Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 2-18-20

Local
Skills Elite 2028 Wins Tony Perkins Championship
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Feature Writer
When the Skills Elite 2028 basketball team found out they were going to the Tony Perkins AAU Regional Championships, they were pumped. Skills Elite 2028 is a local basket- ball team of tenacious fourth graders looking to build on their successes from last year and do even better this season.
The Champions: Skills Center Elite 2028 team: Jaiden Martin, Tyson Bryant, and John Ar- royo, Jr. Back row, Quinton Plaza, Mike McClendon, James Allen, Rylan Maples, Colin Forde, II, BJ Perry and Sequel Hodge.
championship was another step in their ladder of suc- cess. They were playing well and then they realized that Olympic Gold Medal- ist and WNBA star Lisa Leslie’s son’s team, Florida Flight Elite was in the tournament.
While Florida Flight Elite is a large organization with support from Lisa Leslie, the Skills Elite 2028 is a smaller family- driven team concentrating on academics and mentor- ship. When they first played Florida Flight on day one, they were a little awed and were defeated in the first game.
However, by the next game, the Skills Center Elite 2028 team was ready. The unflinching support from the coaches and fam- ilies coupled with a few changes in strategy, re- sulted in the Skills Elite 2028 delivering one of the most well-played victories in their young lives. They defeated the Florida Flight team and won the presti- gious championship.
The Skills Center started in 2007 and was mainly about academics first, followed by life skills and sports training. The official mission is to “In- tentionally utilize athletics as the mechanism to create academic success, life skills
and mentoring for young people ages 3-18 in Tampa Bay.”
“We want to touch and grow every skill that a young person needs to thrive,” according to Head Coach John Arroyo, whose son also plays on the team. Many parents attend practices and encourage all the kids. Coaches, students and families all know each other and think of Skills Elite Team as a family.
In 2010, The Skills Cen- ter started the basketball teams for all kids, starting at age 3 in the Skills Cen- ter’s Junior Magic Intra- mural League. The children are assigned to teams by grade level. After the first year, some parents wanted a travel team that could compete at local, re- gional and national tourna- ments.
Today’s fourth grade team, Skills Center Elite 2028, is coming off a stel- lar season. Last year as third graders, they placed 12th nationally in the age 9 and under category of the AAU National Champi- onships.
The team participated in ten tournaments, includ- ing the Maryland Invita- tional Tournament 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 fin- ishing 12th out of 22 partic- ipating teams to finish out that year.
This year they are look- ing to build on their suc- cesses last year. By following their team guide- lines of strong family in- volvement and always being competitive with a family spirit, it is a sure thing that the Skills Center Elite teams will just get better and better.
The Tony
Perkins
PAGE 8 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020