MAA

Congrats to the Mandarin Athletic Association Junior Midget football team!  The Tigers won their first matchup in the Pop Warner playoffs over the LSAA Rangers on Thursday, 22-14.  MAA plays Sunday at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (home of the Jags) against GPAA in the Little Gator Bowl Championships at 1:00 pm. 

Official Announcement from the Mandarin Athletic Association
July 26th, 2008 Register for Fall Baseball/Softball ONLINE NOW!  On-site registration begins August 2nd at Burnett Park Saturdays from 9:00am - 1:00pm Mondays from 6:30pm - 8:00pm.  

Congratulations to the Mandarin Athletic Association's 12U All-Stars. The team, "Express," won the state championships on July 13 in Ocala. The Express was undefeated in the 23-team, four-day tournament and finished the all-star season with a record of 21-4.

Team members are Daniel Brookman, Michael Dailey, Tucker Davis, Justin Duff, Michael Fisher, Ryan McFarlin, Patrick Neely, Gordon Olson, Devan Sef, Ryan Skelly, Mikey Syrakis and Tanner Widdows. The Express is coached by Harvey Brookman, Chip Davis and Jeff Widdows.

There is a team that, yes, has talent, but has heart and determination as well.  You can find this 10 year old team in Mandarin. The Mandarin Athletic Association (MAA) 10A Storm All Star Team was chosen this spring. 

After winning the Babe Ruth 10U District Championship in June, they traveled to Lake City, FL, this past week to represent Babe Ruth District 4 at the Florida 10U State Tournament.  In a quote from the team Coach Steve Gonzalez (Gonzo) "In our first state tournament game on Thursday, 7/03, MAA 10U Storm All Star Team lost to Ponte Vedra 10U All Star Team 5 – 4, and went into the Loser's Bracket.  On Friday, we played Normandy 10U All Stars, and won 15 - 14 in 7 innings.  It was a thriller!  We were losing 14 - 2 going into the bottom of the 6th, but we were the home team.  Unbelievably, we scored 12 runs in the bottom of the 6th to take the game into extra innings.  We then scored 1 run in the bottom of the 7th to win -- WOW!  Saturday, we played Chiefland 10U, and won 6 - 0.  Later that day, we played Wakulla 10U, and won 9 - 8.  Sunday, we play Ponte Vedra 10U again for the State championship.  We defeated them twice (double elimination) to bring home the state title!”  They truly found the determination to not quit and the heart to not give up.

A team parent was quoted saying “We faced the Giants of Ponte Vedra and built a defensive Stonewall.”  The team and parents watched the movie Facing the Giants Saturday, the night before their big games on Sunday.  “It pulled us all together and put things into a better perspective.  These boys have a gift and we just wanted to give them to God and let him use them and give him the glory.”  They did just that!  They made up chants, said many prayers, and were very humble during their championship games!

We have another opportunity to represent the State of Florida in the Babe Ruth 10U Regional Tournament July 24 through the 29th in Winterville, North Carolina.  This team again will be facing more Giants.  But, they will continue to prepare their fields through practice and build a Stonewall, as they represent Jacksonville and Florida.  If they win Regionals, they will continue their fabulous All Star Team experience by playing on August 8 – 15 in the Babe Ruth 10U World Series in Abbeville, Louisiana.

The team is fundraising to help with cost of lodging, equipment, uniforms and travel, etc.  An account has been set up for companies to sponsor the team or for people to make small donations.  Any and all generous and understanding businesses and/or individuals may sponsor or donate by making your check payable to MAA.  If interested in sponsoring or donating, please contact the MAA Storm 10U Team Manager, Steve Gonzalez, via telephone at 904-955-9450 or E-mail at stgonzo1@aol.com.  ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

Here are the latest results from the Mandarin Athletic Association:

Team 8B – Eliminated at State Tournament
Team 9A – Eliminated at State Tournament
Team 10A – Won North Florida State Championships, advances to Southeast Regional Championship 7/23 in Winterville, NC
Team 10B – Playing in State Tournament this week
Team 12A – Playing in State Tournament this week
Team 12B – Playing in State Tournament this week
  

Here's a tournament update from Saturday night from MAA baseball coach Steve Gonzalez:

 "In our first state tournament game on Thursday, 7/03, MAA 10U Storm All Star Team lost to Ponte Vedra 10U All Star Team 5 - 4 and went into the loser's bracket.  On Friday, we played Normandy 10U All Stars, and won by 15 - 14 in 7 innings.  It was a thriller!  We were losing 14  - 2 going into the bottom of the 6th.  We were the home team.  Unbelievably, we scored 12 runs in the bottom of the 9th to take the game into extra innings.  We then scored 1 run in the bottom of the 7th to win -- WOW!  Today, we played Chiefland 10U, and won 6 - 0.  Later this afternoon, we played Wakulla, and won 9 - 8.  Sunday, we play Ponte Vedra 10U again for the State championship.  We must defeat them twice to win the championship."

Congratulations to Mandarin Athletic Association's 12A All-Star team. The team recently won its district championships.

Congratulations to the MAA 8-and-under B All-Star baseball team! The team recently won its qualifying tournament last week and will now advance to the 8U state championships.

Here are the players who made the Mandarin Athletic Association All-Star teams for softball.  They start district play June 18 at Davis Park in Ponte Vedra.  Congrats to all the players and coaches!

 8-Under  
Coaches- John Rego, Brad Atherton, Rick Williamson, David Lewis
 
Players - Paige Williamson, Lauren Atherton, Elise Duncan, Megan Cusack, Cheyanne Childress, Courtney Kerwin, Abby Harrison, Kayla Lewis, Mikayla Cleary, Gabrina Morrow, Krystiana Rego, Megan Nester, and Zoe Walker
 

10-Under
Coaches - Jackie Gaten, Bobby Cusack, Lena Antar
 
Players - Kristin Antar, Natalie Hart, Ashley Cusack, Jordenne Gaten, Grace Faller, Leighton Cleveland, Kristen Pfortmiller, Serena Hernandez, Caroline Travers, Mikayla Vannetzel, and Macy Loudermilk

Below are the players that made the All-Star teams in the Spring 2008 season for the Mandarin Athletic Association. They are divided by age group, with the A teams being the top team in each group. Congratulations to all the players!

8B
Sean Cummings Justin Clifton Noah Mitchell Tyler Tagarelli Jacob Fisher Ethan Camps Joshua Cade Cameron Allen Josh Wilson Blake Pruitt Justin Porter Justin Rettinger

9A
Devin Boyle Cole Escher Trey Higginbotham Joel James Alec Sanchez Tony Syrakis Austin Taylor Cameron Goodwin Ryan Kuramoto Alex Giuliano Christian Stidham Zack Skelly