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DURANT BASKETBALL PREPARES FOR UPCOMING SEASON UNDER HEAD COACH JACOB BAER

Last year, the Durant High School varsity basketball team ended the season 20-6, winning fifth in the 7A District under former Head Coach Sean Hayes. After eight of the 17 athletes graduated and Coach Hayes left, newly hired Head Coach Jacob Baer has been tasked with leading the 2021-2022 Durant basketball team to the playofs for the fifth year in a row.

Baer has been the assistant coach for Durant’s varsity basketball team for three years. After Hayes left, he applied for the position as head coach and was hired at the beginning of October during preseason conditioning.

The optional conditioning for varsity basketball prospects started in mid-September before and after school.

“We’ll have shooting drills, and we will also do team-oriented drills, whether it be going through plays or whether it be working on individual spots in plays,” said shooting guard Tyler Eads. “It just helps us know what role we have on the court to be able to better ourselves and benefit the team.”

One of the challenges facing Durant’s 2021-2022 team is that their entire team is under 6’9”. To make up for the advantage they may not have in height, the athletes are conditioning to be one of the fastest teams in the county this year, which will help them on defense and breakaway plays.

Baer’s goals for the season are to lead the team to districts and help one of his seniors, Douglas Blackwood, get a scholarship at the end of his senior year.

“We have one senior who really wants a basketball scholarship. He really wants to go play college basketball,” Baer said about Blackwood. “My goal, personally, is to make that goal happen.” Throughout conditioning, Baer has already seen the dynamic between his teammates forming, even ahead of tryouts. Tryouts for the Durant basketball team were on November 1 and 2, two weeks before their first preseason game and a month before their first regular season game on Tuesday, November 30. “I think we need to win districts. I think that is our number one goal,” said Baer. “I’d like to be named the best public school in the county. I think we are more than capable of it. But I really just want to grow the kids.” For more information on the Durant varsity basketball team, contact Baer at jacob.baer@hcps. net.

Head Coach Baer begins his frst year as head varsity coach in November.

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HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY HOSTS THE 40TH ANNUAL ACTIVE LIFE GAMES

By Lily Belcher

Over 300 seniors participated in Hillsborough County’s Active Life Games.

On October 4, the 40th annual Active Life Games kicked of for Tampa Bay area seniors 50 and older with participants from Eastern Hillsborough County. The games are designed to encourage activity in senior residents to improve their physical and mental health. This year’s Active Life Games, formally known as the Tampa Bay Senior Games, was hosted at Carrollwood Village Park. Over 375 seniors participated in games, such as track, pickleball and shufeboard. Each sport was divided into three age brackets (50-54, 55-59 and 60-64) and the top five athletes from each age and sport category advanced to the state games.

“Pickleball—that is our huge event, said Troy Stewart, who led the organization of the 2021 Active Life Games. “We had pickleball men’s, pickleball women’s and then we had mixed doubles. We had over a hundred participants in those two combined.”

Seniors who registered got to select which games they wanted to participate in and which group (based on age and gender) they wanted to join. Seniors were encouraged to continue their love of community sports after the games with fellow senior athletes in their recreation centers. Last year, the Active Life Games were cancelled due to the coronavirus, but Stewart was able to continue the tradition this year with an outdoor venue and sanitization process for equipment. While navigating the newfound need for health and safety precautions, Stewart made many new memories with the participants, saying, “having a blast with each other and the comradery with being with the seniors and laughing and joking with them” was the best part. Stewart led the development of this year’s Olympic-style event after taking over when the original coordinator left two months before the games. He said that his team supported and assisted him throughout the finalizing of the plans and during the event. “Moving forward to next year, we ask that each participant invite at least one or two people, and that will help double us to about 600 participants,” said Stewart. The 41st annual Active Life Games are tentatively planned for the first two weeks of October 2022. Seniors can register at hillsboroughcounty.org or request a paper registration via mail. For more information, contact Stewart at 813-344-8415.

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