Summer Sports Action Starts Saturday

A dozen teams in soccer, another 10 for flag football with just a few spots left for last-minute sign ups. The basketball program is sold out with 12 teams and now it is time to “let the fun begin,” according to Jimmy Barbarise, league director with i9 Sports, which operates the youth sports programs in Pasco County.

Barbarise reports that all systems are go for the summer season with coaches lined up, and his support team of Jim Surin, athletic director, and on-site coordinator Nathan Bowser, Another 20 people are ready to position goal posts, line fields and blow whistles as certified referees are prone to do.

“We look forward to a great summer," said Barbarise, who has been running sports programs in Pasco County for three years. “We rent uses of the fields from the county, but we set up the fields for our weekend games and have on-site coordinators as well as my active involvement.”

All outdoor games and practices will be on fields behind the Land O' Lakes Community Center at 5401 Land O Lakes Blvd.

“We take a one-price approach to our sports program, no additional fundraising required, the fee covers the program, jersey, flags for the players, support staff and officials,” he said. “We stress that every team member plays.”

All staff, volunteers and officials submit to background investigations to qualify for involvement. “Our referees are certified through a process where they complete game rules exams online,” he said. “An important component in our certifications are analysis of how they treat the players on field. Often our toughest decision is the one where (we) have to 'not-invite' an otherwise dedicated coach or official back because their player treatment is not up to our standards.”

i9 Sports focuses on teaching the games it fields.

“We are here to teach fundamentals and motivate young players for their later achievements,” Barbarise said.

Soccer gets organized on Saturday, with first day practices starting at 9 a.m. Preregistration is required through the website at i9sports.com.

Flag football organization day takes place Sunday, also starting at 9 a.m. with both hosted at the community center.

“Our summer soccer season operates between June 11 and July 30 with 12 teams involved and flag football with 10 teams will start June 12 ending July 31,” he said.

Anyone is in those age groups is eligible to play.

“Our goals are to teach fundamentals, there are no tryouts or drafts. Kids at these ages are being exposed to team sports and its all about learning skills, building confidence and having fun getting used to working as a team,” he said. “Our programs are all about planting the seeds of competitive sports and having playing time for all the team members while they work on fundamentals like ball handling skills.”

Barbarise takes a pragmatic view in that wins and losses shouldn't really matter until the teams are in what he refers to as a junior level, which is just prior to junior high school. “After that it gets to be more about the wins and losses for everyone,” he said.

 Age brackets are referred to as Mighty Mites, ages 4 to 6, PeeWee ages 7 to 8, Juniors are 9 to 10, and Seniors 11 – 13 in these leagues.

"We pride ourselves on our family friendly approach to all of our sports programs,"  said Barbarise. “We try to have game day practices for both soccer and flag football to keep the transportation costs down."

Basketball is currently sold out for the summer season. Practices start with an organizational day at 9 a.m. Tuesday (June 14 at 5015 School Road in Land O' Lakes. The season will extend from June 14 to Aug. 2.

Barbarise has been running the Pasco County-based program for 3 ½ years and has coached in youth programs for about 13 years after playing college football at a Long Island college.

“Sports is tremendous for me and seeing young kids grow into competitive athletes who go on to play at more advanced levels is part of our mantra as it is validation that we are doing a lot right to get these kids started and that creates a lot of self satisfaction for me,” he said.

The i9 Sports organization offers youth sports programs throughout Pasco County as they've previously run programs in Wesley Chapel and other locations. This summer is only in Land O' Lakes as inquiries from New Port Richey, Hudson and other covered areas have been minimal. 

Looking ahead Barbarise is anticipating a great turn out for a hockey workshop planned for August and emphasized that a new cheerleading program is part of their fall program.

“One thing I love about Florida is the potential for year round outdoor sports,” he said. “We'd love to get started on our fall sports registration now, too. We are offering flag football, soccer and baseball which will cover periods from September through December in addition to the cheerleading training programs for various age groups."

To find out more, visit i9sports.com.