The Center of Anna Maria Island’s youth sports program has always been known as the place to have fun, play sports and develop athletic skills. Over several decades, a lot has changed at what is now known as the Center, but children playing sports with adult volunteer coaches has not.
As the youth flag football season progresses on the big field with good competition with kids from 8 to 17 years old, the little field is the place where the younger ballers work both sides of the football in the youth flag football clinic.
Once again Ryan Moss of Moss Builders is enthusiastically taking the time out of his busy schedule to work with nearly 20 5- to 7-year-olds on the gridiron, including Moss’s two sons, Mason and Miles. Last Tuesday night, Moss was joined on the field by his father, Pastor Ed Moss of CrossPointe Fellowship.
The coaches separated the players into two teams to warm-up and practice some of their skills. With flags and pennies on, the scrimmage game ensued. On one side of the football was Dylan Sato, with younger sibling Brandon Sato on the other.
Pastor Moss helped get one of his players in the right position on the football field by gently picking him up and placing him in the correct spot.
Miles Moss played the center position most of the scrimmage, snapping the ball to B. Sato stepping into the footsteps of his father, Jason Sato, who played at the community center as a child and as QB in the adult flag football league.
Carrying on the family legacy, Camden Rudacille took the field with big brother Cale and dad Scott watching from the sideline. S. Rudacille, also an Island native, played many games over the years at the community center.
Brother and sister Boman and Tinley Sears saw action on the field with big plays for their teams. The Bomans were joined by Eli Lewis, who showed his defensive prowess during the scrimmage. Duncan Cloutier took the football down the field on a number of plays, gaining yardage for his team.
Over the past two months, the Moss Builders football clinic has seen football action by Guiliana Bankert and Brooklyn Melancon continuing the co-ed sports spirit of the Center. Preston Brighenti, Drew Buky, Hayden Eurice, Wade Kasten, Jack Melancon, Marcus Quinn and Landon Reuter worked to hone their skills in the clinic sessions before hitting the big field in the coming seasons.
The culmination of lessons learned in the clinics is progression onto the large field in the 8- to 10-year-old flag football league. Those playing in this age group are moving into playoff action, with semifinal play on Wednesday, Feb. 20, with #2 seed Progressive Cabinetry playing either #3 Slim’s Place or #6 Bins Be Clean.
In the second semifinal game #1 Beach Bums will go against the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between #4 Planet Stone and #5 Ugly Grouper.
The age group championship game is scheduled to play on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m.
Related coverage
