Buddy Baseball Newsletter
July 2019
Hello Buddy Baseball Fans, 
 
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. We had a great time in the July 4th parade. Thanks to all who came out to ride on our float. 
 
Thanks to the Tampa Bay Rays for providing Buddy Baseball 115 tickets to a recent game!  We had a great time and appreciate their continued support of our league.
 
We enjoyed a fun morning playing Bingo in June with our Buddy Baseball families. Thanks to board members Sherri Johnson and Phyllis Guthman for organizing the event.
 
Registration is open for the fall season. We already have a lot of players signed up and we need to recruit a lot more buddies. Please help spread the word. Opening Day is Saturday, September 28th and the Meet and Greet will be on Saturday, September 21st. We will be playing ball before you know it. Sign up now!

 
Russ Oberbroeckling
Executive Director


4th of July Parade
July 4th Parade
Thanks to all who were a part of our float, tossing out beads and handing out flyers for the fall season. We appreciated all the families that donated beads to us over the past year. We tossed out 3600 strands! Now we need to start all over again.
Registration
Registration is open for our Fall season. Registration deadline is Friday August 23, 2019, 6:00 pm. To ensure that we have enough buddies for our players, we are initially limiting registration to the first 100 players with special needs. After that we will close player registration and you will be put on a waiting list. Register now!

Season Dates:
Meet and Greet - Saturday, September 21st
Season - Saturdays, September 28th - November 9th       
 
Financial assistance is available
 
 
BINGO!
We had a great time playing BINGO!  Here are the winners!  Thanks again to Buddy Baseball board members, Sherri Johnson and Phyllis Guthman for organizing everything.
Gatorade Player of the Year
Lexi Kilfoyl
Lexi Kilfoyl
The Gatorade Play it Forward program, honors high school student-athletes who have achieved athletic excellence in conjunction with high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character. For the second straight year, the Florida softball player of the year is Lexi Kilfoyl from Academy at the Lakes high school in Land O' Lakes. She has been awarded a $1000 grant from Gatorade to give to a local or national youth sports organization that helps young athletes reap the benefits of sport. Lexi chose Buddy Baseball to receive her grant again!
 
Lexi was a buddy for two seasons on the Ravens and she will be attending the University of Alabama this fall on a scholarship and playing softball for them. Congratulations on your award and thank you for selecting Buddy Baseball as recipient of your $1000 grant.
 
Photo courtesy of Joe Winn
Player Spotlight
William Bralley-Santiago
William Bralley-Santiago
William is a long time player and is 15 years old and attends The Broach School. He likes World War II facts and knows all about the war. When William grows up, he wants to be a soldier. If he would be famous, it would be for a being a military soldier making history . William's favorite subject in school is reading and his most prized possession is his Legos.
Buddy Spotlight
Christian Copeland
Christian Copeland
Christian is 18 years old and he just graduated from Tampa Catholic High School in May. He finished 6th overall in his class with a 4.42 GPA and will be attending the University of South Florida starting this Fall. Christian loves volunteering for Buddy Baseball and this will he his third season coming up. He also volunteers each week at Metropolitan Ministries in support of helping the homeless. Christian also tutors younger students in math and science and he likes to do yard work. He is an experienced baseball player and he also likes to golf and can hit his drive over 300 yards!
Rookie Spotlight
Joeliz Almeida
Joeliz Almeida
Joeliz  is 16 years old and loves to sing. She attends Focus Academy and her favorite subject is science. Joeliz's favorite food is pepperoni pizza. Taylor Swift is her favorite singer and her favorite restaurant is Dairy Queen. Joeliz would like to meet Kelly Clarkson.
C oach Spotlight
Chris Damico
Chris Damico
Chris Damico is a coach on the Blazers going on two years now and was named the 2018 Temple Terrace Fire Department Firefighter of the Year. Blazers - Fire Department, Coincidence? 

Chris was born and raised in Tampa and graduated from Chamberlain High School and the University of Florida. He has been with the Temple Terrace Fire Department for 10 years. Chris has been the Fire Engineer for five years and is president of the Temple Terrace Firefighter's Benevolent who is proud to be a Grand Slam sponsor for Buddy Baseball! He is married to Kimberly, and they have a three-year old daughter (and future buddy) Sophia. 

Chris plans to stay involved with Buddy Baseball for life. "I am very grateful for the experiences and friendships that the Buddy Baseball organization has afforded me, and I am already looking forward to the Fall season ahead!"
Sponsor Spotlight 
Mortellaro Law
The Law Office of Michelangelo Mortellaro P.A., is one of our Grand Slam sponsors. The firm practice areas include: Estate Planning, Probate, Medicaid Asset Protection, Elder Law Legal needs and VA Benefits. We appreciate their support!
 
Prime Day - Amazon Smile
Amazon's annual Prime Day is coming up starting Monday, July 15th through Tuesday, July 16th making it the longest Prime Day in Amazon's history. Prime Day deals are for Prime members only, so be sure to sign up for your free 30-day trial If you plan to make any purchases.  
 
This is one of the biggest shopping days of the year and a great time to shop at  smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate to Buddy Baseball at no extra cost to you.
Did you know?
A baseball lasts only about eight days in the majors. It gets used once in a game before being demoted for use in batting practice. After it's hit once or twice, it goes to the batting cages under the stands for a four to five day beating - then it leaves the park for good.
Contact Us
(813) 416-5742
Until next time...   PLAY BALL!!

Russ Oberbroeckling
Executive Director
In This Issue
Upcoming Issues
Spotlights
Buddy Recruitment

Buddy Baseball | (813) 416-5742 | Russ@Buddybaseball.org | http://www.buddybaseball.org
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Temple Terrace, FL 33687-0361

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