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Tag: Mike Cairns

  • Eckerd senior wants sailing to be for everyone

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    TAMPA, Fla. — Lily Schwartz has been around sailboats most of her life.

    What You Need To Know

    •  Lily is part of the Eckerd Sailing team that made nationals this year.

    •  Lily is part of a leadership program at Eckerd

    •  She has been sailing since she was five

    • Lily is trying to change the stereotype that surrounds the sport of sailing


    Hesitant at first, it didn’t take very long for the Ohio native to fall in love with the sport.

    “It’s pretty cool, I’m out here on a boat by myself, there’s nobody around, nobody telling me what to do”.

    That was the beginning of a competitive sailing career that landed her here at Eckerd College where she is a skipper for the Tritons sailing team.

    For the last three years Lily has been part of a leadership program at Eckerd where she has been chasing a bigger goal.

    She wants to make the sports of Sailing more assessable to everyone.

    “Sailing is such a sport that has kind of a mono-culture in it, you know it’s mainly a white a wealthier sport and I wanted to get kids in boats of all socio-economic backgrounds, all races” .

    Part of Lily’s leadership program included a trip abroad, so she took three of her best friends on a 48 hour sail from her hometown in Sandusky, Ohio to Canada.

    Lily will graduate in May with the hope that her past three years of work, helps to make a difference, changing the sport she loves.

    “I think the future of sailing needs to look a little bit different than the past and I’m ok saying that because I would like to see a more diverse group of sailors and I would like to see just more people on boats in general”.

    And she is chasing that dream, one wave at a time.

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    Mike Cairns

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  • West Pasco Flag Football is all about family

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    TAMPA, Fla. Flag Football is catching on in West Pasco.

    Kids are introduced to the sport as early as the age of three. For most of the kids who participate it will be a relationship they will take with them for the rest of their lives.

    Kyle Carlson is one of the coaches who has introduced these kids to the sport an an early age.

    “We saw an opportunity to bring NFL flag football to the West Pasco area which is such an awesome thing for kids, says Kyle, not only kids experienced in playing tackle football but kids who have never played a sport in their life”.

    This is the second season for the NFL Flag Football program in New Port Richey and from the coaches to the players, it’s a big success.

     The league has boys and girls ages three to seventeen, three hundred and fifty players are participating in this years winter league.

    “One of our missions when we found this league was to never turns kids away, right? says Carlson,We always want to give kids the opportunity to play, regardless of their ability level, their financial ability, never turn kids away is our motto”.

    League nights also have an even deeper purpose, it’s all about family, from the volunteers who coach the kids to the parents and family that offer their support from the sidelines.

    “were giving kids a platform to change their lives”.

    and these coaches and volunteers are doing that, one play and one practice at a time.

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    Mike Cairns

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  • Leaving Behind a Legacy At USF

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    TAMPA, Fla. 

    The game of golf is all about routine. It’s doing the little things that could make the biggest difference.

    USF Senior Jake Peacock has separated himself as one of the best golfers in the country. This fall the Georgia native tee’d up his senior year with a win and two top ten finishes to help the Bulls crack the NCAA top 25.

    “I’m just focusing on what I can control, said the Bulls Senior, how I can get better and I think that’s going to give us the best chance of punching our ticket to the national championship”.

    Jake has had a club in his hand since he was 15-months old, sort of, his parents handed him a snorkel and he started swinging it like a golf club and soon he was hitting pennies off the carpet against the wall with it.

    Competing since he was 7 years old, the Bulls senior has become one of the most accomplished golfers in school history. Last year he became just the fifth player in the programs history to capture an Individual Conference title.

    He’s a solid ball striker from tee to green, said his head coach Steve Bradley but on the greens he’s superior and that will be ultimately what he will have success with and making it as a professional golfer”.

    Jake, like the rest of his teammates is using this time to prepare for the big spring season ahead. One which will include defending a conference and individual title with the ultimate goal of a 4th trip to the national championship.

    No matters what happens this fall, Jake Peacock has made his mark on the Bulls Golf program that will be remembered for a long time.

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    Mike Cairns

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  • USF Beach Volleyball is underway

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    TAMPA, Fla. — To Launch a Sport for the first time you need a leader with passion. Someone who is not afraid to do something that’s never been done before and knows how they want to do it.

    Last June, USF hired Pri Piantadosi-Lima as the first Women’s beach volleyball coach.

    “I’ve always said USF would probably be the only school that I would try to apply if they ever started beach volleyball and Voila”, Said Coach Pri after a recent practice.

    Coach Pri is no stranger to start ups. The Brazilian native played for her country at the Olympic and Pro beach levels, before coming to St.Pete where she helped launch the Eckerd College Beach program and started one of the most successful elite club programs in the country.

    What started on paper came to life this fall when Coach Pri and her 11 recruits from all over the world hit the sand in Tampa to begin getting ready.

    “We’re playing to get better next year, just having this practice year, we don’t have any pressure,the only pressure we have is to apply the things we do at practice in the game”.

    It’s been a year of firsts for these Bulls so far, from walking into their new locker-room for the first time, to the brand new team video room where they get to study and prepare for games.

    It’s a once in a lifetime experience for these 12 girls who come from all over the world to launch the new sport and the adventure begins in February with eight weekends of games lined up for the Bulls.

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    Mike Cairns

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  • Byrum Brown Giving Back

    Byrum Brown Giving Back

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    TAMPA, Fla. This camp is all about giving back. 

    This summer, USF quarterback Byrum Brown hosted his first football camp for kids in the bay area. 300 kids, ages 6 to 15 took to the fields in Wesley Chapel for a day of football.

    “I’m extremely excited just to be able to give back to the community that has embraced me, going here to USF and being able to give back to the Tampa Community, it means all the world to pay it forward.” aid the Bulls Quarterback after a day filled with fun and football. 

    Byrum’s parents Drew and Nicole were on hand to check campers in and former USF and NFL Quarterback BJ Daniels was the Camps director.

    The Free camp was the second one of the summer for Byrum, who ran one earlier in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C.

    The memories will last a lifetime and the Bulls record setting quarterback hopes it’s something he can do again next summer.

     

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    Mike Cairns

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  • With program turnaround, USF track coach eyeing larger success

    With program turnaround, USF track coach eyeing larger success

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    TAMPA, Fla. — It’s been a big year athletically at the University of South Florida.

    The football team and men’s basketball team saw turnarounds under new coaches and the department continues strides towards its new on-campus stadium.

    But perhaps the biggest improvement came from the track and field teams, which are sending 12 athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championships this week in Eugene, Oregon.

    What You Need To Know

    • USF sending 12 athletes to NCAA Outdoor championships
    • Turnaround track season saw men win first AAC titles as the women placed third 

    • Under coach Erik Jenkins, USF athletes have set 35 school records

    Head Coach Erik Jenkins is the man behind the turnaround.

    “I had no illusions of us winning as soon as I got here,” Jenkins said. “Because I know how hard it is to build a program.”

    Just five years after arriving in Tampa, Jenkins, a Quincy, Florida native, is preparing to send a school record 12 athletes to this week’s NCAA Championships.

    “I think we can be a conference contender on a consistent basis,” he said. “And I think that we want to be a program that consistently makes noise in the NCAA Championships and beyond.”

    After a standout track career at Western Kentucky, Jenkins, 47, went on to coach at his alma mater for 11 seasons. He won 30 conference championships there before coming to Tampa. He said the move was motivated by having all the right ingredients needed to build something special.

    “Being able to train at a higher level year round and having the resources we have here, I felt that we could build something,” Jenkins said. “And I think that we could have something that we could continue to build upon and have sustained success for a long time.”

    USF track had never won a conference championship, men or women, before this year. The men won their first taking both the American Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor championships with the women placing a program best third in both.

    The men and women’s teams have produced 35 school records under Jenkins watch, including 30 in the last two seasons alone.

    We’re just starting to figure out who we are,” he said. “We want to be good for a long time and build South Florida into a program that will be respected for a long time to come.”

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    Mike Cairns

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  • For Mayfield, other Bucs, OTAs providing valuable work time

    For Mayfield, other Bucs, OTAs providing valuable work time

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     TAMPA, Fla. — The Buccaneers are going through their final week of OTAs.

    For quarterback Baker Mayfield, this year’s organized team activities are much different than a year ago.

    What You Need To Know

    • Bucs wrapping up OTAs this week 
    • Bucs offense busy installing offense under new OC Liam Coen
    • Team will have one more June minicamp before training camp in late July 
    • Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    This year, number 6 is armed with a new contract and learning a new offense being installed by new Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen.

    “Nobody has played a down yet, everybody is working for the same goal but mentality wise this team were hungry and back at it,” said Mayfield, who signed a three-year, $100-million deal with the Bucs in the offseason. “It’s really awesome that we have everybody here on offense, going through that so everybody’s hearing it were all talking about it, learning from it, good and bad plays, that’s what this time period is about, you can’t win or lose ball games right now you can only try to get better.”

    Bucs Head Coach Todd Bowles has also seen players in this camp who were not expected to be at these voluntary activities, like veteran Mike Evans who showed up today, a sign his team his hungry to get started.

     

    “There’s a lot of guys that want to win, said Bowles, who led the Bucs to a division crown and wildcard playoff win last season. “The chemistry starts here and continues in training camp, so it’s important for these guys to come in.  

    “We understand it’s voluntary and we thank them for coming in, you know they know they need to work, they’re very professional about it and they try to help the young guys.”

    With mandatory minicamp coming up next week, it’s these practices that set the tone for training camp.

    “You we really want to stress the mental aspect of the game right now,” Mayfield said. “(And) try and learn as much as you can to where it comes to live bullets during training camp it’s second nature.”

    Mandatory minicamp will take place June 11-13 with training camp set to begin in late July.

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    Mike Cairns

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  • Billy Mohl has something to prove in 2024

    Billy Mohl has something to prove in 2024

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    TAMPA, Fla. A new Baseball season is underway at USF And Bulls head coach Billy Mohl is back in the place where his career began – the bullpen.

    “This is my office, this is what I’ve known for the last 30-years, so this is what I love”. says the Bulls Head Coach during a practice recently.

    Coach Mohl is in his seventh season as the Bulls head coach and 10th at the University, but this year the former Tulane Star pitcher took back the duties of pitching coach after the team’s worst season of his head coaching tenure.

    “Last year was embarrassing” snorts the Bulls head coach and this year his team is gettng ready to do something about it. 

    A big source of pride for Mohl is the number of Bay area kids who have stayed home to play in Tampa, this season fifty percent of his team is home grown.

    Coach Mohl’s track record of working with pitchers is one of the best in all of college baseball, 16 of his pitchers have been drafted during his time as head coach and five are currently in M-L-B starting rotations.

    Success for Billy Mohl has always been measured by more than just wins and losses, he believes relationships build the backbone of his teams and it’s part of what makes coming to work every day the best part of his job.

    “I’m definitely proud to be living in Tampa Bay and say I live here because I love this city, I love this town, I love this university”.

    As the Bulls take the field with a clean slate and a new season begins, Coach Mohl is exactly where he wants to be.

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    Mike Cairns

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