The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 13 No. 36 - July 3, 2013

sports

Center field gets facelift

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

scott dell | submitted

British Soccer Camp was a hit last week the Anna Maria
Island Community Center

The Anna Maria Island Community Center’s athletic fields received a much needed face lift this week. In the past year, the Center reported that it had 95 different athletic teams playing on their outside fields. The wear and tear of all the games, practices and recreational activity on the grass was severe.

Bermuda grass, which is what most athletic fields and golf courses in Florida use, only grows in the warmer months of the year. When the temperature falls below a constant 70 degrees the grass becomes dormant. The summer warmer months are the perfect time to replace, grow and mend the damage from all of the past activity.

Last week the Center hired Dieter’s Sod Company to prep the field and lay 6,200 square feet of Celebration Bermuda sod. It rolled out the grass like big rolls of carpet and leveled out the middle of the larger sports field with organic fill dirt.

Using the rolled sod will allow the grass root development and growth to accelerate. There will be less filling in of cracks and uneven playing surfaces. The fields will be closed at the Center until the Adult Flag Football begins on July 11. After that date, the fields will remain closed except for once a week for scheduled games.

The moist summer heat will help the grass grow and establish itself before the abundant play of another sports year. Large green space to play on is very hard to come by on the Island and the Center is doing all that it can to assure it stays green for another year.

British Invasion

The British are coming, the British are coming, and they left their unique brand of soccer. Nearly 20 children participated in the annual British invasion of the British Soccer camp at the Anna Maria Island Community Center.

Last week, instructors from the British Soccer Camp and Challenger Sports gave the children a high-level of coaching from a team of international experts. It is an annual camp that comes to the Island once a year, and the coaches are housed for the week and invited into the Island homes of parents.

The children learned exceptional soccer instruction, but equally important, they learned lessons in respect, responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and leadership.

One of the camper’s favorite drills was called Call of the Wildman. Named after the hit TV Show, kids would have to avoid being tagged by soccer balls when their animal name was called by the instructor and the distinct call of the Wildman cry.

Adult co-ed Flag Football

July 11, Thursday, 6 p.m., Jessie’s Island Store Jaguars vs. The Feast restaurant Falcons
July 11, Thursday, 7 p.m., Waterfront restaurant Raiders vs. Agnelli Pools & Spas Giants
July 11, Thursday, 8 p.m., Discount Signs & Wraps Seahawks vs. Sato Real Estate Browns
July 11, Thursday, 9 p.m., Slim’s Place Broncos vs. Beach to Bay Construction Dolphins

Adult co-ed Volleyball

July 9, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., Island Real Estate vs. Bowes Imaging Center
July 9, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Beach Bums vs. Salon Salon
July 9, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m., Southern Greens vs. Beach Bums

Youth Indoor Soccer

5-7-year-olds

July 10, Wednesday, 6 p.m., Miller Electric vs. Bowes Imaging Center
July 12, Friday, 6 p.m., Bowes Imaging Center vs. Miller Electric

8-10-year-olds

July 10, Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. – LPAC VS. Air & Energy
July 12, Friday, 7 p.m., Beach Bistro vs. LPAC
July 15, Monday, 6 p.m., Air & Energy vs. Beach Bistro

11-13-year-olds

July 10, Wednesday, 8 p.m., LPAC vs. Island Dental Spa
July 15, Monday, 7 p.m., Island Dental Spa vs. Eat Here
July 15, Monday, 8 p.m., LPAC vs. Bark & Company Realty, Inc.

 

Second book is for food-divided kitchens

My second “baby” was born. My book, “Kitchen Divided-Vegan Dishes for Semi-Vegan Households,” got shipped by publisher to all the usual distribution networks. It’s already off to a great start on Amazon, the numbers by which everything is measured. Like my first book, “Eat Vegan on $4 a Day,” my publisher says it takes several months to get distributed. If this book charts the same route, it will be winter when the radio interviews and national events kick in.

As I wrote in my first book, it’s more important to have a person who loves and respects you, than a clone at the dinner table. Many who know me here, know that my soul mate and dear hubby, Clarence, would sooner die than give up his steak. As you might imagine, I’ve tempted him with everything I can think of, including my good health.

But as I say in “Kitchen Divided,” you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Obviously, I’m trying a few other horses. Though I can’t help to believe that my cooking at least healthy side dishes, have had some influence on Clarence’s relatively good health. As I’ve written in the book (along with about 100 more of my fav recipes), I’d love it if he’d give up his steaks and statins for tabouli, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen.

Our eating difference is one small price to pay for having someone in your life who shares many other passions and never runs out of things to say at any meal. Anyone ever been in a bad marriage? Yeah. You know what I mean.

When people ask how I’ve done the mixed marriage, I go, “He does the plumbing and electrical. And much more. I do meals.” My book has several different arrangements as to how a mixed marriage of food choices can work. As I spoke to many audiences about “Eat Vegan,” as an aside, I started asking, “How many of you live in mixed marriages?” I was astounded by the number of people, sometimes almost an entire audience, who would raise their hands.

Ever since former president Bill Clinton went vegan, the thirst for vegan knowledge has not abated as more people see how relatively easily he lost weight and reversed his heart disease. “Kitchen Divided” attempts to bridge the gaps between those who have followed his path while leaving family and friends going, “What?”

In the meantime, I’m training like a wild woman at Manatee High School for the National Senior Games at the end of the month in Cleveland. I’ll be competing in all four events I qualified for at state – the 100, 200, 400 and 1500 meters. I was also told by a physical therapist this week that the legendary IMG Academy in Bradenton, known for branching out into many other sports besides its legacy of tennis, is building a state of the art track where the goal will be to attract world-class track meets.

Could I put in a word for just a few, little amateur adult track meets please? The closest I have to go, if I wanted to compete, is North Carolina.

My fav coach and Manatee High Girls’ Cross-Country & Track Team coach, Rae Ann Darling Reed, is training me for the games. She celebrated her 40th birthday this week and invited friends like me to help her celebrate as she tried to run 40 miles around Bradenton’s Robinson Preserve.

She made it until 30 when blisters and beginning heat exhaustion made her give in to the wisdom that only accumulating birthdays provid, the maturity to know when to quit. “Finish without injury,” has and will always be my mantra. She was and still is raising money on Active.com to donate to tornado and Boston Marathon victims.

Rae Ann was way harder on herself than any of us real and Facebook friends were. We were all totally blown away she could do 30 miles with a heat index of 97 degrees in summertime Florida. I only could run 6 miles and pooped at 8:30 a.m. Kudos to her for inspiring us many wannabes!

Also this week, runners were disparaging running with music after the reported late-night beating of a runner in GT Bray Park in Bradenton. I’ll write more about this later, but music, if used safely, can be a great motivator for many who would never run.

You can follow Island resident Ellen Jaffe Jones on her Facebook page and keep up with her just released book:,"Eat Vegan on $4 a Day," or her website: www.vegcoach.com. She is also a nationally certified personal trainer and running coach. For training in a gym or private hire, contact Ellen at ejones@vegcoach.com or 941-704-1025.


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