Agnelli Pool takes soccer crown

Agnelli Pool & Spas Adult Soccer Champions!

The Anna Maria Island Community Center’s Fall Soccer season is now over. The season culminated on Thursday night with the annual adult co-ed all-star and championship games.

Eight adult teams entered the tournament this year but only Agnelli Pool & Spas team holds the title of 2013 Fall Soccer Champions. They gained the title after defeating the Slim’s Place team 3 to 1 in the championship game.

Agnelli Pool & Spas jumped out to an early lead three minutes into the game when Matt Kretzman rushed the net after a shot and blasted home the rebound for the goal. 1-0

One and a half minutes later Slim’s Place answered with their own goal. P J Smargisso took a pass and dribbled down the right sideline. Before getting to the top corner of the goalie box, he shot low and hard to the left corner of the goal for the tying score. 1-1

At the twelve minute mark in the first half, Agnelli Pool & Spas player, Damir Glavan, made the sideline throw-in deep into the Slim’s Place goal territory. Glavan threw it high into the goal box area where a Slim’s Place defender headed it out of the goal-box. Tyler Krauss was in the right place at the right time and ripped the headed deflection hard into the back of the net for the Agnelli team’s second goal. 2-1

The rest of the first half and almost the entire second half was dominated by both defenses. The rest of the game was extremely intense and physical. For Agnelli Pool & Spas, Matt Kretzman moved back to anchor the defense with Tyler Krauss and Damir Glavan. Goaltender Frank Agnelli finished the game with seven saves.

For the Slim’s Place defense, Kelsea Bachman and Robbie McLaughlin fought off the oppositions offensive rushes and goaltender Richard Fosmore finished the game with seven saves.

With only one minute left in the game, Agnelli’s mid-fielder Sean Sanders put the game out of reach. He intercepted a pass at mid-field and dribbled to the right side. He placed a perfect shot onto the left-side post and in for the final goal.

Agnelli Pool & Spas won the Fall Adult co-ed soccer championship over Slim’s Place by a final score of 3 to 1.

Beach to Bay Construction Adult Basketball Champs!

The Anna Maria Island Community Center’s 2013 adult co-ed basketball champions are team Beach to Bay Construction. The finals championship game concluded a fun and exciting night that also included the annual three-point and slam-dunk contests.

The road to the illustrious crown of adult basketball champions was not easy for the Beach to Bay team. They had to defeat a tough defending championship Gator Man Pools team with only four players instead of five in the semi-finals game. Then, four night later, defeat the league’s leading scorer, Antwaun Jackson, and the resilient Bowes Imaging Center team 70-66 in the finals.

Jordan Demers led the way for the Beach to Bay squad with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Robert Serrano scored 20 points and had 2 rebounds. Shawn Hubbard chipped in with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Jonathan Moss added nine points and three boards. Ryan Moss and Don Purvis each had two points and Purvis added six boards for the Beach to Bay Construction Championship victory.

Antwaun Jackson led all scoring in the game with a double-double of 38 points and 15 rebounds. Matt Ray also had a double-double and scored 15 points with 10 boards. Jason Mickan added seven points and one rebound. Teagan Purtill added six points and two rebounds for the Bowes Imaging Center team.

Brandon Kern won the annual three-point contest after tying with Andrew Terman twice and then outlasted his opponent to claim the title in the third round. Caleb Earhart put on an exhibition of acrobatic dunks to claim the title of slam-dunk champion.

To view or purchase more photos of this and other soccer games go to www.amisun.com.

Adult co-ed Soccer Results: PLAYOFFS

Agnelli Pool & Spas  3
Sato Real Estate  1
SEMI-FINALS

Slim’s Place  5
Island Gourmet  4
SEMI-FINALS

Agnelli Pool & Spas  3
Slim’s Place  1
CHAMPIONSHIP

Adult co-ed Basketball Results: PLAYOFFS

Beach to Bay Construction  70
Bowes Imaging Center  66
CHAMPIONSHIP

 

How to pick a personal trainer

Recently I was asked, “What makes a good personal trainer or running coach?” I’ve had conversations with many trainers and coaches and we all ask ourselves that question. The answer changes over the years.

I had a lengthy conversation with a trainer who at least at one point worked with a lot of celebrities. He echoed the same sentiment I’ve heard from many other trainers who say that the business is very fickle. People often change trainers by the week, month, or year. It does seem rare that some people will stay with the same trainer for more than a year, though it can vary by the time of year, location, and age of the client. Way before I ever became a personal trainer, I had two over the years that really stood out. They seemed totally focused on my goals, past and future, and medical history as it affected the reality of the goals. They asked many questions and focused on clients, not themselves.

I remember learning while getting my personal training certification that a gym often attracts people because they want a sense of community more than they want a specific exercise plan. At first that surprised me. But then I reflected back on my decades-long memberships at health clubs. I have been a gym rat so long that one of the first exercise machines I remember was the exercise jiggle belt. If you are old enough to remember that, then I know how old you are. And if you do remember those, then you will join me in being thankful that we have all of our internal organs intact. Many people like me enjoy going to a gym to see other people who share the values of health and fitness and committing the time it takes. We all seem to have a common understanding that there is no magic bullet.

More than any certification, it is the experience of life and fitness and trials and errors in the gym that makes a good trainer. I believe it is also important that a trainer and/or coach have a significant athletic record of accomplishment. All the busiest of trainers may say that they do not have time to take care of themselves. Yet role modeling is also very important as the trainer. No matter what the sport. Excelling in that sport tells the client, “I put my money where my mouth is. I follow my own advice, routine and exercises.” A good personal trainer will also be a good listener. Why is that important? Because a trainer needs to really hear what your goals are, and what your past medical and exercise history has been.

Listening to what a person says their goals are, and dealing with what is realistic can be two very different things. For example if a client says they would like to do an endurance race over rugged terrain including tree roots, mangroves and steep hills, and if the client has had knee surgery in the past, that may not be a realistic goal. It certainly isn’t as sexy or exciting to say, “I’d like to walk or run a three-mile road race and finish without injury.” But that can be as valid as any other goal.

It’s important to know if the trainer has been injured, and why. Accidents can always happen, but if you get the sense that the trainer has been overzealous in their own exercise life, that might be a reason for you to at least be cautious of any program that seems to be over the top or challenging for you. That doesn’t give you an excuse to wimp out, but it may be more important to look at a trainer who has not done all of the extreme sports and perhaps has the maturity to say, “I want to be doing my sport when I’m 100.”

And you really should observe the training style of each individual trainer to determine if it is a right fit for you. And don’t be afraid to ask for referrals.

As we head into the time of year when most weight is gained over the holidays, and most New Year's resolutions are made, more next week on what to look for in coaching and training.

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.