Hello Buddy Baseball Fans,
We had a great Opening Day! We had a hamburger and hotdog cookout sponsored by the Tampa Breakfast Sertoma Club, free popcorn, Tampa Bay Rays Mascot - Raymond, the Temple Terrace Fire Department with their new fire truck and eight great baseball games. What a day!
Don't forget the deadline for our Buddy Scholarship is Saturday, March 16th, at 6:00 pm. The scholarship is for High School seniors who have played at least three seasons.
Our end of season party will be on Sunday April 7th from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm at Pin Chasers on Armenia Avenue in Tampa.
On Wednesday May1st, attorney Elizabeth Allen will be giving a special needs informative legal presentation at the Lightfoot Center.
Help us spread the word of our great league with a rating and review of Buddy Baseball on Google and Yelp.
Details on the Buddy Scholarship, end of season party, special needs legal presentation and the Google and Yelp ratings are below.
Russ Oberbroeckling
Executive Director
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This season we have 107 players, 117 buddies and 45 coaches playing this spring, 20% are new to the league. We have 100 different schools from the Tampa Bay area represented.
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lans are well underway for our end of season party. Our party will feature bowling, pizza, salad, desserts, balloon artists, a face painter, raffle prizes, music and fun!
When: Sunday April 7th, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Where: Pin Chasers
4847 N. Armenia Ave
Tampa , FL 33603
There is no cost for the party, but donations are appreciated.
Please register on-line by Sunday April 8th via the link below.
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Google and Yelp
Rating and Reviews
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We would appreciate your help with a Buddy Baseball rating and review on Google and Yelp. Just click on the link below to go to Google and Yelp. Give us a rating and write a review. Your rating and review will give us a bigger profile and encourage others to join the league.
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Player Spotlight
Sophia Sepulveda
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Sophia Sepulveda
Sophia
is 18 years old and attends Focus Academy. Her favorite subject in school is Music and her favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry. If she were famous it would be for being silly. When Sophia grows up, she wants to be a librarian.
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Buddy Spotlight - Andrew Pillai
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Andrew Pillai
Andrew is in his fifth season of Buddy Baseball and is 15 years old. He attends Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School. Andrew has a brother and two dogs and loves playing basketball. His favorite pizza topping is pepperoni and if he had $1000, he would buy shoes
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Rookie Spotlight
Michael Lucas- Madrid
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Michael Lucas-Madrid
This is Michael's first season with Buddy Baseball. He is 11 years old and attends, Twin Lakes Elementary School.
Michael loves to exercise and he is a safety patrol at school. His favorite food is French Fries. Michael would like to meet his favorite musical artist, Michael Buble. His favorite restaurant is Popeyes.
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Coach Spotlight - George Goodwin
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George Goodwin
This is George's third season with Buddy Baseball and he absolutely loves it! George has been married to Terri for almost 20 yrs. George has a daughter Alyssa that attends Florida Gulf Coast University and is on the dance team. His son Micah attends Tampa Catholic and plays baseball there and is a Buddy for Buddy Baseball. George's "real" job is an engineer for Hillsborough County and has been there for almost 30 years. George also works for Tampa Sports Authority as a Security Auditor for all large events at Raymond James Stadium. In addition to that, George is also a bartender and does security work at the Amphitheater for Live Nation.
He was a firefighter/ EMT for 10 years, with Hillsborough County. In what little spare time that he has, George likes working in his yard, fishing, watching his son play baseball and his daughter dance.
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Thanks to the Nathan, Jeff and Jake Butts for helping with our Buddy Baseball table at the Tampa Bay Rays Fest. We had a great time! Nathan and Jake are buddies on the Jaguars.
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Sarah Otteson Buddy Scholarship
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For the seventh year in a row, Buddy Baseball will award scholarships to graduating buddies. Our Buddy Scholarship is named after Sarah Otteson. Sarah was a buddy in our inaugural season in the Fall of 2009. She went on to be a coach while she attended USF. Sarah graduated from USF two years ago and moved to Ocala for her job. Sarah embodied everything we look for in a buddy and a coach, a positive attitude, empathy, and a passion for helping others.
Thanks to the continued generosity of Dr. Howard and Donya McLeod, along with Buddy Baseball, this year we will be awarding three graduating seniors a $1000 scholarship each. Buddy Baseball has awarded over $11,000 in Buddy Scholarships since 2013. Buddies who are seniors in high school and who have participated in at least three seasons are eligible to apply. The deadline for the application is coming up soon, Saturday March 16th
at 6:00 pm!
Click on the link to apply. Good Luck!
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Sponsor Spotlight
Eric Hodz's 11th Birthday Donation
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Eric plays 11U travel baseball. For his 11th birthday he decided to collect donations for Buddy Baseball instead of getting gifts. He loves baseball and wanted to help. Thank you for your sponsorship.
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"Where are they now?"
Cassidy Haglund
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Cassidy Haglund
Cassidy was a buddy for 4 years, 8 seasons. She is finishing up her Sophomore year at Florida State University studying Family and Child Sciences with a minor in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. She is a Group Fitness Instructor at the university, teaching six classes a week. Last summer Cassidy went to Thailand and Laos, and this summer she's going to Tanzania and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Cassidy really misses Buddy Baseball, but she still talks to her long time player, Andres regularly! Cassidy says, "Buddy Baseball changed my life forever!"
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Penguin Project - Alladin Jr.
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The New Tampa Players in collaboration with University Area CDC Present Penguin Project's Production of Aladdin, Jr.
The Penguin Project is a theatre program for children with special needs. All of the roles in Aladdin Jr are performed by children with special needs. Each child is matched with a peer mentor who works with them from the first rehearsal and to the final curtain. 30 young artists and their peer mentors are excited to take the stage to tell the story of Disney's Aladdin Jr!
We have a few of our players and past players in the performance. Zach and Patrick from the Mustangs, Sophia from the Scorpions and Joseph from the Sharks.
Performance Dates are:
Friday, April 5th at 8:00 PM
Saturday, April 6th at 7:00 PM
Sunday, April 7th at 3:00 PM
Tickets are $15 dollars
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On Wednesday, May1st at 6:30 pm at the Lightfoot Center in Temple Terrace, attorney Elizabeth Allen will give a presentation on Special Needs Trusts, Social Security basic, Medicaid and ABLE accounts. This is our fourth time that we have offered this informative program. Feel free to invite anyone you know that may benefit from this information. Doors open at 6:00 pm
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When: Wednesday, May 1st, 6:30 pm
Where: Lightfoot Center - (where we have the Meet and Greet)
10901 N. 56th St. Temple Terrace, 33617
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Until next time... PLAY BALL!!
Russ Oberbroeckling
Executive Director
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End of Season Party
Scholarship Winners
Spotlights
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