By Gary Curreri

All summer long, the Miami Dolphins have hosted high school and youth teams from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties at the team’s training camp practices.

The Pompano Beach High School football team was the latest program to take part in the team visits, along with the Miami Beach Junior Hi-Tides of the Youth Academic Sports League (YASL) football teams.

Both teams were given a tour of the Baptist Health Training Facility at Nova Southeastern University in Davie and heard about the importance of proper fuel and nutrition from Food Group Management Director of Dining Services Meghan Kelly.

The athletes also had the opportunity to watch the Dolphins practice and meet with current players on the field. Following practice, the athletes had lunch provided by Publix.

“This is a great opportunity for kids that normally don’t get this opportunity to be here,” said Pompano Beach High School head football coach Melvin Jones. “We’ve been very blessed by the Dolphins organization and we’re very appreciative to come out and enjoy practice.

“The kids learned a lot,” Jones added. “They learned to definitely put fuel in their bodies. To hear it from the professionals and guys that do it at the highest level, now it’s sinking in that taking care of your body is very important.”

Earlier this summer, the Miami Dolphins surprised the Tornadoes with new football equipment for its program.

Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Vincent Taylor was on-hand for the surprise. They donated equipment included Dolphins branded shirts, Gatorade coolers, blocking shields, medicine balls and cleats.

The Miami Dolphins organization has made it their mission to introduce the game to the grassroots of South Florida as part of its commitment to the development of high school and youth football. The Dolphins will host 27 high school and youth teams from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties at the team’s training camp practices.

The team visits, initiated by Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, are a targeted effort to recognize, inspire and increase football participation through personal connections centered on the positive character building aspects of playing the game.

The Junior Dolphins program encourages youth players and coaches to teach, learn and play football in a fun and safe environment.

The Junior Dolphins program is designed to give kids access to learn the fundamentals of football using the NFL’s top resources. To grow the game, the Junior Dolphins program will work to educate coaches, parents, and youth on the health and safety of football with a strong emphasis on character development. Junior Dolphins is building the next generation of Dolphins fans.

Blanche Ely High School was also among the teams that participated in a visit to the Dolphins training facility.

Trio wins golf tournament

The team of Al DiBenedetto, Roy Wilhoite and Don Worrell won the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association’s One Best Ball of a Threesome tournament on the Pines Course at Pompano Municipal Golf Course on Aug. 15.

Winning a tiebreaker for second place was Jim Blake, Bob Mascatello and Dennis Sejda, who shot a 56 and won by a match of cards.

Jim DeCicco won the closest to the pin contest on the third hole when he hit within 10 ft., 5 in.

By Gary Curreri

The Pompano Beach Eagles are looking to make a big splash in their first year in the American Youth Football League (AYFL).

Dean Grant, head coach of the 11-Under Pompano Eagles team, is in his first season with the program after moving cross town from the Tamarac Cougars AYFL program.

“This season is a special season because we have the right players, and the right coaches,” Grant said. “They are fired up and I think they can make it to the big game – the Super Bowl.”

“I understand the type of talent in the AYFL,” Grant said. “We plan to not just take part in it, but take over it.”

Players can be a year older than the age group they are playing in as long as their birthday comes after May 1 of the season.

Pompano Beach’s Gabby Almonord, 12, scored on a 63-yard scoring run against the host Delray Rocks in an 11-Under scrimmage game at Hilltopper Stadium in Delray Beach. The teams played to a 6-6 tie.

“It is a lot of fun,” said Almonord, a Deerfield Middle seventh-grader. “I like to play with Devin (Voltaire) and everybody else on the team. I like the coaches and I played with a lot of people before. The coaches help me a lot.”

Voltaire, 12, also of Pompano Beach, is a Margate Middle sixth grader.

“This is really big for me,” Voltaire said. “I like the coaches and the kids. They listen to me because I am a leader. We got to keep our heads up so other players can follow us. If we keep our heads up we can win a lot of games.”

Grant said he doesn’t believe there is any pressure on his team, quite the contrary.

“Pressure makes diamonds,” Grant said.

“We started off real, real slow,” Grant said. “We barely had enough kids to make our roster, but we had a good coaching staff that showed up every day to practice on time, waiting on kids. We got with the parents and we were able to put it together. The parents had to buy into what we were doing and they are buying in, so the sky is the limit. With a little tuning and touching up here and there between the coaches and the players, we will make the big game.”

Grant sees similarities with the National Football League’s version of the Eagles. Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl in February.

“It is the year of the Eagles,” Grant proclaimed. “I believe it with everything I love. I just hope that what we started off here will humble these kids to push themselves even harder at practice and we come out in the first game of the season and put a beating on Cooper City (Colts).”

The Pompano Eagles have a storied history in the city of Pompano Beach having produced All Pro NFL stars like Corey Simon (Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans), Jabari Price (Minnesota Vikings), Patrick Peterson (Arizona Cardinals) and also have helped groom many other successful players.

The Pompano Eagles produced the Super Bowl Champions Junior Mighty Mites and Senior Mighty Mites Teams in 2017 in the Pop Warner League and plan on sending more teams to the AYFL Super Bowl in 2018.

Other teams in the Broward County-based league include the Colts (Cooper City/Davie), Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Hollywood PAL, Lauderhill, Miramar, Plantation, Pompano, Pembroke Pines Optimist, Sunrise, Tamarac, and West Pines.

The Eagles begin play on Aug. 11 when they travel to Cooper City and will play a 10-game season followed by playoffs. The Top-8 teams in each division will advance to the playoffs, which will begin on Oct. 27. The second round will be played on Nov. 3 and the Super Bowl will be played on Nov. 10.

By Gary Curreri

The Deerfield Little League Junior Division Mets squad finished runner-up in the state tournament in Tallahassee.

The local squad opened with a 7-0 loss against the South Beaches and needed to win both games of a doubleheader to reach the title game.

“My pre-game pep talk was focused, not on the failures of our last game, but on reminding the team how we got here, how well we played all season, how we crushed most of our opponents, and how much fun we had along the way,” said Deerfield Beach manager Jason Siracusa, who is also the president of the Deerfield Beach Little League. “Once I started seeing the smiles slowly appearing on their faces, I knew we were going to have a good day.”

Deerfield Beach responded following a five-hour rain delay with a 2-0 win over the defending state champion South Fort Myers team behind RBIs from Sanders Chartier and Keanu Siracusa and a 12-8 victory over South Lakes to advance to the title game.

“We opened up a lead against South Lakes and although our pitchers began to struggle and gave up the lead we didn’t panic because we knew we had the momentum,” Siracusa said. “We were hitting really well so my confidence in our team was high. We took the lead back for good and after 13 hours of warm up, play, rain delays and more play this group of kids left the field tired, wet and muddy with a pair of wins and a trip to the championship game.”

Chartier had 2 hits and 3 RBIs, and Thomas had 2 hits and 2 RBIs, while Brock Buerosse had 2 RBIs. Lorenzo Feliciano, Keanu Siracusa, Dawson Lallance, Maxwell Thomson and Janelle Calvet each had an RBI as well. Gio Caffro, Lallance, Thomson, Calvet, and Kyle Adams each were outstanding on the mound for the Mets during the tournament.

Deerfield Beach then ran into juggernaut Inverness, who took apart the local team in an 18-0 win. It was the fourth straight double-digit win by Inverness in the tournament. In fact, Inverness won all three games in their pool and the championship without giving up a single run.

The lone bright spot for the Mets in the title game was a single by Thomas in the second inning.

“Unfortunately, it seems that, for the championship game, these kids were simply worn out,” Siracusa added. “We struggled in the field and at the plate and just couldn’t catch up to Inverness who had a very impressive team.”

Siracusa also cited the performance of Feliciano, who was taken to the emergency room Friday morning due to complications from his diabetes and placed in intensive care before being released Saturday.

“Although we could see he was struggling, he played both games of the doubleheader, had a great night at the plate and in the outfield and even pitched in the championship game Sunday,” Siracusa said. “All heart, he looked tired and worn out, but there was no way he was sitting this out. He’s a warrior.”

Former Ely great— Moss passes away

The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled that former star Blanche Ely running back Tyrone Moss died from heart failure last week.

Moss, who also starred at the University of Miami, died at the age of 33. The report from the medical examiner said Moss had hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity, and was admitted July 23 to Memorial Hospital West for a procedure for his heart.

Moss also had congestive heart failure and while he was at the Pembroke Pines Hospital, a cardiac catheter was inserted on July 25. He was given a LifeVest, an external defibrillator that can detect irregular heartbeats and provide a shock to the patient.

The report said as Moss was leaving the hospital and waiting for his ride the night of July 26, he passed out. He was brought into the emergency room where he had a “cardiac event” and hospital staff was unable to revive him.

The 2003 Blanche Ely graduate rushed for a Broward County record 7,105 yards during his high school career and led the Tigers to a state title in his junior year.

Moss went on to star for the Hurricanes in college from 2003-2006, where he had seven 100-yard games, putting him 10th on the team’s all-time list.

By Gary Curreri

The Miami Dolphins recently surprised the Pompano Beach High School football team with new equipment for its program. Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Vincent Taylor was on-hand for the surprise. They donated equipment, including Dolphins branded shirts, Gatorade coolers, blocking shields, medicine balls and cleats.

“It was an honor to give the kids equipment they didn’t have, even if it was a pair of cleats,” Taylor said. “I remember being in their same shoes and getting a pair of cleats from somebody just made me want to play harder.”

The team also had the opportunity to hear from Dolphins alum and Youth Programs Ambassador Twan Russell about perseverance and the importance of teamwork.

“It was a great message,” Taylor said of Russell’s speech to the team. “He said some important stuff and one of the things that caught my attention like attitude … things may not always be right, so you have to have a positive attitude.”

“It was amazing to have the Miami Dolphins organization come out and donate and talk to the team,” Pompano Beach High School Head Football Coach Melvin Jones said. “It scratches things off our list that we need to get so we can fundraise for some other things to look good. We’re thankful and truly blessed and everything is going to go a long way.”

This is the second Junior Dolphins Equipment Donation this year. The Dolphins also made a similar donation to Miramar High School in May.

The Junior Dolphins program encourages youth players and coaches to learn, teach and play football in a fun and safe environment. The program is designed to give kids access to learn the fundamentals of football using the NFL’s top resources. To grow the game, the program will work to educate coaches, parents and youth on the health and safety of football with a strong emphasis on character development.

Simply soccer camps wrapping up

Area residents are encouraged to attend the Simply Soccer camp, which has two weeks remaining in its 30th year of soccer camps for children 5-15 in nearby Coral Springs.

There are three sessions each day ranging from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; extended hours camp is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a Tiny Tot program for kids ages 5 and 6 is from 9 a.m. to noon. Full day campers must bring a soccer ball, swimsuit, shin guards, water bottle and lunch. You do not have to be a city resident to attend. The remaining dates are July 30-Aug. 3, Aug. 6-10. You can register daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Coral Springs Gymnasium, 2501 Coral Springs Dr,. Coral Springs. For information on the camp call 954-345-2200.

By Gary Curreri

For two solid weeks, the Highlands Christian Academy basketball camp attracted 40 campers to take part in not only learning how to play the sport but also learn life lessons.

“I am always grateful and excited that we are able to offer basketball camp here at HCA,” said HCA Boys basketball coach and school athletic director Jim Good, who has worked the camp personally for 21 years. “It is by far our most successful athletic camp we do in the summer.”

Reg Cook, the school’s former AD and Boys Varsity basketball coach, started the camp in 1986 with 19 campers in attendance. The first week of the camp consisted of children in the 7th-12th grades, while the second week consisted of 2nd-6th graders. Both sessions attracted approximately 40 campers each.

“I am extremely thankful for our coaches who do a tremendous job leading, working stations, sharing devotions and officiating games,” Good said.

This year’s staff included several of the HCA Basketball coaches: Luke Still (Boys JV), Josh Good (Boys JH), Jeff Sullivan (Boys 6th grade), John Wilson (Former Girls Varsity who is at Charlotte Christian now) and Kayla Lassen (HCA alumnus who is attending Liberty University).

Special guests, including Andrew Smith and Tomasz Gielo, would lead some drills in the morning. Smith graduated from HCA in 2011 and helped lead the Knights to back-to-back District Championships in his junior and senior years. The former first-team All-County selection played four years in the Big South at Liberty University and just finished up his third season playing overseas, including professional stints in Latvia, Netherlands, and just recently in Germany.

Tomasz was a teammate of Smith’s while at Liberty but transferred his senior year and finished playing his college ball at Mississippi. He has been playing professionally in Spain the last two years. Tomasz is originally from Poland and is representing his country this summer by playing for the Polish National team.

“It was great having these two young men give back to these kids,” Good said. “They were given a 45-minute time slot of leading some offensively minded drills they have incorporated while playing in college or overseas. The campers had a tremendous amount of respect and ‘awe’ in having them part of our camp this summer.”

The typical morning included a devotion from one of the coaches as they shared a spiritual truth for the day. They then focused the entire group on warm-up runs, dribbling, ball-handling and stretching.

Each morning, the campers performed several speed and agility drills led by the coaches in a station format. The group was then divided up to work on individual skill and development with lay-ups, cone drills, and shooting.

Each day, a specific skill was broken down for the campers to focus on and, every day, the campers competed in a different trophy competition which included: one on one, two on two, free throws, and hot shots.

“Lunch was off campus at Chick-Fil-A, Wendy’s, and CiCi’s Pizza and we are extremely grateful for our relationship with these organizations and the support they have for HCA Athletics,” Good said.

The afternoon consisted of full court five on five games. Hours for the camp were 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and will be offered again next June.

Other camps coming up at HCA are softball, track and field, indoor soccer, golf and volleyball. For more information, visit the website at www.highlandsknights.org.

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

Deerfield Beach’s Jim Eddy doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Eddy, 52, who plays shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals team, is a perennial Liberty Hardball Coral Springs Men’s Baseball League all-star and has been a member of the team for about a decade. Eddy is hitting .437 with two home runs, seven RBI’s and 14 runs scored.

“One time a week is all I can get and that is all I need,” said Eddy, who is an athletic trainer at Highlands Christian Academy in Pompano Beach. “I still go to tournaments and stuff, but I still love playing ball and I still can. That’s the key. I am still healthy and able to run and throw and all of that stuff.”

Eddy has played in the league for nine years.

“I don’t feel it (being sore) after playing on a Sunday morning unless it is really hot or a game with 20 runs and you are running a lot,” Eddy said. “I probably get more sore lifting weights.”

If the St. Louis Cardinals are going to win a sixth straight baseball championship, and eighth in the past 10 years, they will have their work cut out for them. The defending league champions struggled out of the gate, starting off with a 3-3 record, but have since caught fire winning four consecutive games to move to a league-best 7-3 record. They have outscored the opposition 85-37 on the season. The league has made a few subtle changes to the rules and one in particular has stymied the team in the early going.

“They went to a wood bat league,” said Cardinals manager Jeff Young. “We used to average 30 home runs a season and that is going to be way down this year. Another thing they did was allow up to five players under the age of 28 per team. They allowed three players under 28 last season.”

The Cards return most of their core players from their title years. The team started their championship run in 2009 and then in 2011. The Cards then began their streak of five in a row in 2013 and haven’t tasted defeat in the league championships since.

Crockett camp moved to July 7

Zack and Henri Crockett will host their 13thannual football and cheerleading camp a little later than usual. The free camp was originally slated for this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Mitchell Moore Center, 901 NW 10 St. in Pompano Beach. The field is not ready yet, so the event has been moved to July 7.

Henri Crockett, 43, who played linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings, along with his brother Zachary, 45, a former fullback for the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys, are expecting between 300 and 400 local children to attend.

Both men grew up in Pompano Beach, and graduated from Blanche Ely High School, before they both played at Florida State University in their path to the NFL.

The free clinic is designed to introduce children, ages 4-16, to football by teaching basic skills in a fun and energetic environment and is supported through a grant from the NFL Foundation. The camp includes T-Shirts and autograph signings from the professional athletes.

By Gary Curreri

Melcher Feliciano Jr. said the key to winning games in the District 10 Little League baseball playoffs is how you fare on the mound.

“You have to have five to seven pitchers,” said Feliciano Jr., who is the manager of the Deerfield Beach Little League Senior All-Star team. “Most of the guys can play all of the positions, but it’s very tough if you don’t have a lot of pitchers and catchers. It comes down to pitching.”

Deerfield Beach opened the Senior Division playoffs with an 8-1 setback against host North Springs Little League at North Community Park in Coral Springs. Shane Garner scored the lone run off a base hit from Anthony Davilla. North Springs won the United States National Championship last year in the Senior Division.

Feliciano Jr., who coached the Deerfield Beach Little League 50/70 team last year, said there is an adjustment between coaching the younger players and the Senior Division squad.

The Deerfield Beach Little League program features a little more than a dozen teams and just two teams in the Senior Division. In addition to playing each other, they also played against other area programs.

“Obviously we are trying to get a win in every game we play,” Feliciano Jr. said. There are five teams from the local league playing in the All-Star competition in the various divisions. “We spend a lot of time at practice working on communication and other things. Sometimes it’s very difficult because the kids can’t make the practice or something comes up at the last minute. We ended our season just one week before the All-Stars and that is a lot to go through in a week.”

Feliciano Jr. said they selected the best players from the two Senior Division teams in the Deerfield Beach Little League.

“The best ones make the cut,” Feliciano Jr. said. “We are trying to win the whole series and go to sectionals and make it to states.”

Feliciano Jr. said the speed of the game is a little quicker with the 50/70s because the bases are closer and the mound is closer.

“The ball comes faster to you in the field and the pitches are faster and you have to adjust to that,” Feliciano Jr. said. “With the Senior Division, the ball is pitched faster than the 50/70s, so I will throw mostly fastballs when I pitch batting practice. I will also hit the ball harder to the infield. We will also go (practice) four times a week.”

He said he would push the 50/70s as well.

“Sometimes I try and push them a little harder,” Feliciano Jr. said. “You can’t baby them. They get that feeling when they get to the next level, I don’t want them to crash and say, ‘I can’t do this anymore because it is too hard or too fast for me.’ I try and do the same thing with the seniors, the same method, and make it competitive.”

When Feliciano Jr. and his squad walked in the gate at North Community Park, they passed the national championship banner from 2017. He said it was not intimidating.

“This is a challenge for us,” Feliciano Jr. said. “I liked the kids’ attitude, work ethic and how they treat their teammates. They show good sportsmanship. There is nothing negative, and everything is positive.”

By Gary Curreri

While this year’s senior class at Highlands Christian Academy may have been small in numbers, it didn’t lack for outstanding young student-athletes.

“It was one of our finest (signing classes),” said Highlands Christian Academy Athletic Director Jim Good. “It was one of our smaller classes as we graduated only 30, but a quality group of young people.”

Eight student-athletes are moving on to the next level and it is something that is not lost on Good, who is also the schools’ varsity basketball coach.

“As an Athletic Director, it’s always rewarding to see our high school kids get the opportunity to play at the next level,” Good said. “For many, it has been a dream since they were younger to continue playing the sport they love at the college level.

“I know that our coaching staff stresses the importance of using their talents to honor and glorify Christ while competing,” Good added, “Years of hard work, effort, and persistence pays off and its always exciting to see the pride and joy in the parents eyes as they sign their name on that letter of intent.”

Good said this year’s graduating class truly exemplified being a student-athlete.

“All eight of them excelled in the classroom as well as on the court or field,” Good said. “Many have been involved with earning top community hours and are the recipients of many class awards.”

Ryan Szklany and Matt Veynovich were among the student-athletes that excelled both on and off the field.

Szklany, who is headed to Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach where he will run cross country and track was the school’s 2018 Valedictorian.

He was also named first team All-County for his junior and season year for cross country and track. In addition to being named the Sun Sentinel Runner of the Year for cross country in his senior year, he was also the recipient of the 2018 Reg Cook Scholar-Athlete Award.

Szklany is considered a “Lifer” at HCA as he began in Kindergarten. He is planning to study Engineering.

Veynovich, who is headed to Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA, where he will play basketball, was the school’s Salutatorian.

Veynovich earned first Team All-State for the Sunshine State Athletic Conference and set the HCA career record for three pointers made in his career with 191. Veynovich is also a “Lifer” and started at the school in Kindergarten. He is planning on studying Psychology.

Other athletes from the 2018 senior class heading off to college include Erin Allen, volleyball, University of North Greenville in Greenville, SC; Sawyer Lawhon, basketball, Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota; Chad Allen, baseball, Keiser University in West Palm Beach; Giancarlo Edwards, baseball, Keiser University in West Palm Beach; Jurden D’Arnault, baseball, North Central Missouri College in Trenton, Missouri; and Richard Silva, soccer, Newbury College in Boston, MA.

By Gary Curreri

Zack and Henri Crockett will be back at it again on June 30 as they host their 13th annual football and cheerleading camp. The popular event will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Mitchell Moore Center, 901 NW 10 St. in Pompano Beach.

Henri Crockett, 43, who played linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings, along with his brother Zachary, 45, a former fullback for the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys, are expecting between 300 and 400 local children to attend. Both men grew up in Pompano Beach, and graduated from Blanche Ely High School, before they both played at Florida State University in their path to the NFL.

“It is important for us to give back to the community,” said Henri Crockett, the founder and president of the Crockett Foundation. “When you give back, it does something for your soul. It is important for us to come back and show these kids that we are human and there isn’t anything you can’t do.”

“It isn’t necessarily about making it to the NFL,” he continued. “It is about building lifelong relationships and how to work with people and learning how to get along with all different kinds of cultures. We go to the communities and try to build leaders one child at a time.”

The clinic is designed to introduce children, ages 4-16, to football by teaching basic skills in a fun and energetic environment and is supported through a grant from the NFL Foundation. The camp is free and includes T-Shirts and autograph signings from the professional athletes.

Some of the notable current and former professional athletes expected to attend are Al Harris, Jabari Price, Tyrone Carter, Walt McFadden, Rashard Robinson, J.T. Thompson, OJ Santiago and Eddie Jones (Heat). They are also trying to get former Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson along with some college players. Tony Sands will be running the timing stations.

Family Health & Community Fest

They also will hold The Family Health and Community Festival on Aug. 4 which is one of Broward County’s largest school-supply donation events. The festival is attended every year by more than 2,500 students and their families.

The Crockett Foundation’s Family and Health Community Festival provides backpacks, filled with school supplies, and shoes. It also offers free physical exams, free immunizations, and free haircuts — all in a progressive circuit-style setting. For more information, call Zeffery Clark at 954-773-5245.

Simply Soccer camps slated

Area residents are encouraged to attend the Simply Soccer camp, which is about to begin its 30th year of soccer camps for children 5-15 in nearby Coral Springs.

There are three sessions, each day ranging from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; extended hours camp is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a Tiny Tot program for kids ages 5 and 6 is from 9 a.m. to noon. Full day campers must bring a soccer ball, swimsuit, shin guards, water bottle and lunch. You do not have to be a city resident to attend.

The dates are: June 11-15; June 18-22; June 25-29; July 2-6; July 9-13; July 16-20; July 23-27; July 30-Aug. 3 and Aug. 6-10.

You can register daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Coral Springs Gymnasium, 2501 Coral Springs Dr., Coral Springs. For information on the camp, call 954-345-2200.