SANTA, SNOW, AND AWARDS!!!
By Matt High, Athletics Program Coordinator, CHS

On December 6, 2006, the Cultural and Human Services Department sponsored the Holiday Park Lighting and the Fall Sports Award ceremony at Oceanfront Park in Sunny Isles Beach. With the arrival of Santa, the lighting of the tree, and the end of the fall sports programs, it was a festive night for all while the Holly Carolers sang holiday carols.

The night included several memorable events including Santa arriving in a convertible accompanied by a motorcade of the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department. Also, the fake snow was a big “hit” for the children as some were trying to have snowball fights. There were games, rides, food, and fun for all. The big slide proved to be a favorite, as well as, the tractor ride. As always, the games were busy throughout the event.

Trophies were presented to all participants in the Under-6, Under-8, Under-10, Under-12, and Under-15 recreational soccer programs along with the Peewee and Junior Peewee cheerleading squads. Special awards were given out by the coaches.

The MVP’s of the soccer season were: Daniel Gelman, Jose Rodriguez, Kevin Olvera, Esequiel Priven, Daniel Grek, Eugene Soto-Beregovoy, Ivan Barriga, Felipe Torres, and Alex Bezhin.

The Most Improved Players honored were: Nicolas Echavarria, Jason Honrath, Sebastian Pena, Santiago Mercado, Michael Setuain, Facundo Perez, Daniel Dahan, Dima Sidorenko, and Eyon Tomlinson.

The Good Sportsmanship Awards were presented to: Leandra Davila, Gabriel Hernandez, Robert Zaborsky, Adrian Vanni, Pedro Krum, Alexander Setuain, and Lucas Ferreira, Tomas Ferreira, and Yanniv Mbiango.

The cheerleading MVP’s were: Shelby Kostyukovsky and Genesis Ramirez.

The Most Improved Cheerleaders were: Sofia Ivanoff-Tzvetcoff and Nicole Santana.

The Most Spirited Award went to: Gabriella Gorvalan and Gabriella Blagerman.

I would like to thank all the coaches, Sergio Vuguin, Diego Echeverria, Jessica LeNoir, Mat Allen, Marcelo Essabba, Luis Segovia, Ray Sellars, Jason Sheppard, Kyle Long, Patrick Noriega, Terry Walker, Victor Mercedes, Valori O’Brien, and Katie Stone, for their dedication, hard work, perseverance, and for making it fun for all the participants. Without the coaches, the programs would not have been as successful this fall sports season.

Again, congratulations to these fine young and dedicated athletes. It was nice recognizing all the fall sports programs, as each child deserved their trophy. Each participant might have a different ability and attitude level, but all enjoyed their experience this season.

The soccer teams had a fabulous record winning 80% of their games. The cheerleading squads both placed first at the Flamingo Regional Cheerleading Championships in Palm City, Florida.

With the end comes a new beginning. Basketball and cheerleading will start after the first of the year, January 22nd, with registrations being taken January 3rd for residents and January 16th for non-residents. For more information, please contact the Cultural and Human Services Department at 305.792.1706.

Again congratulations to all participants and the coaches and a very Happy Holiday season from the Cultural and Human Services Department.

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