Youth soccer season was set to kick off Sept. 6 at the Center of Anna Maria Island for players ages 3 to 14 in four divisions.
Player evaluations and team assignments were Aug. 30 for players in the 8-10 and 11-14 age divisions.
The 3-4 and 5-7 age divisions are instructional in nature and no scores or standings are recorded. The 8-10s and 11-14s maintain regular-season standings leading up to season-ending playoffs and a championship.
Matches will be played Tuesday nights, with some Mondays mixed in as needed until Nov. 8.
Stay tuned to The Islander for the action from the pitch and scores and standings.
Horseshoe action Aug. 31 was short and sweet as Jerry Disbrow and Bob Heiger pitched their way to the lone 3-0 record and were crowned the day’s outright champs.
Two teams compiled 3-0 records during preliminary round action Sept. 3 and settled things in a playoff. Tom Farrington and Gary Howcroft jumped out to a 12-2 lead, but watched it disappear as Bob Baker and Dom Livedoti rallied. The Baker-Livedoti team scored the next 22 points, including a game-ending double ringer by Baker that completed their 24-12 come-from-behind victory.
Play gets underway at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Anna Maria pits. Warmups begin at 8:45 a.m. followed by random team selection.
There is no charge to play and everyone is welcome.
Frequent rains put a damper last week on golf action at the Key Royale Club in Holmes Beach. The men’s weekly Monday morning match and the women’s Tuesday morning matches were both canceled due to either rain or wet course conditions.
Members got out Sept. 1 for a combination of a modified-Stableford system match and a shamble that saw the team of Deb and Dave Richardson, Jim Hill and Bruce Broussard grab first place with a 1-over-par 51.
Fall ball, spring training
Hey baseball fans: Pull out the scrapbooks and gather up the recollections because two milestone anniversaries are on the calendar in 2023.
When the Pittsburgh Pirates return next February to compete in the 2023 Grapefruit League spring training season, they’ll be marking their 55th season at the Bradenton stadium now known as LECOM Park.
Also, the 2023 season will mark the 100th year of professional baseball in Bradenton, which began with play by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1923.
Longtime islanders know Major League Baseball’s local impression hasn’t been limited to the friendly confines of the ballpark at 1611 Ninth St. W., Bradenton.
MLB baseball players have helped build sports amenities and programs for kids on Anna Maria Island. They’ve built up properties and businesses on AMI. They’ve lived and raised families on AMI. And they’ve enjoyed a good catch on AMI.
The Pirates already released their training schedule Aug. 31 for next year, which features 32 games, including 16 at LECOM Park, with opening day set for Saturday, Feb. 25, in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Meanwhile, umpires are still shouting “play ball” at LECOM Park.
While the Bradenton Marauders, a Minor League affiliate of the Pirates, played their last home game of the regular season over the Labor Day weekend, play is about to begin in the U-18 Baseball World Cup 2021.
The tournament, with games at LECOM Park and also Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, will run Sept. 9-18 and feature the world’s top under-age-18 teams.
Originally slated to take place in 2021, the event — offering spectators an opportunity to see “tomorrow’s stars today” — was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
“We have been patiently waiting to host this event for years,” Russ Yurk, U-18 Baseball World Cup 2021 tournament director, said in a news release provided by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “This is where baseball fans get to discover and meet players who could one day become national and international icons, and we could not be more thrilled to know the World Cup is finally happening here in Bradenton and Sarasota.”
Past participants on Team USA included Clayton Kershaw, Alex Rodriguez, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Buster Posey, as well as Japan’s Shohei Ohtani and Cuba’s Aroldis Chapman.
For more information about the tournament, including ticket details, go online to sarasotabradenton2021.com.
For more information about the Pirates’ spring training, go online to pirates.com/springtraining.
— Lisa Neff