Bloomingdale Yearbook

       Over Thanksgiving break the boys soccer team had a tournament at the Countryside fields in order to keep their skills sharp over the week without practicing together. Coach Troy Smith used the games like a pre- season tournament and gave everybody plenty of playing time almost like a tryout.

        “I was excited about finally getting some minutes in an actual high school game and gaining the experience since I don’t dress for the season games,” said freshman Ryan Wilson.

        The first game didn’t go well at all for the Bulls and the end result was a 4-1 defeat against East Lake High School. They were supposed to play a second game, but the game got cancelled becasue the other school called ahead and said they didn’t have enough players to field a team so they forfeited. In the third and final game the boys team put on a strong showing and beat Seminole High School 8-4.

     “I was pleased with the overall effort displayed by the boys at the tournament, especially the younger guys,” commented Coach Troy Smith.

       The season was coming to an end and it was time for the district championship race for the cross country team. The season started out looking promising for the team, but halfway through the season they lost two juniors who helped gain many points each and every race. Unfortunately, Paul Pandl, junior captain, was also unable to attend the districts race because he had been sick the previous three weeks.

      “I was really disappointed that I had to miss the race because all year I had been planning on reaching the regional race and possibly states, but that kind of fell through the ceiling once I got sick,” said junior Paul Pandl.

        The race went well seeing that there were no upperclassmen running for Bloomingdale and it was most of the runners’ first district race. Two of the top three runners were freshmen so the next few years to come look hopeful for Coach Beach.

      After tying their first two games of the season 1-1 against Durant and Plant High School, the boys soccer team beat Alonso High 3-2 in a back and forth match.

      “We didn’t like each other from before the game even started. The Alonso players kicked us off “their” half of the field during warm ups so we really wanted to show them up on their home field,” said senior captain Evan Blythe.

      These feelings continued throughout the game and both teams played a very physical games, but only one yellow card was given by the referee. One of Alonso’s forwards took Paul Snyder’s legs out when he went up for a header and was immediately carded.

     Depsite the constant fouls, we quickly scored three goals. two of which were scored by Shawn Ballentine and the other by Tevin Gage. Alonso had their fair share of attacks and got two goals, but the boys held them off in the second half and gained their first win of the season.

     “It’s great to finally get a win after dominating every game we’ve played so far. We just weren’t able to finish before,” said sophomore Carlos Tobar.

The new JV and Varsity basketball teams dribbled their first dribbles and made their first slam dunks this week as the beginnings of basketball season came to the courts. Three days of tryouts the week before left the players tired and hopeful. According to Freshman Travis Bird, they were “tough and greuling”.

But now, the new teams begin the next step in their season, and are ready for serious training for their first games. Coach Willis, head coach for basketball, will be getting Bloomingdale’s teams on the path to victory.

Boys teams and girls Varsity have their first games the week of November  16th. The girls will play against Durant on  November 17th in the gym, and the boys play Armwood in the preseason classic at Seffner Christian on the 19th.

Both new and returning players are going to work and refresh their skills this week to prepare for their games, but they are ready for the season.

       The boy’s soccer season began with a 1-1 tie versus Durant High School.  The game looked a bit troublesome for the Bulls after the first twenty minutes because the ball was predominately on their half of the field. After the first water break, the Bulls woke up and began to play like a team and Joey Sanchez scored after taking the ball down the line and putting it past the goalie.

        Starting sophomore Carlos Tobar said, “For the start of the game it was pouring and my touch was horrible, luckily the rain let up and I could control the ball better.”

        By the start of the second half it had stopped raining and Bloomingdale was winning 1-0. The team held onto this lead until the final ten minutes of the game when Durant’s forward dribbled up the field and scored the tying goal. 

      “The goal was a real disappointment, but it was good start to the season and we can only get better,” said Coach Troy Smith.

The band and choral organizations got another early jump at raising some green paper for the trip to London, England in 2011, fourteen months away by selling certificates redeemable for a free pie from any Village Inn restaraunt in America. And the best part? The certificates never expired! The band and chorus students, wise to start on any fundraiser early, began selling immediately. Whether it be French silk, cherry, apple, key lime, pecan, or the simple yet traditional pumpkin pie, no one could resist bringing a delicious dessert home for the Thanksgiving feast, especially after hearing it would support a Bloomingdale music student.

Morgan Morrow, a freshman band student, was eager to start selling the pies.

“I want to sell 100 so I can pay off my trip to London,” she said.

Mr. Anton Donchev, the band intern, also had a thought to share about the fundraiser.

“It will go as well as the [students] want it to. If they don’t want to go to London then they won’t reap any rewards,” said Donchev. ”It will take lots of hard work to get there.”

On Monday, October 19th, the girls golf team traveled to Heritage Isles Golf Course to compete in the 2A-11 district tournament. They golfed against ten teams, including rivals Durant and Newsome. The team came in 7th, with a score of 472, just eight strokes behind Newsome. The first place score was 334 belonging to Durant.

“I am proud of every one of them,” Said girls Coach Harris. “They are the most energetic and cooperative team I’ve ever coached.”

The boys team fared a little bit better, finishing in fourth place. They were a mere two strokes behind Newsome and a third place finish. In first place was Riverview, scoring 329 on their home course. Individuals from Bloomingdale that qualified for regionals were Jeremy Walker and Griffin Isabel.

“We were pretty big underdogs going into the season,” Said junior Jeremy Walker, who shot an 84. “It was a great accomplishment, I’ve been working all my high school career for this.” He said, when asked about qualifying for regionals.

      The boys soccer tryouts began and with new coach, Troy Smith, all sixty or so players were looking to impress him and add their name to the 2009-2010 roster.

      “Since we have a new coach, I knew I had to play hard and give a good show even though I’m a returning starter from last year,” said junior Danny Migowski.

      The first cuts took place at the end of the third day of tryouts, where the number of players went from more than sixty all the way down to thirty.  Troy Smith encouraged the players that didn’t make the cut to keep trying and not to give up, but this just wasn’t their year.

    The players were expecting a second and final cut on the last day of tryouts, but after the fourth day, Coach Smith announced he would be making no more cuts and that the six freshmen would make up the practice squad.

     “Tryouts was like a big reunion for the returning veterans and I can’t wait to make my senior year a winning season!” said senior Taylor Boschee.

The Homecoming Football game was last Friday October 9th. It was Bloomingdale vs Plant City, the final score was 28-0 with Plant in the lead.

“It was a pretty good night,” said freshman Travis Bird. “I wish we would’ve won but the band was amazing. Especially the drums during the mosh pit!” The band participated all throughout the night playing at the pregame, the homecoming presentation, and doing one final show after the game featuring Don’t Stop,  Anyway You Want It, and more.

Sophomore Sarah Palmonka also commented on the game, saying, “It would’ve been nice to win but it was fun and a good way to kick off homecoming. Hopefully we’ll play better next season or game.”

With the fans covered in black clothing and paint, they were ready for some action. “It was nice to see everyone dressed up!” Said freshman Drew Forest, ”It seemed like the whole stands were pitch black. Some people really got into it!”

On Tuesday October 13Th 2009 the girls went against some harsh competition against Plant High School aka the panthers. The game was at Plant and started at 7:30 pm, junior varsity also played at 6:15 pm.

The girls played three games and lost all three games. The scores were 8-25, 9-25 and the last score was 20-25. This was the tenth game of the season.

Before the game Kelly Rach, sophomore, ” I’m excited and pumped for the game, I hope I don’t break a nail though because last game I played i bended my finger back.”

This game was a district game. The district teams for girls are Brandon High School which they lost both game against them, Alonso High School which they won both games they played, Plant High School another team they lost to both times and Wharton High School, the girls won against Wharton. The girls record for the season is 5-6. But for the district record its 4-4.