Looking Back to the SCF 2019-20 Athletic Season

As it sits, the 2019-20 athletic season for State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) has come to a close early due to the pandemic of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). It truly is upsetting for not just for myself and all the coaches and athletes that were playing their sports in the spring, but for the sophomores that worked their tails off to compete, and now it's been tarnished.

This was not only happening to SCF and the junior colleges in the FCSAA, but it is also happening to other junior colleges nationally in the NJCAA (D1, D2 and D3) as well as colleges/universities in the NCAA (D1, D2 and D3), NAIA, California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA), National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA) and Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC). In total, over 2,000 junior colleges and universities (2,291 to be exact) had to stop the seasons of their spring sports because of COVID-19. We're talking about over 10 million student-athletes not being able to play their final year(s) of eligibility this year as a result.

I could sense a lot of pain for all the athletes at SCF that are sophomores and are unable to play in the spring because of this pandemic and I understand it sucks, but I guess in a way it is for our own safety.

On a positive note, in a statement by the NJCAA, they indicated that, "no spring sport student-athlete who was enrolled at a member college in 2020 will be charged a year of participation." This will preserve the season of eligibility for beach volleyball, baseball, softball, and tennis.

Now what does it mean for the remaining 24 sophomores for baseball, softball, tennis and beach volleyball? Will they get their final year of eligibility back? Will they be listed as 'redshirt' sophomores? The answer to that is yes they will get their final year of eligibility back as the NJCAA will give back all spring sports their eligibility, but as far as being dubbed as 'redshirts' I'm not sure.

The thing is it will take a good amount of time to put all the pieces together before making final decisions on what should happen, but as it looks at the moment, the 24 combined sophomores will get their one remaining year of eligibility back and do have the option to stay and play for SCF or continue on with their current paths.

But to steer on a positive path of the 2019-20 athletic season, let's look back and talk about some memorable moments that the Manatees have produced for all six sports along with the stories I wrote about them.

SCF Indoor and Beach Volleyball:
Lets begin with indoor volleyball and beach volleyball. Yes, the past five seasons have gone down for the SCF indoor volleyball team and they did finish 5-19 overall with a 2-4 record in the Suncoast this past season. Originally, they were 3-23 overall with an 0-6 record in conference play, but they moved to third place in the Suncoast standings, and the reason why SCF moved from last place to third in the Suncoast was because of St. Pete College. SPC had an ineligible player that played during the season. The old saying is this: "You cheat, you're out."

We even played Florida Southwestern in their inaugural season despite falling to them in both matchups.

The first story I did on the volleyball team was on their season schedule released where I talked about who they were facing and the players to introduce.

One of SCF volleyball's memorable moments came from sophomore Sydney Jaco when she reached 1,000 digs in her career in a win against the Webber International junior varsity team. Jaco ended up finishing 1,230 career digs at the end of her sophomore year and was named a member of the All-Suncoast Second Team and a five-time member of the FCSAA 25 Dig Club. All-in-all, Jaco finished her career as a 21-time FCSAA 25 Dig Club for the Manatees, a one-time All-Suncoast First Team, two-time All-Suncoast All-Academic Team and one-time NJCAA National Player of the Week.

With volleyball, I was even able to do two stories on two of the players, Jaco and freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai. Truthfully, they were nervous about having a story on them while I was nervous on starting the interviews with them. In fact, Jaco and Wilcox-Nanai were the first players I did an interview with on the win during Jaco's milestone.

Some of my favorite moments from the 2019 season with SCF indoor volleyball included doing the national anthem for their sophomore night and giving one of the assistant coaches and the players goosebumps despite the loss to Monroe College, but the most memorable was when Jaco, Barbora Tichackova, Lisa Jaunet and Emily Sauceda all came to see me at Maple Street and eat there too, which meant a whole lot to me. (*Link in description)

Now with the addition of beach volleyball, they finished their campaign 3-0 for their inaugural season, even if it was cut short with the majority of the team from the indoor team. I guess in a way, the inaugural season was just a taste of what to expect for next season.

I was so thankful to meet the several newcomers in the freshmen in Wilcox-Nanai as well as the others (Jaunet, Bailey Sikkema, Jazmin Spencer, Brooke Henry, Gracee Carpino, Noelie Claude and Britzy Lucas) and I'm also thankful to meet the returners in Jaco as well as Tichackova, Sauceda, Daviya Bernard and Hannah Strickland). They all made such an impact for SCF volleyball, but I know that where they go, the journey leads them to their success.

SCF Basketball:
I look back to my first story on the SCF basketball team on a preview of the Manatees playing Gordon State College at home. Before I got started on it, I first decided to meet the head coach for SCF, Tom Parks. He seemed like a really good guy. Truthfully, he reminded me of a taller version of Brock Erickson, which actually led to me being a little intimidated by him.

After the game against Gordon State, Parks was the first person I did an interview after the game on the win and at first I was a little nervous, but it worked out well in the end. When the first Suncoast Conference game at home against SPC commenced, I got Parks's comments, of course, but then I also got then sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe and then freshman D'Moi Hodge and their take on the game.

I remember in one of the stories against Hillsborough, Park said a meaningful message on my stories.

"I just want to thank you Pat for doing this because I think it's unbelievable with your passion and the fact that you come and support us every game with your notebook writing stats and how serious you take this. It means a lot to our program and we really appreciate your support and writing about us on your blog. It really means a lot to us."

"1st Herd" finished the 2018-19 season 18-15 overall with a 6-6 Suncoast record. Heading towards the postseason, mainly the Suncoast Conference Tournament, coach Parks considered me as a member of what he dubbed as "1st Herd". I never asked where the idea came into play for that, but I guess the old saying is "Some things are just better left unsaid... for now".

Fast forwarding to this year and it was very memorable. I mean to start it off, we had the debuts of seven players. Truthfully, this season and last season were the best seasons that SCF Basketball has had in a long time as we finished 21-11 overall with a 5-7 record in the Suncoast. The 21 wins were the most we had in program history. We won the Suncoast Conference Tournament and made it to the FCSAA State Tournament for the second straight season before falling in the first round of the state tournament to Tallahassee (TCC).

One of the big moments from the 2019-20 season for SCF basketball team came off the shot of Hodge where he set two scoring records: most points in a single season and most career points. Hodge broke and set both records during the Suncoast Tournament. I even got to travel with the team for the game and cut a piece of the net after the win, even if we had to cut it at Hal Chasey Gymnasium.

From my personal favorite moments with SCF Basketball, I have two special ones that were very heartfelt and meaningful.

The first was being able to travel with the basketball team for the Suncoast Championship was one of them. It truly was the first time I ever got to travel with any team from SCF, thanks to coach Parks pulling a couple of strings to have me join the team on the road and being able to cut a piece of the net after claiming the tournament.

The second one was two days after winning the Suncoast Tournament when I asked the entire basketball team to come to an open house ballroom dance party at Wilson's Dance Sport International for a night of dancing, food and fun in which they said they would. At first I was a little worried if they weren't going to come, but the entire team and student assistant David Peck were true to their words and they all came, participated in the fun group and danced the night away, which made my night. We all even got a photo together and even got a complimentary dance lesson for participating. Honestly, they all did really well on the dance floor (*Link in description).

There are some sad parts from this season. Of course, it was seeing D'Moi Hodge, Isiah Dasher, Chris Scarborough, Remy Robert II and Max Bell-Ramos having to end their careers and parting ways from SCF, but it was also sad that I will not being able to see the debut of Jean-Pierre "JP" Frederick at SCF because of a series of issues while trying to transfer from another college in Saint Lucia (his native country) that had no sports whatsoever. As a result, he has to transfer to a four-year college. It really is sad because I was really looking forward to seeing him play this season at SCF, but regardless, I know he'll do phenomenal at the higher and I'll support him no matter which school he goes to.

2nd Herd has ended for 2019-20, but 3rd Herd will be in session with Marshall Kearing, Sam Grayson, Jordan Clark, Michael Gavin and Calvin McCutcheon returning to the team for their sophomore campaigns as well as the debuts of walk-on players Rae Miller and Christian Nieto, who redshirted last season. I also look forward to seeing the debuts of Kwo Agwa, Michael Hatcher, DK Kelly, Javon Bell, Keenan Willie, Joe Stubbs and Luke Lecroy when they arrive to SCF for their true freshmen years.

SCF Tennis:
Although this year for SCF tennis wasn't as promising as the 2018-19 season, they all worked hard on the court despite going 2-7 overall with an 0-5 record in conference.

I was able to meet the newcomers which included Karla Menendez and Martina Shakhnazarova, and got to see the returners that included Sara Ramirez-Goncalves, Brie Botsford and Mackenzie Vraspir. In fact, I wrote feature stories on Ramirez-Goncalves and Botsford.

I'm remembering the first story I wrote on the SCF tennis team was on their season home opener against Southeastern University (NAIA) for the 2018-19 where they won 8-1. There were the debuts of Ramirez-Goncalves, Botsford and Zeba Jamal. Vrsapir and Alexis Booker didn't play that year as they redshirted. During that season, I didn't have my first postgame interview with coach Chloe Murphy until after the matchup against Broward and didn't interview a player until their shutout win over St. Catherine (NCAA DIII) when I interviewed Ramirez-Goncalves. Arguably, Ramirez-Goncalves was the only player I did a postgame interview with from both seasons.

The 2018-19 season was a big one for the tennis team. They went to nationals for the first time in two seasons and they finished first tied for fifth place out of 32 teams with Ramirez-Goncalves reaching the semifinals in her flight and Jamal and fellow alum Camile 'Cami' Portalier winning the consolation doubles championship.

This season was a lot different and it's going to be different without Ramirez-Goncalves and Botsford on the squad next season since they were the only two true sophomores on the squad (unless they decide to stay), but it's always going to be like that for any sport.

SCF Softball:
So let's start with the obvious, softball was on a rough patch this season going 1-3 in the JUCO Kickoff Classic to start it off before sweeping Santa Fe to go to even before going on a six-game winning streak with victories over Lake Sumter, ASA Miami (home opener) and Palm Beach State. They then went on a seven-game winning streak and won six out of eight games from their eight-game homestead before sweeping Lincoln Land CC to close off the season at 20-12. The softball team was unable to start Suncoast Conference play due to the coronavirus.

The main part of writing about the 2020 season for SCF Softball was based on head coach Mandy Schuerman as she was aiming for her 200th career win as head coach for the softball team. With softball, the 200th win I think was going to be one of my best stories, but I'm planning on doing a feature story on coach Schuerman about her time as head coach for SCF softball and her milestones with SCF softball as well as leading to her 200th career win as head coach.

So far from the sophomore class (Madelyn Graham, Makayla Benavidez, Ashlee Zientek and Madi LoCastro), Graham (Warner: NAIA) and Zientek (Ursuline: NCAA DII) are deciding to continue to their softball careers at the university level.

Softball was the first sport I watched at SCF when then head coach Meredith Michaels (nee Headings) was leading the team to the 2012 NJCAA College Softball World Series as one of two members from the FCSAA.

SCF Baseball:
Let's start it off with my first story on the SCF baseball team on their win over Broward College winning by a score of 10-1 (2/8/19). I didn't get my first interview with coach Tim Hill II until the game against Hillsborough (3/29/19). Then we made it to the state tournament where we went to the state tournament before being the sixth team to be eliminated.

When the 2020 season went underway, the first story I did for SCF baseball was the opening day game against FSW in a non-conference matchup at CoolToday Park in Venice (the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves). Some would assume that it was home field advantage for SCF because the stadium was closer to SCF, however it was deemed as neutral grounds because it took place neither at SCF nor FSW even it was closer to SCF.

When we had the home opener, I got coach Hill, of course, but this season I got to interview my first two players from the baseball team in transfer AJ Fritz and freshman Clay Callahan. Fritz transferred from Evansville and was one of 11 transfers to join SCF.

Truthfully, the main player I interviewed the most was actually Cameron Lee when he hit his first collegiate home run and his first collegiate grand slam.

I'm remembering one of the funniest parts of the 2020 baseball season was when I was at the home game against PHSC, Fritz's parents, Steve and Amy, were in attendance and all of a sudden, I hear Amy asked if I was the one writing all the stories and at first I was a little hesitant because I thought someone was stalking me (joking), but as I introduced myself, she said that she loved my stories and that was so amazing to meet the parents that read, like and retweet my stories and say many positive things about them.

In the end, the Manatees finished the season 16-11 overall with a 5-1 record in the Suncoast and were in first place in conference. I guess in a sense after finishing the sweep with Polk State, we were going to most likely win the Suncoast Conference Regular Season Championship, even if this year happens to be unofficial.

Thanks and Final Thoughts:
To close this post off, I wanted to give my final thoughts and many thanks to the SCF Athletic Department.

The 2019-20 school was actually a pretty good year for SCF athletics and it was quite an adventure despite the early ending. I got to be around so many great athletes that are going to be making names for themselves. On a positive note for the spring sports, the baseball, softball, tennis and beach volleyball players have an opportunity to return for a renewed season should they decide to take the opportunity.

One question that always comes to mind is "Why do I continue writing about a junior college if I don't get paid for it?" I feel the question is a two-way path. On one side, I do it because I love writing about my alma mater. On the other side, I do it to hopefully gain some experience around journalism, which I do every single time I write a story. All-in-all, whether I get paid for it or not, it does not matter to me because I enjoy it.

Sure I still hope that Dr. Carol Probstfeld, the SCF president, creates a position for a sports communication director or something like that, and that is still in the air of discussion for the near future. Until then, all I can do is wait on it and continue doing what I like to do.

Thank you to Matt Ennis and Ms. Loretta Demonte, the SCF athletic director and assistant athletic director, for getting me access to do feature stories, cover the games and getting postgame interviews afterwards for the athletic events, even if I have to write about the losses. I have known Matt for almost 10 years and Ms. Loretta for five and they have done wonderful things for the SCF athletic department. Although it sometimes becomes a habit from time-to-time when I call Matt 'Mr. Ennis', even though I'm not a student there anymore. It's still a good laugh nevertheless.

I want to thank head coach Parks and assistant coaches Rob Beckmann, Nav Gil, Lem Andrews, Ace Whitaker and David Peck for all they did to keep the SCF basketball team on their toes and for the being the first SCF team I did stories on.

Thank you to coach Schuerman and coach Hill for letting me cover their games, even if the seasons were cut short and Suncoast Conference did not commence for softball. I've known Hill since spring 2013 and Schuerman since fall 2014 and they have done wonders for the baseball and softball programs and I hope they keep doing wonders for the teams.

Thank you to a fellow alum in coach Murphy and coach Burnett for helping with the boxscores for the tennis and indoor/beach volleyball matches when I needed them for my recaps. It was incredibly helpful for me even though the matches that were on the road or on neutral grounds.

Thank you to Amy Beckmann for helping get some photos at the basketball games.

Finally, thank you to all the athletes who participated in my feature stories for postgame interviews and took the time to read, like and retweet all the stories when I post them on Twitter as well as the parents that were able to be in attendance and read my stories.

To think, this whole blog started as a school assignment at FGCU and then I chose to expand it from there spring 2017. Come to think of it, doing stories for SCF is quite an amazing adventure because I learn a lot from all the athletes and their backgrounds.

I definitely look forward to seeing the 2020-21 athletic season for SCF and will look forward to writing up more feature stories, schedule releases, previews and recaps.

First Story Links:
SCF VB: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2019/07/scf-vb-opens-season-santa-fe.html
SCF Basketball: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2018/12/scf-basketball-preview.html
SCF Tennis: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/search/label/SCF%20Tennis?updated-max=2019-03-13T11:31:00-04:00&max-results=20&start=20&by-date=false
SCF Softball: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2019/01/scf-softball-juco-kickoff-classic.html
SCF Baseball: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2019/02/scf-baseball-vs-broward-recap.html
SCF BVB: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2020/02/scf-bvb-sets-for-first-road-tri-match.html

Feature Story Links:
Sara Ramirez-Goncalves: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2019/12/srq-scf-win.html
Brie Botsford: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2019/12/for-scf-tennis-team-each-player-has.html
Leilani Wilcox-Nanai: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2019/10/leilanis-volleyball-journey.html
Sydney Jaco: https://thefgcudirtybird.blogspot.com/2019/10/jacos-legacy.html

Other Social Media Posts:
*SCF Basketball: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2972192216138294&set=a.328054693885406&type=3&theater

*SCF Volleyball: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2619958888028297&set=pb.100000426339316.-2207520000..&type=3&theater