Orlando Sharks : Major Indoor Soccer League :

Friday, June 13, 2008

Six Central Florida counties are represented this year among the winners of the annual Orlando Sharks 2007-2008 Elite 11 Pro Prospects Awards, announced earlier today. For the second consecutive year, Orlando’s professional soccer team has recognized the top 11 male and female soccer players from Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard and Volusia counties. Candidates for the award were selected through an integrated review process by the Sharks staff which included scouting a...

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5.07.08 - Sharks Swim Towards Healthier Future

Statistics show the growing number of children who are not getting adequate exercise and activity are staggering. About 15.5 percent of adolescents ages 12-19 were considered overweight in 2000 according to their body mass index, or BMI (a BMI of 25 or higher is considered overweight). Additionally, more than 30 percent of students in grades 9-12 do not regularly participate in any high-intensity physical activity.

To compound the lack of physical activity in the lives of today’s youth, television and video games have taken over as adolescents’ main source of entertainment and recreation. In a 1998 study, the National Institute on Media and the Family concluded that the average youth living in the U.S. watches television 25 hours a week and plays video games an additional seven hours.

Orlando Sharks head Coach Jake Dancy hates to see statistics like these and encourages kids to get involved in sports and outdoor activities for more reasons than one. “It’s hard to watch kids sit in front of a TV all day for fun. If they could only realize the good times they can have and the friends they can make out on a soccer field instead of in front of a TV, they would be a lot better off both physically and socially.”

Being an overweight child isn’t the most dangerous part about kids not taking care of themselves physically; the real scare is carrying the bad habits and excess body fat into adulthood where it has the potential to increase chances of diabetes and heart disease. Connie Liakos Evers, in her book How to Teach Nutrition to Kids, alludes to the fact that 70% of overweight teens will remain obese into adulthood.

To Sharks Coach Dancy, the solution is as easy as parents setting simple boundaries for their kids. "I have a two year old son and you can bet that when he gets to be five he's going to be racing around on soccer fields during the summer, not parked in front of a TV watching Hannah Montana and eating Cheetos," says Dancy with a chuckle. "I understand if your child has a favorite TV show, because mine does, but how about watching it after they've spent the afternoon outside playing with their friends? There has to be a balance like anything else."

In order to help parents get their children off of their couches and outside this summer, Jake Dancy and players from his Orlando Sharks are holding close to 30 soccer camps around Central Florida in Orange, Seminole, Lake, and Osceola counties. Designed to help improve youths’ soccer skills, the camps will also provide something missing all too often in kid’s lives today: good old fashioned outdoor fun. Camp dates and times are as follows:

R.D. Keene Park - June 16-20; June 23-27
NW Recreation Center - June 16-20; *July 7-11
Austin Tindall - June 16-20; Aug. 11-15
St Luke's - June 23-27; July 14-18
Hancock Park - June 30-July 2; July 28-Aug. 1
Sylvan Lake - June 30-July 2; **Aug. 4-8
Thunder Field - July 7-13; Aug. 4-8
Central Winds - July 7-11; Aug. 11-15
Red Bug Lake Park - July 28-Aug. 1; **Aug. 11-15
Barber Park - Aug. 4-8; ***Aug. 11-15
Hickory Point - July 21-25; Aug. 4-8

All times are 9a.m. - 12p.m. unless otherwise noted
* 5:30p.m. - 8:30p.m.
**9a.m. - 4p.m.
***4:30p.m. - 7:30p.m.

DOWNLOAD CAMP REGISTRATION FORM

Goal Leader
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Points Leader
Name	Team	GP	PTS

Goal Keeping Leader
Name	Team	GPI	AVG

Power Play Goals Leader
Name	Team	GP	PPG

Xavier Degado and Ashley Keegan Award Underprivilaged Children

Orlando Sharks defender Xavier Delgado and Sharks dancer Ashley Keegan took time out on Thursday to help the West Orlando Rotary Club distribute soccer trophies to underprivileged children from the Pine Hills Region of Orlando.

The awards ceremony was part of a collaborated effort by the West Orlando Rotary Club and the Boys and Girls Club to bring the sport of soccer to children who would otherwise not have the means to play. Rotary member Terry Brooks, himself an avid soccer player and fan, was the driving force behind the movement to bring soccer to the children of Pine Hills.

A Pine Hills native himself, Brooks came up with the idea two years ago to sponsor three youth soccer teams; under seven, under nine, and under eleven years old. Soccer cleats, shin guards, jerseys and balls are all provided by sponsors while the usual league fee of $100 per child is reduced to just $10 to encourage participation.

The excited children attending the event munched on pizza and lined up to have Delgado sign their jerseys while they waited to receive their trophies. After a brief meeting, the lights were dimmed and high energy music was played while each child was called up to the stage to receive his/her trophy from the Sharks player and dancer.

Prompted by the children’s energetic questions, Delgado offered this advice to the young players: “It doesn’t matter how much money you make when you grow up as long as you love what you do.”