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Guest Column: FishHawk Soccer Club Scores With Kids

Photo from Rafael Gonzalez

Andres Gonzalez, Justin Zellmer and Mike Muniz of the FishHawk Soccer Club show off team trophies from the 2008 season.

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By RAFAEL GONZALEZ

Special to The Brandon News & Tribune

Published: February 11, 2009

LITHIA - For years, hundreds of young soccer fans and their families waited for a proposed county sports complex to be built in Lithia. Even before the FishHawk Sports Complex opened in the fall, the FishHawk Soccer Club was established and ready to hit the field.

The club was organized by Romildo Sanches, a local trainer who founded the Valrico Soccer Club in 1996 and The Players Club of Tampa Bay in 1999. Its philosophy is to create a safe environment where children can develop the necessary skills to play the game of soccer on a higher level.

The club began its fall 2008 season with a 10-week game schedule for teams in various age groups from age 4 to 12. The season ran from November through January, with weekly games set for 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. or noon on Saturdays.

My 9-year-old son, Andres Gonzalez, played for "Team 6," which quickly adopted the nickname "Gators," a nod to their coach Bill Lawrence, a huge University of Florida fan.

Coach Lawrence began by teaching the basics of the game at practice from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday nights. This was the first organized soccer experience for many of the players.

Because of the coach's exceptional teaching skills and easy and friendly style, the Gators quickly improved their passing skills, ball control and team communication. They got better at every practice, and it showed on Saturdays. The team won nine out of 10 games.

Coach Lawrence made sure each player had the opportunity to play every position on offense and defense throughout the season. And although each player improved dramatically, the most important part of the experience was how much fun it was.

Andres really enjoyed playing, and he truly enjoyed being part of the team. He made new friends, learned new skills, and - despite some of the coldest temperatures in our area in a long time, which sometimes made it difficult to get up for the early games - he learned incredible and valuable lessons about teamwork and sportsmanship.

Andres can't wait to do it again. As a matter of fact, he has already signed up for the spring 2009 season, set to start in March.

Congratulations to the FishHawk Soccer Club Gators: Brady Lawrence, Justin Zellmer, Sebastian Rodriguez, Liam Lafferty, Mike Muniz, Reagan Eckley, Cassidy Razvillas, Paige Duty, John Garcia, Ethan Castillo, Andres Gonzalez and coach Lawrence for a great season.

Rafael Gonzalez is a resident of FishHawk Trails. For information about the FishHawk Soccer Club, go to www.fishhawk soccer.com.

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