Saturday, July 21, 2012
Coach Heath Terris tells us about the team's amazing win.
The Dacula Athletic Association 11U baseball team recently finished second in the World Series in Panama. “It was amazing,” head coach Heath Terris said proudly. “It means a whole lot of different things for the boys, and memories of a lifetime for the parents. We saw 11 kids grow up in a week.” This young team battled through many obstacles to pull off their amazing win. “We had to battle through tropical storm Betty Sunday and Monday,” Terris explained. “Then we lost our opening game on Thursday evening, so we had to go through the losers bracket. The first game in the losers bracket we were down four runs. I just told the team no matter what happens in our last at bat, keep your heads up high, in our book you guys are champions and we …
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Head Coach Andy Mitchell tells us about their amazing season.
The 10U Mill Creek Hawks baseball team had an amazing season, finishing 18-0. “It was just an unbelievable season,” said head coach Andy Mitchell. “We have a great group of kids and a great group of families. We took every game for what it was, and did not really think about going undefeated, we just played our hardest. It was a really special season for the kids and they all had a great time.” The team then went into the GGBL tournament and went 6-0 to be the Gwinnett County 10U Champions. “We played some great opponents in the series,” Mitchell said, “and like the regular season we just kept focusing on the game that was in front of us. Our kids learned a lot over the season; they learned never to give up, never take an opponent for …
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Head coach Jared Zito tells us what he has in store for our future Falcon football players.
The Dacula High School football program will be hosting youth camps and coaching clinics in June and July. Falcons head coach Jared Zito is excited about this program because he believes it is a great opportunity for young players to see what it will be like to play at the high school level. “We want to continue to build the bridge from the DAA (Dacula Athletic Association) to Dacula High School football and foster that relationship by providing the players with the opportunity to be a part of our program at a young age,” Zito explained. “We also want to continue to foster the relationship between the DAA coaches and the Dacula High School coaches by providing them with free coaches’ clinics.” Along with building relationships and …
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Director of dance Suzanne Kross shares some exciting news for the dance department and the competitive dance team.
The Mill Creek Dance Department offers students a creative fine arts elective option, and gives selected students the chance to excel in competition. This year, students in both classes and on the competitive dance team have had impressive success stories. Dance is an elective option within the fine arts department for students at Mill Creek High School. Classes consist of ballet, jazz and modern dance. In addition to learning dance, students learn dance history, anatomy and nutrition throughout the semester. Students also perform in a fall and spring concert. “Fine arts electives are an important part of a student’s curriculum,” Mill Creek’s director of dance Suzanne Kross said. “The dance department has 110 students in the program that …
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
This opportunity to give back to the community was a no brainer for Head Coach Jason Guzzardo.
The Dacula High School varsity women’s soccer team recently had the opportunity to serve as leaders and role models to a very special group of aspiring young soccer player. Good friends Coach Jason Guzzardo, head coach of the DHS women’s varsity soccer team, and Tim Steimer, volunteer coordinator of the TOPSoccer (The Outreach Program for Soccer) program at Dacula Soccer Club, found a way to bring their two soccer teams together for the benefit of both teams. “When Tim Steimer contacted myself and Coach Burrell (head coach of the DHS men’s soccer team) and said that he was looking for some teams to volunteer, I thought it was a great opportunity for the kids to give back to the local community and the local soccer club,” Guzzardo said. …
Monday, March 26, 2012
Dacula Soccer Club teams participate in Silent Saturday -- a different, fun, engaging and somewhat controversial program.
On most Saturdays, the Rabbit Hill Park soccer fields are filled with lots of noise from parents cheering and guiding to the coaches directing and managing plays. However on Saturday, March 24, the fields were silent. They were silent that is, except for the sound of the players playing their own game of soccer. The first and foremost goal of "Silent Saturday" was to do something different, fun and engaging for all. “We want to engage our kids, engage our parents, and do something different,” Kesha Prokes from Dacula Soccer Club said. “Another reason for this program was just for the kids to have fun. Silent Saturday is just one of several different things that we wanted to do as a fun club event. The Dacula Soccer Club has grown …
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Rising seniors on the varsity football team give back to supporters by serving as great educational role models for their young fans.
For National Read Across America Day on Friday March 2, the 11th grade Dacula High School football players took part in a program called "Real Men Read." The rising seniors put on their jerseys and served as great role models by showing some of their smaller supporters at Dacula, Mulberry, and Alcova elementary schools the importance of reading and education. “We started a program called 'Real Men Read' where our rising seniors go to the three local cluster elementary schools in their game jerseys to read to students,” Coach Jared Zito said. “They arrive early and greet students as they come to school, help with the morning announcements and then go into the classrooms to read and promote reading to the elementary students.” Zito started …
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Hebron head coach Will Cantrell focuses on making his players great on and off the court.
The game of basketball presents many different scenarios that are representative of what players will go through in life. This season, the Hebron Christian Academy basketball team will learn that the same skills they use to handle adversity in basketball can be used off the court as well. “In basketball, there are so many parallels that we can draw on and connect to what Jesus says about life,” head coach Will Cantrell explains. “We can parallel that into what we are currently going through on the basketball court and off.” Coach Cantrell’s overall coaching philosophy is to help develop young men so they can be ambassadors for Christ. “At a place like Hebron you have the leeway to talk about Christ, and how He interacts with basketball…
Friday, December 23, 2011
The 7-year-old Burrell Falcons focus on developing the team and lasting friendships.
The Dacula Athletic Association’s 7-year-old Burrell Falcons work together as a team on and off the field. At this young age, it is all about fundamentals -- the fundamentals to be a good football player and also what it takes to be a good teammate and friend. “We focus on the team aspect of football to improve fundamentals and develop skills to move up to the next level,” explained head coach Michael Burrell. Coach Burrell also believes in teamwork off the field. Many lifelong friendships are often made in youth football. “I try to teach the kids to care and look out for their teammates,” Burrell said. “They are like a family. As they grow up together, I hope that they will look out for each other on the field and at school.” Coach …
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Coach Ryan Gibadlo says this team has great energy and an amazing ability to work together.
The eighth grade Hebron basketball team should be an exciting team to watch over the next few years. According to head coach Ryan Gibadlo, this young team has developed a true team attitude that will help the boys achieve great things on and off the court. “The overall attitude of the team is electric,” Gibadlo said. “There is something special about this group. Their energy and the way they lift each other up is going to carry them a long way as they grow in this Hebron basketball program.” Coach Gibadlo’s coaching philosophy focuses on teamwork. “I hope to see these boys build a foundation for themselves in the HCA program by lifting each other up and defining what it means to be a team both on the court and off,” Gibadlo explained. “…
Ole Ball Coach
11:58 pm on Saturday, June 30, 2012
Please remember that these are youth players, not high school kids. What you can teach a 15 year old compared to a 9 year old is very, very different. A certain "scheme" at the high school level is probably not going to translate well at the youth level. Take it from a well experienced former youth coach with a very successful track record, teach and preach BASIC FUNDAMENTALS all the time instead… more ›