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The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 13 No. 47 - September 18, 2013

sports

Soccer Spirit Week

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

Fifty-four volunteer coaches of 27 teams will begin
the 2013 fall soccer season at the Center this
Saturday with the annual Spirit Day jamboree.
Pictured is volunteer coach Nate Talucci.

The long anticipated start of the 2013 Anna Maria Island Community Center’s fall co-ed soccer season begins with Spirit Week, which is a group of fun soccer activities that kickoff the start of the regular season games.

Youth and adult teams alike have been practicing and gearing up for the spirited start of the season for the past two weeks. Twenty-seven teams were formed this year and divided into six different age divisions. All will begin the journey this week, vying for the coveted title of Community Center Cup Champions.

It all begins Thursday night with the start of the adult co-ed season. This division is comprised of eight teams: Agnelli Pools and Spa, which is captained by Sean Sanders; Florida Discount Signs & Wraps, which is captained by Ed Moss; Island Gourmet,which is captained by Nate Talucci; Island Pest Control, which is captained by Rico Beissert; LaPensee Plumbing & Pools, which is captained by Jeff Christianson; Sato Real Estate, which is captained by Josh Sato; Slim’s Place, which is captained by Robby McLaughlin; and Wash Family Construction, which is captained by Darrin Wash.

On Friday night the youth league starts with the annual kick-off the season dinner. The entire league gathers in the Center’s gym for a fun night of team dinners, uniform and schedule handouts and fun activities prior to their first games on Saturday.

Sean Murphy and the Beach Bistro/eat here crew donate and prepare a complete meal for the banquet. The cost of the dinner is $6 per person for four years old and older. Everyone in the community is invited to attend, and takeout is available. The Center’s athletic department uses this as a fundraiser and the money generated from the banquet is used to help offset the costs of the league, such as equipment, referees and lights.

Spirit day games are on Saturday and mark the spirited start of the 2013 season. Players, family members and fans will show their support by wearing and decorating anything they can in their team colors. The Center’s field will be kickin' with fun activities such as a bounce house, snow cones and food, and of course, the first games in uniform for the season.

For more up-to-date player and parent information on soccer spirit week activities and game schedules, parents are encouraged to join the Center’s Facebook page.

Youth co-ed Soccer

4-5-year-old co-ed soccer schedule

Sept. 21, Saturday, 10 a.m. – LaPensee Plumbing & Pool vs. Air & Energy
Sept. 21, Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – Sandbar restaurant vs. eat here
Sept. 23, Monday, 6 p.m. – eat here vs. LaPensee Plumbing & Pool
Sept. 23, Monday, 6:30 p.m. – Air & Energy vs. Sandbar restaurant

6-7year-old co-ed Soccer Schedule

Sept. 21, Saturday, 11 a.m. – Bowes Imaging Center vs. Agnelli Pools & Spa
Sept. 21, Saturday, 12 p.m. – Mr. Bones vs. Miller Electric

8-10-year-old co-ed Soccer Schedule

Sept. 21, Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – American Marine vs. Island Pest Control
Sept. 21, Saturday, 10 a.m. – Island Pest Control vs. Tyler’s Ice Cream
Sept. 21, Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – Beach Bistro vs. American Marine
Sept. 21, Saturday, 11 a.m. – Tyler’s Ice Cream vs. LPAC
Sept. 21, Saturday, 11:30 a.m. – LPAC vs. Beach Bistro

11-13-year-old co-ed Soccer Schedule

Sept. 21, Saturday, 12 p.m. – The Feast vs. the Waterfront restaurant
Sept. 21, Saturday, 1 p.m. – Jen Crady Massage vs. the Waterfront restaurant
Sept. 23, Monday, 6 p.m. – LPAC vs. Jen Crady Massage
Sept. 23, Monday, 7 p.m. – the Waterfront restaurant vs. The Feast

14-17-year-old co-ed Soccer Schedule

Sept. 21, Saturday, 1 p.m. – Wash Family Construction vs. Jessie’s Island Store
Sept. 23, Monday, 8 p.m. – Jessie’s Island Store vs. Wash Family Construction

Adult co-ed Soccer Schedule

Sept. 19, Thursday, 6 p.m. – Sato Real Estate vs. Wash Family Construction
Sept. 19, Thursday, 7 p.m. – Island Gourmet VS. Florida Discount Signs & Wraps
Sept. 19, Thursday, 8 p.m. – Agnelli Pools & Spa vs. Island Pest Control
Sept. 19, Thursday, 9 p.m. – Slim’s Place vs. LaPensee Plumbing and Pool

Adult co-ed Basketball

Adult co-ed basketball schedule

Sept. 24, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. –Southern Greens vs. Bowes Imaging Center
Sept. 24, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. – The Island Sun vs. Gator Man Pools
Sept. 24, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. – Waterfront Restaurant vs. Beach to Bay Construction

 

Dream weekend will never be forgotten

The year I almost died of a colon blockage and my sister got breast cancer, I ran to the health food store and read all five books on fiber. That’s all there was at the time. A few years after that, some very brave hero doctors, as I like to call them, took a gutsy, unconventional stand and started writing books about how eating a plant-based diet could improve health, help lose weight if needed and even reverse and prevent disease. The skeptic investigative reporter in me wasn’t so sure at first, but a look at my own family history, with a mom, aunt and eventually both sisters with breast cancer and way more was a testimonial that conventional medicine and lifestyle wasn’t the answer.

Those first doctors, who would become prolific authors with more than a dozen similar book titles like reversing diabetes, heart disease and surviving cancer, were Dr. John McDougall and Dr. Neal Barnard. Barnard is still the president of Physicans Committee for Responsible Medicine and The Cancer Project, for which I taught cooking classes for six years at places like the Anna Maria Island Community Center. Dr. Barnard kindly wrote the foreword to both of my books.

McDougall has a medical clinic in Santa Rosa, Calif., where other doctors send patients whose conditions seem unsolvable. McDougall’s resourceful website has a tab called “Star McDougallers.” I am one of many.

It was his low-fat, plant-based diet along with Barnard’s similar information that took off my pounds, saved me from needing to be on emergency room ordered medication from the colon blockage for the rest of my life and saved me from an emergency room ordered hysterectomy.

I had considered paying the thousands of dollars to attend his increasingly popular 10-day live-in program in Santa Rosa, or his three-day advanced study weekend. But the cost and travel of the weekend was prohibitive. As I became a trained cooking instructor, it seemed I was absorbing the knowledge in other ways. But still, I thought, how fun that would be.

In a surreal moment, two years after my first book became a bestseller, I received an e-mail from McDougall’s wife, Mary, who has been a co-author of some of his cookbooks, asking me if I would be the guest chef for their twice-a-year advanced study weekend.

I attended that weekend last weekend and had the time of my life, not so much from my own experience doing the demo, but getting to listen to other pioneering researchers and experts in the growing field of plant-based nutrition.

I prepared four recipes from my book, and got the assistance of the hotel’s sous chef. We made food samples for 200 attendees. The recipes, my quinoa loaf, Load ‘Em Up Burritos, Calabacitas and Taste of Thai Stir-Fry were a hit with the audience.

Dr. David Jenkins, author of the glycemic index and Dr. Pam Peeke who spoke on “Hand Over the Chocolate and Nobody Gets Hurt,” spoke early in the weekend. Several speakers talked about the addictive quality of some foods and ingredients promoted by the food industry. Peeke’s talk was a fascinating discussion on how sugar is more addictive than cocaine and receptors in the brain are over stimulated as a result. The theme of DNA not being destiny was repeatedly echoed.

Robert Goodland, as the World Bank’s environmental adviser for 23 years, spoke on how eating a plant-based diet is the best thing for the environment. I spoke right before him, and in his talk, he praised my book for giving the financial incentive connection to a plant-based diet. Dr. Richard Wrangham spoke on his book “Catching Fire-How Cooking Made Us Human.” It’s his belief that cooking made our bodies and brains larger, not eating meat, as some believe.

Another compelling speaker, Dr. Wes Youngberg, wrote the book “Goodbye Diabetes,” and spoke to the facts and research, as many doctors are now, that Type 2 diabetes is completely preventable through diet. He spent 14 years researching the diabetes epidemic in Guam and 20 years in practice reversing diabetes and the corollary, heart disease.

It was truly an honor to be a part of the weekend, one I won't ever forget. One of the doctors inscribed in his book that I bought, "Thanks for being part of the solution." I sure hope so, although the other speakers are doing way, way more than me. It is an exciting time to eat vegan and watch all the science come this direction.

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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