A 300-meter hurdles as he clocked a 38.04 time and won by two seconds. Audet was fifth in the event as he ran a 40.88.

Davis was fourth in the 110- meter hurdles with a 14.76 time, while Audet was close behind at 15.43 and took seventh.

Sixth-year Highlands Christian track coach Marc Veynovich said he was not surprised by their performances despite not having a track at the school.

“Watching Ryan when he first started running and how he took to the hurdles, and in pretty much every event you put him in, I wasn’t super surprised,” Veynovich said of Smith, who signed a track scholarship with Liberty. “I definitely expected a repeat from him this year even though he was suffering from a groin injury.

“Ryan had very little practice time, yet he still had the athletic ability to put it all out there and still get down to low 38s,” Veynovich added. “He would have been in the 37s this year if he had any challenge. I really feel for him.”

Veynovich called Audet a “beast.” Audet has been accepted to the University of Florida and said he would try and walk on for track and maybe kick for the football team.

“Kyle is good at whatever he does,” Veynovich said. “He is an excellent football player, an excellent soccer player and what he brought to track was complete athleticism and the ability to do whatever I asked of him. He was also an 11-6 pole vaulter in addition to the hurdles.”

Audet, 18, of Deerfield Beach, has been at Highlands for 14 years. This is his fifth year running track at the school.

“The whole point of not having a track is when you are running on the grass you don’t get correct times that you would usually get on a track,” said Audet, who finished 11th in the state in hurdles as a sophomore and eighth last year as a junior. “You can’t practice your splits in hurdles as well as you could do on a track.

“I mean, it would help a lot to have a track,” Audet said with a laugh. “I just like to consider us the grass hurdle brothers because we have been doing it on grass the whole time.”

Audet said it was a lot of fun attending Highlands where he played football, soccer and track.

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” said Audet, who also plays beach volleyball. “I love the fact that I went to a small school so I’d be able to play all of these sports. It conditioned my body into the perfect athlete.”

Davis, 18, also of Deerfield Beach, has been a Knight since he was in kindergarten. “It is kind of cool to see the people I have grown up with like Kyle,” Davis said. “Just through the years seeing how much I’ve changed and how much the school has changed. I am really proud of what I have been able to do.”

Davis will have a banner up on the gym wall again. Other than former Athletic Director and head boys basketball coach Reg Cook, who won more than 500 games at the school, Davis is the lone individual who is recognized with a banner.

“I was the first individual state champion for Highlands as far as any sport goes so they put that up last year,” Davis said. “I thought that was very nice of them. It feels really good. I feel that God has pushed me in this direction every step of the way. Throughout my life, he has been guiding me the right way and staying here and running track here.”

“It really set in after the race that it was my last race in high school,” Davis said. “It feels great to win states my senior year and the last two years. It was an amazing gift from God.”

Cook, who is an assistant athletic director at the school, said Veynovich has done a wonderful job building the program and guiding it to its first-ever district title this year. He said there were approximately 20 varsity girls, 20 varsity boys and 20 middle school (boys and girls) athletes in the program.

“A lot of credit goes to coach Veynovich and his leadership,” Cook said. “Track, a lot of times, was on the back burner. Now it is a prestigious part of our school. It shows pride in the track program and that is just great.”

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach’s Donald Mann enjoys golf because of the challenge it presents and he doesn’t mind the scenery either. The 91-year-old Mann recently picked up his first ever hole-in-one on the Par-3,130-yard, 3rd hole at the newly renovated Greg Norman Pines course at the Pompano Municipal Golf Course.

Mann, who is a member of the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association, used his 28-degree, Hybrid 6 club and drove the ball within 30-35 feet of the Par-3, 130-yard, 3rd hole and watched it roll in the cup, much to the delight of his playing partners.

“It was a stroke of luck,” said Mann, a veteran of the Normandy Invasion. “I got a birdie on the next hole, so I was three under after two holes and I was thinking this game isn’t as difficult as I thought it was. Then, the wheels fell off and I started making bogeys and double bogeys.”

Mann, who takes lessons from Pompano golf pro T.J. Ziol, is originally from New Jersey and played golf as a youth, but gave it up for tennis. He took up golf again at age 70 after a 50-year hiatus. Mann said he is a 25-handicap now and has been as low as an 11. He hopes to get back there within the year.

“I’ve holed some wedges from the fairway, but this is my first hole-in-one,” Mann said. “The golf swing is a very complicated thing and I have been taking lessons. The thrill of hitting a very nice shot is a good feeling. “To some people, the professionals, they have 8, 9 or 10 holein- ones during their careers. It is a pretty small cup with a long way to go.”

Mann said he plays two to three times a week and enjoys the scenery and practicing. He also likes the commemorative plaque the PGA sent him for his feat.

“The golf swing is a very complicated thing and I have been taking lessons,” said Mann, who has shot below his age a number of times. “Now, my goal is to get into the low 80s. I have given away a lot of shots around the green because my short game needs work.”

The motorist organization forecasts a decline of 0.9% in overall travel compared to last year, with 34.8 million Americans making a journey of 50 miles or more.

AAA President Robert Darbelnet blamed the decline on “an up and down economy” and “the impact of the end of the payroll tax holiday on working families.”

A steep decline in projected air travel dragged down the overall forecast. AAA expects holiday air travel to decrease 8%, to 2.3 million travelers this year.

The group said that fliers are suffering from “fee fatigue,” fed up with paying extra for services that were once included in the price of a plane ticket, such as reservation changes, checked baggage, pet travel, food, nonalcoholic drinks, and so on.

By Gary Curreri

Adrienne Cerra spent the entire weekend walking around the 5th annual IFBTUSA Beach Tennis World Cup event with a smile on her face.

Cerra, the International Federation of Beach Tennis- USA president, said more than 180 players from South Florida and around the world attended the event, sponsored by Frank Congemi this past weekend at Deerfield Beach.

“It was a great success,” Cerra said. “Deerfield was once again a great host with its seaside charm and great local restaurants and bars. The players love returning every year for this great event. The beach was filled for the event as thousands watched the action, and the weather was perfect!”

Cerra said players from all over the USA, as well as Brazil, Italy, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Aruba, Peru, Columbia and Germany, represented their countries. The categories included Men’s and Women’s Open Doubles, Men’s and Women’s Open Singles, Women’s and Men’s “A” (advanced) Singles, Women’s and Men’s “A” Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Singles matches were held on Friday, Doubles on Saturday and Mixed Doubles on Sunday.

“It has almost doubled every year, and we raised the prize money to $5,000 this year thanks to the generosity of our sponsor, Frank Congemi. “Approximately $3,000 of it goes to the men’s open winner. Last year, the prize money was $1,500. This tournament is fantastic and it is one of the best tournaments in the world.”

Grade 1 World Ranking Points and prize money were awarded to the Men’s and Women’s Open Division and Mixed Doubles Winners, while prizes were awarded to A Divisions and juniors.

“We came up to see this,” said Ric Green, who has been the president and CEO of the Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce for the past five years. “We would like to see them expand and maybe have a complimentary tournament in Pompano. With what she has going, I think there is real potential on the local level. This is an international tournament for her so this is special. Maybe we can hold a couple of local events in Pompano. It is very impressive.”

“It is always great to play for the home crowd,” said Jan Macko, who was one of 180 players who took part in the event. “It is a great weekend activity for anybody.” www.mybeachtennis.net for results!

The Pig Out in the Park scheduled for Saturday, May 4, has been postponed due to weather. The new date is June 29!

By Gary Curreri

It took five rounds, but it was worth the wait when Deerfield Beach’s Denard Robinson found out his NFL destination.

Robinson, 22, was selected with the second pick of the fifth round (135 overall) by the Jacksonville Jaguars and hopes his speed and athleticism will get him on the field quickly.

“They can put me in at receiver or running back or whatever,” Robinson said on the conference call with Jacksonville reporters following the draft. “There’s a lot of different positions, so I’m excited about doing that.”

Robinson, a University of Michigan senior, set the NCAA record for rushing yards by a quarterback, rushing for 4,495 yards and Michigan records for total yards (10,776) and touchdowns (91). He played quarterback for the Wolverines at Michigan, prior to suffering a nerve injury in his elbow last season. He then eventually moved into the Wolverines’ backfield as a running back behind QB Devin Gardner.

But during Senior Bowl week, the NFL combine and Michigan’s Pro Day scouts asked Robinson to run through drills at receiver (as well as punt/kick returner) because of Robinson’s athleticism that would make him a weapon there.

Contributions to special teams are highly likely. His 4.43 second 40-yard dash and elite ability to elude tacklers could make him a valuable punt and kick returner in the NFL.

Robinson is confident as he continues his football career. He told ESPN Radio 98.7 in New York prior to the draft that he was comfortable playing running back.

“When I get at that running back position, I can take it the distance,” said Robinson, who finished his college career with back-to-back 100-yard rushing games against Ohio State and South Carolina. “I can take the pounding of getting hit a couple times. I can go at receiver and make cornerbacks look bad…Once I get the ball in my hands and I’m in open space, I can’t be tackled one-on-one. That’s my motto: ‘Every time I get the ball, it’s time for me to get in the end zone.’”

Robinson has been making a name for himself on the football field since he was a member of the Deerfield Beach Packer Rattlers in his youth football days.

However, not by his birth name of Denard Xavier Robinson, but “Shoelace,” a nickname he got when he was 10 and playing for his Pee Wee team with his shoelaces untied.

“It’s been a dream to play in the NFL,” said Robinson, a 2008 graduate of Deerfield Beach High School. “Now, it has become a reality.”