Winner, winner!
Longtime Islander Ken Bowers ventures to Parrish Nov. 1 for the 5th Annual Gulley’s Mullet Smoke Off. While there, he participated in the mullet head toss, a slight variation of cornhole where mullet heads were tossed to a target rather than bean bags.
The competition had each of the 15 or so participants take three tosses to targets of 100, 50 or 25 points. After the first round, Bowers found himself tied with two other athletes sending the competition to sudden-death overtime. Each competitor got one shot and Bowers came out on top! Islander Photo: Courtesy Bonnie Bowers
Tom Farrington and Bob Lee threw back-to-back double ringers to rally for a 24-18 victory during Nov. 19 horseshoe action at the Anna Maria City Hall pits. Islander Photo: Courtesy AMI Pitchers
Members of Anna Maria Girl’s Soccer Club include: Lorretta Hopkins, Harper Chastain, Elin Bannick, Lumeria Welch, Caroline Svoboda, Jordan Autry, Williabel Welch, Lemon Blackburn, Cora Shaw, Ruthie Ball, Bayla Lance, Juliette Sato, Izzy Disalvo, Quinlynn McCusker, Heidi Bannick, Torrey Hansonm Savannah Hanson, Scarlett Hoogewind. Not Pictured, Lainey Reed and Ariyah Carlton. Coaches Brooke Svoboda, Josh Ball, Chad Bannick and Jason Sato. Islander Photo: Courtesy Brooke Svoboda
Moss Builders was crowned champions Nov. 17 in the Center of Anna Maria Island’s 8-10 division of the fall soccer league.
Moss edged Adrian Griffin Interiors 3-2 behind two goals and an assist from Finn Viehman and a stellar performance from goalie Titus Moss, who finished with 15 saves. Willo Wolfe added a goal to the Moss victory.
The winning team also includes Nathan Moss, Ivy Wolfe, Maclen Wright and Karl Breitinger along with coach David Moss.
Adrian Griffin Interiors saw two goals from Jackson Griffin and three saves from Houston Winn.
Moss Builders advanced to the championship match by defeating Vida Sports Ministry 3-2 in a match that went to a penalty kick shootout.
Willo Wolfe and Finn Viehman each scored a goal for Moss, which also received six saves from Titus Moss in regulation play.
Heidi Bannick and JJ Smith each scored a goal and Everett Hood had eight saves for Vida Sports Ministry in the loss.
The second semifinal game saw Adrian Griffin Interiors advance with a 2-1 win over Solid Rock Construction in another match decided by a penalty-kick shootout.
Ruthie Ball notched the lone goal for Adrian Griffin Interiors, which also received four saves from goalie Houston Winn.
Jeremiah Raulerson scored for Solid Rock, while Elijah Roadman made eight saves in the loss.
Girls rule
Brooke Svoboda, who has been coaching sports at the Center of Anna Maria Island for several years, told The Islander she noticed that there was a large contingent of girls playing this year in the coed recreational soccer league at the community center.
So she put together an all-girls training session on Monday afternoons and invited girls to take part. The word spread and soon she and some partner coaches were training more than 20 girls.
Svoboda said, “Getting the girls together created a space where they could feel comfortable and empowered.”
The girls and the coaches found the competition among the girls gave a boost to their confidence levels, which transferred to coed team play.
Coaches now are having informal discussions about entering the girls in a tournament.
On top of that, the center is offering an all-girls flag football league. Go girls!
Adult soccer action
Quarterfinal action in the adult soccer league at the center got started Nov. 20 with No. 1 seed Pool America taking on No. 9 West Coast Marine Construction.
Pool America showed why they’re at No. 1 with a 14-3 route behind five goals and three assists from Julius Petereit and four goals from Christos Loizou. Jessica Kelly added two goals and Nocola Angelicola, Chris Klotz and Cody Wright finished with a goal.
Josue Cruz, Lila Naeher and Andy Parra each scored a goal for West Coast, which also received eight saves from Luke Naeher in the loss.
No. 7 seed Language Services Associates upset No. 2 Moss Builders in the second match of the night. Kevin Roman had two goals and an assist and Tyler Brewer added a goal and an assist. Tim Holly chipped in with a goal and Ian Godfrey made 10 saves in the victory.
Ethan Hampton, Rex Kesten and Gerardo Urbiola Bolanos each scored for Moss, which also received nine saves from Ryan Moss in the loss.
No. 6 Florida Impact Windows and No. 3 Ross Built battled to a 3-3 tie in regulation, sending the match to a penalty-kick shootout. Impact Windows prevailed in the shootout and came away with a 4-3 upset victory over Ross.
Leo Gonzalez, David Kesten and Keith Mahoney scored goals for Impact Windows, while Mack Heitchue, Molly Setsma and Alex Villanueva scored for Ross.
No. 4 Bubble Binz defeated No. 5 Sato Real Estate 3-1 in the final match of the evening. Alvaro Figuerola, Helio Gomez and Eduardo Schlueter each scored for Bubble Binz, which also received eight saves from Mark Long in the win.
Cameron Burke scored the lone goal for Sato on an assist from Jamal Duzgun and Robb Marshall made three saves in the loss.
Action continues Thursday, Dec. 4, with semifinal and championship games being played.
Key Royale news
Golf action at Key Royale Club in Holmes Beach got started Nov. 17 with the men’s modified-Stableford system match. Holmes Beach Commissioner and member Terry Schaefer topped the round with a plus-8 — two points over second-place finishers Doug Dorsey and Jeff Jump. Mike Gillie was alone in third place at plus-4.
Margarit Layh rode chipins on the first and fourth holes to a 3-under-par 29 and a first-place finish in Flight 1 at the Nov. 18 individual-low-net match. Linda Dorsey finished in second place with a 1-under-par 31, while Helen Pollock took third with a 1-over-par 33.
Members played a nine-hole scramble on Nov. 20. Leigh Brattain, Dale Hudson, Gary Risner and Tom Solosky combined on a 4-under-par 28 to earn clubhouse bragging rights for the day. Three teams finished in a tie for second place.
Horseshoe action
Three teams emerged from pool play at the Anna Maria City Hall horseshoe pits during Nov. 19 action.
The team of Tim Sofran and Jay Disbrow drew the bye and watched as Tom Farrington and Bob Lee cruised to a 23-5 victory over Dom Livedotik.
In the championship match, Farrington and Lee threw back-to-back double ringers to rally for a 24-18 victory over Sofran and Disbrow.
Action Nov. 22 was short and sweet as Farrington and Sofran teamed up to forge the lone 3-0 record in pool play and win the day’s competition — keeping Farrington perfect for the week.
Play gets underway at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Anna Maria pits. Warmups begin at 8:45 a.m., followed by random team selection.
It’s free to play and everyone is welcome.
Online at islander.org
Don’t miss the sports photos online at islander.org, where news of Kenny Bowers’ win in the mullet-head toss at the Gullet Mullet Smoke Off is posted.
Local coaches tennis player to win at ATP Challenger
Mark Scoop Malinowski of Perico Island coached tennis player Stefan Kozlov to victory in the ATP Champaign Challenger singles title Nov. 16 in Illinois.
Malinowski told The Islander Kozlov defeated world No. 258 Murphy Cassone in a 76 75 thriller.
It was Kozlov’s first ATP Challenger title won in four years. The win improved his ATP World Tour ranking from 458 to 306 and earned him $14,200.
Kozlov, of Pembroke Pines, entered the tournament in a slump, having lost early in four ATP Challenger tournaments dating back to May. He lost the previous week at the ATP Knoxville Challenger in the second round.
But Malinowski said he rediscovered his top form in Champaign, beating Leo Borg, 61 60 in the first round. Kozlov then beat Tyler Zink 63 63, Darwin Blanch 62 67 63 and Cedric-Marcel Stebe 60 40 in the semifinal.
“This sudden surge of excellent tennis by Stefan came as a surprise to some pro tennis observers,” Malinowski stated in a news release. “Though he lost in recent tournaments, I felt he was close. I believed he was just a few minor tweaks from reaching that next level. I suggested some new training ideas and tactics to try to change it up and shake the deep natural talent he has inside. He has all the shots and dimensions of play but a player can’t buy confidence at the pro shop. We were able to rebuild his confidence and he did the rest.”
Kozlov, turned pro in 2013.
Malinowski has helped coach Kozlov since the Sarasota Open in April 2024.
He also has authored 13 books on tennis.