Fast Break

Labor Day tournament caught everyone off guard with its popularity.

It stayed that way for a while. Saviano said when his son Francesco Saviano joined the club’s recreational program at 6 years old in 2014, there were only 47 kids in his age range, barely enough for four teams’ worth of 11-on-11 soccer. Today, the Chargers have approximately 1,000 kids in their program, between recreational soccer, a youth academy that preps athletes for higher levels of players and multiple competitive travel teams, including a team in Major League Soccer’s MLS Next league and a team in the United Premier Soccer League, which is affiliated with the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Former Lakewood Ranch

High football offensive lineman Sam Jackson signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent April 29. The 6-foot6 Jackson played college football at the University of Central Florida and was one of Pro Football Focus’ All-American Athletic Conference First Team selections for 2022.

The Out-of-Door Academy had 11 athletes sign with colleges on April 26: boys swimmer Felipe Baffico-Balharry (Harvard University); boys track and field athletes Tyler Beck (Lafayette University) and Ian Strang (Trinity University); girls rower Ada Giraldo (Boston University); boys rower

Danny Schaffer (Columbia University); boys tennis player

Robert Zhang (University of Chicago); and baseball players

Luke Geske (Florida SouthWestern College), Giovanni Giuliani (Kenyon College), Nevan Hernandez (Daytona State College), Jack Hobson (University of South CarolinaAiken) and Luca Marino (Eckerd College).

Former Lakewood Ranch

High boys track and field star

James Rivera, a sophomore at Florida State University, won the 400-meter hurdles (50.62 seconds) at the East Coast Relays, held April 28 at the University of North Florida.

Lakewood Ranch High football quarterback Clayton Dees received a scholarship offer from Appalachian State University on April 20.

UMR Sports will hold a “Rally at the Ranch” pickleball event May 20. The event will have men’s, women’s and mixed matches with rally scoring to 15 points. The event starts at 8:30 a.m. and registration is $70 per doubles team. For more information visit UMRSports.com.

Nathan Benderson Park will hold a Learn to Row event on May 14-15 at 9 a.m. each day. The eight-hour course, four hours each day, will give participants the skill set to row a single scull. Registration is $200. For more information or to register, visit NathanBendersonPark.org.