By Gary Curreri
Vitawens Innocent capped off his 8th-grade year at Deerfield Beach Middle School by winning the Broward County championship in the boys long jump. Innocent, 15, was the lone competitor to surpass 19 ft. in the event and easily topped the field with a jump of 19 ft., 10-1/4 in. He also finished 5th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.28.
“The sport is very important to me because it shows people that I am doing something with myself and that is exciting,” said Innocent, of Pompano Beach. He has only been competing in track for two years. He is planning on playing football for Deerfield Beach High School in the fall.
“The long jump is a little bit scary in the beginning, but when I am in the air, I just float. It feels like I am flying.”
The Pompano Beach girls finished seventh overall with 28 points, while Deerfield Beach was 18th with 8 points. Pembroke Pines Charter won the girls title with 71 points.
In the boys competition, Forest Glen captured the county title with 50 points. Deerfield Beach finished in 8th place with 24 points.
Other locals who fared well in the competition were Steven Martin of Deerfield Beach Middle who finished second in the shot put (41-09.25); Deerfield Beach Middle’s Stanley Jean-Claude, who finished 7th in the 800-meter run (2:22.47); Pompano Beach Middle’s Ashley Shaw was 2nd in the girls 100-meter dash (12.50) and 3rd in the 200-meter dash (26.08); Pompano Beach Middle’s Alyssa Irwin was 4th in the girls high jump (4-07.75); Deerfield Beach Middle’s Ty’Kerra Edwards was 2nd in the girls long jump (14-11.50); Pompano Beach Middle School’s Tierra Nesmith was 6th in the girls discus (68-03) and 8th in the girls shot put (26-02.25); the Pompano Beach girls 4×200 meter relay was 4th (1:50.77).

Sunshine State Games water polo headed to Deerfield
The 2019 Sunshine State Games Water Polo Championships takes center-stage starting Friday as 59 teams throughout Florida, and international teams from Ecuador, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados as well, strap on the headgear and maneuver the competition to score in the watery nets.
With approximately 1,180 athletes, the SSG Water Polo Championship is the largest annual water polo tournament in the Southeast Zone ranging in age groups 10 and under to Open Men’s and Women’s Divisions.
The three-day tournament will take place at two venues in Broward County, including the Coral Springs Aquatic Center (Friday-Sunday) and Deerfield Beach Aquatics Center (Saturday and Sunday only).
“I have been participating in the Sunshine State Games as an athlete for 17 years, three years as a coach, and now in my second year as the state director,” said Water Polo state director Anna Rosen. “The Games provide a great sense of community and family in this area. I have always loved this tournament, and I look forward to seeing the continued growth for years to come.”

By Gary Curreri

Blanche Ely basketball coach Melvin Randall promised his team could be special. It turns out he was right.

The Tigers won their eighth FHSAA championship and second Class 8A title in a row with a 57-52 victory over Bradenton Lakewood Ranch on Saturday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. It marked the second consecutive game that Blanche Ely erased a double-digit deficit to pull out the win.

The Tigers (25-6) closed out the season on an 18-game winning streak since a 64-47 loss to Tampa Hillsborough in the Charger Classic two months ago at Suncoast High School.

Aderes Staton-McCray led the Tigers with 19 points and the win meant that the Tigers have won more state championships than any other school in Broward County. They were previously tied with Dillard at 7. Lamont Evans added 12 points and Malachi Hazelton chipped in with 9 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out.

Joshua Scott also became the first player in school history to win three championships, and he celebrated the moment with a T-shirt documenting his 2016, 2018 and 2019 titles. The front of the T-shirt had three photos of Scott with three championship rings superimposed over his body. The back of the shirt read: “The first to ever do it!”

“It’s really a blessing,” Scott said after the game. He finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds despite playing with foul trouble. “This one is more special, probably because I’m the first person at Blanche Ely to get three.”

Blanche Ely nearly didn’t make it there when they erased a 15-point halftime lead against Windermere in the semifinals to win 56-54. Hazelton had 14 points and 8 rebounds in the win, while Tyrecke Francois had 12 points in the win.

“Like I always say, it’s a blessing. I’m a very, very blessed man,” said Ely coach Melvin Randall, who has won seven of the Tigers’ eight titles. Wade Edmond won the other one in 1993.

“I know how hard I work,” added Randall, who also won titles at Deerfield Beach in 1997 and 1999. “I know how hard I work these kids, and they stepped [up] to the challenge. And they’re the ones that really, really deserve this moment.”

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line becomes home run sponsor

The Deerfield Beach-based Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line has partnered with Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium to offer a fan a chance at a two-night cruise during Miami Marlins Spring training games in addition to the Florida State League’s Jupiter Hammerheads and Palm Beach Cardinals play their regular season at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium April through September.

“We are thrilled to bring the excitement of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line to thousands of baseball fans at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium during both Major League Spring Training and the Minor League regular season,” said Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line CEO Oneil Khosa. “This partnership solidifies our commitment to show locals and visitors everything Palm Beach County has to offer. You can go from a fun ball game to a quick getaway on a whim.”

Every time the home team hits a home run, the unmistakable Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line horn will sound, images of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s ships will display on the 35-foot Jumbotron and one lucky fan will have the chance to win a Bahamas Paradise cruise courtesy of the cruise line. 

“We are very excited to start a new partnership with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line,” said Mike Bauer, general manager of Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. “They provide a first-class experience and we cannot wait to introduce our fans to their gorgeous ships and vacation packages.”

By Gary Curreri

Blanche Ely girls basketball coach James Polk always believed in his team and that belief is paying dividends as the march into the postseason.

With a 58-26 district semifinal win over Ft. Lauderdale, Blanche Ely (20-7) moved into the District 14-8A championship game on Thursday at 7 p.m. against St. Thomas Aquinas. The Tigers dropped both meetings against St. Thomas this season falling 66-61 and 70-64.

“We are young,” Polk said. “I’ve got freshmen on the floor, sophomores on the floor and juniors on the floor. We try to learn and grow from our close games and our losses.”

“We expected to be fighting for the district championship,” Polk added. “Our goal this year was to represent Class 8A in Lakeland this year. We talked about being a team and goal as a team means ‘Together Everyone Achieves More.’ We are no longer a family because a family looks for favors and we are talking about being a team this year.”

Blanche Ely has gotten stellar play from Ja’Leah Williams, 5-ft., 9-in. sophomore shooting guard. Williams is averaging a team-high 21.5 points per game along with 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3 steals per game.

Williams, 16, of Pompano Beach, said the team lost some size from last year’s squad, but that wasn’t going to stop them. She compared her team to the boys teams that have won multiple state championships.

“I asked the team, ‘don’t you want to be like the boys?’” Williams asked. “I try and motivate them. We want to go to Lakeland just like them. We have to work hard just to get there too. I want to be there with them. Having fun with family and friends.”

Williams, who averaged 18.5 points last season, said basketball is important to her even though she only started playing at age 12.

“It means a lot to me,” Williams said. “Even though some girls started playing at a young age, I ran track and I never knew I was going to be this good at basketball. I think I realized I was going to be good when I tried out for my middle school team and made it. Not only did I make it, but I started as a 6th grader. We won the championship in my 8th grade year at Pompano Beach Middle School. I am going to make a championship happen again this year. I think there is a big difference in this year’s team. We are very small, but we are running more.”

Polk said during the season that there was still room to grow and they were maturing. The team has outscored the opposition, 1,677-1,220.

“I felt that we had opportunities to do some better things,” Polk said. “We had to learn how to play more of a possession game. We also had to learn how to secure the ball and take care of the ball. That was the major thing. I think we are also very aggressive defensively.”

In addition to Williams, Polk said others who have contributed heavily include junior JaNiyah Moore, sophomore Mikhia Lumsdon and freshman Breanna Gustave.

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach football coach Jevon Glenn was so confident that his team would defeat host Piper for a fourth consecutive district championship, he opted to hold out quarterback Derohn King after he was injured on the Bucks’ first offensive play of the game.

King, a junior, who transferred from Piper before the season, injured his throwing shoulder on the first offensive play for the Bucks in the game, and came out of the game after a 56-yard TD pass to Donte Banton one play later and did not return.

“With Derohn going out early, it made us change our game plan a little bit, but we just wanted to hit them in the mouth and impose our will on them,” said Scott, whose team defeated Piper, 35-0 for the District 11-8A championship. The Bucks finished the regular season with a 9-1 overall record and 5-0 mark in the district.

Glenn said King could have returned but opted to hold him out. King has 1,605 yds. passing and 21 TDs this season.

“Especially with a bye week coming up, we just wanted to make sure,” Scott continued. “We figured we could beat them without Derohn tonight. We want to err on the side of caution and make sure we gave him enough time to get it 100 percent. He could have gone back in. He threw at halftime, but it just wasn’t worth it.”

Enter Bucks senior quarterback Tyron Herring, who came on in relief of injured starter King, who threw for one score and ran in another in the victory. Herring finished 7 for 11 for 110 yds. and a 28-yd. scoring toss to Donte Banton in the blowout win.

His 1-yd. quarterback keeper with just 2 seconds left in the first half gave the Bucks a 14-0 halftime lead. The score capped a 10-play, 35-yd. drive that was set up by an interception by Javon Denis.

“We felt coming into the game after watching the film that this team (Piper) wasn’t on our level,” Scott added. “We just couldn’t give them anything. When we played St. Thomas (Aquinas, a 38-6 loss) we gave them a whole bunch. We came out the next weekend against Douglas and let that affect us. Last week, we got the ball back rolling against Monarch.”

Deerfield also got a strong performance on the ground by junior running back Jaylan Knighton, who finished the game with 20 carries for a game-high 136 yds. and added scoring runs of 10 and 13 yds. He has 1,593 yds. rushing and 22 TDs this season.

Knighton said he felt the pressure to contribute once king went out, but pointed to the scoreboard.

“Derohn going out hurt us,” said Knighton, who ran for 249 yds. on 11 carries and 4 TDs in a 42-0 win over Monarch the week before. “It really didn’t because the score was 35-zip. He went down the first drive and the main thing I wanted was this week for him to heal so he could come out strong for the playoffs.”

Piper (6-3, 4-1) fell for the eighth straight time to the Bucks dating back to 2011 and have been outscored by Deerfield Beach, 309-24, during that span. Piper hasn’t scored against Deerfield Beach since 2014 and has been shut out the past four years and the past 18 quarters.

Deerfield, which has outscored the opposition this season, (320-98 this season) won for the third straight game following its setback against St. Thomas Aquinas. The Bucks also snapped Piper’s modest three-game winning streak.

In 1979, the Bengals stunned the Bucks, 14-12, to win the school’s first district football championship, but there was no upset in the making last Friday for Piper, which last won a district title in 2001.

Now, the Bucks have the week off before opening the playoffs at home. It is a welcomed week of resting the players, according to Scott.

“We need it,” Scott said. “I was telling the guys before, we started working out Dec. 26 (last year) and we have been going strong ever since. We have a lot of nicks and bruises, but we have time to heal up. We are going to be very careful how we handle the bye week. We aren’t going to give them a lot of time off so we don’t lose our edge. We are going to sharpen some things with no pads and no contact. We are just going to keep our guys well rested.

Knighton also welcomes the rest this week.

“We need to come to school every day,” Knighton said. “We have to make sure we get recovered, get film and hydrate, and make sure everything is straight so, when playoffs come, we come (out) strong.

“The St. Thomas loss affected us bad, but we didn’t let it hurt us too bad so we could focus on the following week,” Knighton added. “We can really stay on that loss. We got over it and we have stayed strong throughout the week.”

By Gary Curreri

Host Deerfield Beach rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to pull out a 10-9 victory over Ft. Lauderdale and capture the District 10 Little League Junior Division Championship last week.

The Deerfield Beach Mets started their comeback with two runs in the bottom of the third and added four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-5 lead as Lorenzo Feliciano, Brock Buerosse, and Janelle Calvet all contributed in the big inning with RBIs.

After Deerfield added another run in the bottom of the fifth, Ft. Lauderdale rallied to take a 9-7 lead in the top of the six with four runs. Undaunted, the Mets pulled ahead for good, scoring three runs of their own and Feliciano broke the 9-9 deadlock with a fielder’s choice that scored Maxwell Thompson from third with what proved to be the winning run.

“It’s my first championship and it is really cool,” said Deerfield Beach Little League Junior Division manager Jason Siracusa, who also took over this year as the league president. This is his third year as an All-Star manager.

“It was like a six day a week, seven day a week ordeal between coaching a team, running the league, and also coaching T-Ball, I was all over the place.”

“In the end, it was worth it,” Siracusa said. “We made a lot of changes to the league and the league is shaping up and ending the year with a championship is pretty special.”

Calvet, who went 3 for 4 at the plate and threw out a runner stealing second to get the first out in the top of the seventh (her cousin is Colin Calvet), plays on an all-girls travel baseball team in addition to the All-Stars. Buerosse had two hits and a walk for Deerfield Beach.

Keanu Siracusa went 4-1/3 innings and allowed five runs – just two earned – on two hits while striking out seven for the Mets. Gio Caffro and Neile Thomas came on in relief and closed the door on the Indians to win the championship.

Manager Siracusa said the Junior Division tournament featured teams from Deerfield Beach, Parkland, Coral Springs and Ft. Lauderdale. Deerfield Beach had 12 players on its roster but played the final with just nine players due to conflicts.

Deerfield Beach opened district play with a 1-0, extra-inning win over Ft. Lauderdale and then cruised past Coral Springs American, 12-2, before falling 7-4 to Ft. Lauderdale to set up the winner take all matchup last Friday night.

“We had better depth in pitching,” Siracusa said. “It was really an across the board team effort.”

“ We had a team of players that have played together for several years and they all back each other up,” Siracusa added. “They have a want-to-win mentality. We dominated the league this year going 13-1 with the only loss to Ft. Lauderdale 13-1. We outscored our opponents, 179-24. Our pitching super dominated everyone. Obviously, it can’t get any better than this. From here on, the rest is icing on the cake.”

Deerfield Beach will next play in the Sectional competition on July 20 in Tallahassee.

By Gary Curreri

Terry Denoma made the most of his recent “snowbird” visit to Pompano Beach.

Denoma recently won the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association Club Championship. The part-time Pompano, part-time Illinois resident is gaining ground on his wife Mimi, who won the Pompano Beach Women’s Golf Association Club Championship two years ago and finished second this year to Marianne Weber.

“I retired last year, so I usually spend about four months a year in Florida,” said the 69-year-old Denoma. “I got to meet so many nice guys. This was the first year I was in the league. My wife won it two years ago, so I had to do something. She’s the real golfer. I’m a hack. I just got in the right division.”

Denoma said winning the club championship was unexpected.

“I have always enjoyed match play versus stroke play,” Denoma said, “because I have too many bad holes and you just have to have the right holes in match play.”

Denoma started out the tournament in the C Class and shot 86-83 to win his division to advance to the championship round against the winners of the other classes (A, B, and D) and played in a one-day tournament where Denoma, and his 22-handicap, prevailed when he shot an 86.

“It was just a lot of fun,” Denoma said. “It was my first year, so I didn’t know what to expect. The starter Dennis told me I got a parking spot now. Do I really get a parking spot? I will have to look at that when I come back down.”

Denoma said he has played ever since he got out of college and believes after this season in the Pompano Men’s Golf Association that his handicap will drop to about a 17.

“The thing I will remember most is when you are on 18 and there is water on the left and the other guy is right down the middle,” he said. “You hit and hope that you stay in the fairway and that you can bogey the last hole and try to win it.”

Denoma parred the final hole and wound up winning by three strokes.

“I’m a competitor and I always played sports,” Denoma continued. “I think that is why we all play golf because we can still compete at it, even at an advanced age. I am going to try and get better. That is the one thing about golf, you always look for the next shot or the next day. My goal is to beat my wife sometime.

“I don’t think it is going to happen,” he continued. “She is like a 10 handicap and my son is a four, so I stay away from him. I also have to thank Deborah Brown for all of the time she puts into organizing this and stroking all of our egos. She puts a lot of hours in.”

What’s next up for Denoma, who admittedly said he isn’t as good of a golfer as his wife?

“I have one hole-in-one, and my wife has three,” he said. “I guess I am going to be chasing her there too.”

By Gary Curreri

Marianne Weber fired a three-day total of 249 to win the Pompano Beach Women’s Golf Association Club Championship. Weber won the 3-day Low Gross tournament that was played Jan. 23, 25 and 26 defeating last year’s club champion, Mimi Denoma, by 13 strokes.

Nancy Rack won the B Flight with a 264 total, while Janet Tomchik shot 270 to finish as runner-up. In the C Flight, Vonnie O’Keefe (279) edged runner-up Kathy Dunn (289) for top honors. Alberta Bove carded a 316 to win the D Flight over Roseanna Nixon, who finished with a 321.

Charity beach volleyball event set

The Embrace Life Children’s Foundation has teamed up with Dig the Beach Volleyball to host a charity beach volleyball Pro/Am Tournament slated for next weekend on Deerfield Beach. Proceeds are going to the Salah Children’s Hospital at Broward Health.

The event, to be held on Feb. 10-11, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. will feature two days of competition. Saturday will include Men’s/Women’s Doubles for both professional and amateur players, while Sunday will include Junior Boys/Girls 12-18 and Co-Ed Doubles. The event will be held at 310 N. Ocean Blvd.

Several community sponsors have already joined, including Jersey Mike’s Subs and Harmless Harvest Coconut Water, who will feed and hydrate the players on Saturday. Other local businesses supporting the event are Rox Volleyball as a Title Sponsor, Pediatrix, Island Water Sports, Hypower Electric and International Union of Police Associations. Registration deadline is Feb. 9.

For player and sponsor information, visit www.embracelifechildrensfoundation.com or call Ben Koos at 954-608-2779.

Dillard tops Ely in 4-0 thriller

Dillard’s Bryce Oliver scored a game-high 25 points, including a key free throw down the stretch to help the Panthers escape with a 78-72 victory in four overtimes over visiting Blanche Ely.

Oliver scored all of his points in the second half and overtime as the Panthers improved to 9-7.

Deshawn Bartley had two free throws with 2:39 remaining in the final overtime to give the Panthers a 73-70 lead that it never relinquished. Bartley, who had seven points in the four overtimes, finished with 22 points, while teammate Seth Coddington chipped in with 11 points.

Blanche Ely guard Michael Forrest buried a 3-pointer at buzzer for a 39-36 lead heading into what was expected in the fourth and final quarter of the game. He scored 16 of his team’s final 18 points in regulation and finished with 22 points after going scoreless in the first half.

The Tigers (15-7) also got strong performances from Joshua Scott (20 points) and Calvin McCutcheon had 19 points.

By Gary Curreri

Lighthouse Point’s Kevin Mendez is looking for a repeat performance at state.

After sitting out the beginning of this season with an injury, it appears that the eighth-grader at Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale is prepared to defend his Class 1A state diving championship.

Mendez, 14, recently showed he is going to be a state contender after winning the boys 1-meter diving title at the 54th annual Woodson Invitational at the Pine Crest School pool with a total score of 497.95 after sitting the first six weeks of the season with a broken thumb.

“This helps a lot confidence-wise because I had the broken thumb and just came back (from the injury,” said Mendez, who had three top 8 finishes, including second in the 1-meter diving event at the national championships this summer, despite a fractured finger. I have only been diving four days, so to do this well was unexpected. It will boost my confidence a lot. I was pretty happy.”

His efforts helped Pine Crest take second in the team race with 229 points at the meet. Perennial Class 1A state champion Jacksonville Bolles, winners of 26 consecutive state titles, won both the boys’ and girls’ titles.

Mendez is hopeful of retaining his gold medal at the state meet at the Sailfish Splash Waterpark, Aquatic Athletics Center in Stuart on Nov. 4.

“There is zero pressure on me to win a state title because it is unexpected being young,” Mendez said. “Nobody expects you to win, so you just go in there and do your thing. I am used to it.

“I have won a couple of national championships so I am used to the pressure,” Mendez continued. “I would say my favorite board (event) is the 1-meter.”

He got his start in diving when he was taking swimming lessons, spotted the diving board and asked if he could give it a whirl. It was 10 years ago, and Mendez said he has loved diving ever since.

“You just adapt to it,” Mendez said. “It is kind of scary at first. Like anything, the more you do it, the more you get used to it.”

Since he won the high school title last year, he knows what to expect.

 “I think I have a chance of winning states again,” Mendez said. “I am going to try my best and do my best. I think I have a good shot.”

Bucks cruise past Taravella

Deerfield Beach High School’s football team grounded out an easy 50-6 victory over visiting Taravella last week. 

The Bucks totaled 507 yards rushing, with three players running for more than 125 yards each – Jakari Norwood (141 yards and two TDs), Jerome Neal (140 yards, TD) and Jaylan Knighton (125 yards). The Bucks (3-1) travel to St. Thomas Aquinas this Friday for a huge non-district game.

Tigers tamed in defeat

Auburn commit Shaun Shivers rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half, to lead Chaminade-Madonna to a 44-0 win over Blanche Ely in a non-district game, Monday at Blanche Ely.

Shivers scored on two of his five carries for the game with scoring runs of 79 and 55 yards. Quarterback Daelen Menard also accounted for a pair of scores, finishing 4 of 6 for 123 yards. The Lions (3-2) scored on their first three possessions, with their first two scoring drives taking just one play each.

Blanche Ely slipped to 2-3 with the loss.

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach Middle School girls basketball coach Brittany Harvard knows firsthand what it means to put together a perfect season and in the process be MVP for county champion.

Harvard recently guided her team to a 14-0 season and the Broward County Middle School championship with a convincing 65-29 victory over Pembroke Pines Charter at Stranahan High School.

It was a sense of déjà vu for Harvard who was MVP in 2003 for the Bengals when they finished 13-0 and won the county championship.

“The focus level was unbelievable,” said Harvard, who went on to star at Blanche Ely High School and then play at Benedict College in Colombia, SC. “To see a middle school team focus like that was unbelievable. The year we won, the whole team wasn’t focused – maybe a couple, maybe the starting five. To have a strong 10 girls just lock in and focus on one goal, it was amazing.”

Bengals eighth-grader Ja’Leah Williams scored a game-high 34 points as Pompano Beach handed Pembroke Pines Charter its only loss of the season in 14 games.

Along the way, Pompano Beach abruptly halted two-time defending county champion Dillard Middle School’s 41-game win streak in the semifinals, 60-17. Dillard had lost just once to Westglades in the county semifinals the year the school opened three years ago. They are 53-2 during that span. The victory over Dillard this year avenged a 33-32 setback in last year’s semifinals that ended Pompano’s season.

Pompano Beach lost to William Dandy three years ago in the second round of the playoffs and is 37-2 during that span.

“We beat Dillard this year so they knew how we felt last year, but worse,” said Williams, 14, of Pompano Beach, who has been on the team all three years. She averaged 36 points a game this year.

“We were thinking about that one point loss all season, since the first practice,” said Williams, who averaged 36 points a game this year. “At the beginning of the championship game I knew we had it. We had more skill than they did.”

Williams scored five of her game-high 34 points in the first quarter and dropped in another 13 in the second quarter as the Bengals led 33-12 in the title game. Williams added nine in the third and seven in the final quarter to earn MVP honors for the game. She also dished out five assists, had six steals and five rebounds in the contest.

Bengals’ eighth-grader Mikihia Lumsdon and seventh grader Mya Kone each added 10 points, while seventh graders Michiyah Simmons and Zaria Blake had 6 and 4 points, respectively.

Pompano Beach also went 12-0 in 1993, this season marking the third time in school history that they were perfect.

“The one thing that stood out was their dedication and their working hard,” Harvard said as she reflected on the season. “They were always determined to learn, even what they already knew. They stayed determined to work on their craft – both strengths and weaknesses – from the time we lost last year all the way up to now.”

By Sandy Johnson

The Allianz Champions Golf Tournament is returning to the Old Course at Broken Sound Country Club from Feb. 1 to 7.

Imagine people all over the world, shivering in the winter cold, tuning in to the Golf Channel and watching beautiful, sunny, warm South Florida!

This annual event is enjoyed by many and has a major impact on our local area. Last year alone, they contributed over $600,000 to local charities, including Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Junior Achievement and many others. The estimated effect on our local economy is $29 million for the week’s events.

The activities begin on Monday, Feb. 1 with a women’s event hosted by PGA Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam. The actual tournament runs from Friday at 10 a.m. through Sunday starting at 9 a.m. (Earlier Sunday start so that everything will be buttoned up by 3 or 4 o’clock in time for the Super Bowl!) Admission is free Monday through Thursday for practice rounds and Pro-Am and is free for the entire weekend for those under 17 and over 70.

Last year’s champion, Paul Goydos, returned last week for media day and talked at length about his win. It was his first tournament as a senior, as he had just turned 50. He said that he was here for just one week, but the tournament organizers and the Broken Sound people worked the other 51 weeks to make everything so perfect for players and spectators.

The PGA Tour, both the regular and the championship, has contributed over $120 million to charity! Think about the fact that there are no team owners to take a lion’s share of the profits. The money goes to the golfers with a huge amount going right back to the community charities in all the local venues!

For more information and full schedule of events, go to www.allianzchampionship.com.