Island Real Estate’s volleyball victory

The Sun sports game of the week was the Anna Maria Island Community Center’s Adult co-ed volleyball matchup between the Island Real Estate team and the Salon Salon team.

Coming into the contest, Island Real Estate was still looking for its first win of the season. It won the match by taking the first two out of three games straight. It won the first game 25 to 18 and then also the second game by the same exact score. This was an important game in the standings and moved it into a tie for third place in the league with Salon Salon.

The team’s nickname is Matt’s Angels because the team Captain, Matt Ray, is the only male player on the team. His female teammates are MacKenzie and Mallory Kosfeld, Megan Ray and Heather Wilson.

Strong defense and backcourt play was the key to this victory. The net play at times helped, but strategic placement of the ball on offense and good team communication and cohesiveness where the keys.

The team is playing hard and it seems to have a lot of fun together. Now that the team has tasted victory, the rest of the league better look out. Win or lose, Matt’s Angels are having a good time and that is always a great attitude for success.

To view all of the adult sports leagues stats and standings, please visit www.amiccsports.com/AMICC/ or join the Community Center’s Facebook page.

Youth Indoor Soccer

(5-7-year-olds results
No games to report this week

8-10 year-olds results
LPAC  3
Beach Bistro  1

11-13 year-olds results
Eat Here  3
LPAC  2

Bark & Company Realty  6
Island Dental Spa  2

Youth Indoor Soccer Schedule

5-7-year-olds

Aug. 9, Friday, 6 p.m., Miller Electric vs. Bowes Imaging Center

Aug. 12, Monday, 6 p.m., Bowes Imaging Center vs. Miller Electric

8-10-year-olds

Aug. 7, Wednesday, 6 p.m., LPAC vs. Beach Bistro

Aug. 9, Friday, 7 p.m., Beach Bistro vs. Air & Energy

11-13-year-olds

Aug. 7, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Eat Here vs. LPAC

Aug. 7, Wednesday, 8 p.m., Island Dental Spa vs. Bark & Company Realty, Inc.

Aug. 12, Monday, 7 p.m., Eat Here vs. Bark & Company Realty, Inc.

Adult co-ed Flag Football Results

Jessie’s Island Store Jaguars  33
Beach to Bay Dolphins  25

Waterfront restaurant Raiders  32
The Feast restaurant Falcons  19

Slim’s Place Broncos  35
Discount Signs Seahawks  19

Sato Real Estate Browns  32
Agnelli Pools & Spa Giants  20

Discount Signs Seahawks  33
Agnelli Pools & Spa Giants  33
 Double OT Tie

Slim’s Place Broncos  45
The Feast restaurant Falcons  20

Waterfront restaurant Raiders  28
Jessie’s Island Store Jaguars  20

Adult co-ed Flag Football Schedule

Aug. 7, Wednesday, 6 p.m. , Agnelli Pools & Spas Giants vs. Jessie’s Island Store Jaguars

Aug. 7, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Waterfront restaurant Raiders vs. Slim’s Place Broncos

Aug. 7, Wednesday, 8 p.m., Beach to Bay Construction Dolphins vs. Discount Signs & Wraps Seahawks

Aug. 7, Wednesday, 9 p.m., Sato Real Estate Browns vs. The Feast restaurant Falcons

Aug. 8, Thursday, 6 p.m., Sato Real Estate Browns vs. Slim’s Place Broncos

Aug. 8, Thursday, 7 p.m., Beach to Bay Construction Dolphins vs. Discount Signs & Wraps Seahawks

Aug. 8, Thursday, 8 p.m., The Feast Restaurant Falcons vs. Agnelli Pools & Spas Giants

Aug. 8, Thursday, 9 p.m., Waterfront restaurant Raiders vs. Jessie’s Island Store Jaguars

Adult co-ed Volleyball Results

Beach Bums  25
Southern Greens  15
(First game of best 2 out of 3)

Beach Bums  27
Southern Greens  25
(Second game of best 2 out of 3)

Bowes Imaging Center  25
Salon Salon  23
(First game of best 2 out of 3)

Bowes Imaging Center  25
Salon Salon  17
(Second game of best 2 out of 3)

 

Success at the senior games

What a great week! Back from the National Senior Games in Cleveland. I met so many inspirational people, that I could write a column on each one of them. Since I’m not a paid reporter, what I write here is my own experience. I didn’t do the paid reporting job to find out more details other than what came my direction. Being a participant and even a semi-reporter at the same time is challenging.

Hours before boarding the plane, I placed seventh in the U.S. in my age group in the 1500 meters. This was after placing 10th in the 400 meters on Tuesday, and on Monday with a stormy, puddle-filled track, 16th in the 200 meters, and 19th in the 100 meters. Before I brag too much, there were many women faster than me. I was shocked that most women my age and older train full time. Many even had their coaches travel with them.

Given that I work full-time as an author and travel on book tour, racing is what I fit in-between. So I am more than happy with my results. My goal, as it always is, was to finish without injury and hopefully place in the top 16. I accomplished that in every race except one. In the 200 meters, twice as many women were supposed to compete. But they scratched because they ran the 100 and/or the 200 meters the day before and were too sore to run a second day in a row. I heard them give their reasons at the check-in table.

Other vegan athletes have said this, and it is definitely my own experience that my recovery was rapid and thorough enough that I could run back-to-back races three days in a row. I had some soreness, but a little Arnica gel slathered over the aches took care of that. My best race, the 800 meters, was run on day three, a day when most of us, after three days of sprinting, should have been hobbling.

I had hundreds of cyber fans cheering me from the Facebook and Twitter sidelines. I thank you from the bottom of my social media heart. Going to an event of this scope, knowing nobody, was challenging. Having my real friends and social media friends responding as I posted results in real time was the best.

I did get one question from a woman who didn't understand the Senior Game qualifying process. She thought that anyone can just show up at Nationals and compete. Not so. First, you had to qualify for Nationals by placing in the top three in each event at the Manatee and Sarasota County Senior Games, then be in the top four at the State Senior Games beating all those Villages ladies! (Not to mention the $2,000 travel expenses for all this.)

I posted a link to the results and posted results the way other age group winners posted on their Facebook pages. Since competitors lived together in a dorm for a week, we had plenty of time to compare notes and friend each other on Facebook. The results didn’t reflect the number of competitors who scratched.

My coach was the amazing Rae Ann Darling Reed, who is also the girls cross country/track coach at Manatee High. Before my first book came out when I had more time, she saw me clock an 8 minute mile and asked if I would be her volunteer assistant coach. She has worked tirelessly with the high school kids over the years, and still had time to work with me prepping me for Nationals, and who knows how many others.

Speaking of the high school, be sure to sign up for the Labor Day Canes Classic – a beautiful 5K race in GT Bray Park that benefits the Manatee High Cross Country team. Reed is organizing that too. The 5K is the official start of the local racing season. Stories of some of the cool people I met at Nationals next week. Gotta 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.