Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 11-17-15 Edition

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Woman Hopes Her Experiences Will Help Other Women
First Academic And Athletic BAYTAF Clinic To Be Held
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Saturday, November 21st, the Bay Area Youth Track & Field (BAYTAF) and the Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation will host a clinic for academic athletes. The event, the first of its kind in this area, will take place from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., at the University of South Florida.
Nate Johnson, founder of BAYTAF said, “This is the first event of its kind in this area. It is a result of the many emails and questions from parents and students. It is designed to help those student athletes make the academic transition from high school to college.”
Johnson said often times the students may have the athletic ability, but need guidance in preparing for college. “When you talk to these students, they think the school is doing it or, counselors, or coaches, the students and parents must make the right decisions.”
In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, the event will feature Tyrone Keys, Suzette Dean, Kala Funderburk, Yuri Higgins, Jacques Raphael, Charlie Harris, Walter Dix, Ricky Sailor, Rey Robinson, and Gar- rett Johnson, as presenters.
The clinic will benefit male and female ath- letes from all sports and will feature guest speak- ers and current workshop topics that include: NCAA All-American Athletes; the college recruit- ing process; high school requirements and col- lege compliance; AAU/USATF/FHSAA track and field event rules; USATF official’s rules review by event; meet management preparation and organ-
CARMEN AND NATE JOHNSON
... Founders of the Tampa Bay Area Youth Track & Field organization
ization.
The event is designed to help high school stu-
dents ages 14 and up. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. No student will be admitted without an accompanying adult.
In order to attend the event, the parents must accompany the students and they must register on line at http://baytafclinic.eventbrite.com.
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Christy Sherman, the founder and CEO of Redeem and Faith House, hopes that her life experiences will help other women from making bad decisions.
Ms. Sherman wants o deal with women who have been victims of domestic vio- lence and substance abuse.
“I spent more than 10 years wandering and rejecting help from everyone who really cared about me. I found myself in- volved in a lot of life threaten- ing situations, and I hardly gave any thought to how this was affecting my three chil- dren.
“I’ve been abused, nearly killed, and I finally hit rock bot- tom. It was the drugs that started the entire journey. I got introduced to drugs at the age of 20.”
Ms. Sherman said co- caine was her primary drug of choice, although she also used marijuana.
“I had a horrible crack co- caine addiction for 15 years, and that really did me in.
“What made me stop is falling asleep while I was driv- ing. I could have been killed, or killed someone else. That’s
CHRISTY SHERMAN
when I said enough is enough.” Ms. Sherman said her ad- diction sent her into areas she’d never been before and
never want to return to. “Looking back, I wonder
how I survived it all.
“I know there are a lot of
women out there who have ex- perienced the same horrors I have, and some are still out there. I just want them to know they don’t have to give in to the addiction and allow it to de- stroy their lives. There are peo- ple who still love you and care about you, especially your chil- dren and family members. Do it for yourself so you can be a part of your family again. Re- turning to normal takes a lot of work, but I’m here to tell you it’s worth it.”
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