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Teams Are Staying Busy

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By RICK HARMON

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 3, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - While most schools in Pasco County have been closed since Dec. 19, there has been plenty of action at Ridgewood High.

A three-day boys basketball tournament and a three-day boys soccer tournament kept the facilities busy this week, and the two-day Ashley Morrison girls basketball tournament wraps up today.

For Rams boys soccer coach Edward McComiskey, it's a matter of getting games to play during the two-week layoff. The majority of the soccer season is played in November and December - only three weeks remains when play resumes Monday.

"When I came to Ridgewood and started coaching soccer, what I found out was it doesn't matter how many practices you have during the break, you need games," McComiskey said. "I tried to get into tournaments, and it was very difficult. If you weren't one of the elite programs, you weren't going to get invited to play. So I decided to start my own.

"Most years, it has helped us get ready for the second half of the season."

McComiskey doesn't have trouble getting teams to come to New Port Richey.

"I start sending out invitations in May," he said. "It does take a lot of time to get the teams to respond. Usually, I will get 12 teams that will give me a positive answer. I usually take the first eight teams including Ridgewood, but if there's a team I've already played twice this year, I try to hold back on those guys. I want to get a variety of teams.

"I concentrate on inviting teams from Pinellas, Hillsborough, Hernando, Manatee counties, but I do put the ad on the FHSAA Web site. And I do invite the team that comes the farthest - Pompano Beach Ely - because the coach Ledezma Concepcion used to be coach at River Ridge."

McComiskey had to scramble a bit, as a team dropped out Dec. 8.

"Tavernier Coral Shores dropped out at the last minute because of budget restrictions," he said. "But I always have teams backed up, and Springstead was one of them. And they made it to the finals."

Alonso defeated Springstead 3-1 in the final on New Year's Eve.

A few yards up the hill, eight teams competed in the 20th annual William G. Hulton Jr. Ram Classic boys basketball tournament - won for only the third time by the host Rams with a 69-33 victory against Newsome.

"I couldn't do this tournament without assistant coach Mike Bua," said Rams coach Gary Anders. "If anything needs to be done, he does it. From making sure the programs are done to picking up towels to keeping stats, he does it all."

Anders and his staff spend a lot of time at the school - and this year included New Year's Eve.

"There's a lot that goes into it, and you can always use more help," Anders said. "It's three days of being here from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. But I certainly don't have any regrets - I would just like to see more people in the stands. That's the only thing I would ever say about it, I would like to see more people come out and support it. I moved the finals an hour earlier hoping that would help. If I had to do it over again, we would have played Saturday Dec. 27, Monday, Tuesday."

Like McComiskey, there are plenty of teams looking for games during the holidays. In the past, the Hulton has drawn teams from around the country, but recently it has been a local affair.

"It's not hard to find teams that want to come and play," Anders said. "What I did find is we've had a lot of out-of-state teams that have come and played here. It's harder to get out-of-state and out-of-area teams to come. I think that's a matter of economics. I've noticed the elite teams tend to travel. But if you go to a tournament like the City of Palms, they pay the travel expenses. We just can't do that.

"I sure don't have a problem with having local teams. We can get enough competition right here in our own backyard."

The local teams like coming to Pasco County and seeing some different teams - and in St. Petersburg Catholic's case, bigger schools. The Barons are a Class 3A team, the smallest in this year's tournament.

"Any time you can get outside your own area and play good teams - we played three teams we normally wouldn't get a chance to play - it can only help your program," St. Petersburg Catholic coach Mike Moran said. "For us to go 2-1 against bigger schools, it was a good experience for us."

Freedom and Newsome, both Class 5A teams, came from Hillsborough County.

"We like to see some different faces," Newsome coach Jon Mackey said. "Gary runs a nice tournament, and that's why we like to come up here. Ridgewood's had a good program, and that's why we like to play them. We need to play good teams like that."

Correspondent Rick Harmon can be reached at tampabaystringer@gmail.com.

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