Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 7-12-19

State News
Governor Requests
Local
Skills Center Elite 2028 Places 12th At AAU Championship
Standing, left, Coach Maurice Sloan; and right, Coach Ricky Pride.
First row kneeling, left to right: Sequel Hodge (31), Johnathan Adams (17), John Arroyo, Jr. (30), Jaiden Martin (2), and Quinton Plaza (11).
Second row, standing, left to right: Ja’Ron Perry (6), James Allen (23), Colin Forde, II (7), Ricky Pride (21), and Michael McLendon (24). Not shown, Tyson Bryant (4).
Replacement Of Dr. Mary
McLeod Bethune’s Statue
Governor Ron DeSan- tis sent a letter to the Archi- tect of the U. S. Capitol officially requesting the re- placement of the General Edmund Kirby Smith statue in National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol with Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune will represent the first African American to have a state-commissioned statue in National Statuary Hall. The announcement coincides with the 144th anniversary of Dr. McLeod Bethune’s birth- day, July 10, 1875 and was sent in accordance with Chap- ter 2018-19, Laws of Florida.
“Florida is proud to com- memorate the 144th anniver- sary of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s birthday by send- ing our state’s formal request to place her statue in National Statuary Hall, making her the first African American to have a state-commissioned statue,” Governor DeSan- tis said.
“Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was an influential educator, leader and Civil Rights Activist who became one of Florida’s and our na- tion’s most influential leaders. Dr. McLeod Bethune’s statue will represent the best of who we are as Floridians to visitors from around the world in our nation’s Capitol.
DR. MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE
Her legacy endures and will continue to inspire future generations.”
“This is an important milestone in the storied legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, whose influence and ability to convene indi- viduals for the common good across racial and political lines made her an asset to the City of Daytona Beach and the nation, at large, as she advised U. S. Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt,” Bethune-Cook- man University Vice Presi- dent of Advancement, Dr. Clifford Porter said.
During the 2018 Legisla- tive Session, Chapter 2018-19, was signed into law request- ing the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to ap- prove the replacement of the statue of General Edmund Kirby Smith in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
The statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune is slated to be completed and moved to National Statuary Hall in 2020.
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Feature Writer
Tampa has a great local basketball team that is qui- etly racking up wins and es- tablishing themselves as a reckoning force in Tampa.
Skills Center Elite 2028, is a local travel team that just placed 12th nationally in the 9 and under category of the AAU National Champi- onships. The championship tournament was held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
Considering that they were the only team repre- senting Tampa, these eight-
year-old and under young- sters have made quite a splash. That’s right, the Skills Center Elite 2028 has that name because they will graduate from high school in 2028.
The team was founded in 2018 at the Skills Center, an organization offering intra- mural sports in Tampa since 2007. The official mission is to “intentionally utilize ath- letics as the mechanism to create academic success, life skills and mentoring for young people ages 3-18 in Tampa Bay.”
When the team was cre- ated, the boys were partici- pants in the Skills Centers Junior Magic intramural league. Some of the players have been with the organiza- tion since they were three years old.
The team consists of ten players who competed in their first full season of travel basketball this year. The team participated in ten tournaments, including the Maryland Invitational Tour- nament in Bowie, Maryland and “Ballin on the Beach” in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The team won four tourna- ments and secured second place in another. The team finished the season by finish- ing 12th out of 22 participat- ing teams this past weekend. They are coached by Mau- rice Sloan and Ricky Pride.
Congratulations to these hard-working young men and their families, and the Skills Center Elite for com- bining academics and athlet- ics to provide well-rounded experiences for our children.
PAGE 8-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2019