BLOOMINGDALE SOFTBALL COACH LEAH PEMBERTON WINS COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

Bloomingdale High School head softball coach Leah Pemberton was named the Hillsborough County Federal Division Western Conference Coach of the Year after leading her team to a second district championship in two years.

“Words honestly can’t even describe it. I feel like I’ve continuously worked hard,” said Pemberton. “As a coach, you don’t do it for the money, you do it because you love it and you do it because it means so much more to you than the time out there, and so to be recognized by my peers and the other coaches in the division honestly meant so much.”

Pemberton was hired by her alma mater in July 2019. In her fourth season as head coach, she led the Bulls to a 14-7 regular season record and a regionals appearance. She had a very successful career as a player, patrolling the infield for Bloomingdale from 2009-12 and going on to play college softball for Florida Southern from 2013-17. She was one of the team captains during her senior season at Bloomingdale, hitting .301 with 22 hits, 14 runs scored and nine RBIs.

“Coach Leah loves the game,” said junior Camryn VanGalder. “She pushes us to practice hard and play hard. She notices immediately if we’re of as a team or individual and helps us get back on track. She believes in us, she allows us to make mistakes, but still requires 100 percent from us at every practice and game.”

By Nick Nahas

Pemberton said that Bloomingdale softball has always been a prideful program since she has played there, and she wants to teach her players the importance of maintaining the tradition and expectation of winning while taking pride in wearing the Lady Bulls uniform and leaving the program in better shape than when they first arrived there.

“She’s always pushed me to be my best self on the field,” said senior Megan Jones-Ortiz.

“She helped me understand the sport on a whole other level. Without her, I don’t think I’d be playing college ball.”

The head coach believes in focusing on the mental parts of the game while also teaching the skill. She wants her players to take it one inning at a time and one game at a time and to be competitive and mentally strong.

“She always helps me with any adjustments I have to make with my swing and cares a lot about her players and growing their abilities,” said senior Livia Velasco.

“Seeing it from a coach’s perspective, you can’t really contribute on the field. You can’t go up to hit, you can’t pitch and you can’t field,” said Pemberton. “Being able to sit back and know that come game time, all the work that you put in day in and day out, being able to watch it play out, I think means that much more. This is home to me.”

“I love Bloomingdale, I love giving back to the school that gave me some of the best years of my life,” she added.

The Hillsborough Community College (HCC)

Lady Hawks Tennis team won the NJCAA Division I Women’s Tennis National Championship during the national tournament held in Tyler, Texas from May 6-10. This is the team’s second national championship title in their school’s history, winning with a team point total of 46.

“I could not be more proud of how our team competed,” HCC athletic director and tennis head coach Sarah Lytle said. “They played with so much heart and beat out all expectations. They earned that championship.”

Lytle was also recognized as the Coach of the Tournament during the championship.

HCC swept all five championship matches during the tournament, earning first place in singles flights No. 3, 4 and 6, as well as first place in doubles flights No. 1 and 2.

Singles victories came from flight No. 3 Ita Habekovic, flight No. 4 Alicia Gomez and flight No. 6 Paula Cabrer-Pericas, who all earned first team singles All-American honors. Doubles victories came from Esmee Andresen and Arina Gamretkaia in flight No. 1 as well as Yoana Dudova and Gomez in flight No. 2. Both duos also earned first team doubles All-American honors.

The Lady Hawks earned runner-up titles in the 2021 and 2022 national championships to Tyler Junior College. Their last national title came in 2008, in which they defeated Tyler Junior College by one point for a team total of 45.

To read more about team stats and see tournament photos, visit the NJCAA website, https://stats.njcaa.org/sports/ wten/2022-23/div1/national_championship/championship_recap.

The Lady Hawks currently practice and compete at the Tejas Pradip Patel HCC Tennis Center, located on the Dale Mabry campus. For court registration, center hours and more, visit hccfl.edu/ tennis-center.

HCC is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOS) to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Degree-granting institutions also may o f er credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Hillsborough Community College serves more than 42,000 students annually at its five campuses located throughout Tampa Bay. For more information, visit www.hccfl.edu.

We are proud to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2023 Senior Class.

Now that you’ve harvested seeds of success, Mosaic and the community wish you a bright and bountiful future!

Fun Online Summer Reading Programs

One of the best and simplest ways to prevent your child’s reading proficiency levels from declining this summer is to establish a daily reading habit. And with the relaxed pace of summer, your child might be happy to hear that he or she is free to choose whatever books sound the most interesting — a welcome change from the school year, which is undoubtedly busy with required school reading.

Want to give your child a nudge in the right direction? Why not enroll him or her in a summer reading program? Summer reading programs o f er a fun way for children to keep track of their reading and rewards for completing reading milestones. While your local library or bookstore may have a reading program, there are also a number of excellent online options as well — and even better, all are free. Here are just a few online summer reading programs for you to explore:

Scholastic’s Summer Reading

Home Base

From now through Thursday, September 7, kids can visit the summer zone in Scholastic Home Base, a completely free digital destination which o f ers stories, characters, games and a community of readers. Home Base is moderated for safety 24/7.

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading

Barnes & Noble provides a reading journal in which your child records the books he or she reads and a little about the book. After finishing eight books, a child can bring the printable reading journal into a Barnes & Noble and redeem it for a free book between Sat-

By Dr. Raymond J. Huntington

urday, July 1 and Thursday, August 31. Visit www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading and look for the 100 Books of summer for Kids section.

Camp BOOK IT!

The Camp BOOK IT! program is open to all families with PreK-6th grade students (ages 4-12). Parents set goals, track reading and reward their students, all in a digital dashboard. The program dates are June through August. Visit www.bookitprogram.com/programs/ camp-book-it.

Half Price Summer Reading Camp

Half Price Books Summer Reading Camp, where online campers, and their trusty guardians, can get their fill of fun reads and activities to keep busy during lazy days of summer, including reading lists by age. The camp runs from now through July 31. Visit https://b. halfpricebooks. com/summer-reading/.

A summer reading program is a great way to incentivize your child to stick with reading all summer long. These programs all strive to make reading enjoyable, reward progress and encourage children to commit to reading as a hobby of choice. The summer is upon us — get started now, and help your child start o f on the right foot for a fun-filled summer of learning and exploration.

Huntington is the tutoring and test prep leader. Its certifed tutors provide individualized instruction in reading, phonics, writing, study skills, elementary and middle school math, Algebra through Calculus, Chemistry, and other sciences. It preps for the SAT and ACT, as well as state and standardized exams. Huntington programs develop the skills, confdence, and motivation to help students succeed and meet the needs of Common Core State Standards. Founded in 1977, Huntington’s mission is to give every student the best education possible. Learn how Huntington can help at www. huntingtonhelps.com. For franchise opportunities please visit www.huntingtonfranchise.com.