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Local Sports

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News13’s Stephen Gunter is committed to giving you stories of the Panhandle’s top athletes, intriguing match-ups and unusual sports you may not even know exist.
sgunter@wmbb.com

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Team Florida Swingin’ For The Olympics

PANAMA CITY - Team Florida USA is set to make it’s run in the U.S. Junior Olympics.

The team features high school kids from the Panama City area, Niceville and Pensacola.

Team Florida is coached by Steve Merchant, who is in his eleventh year with the organization.

Next week, 72 teams will meet in Jupiter, Fla. to compete for the east title.  The winner from the east will play the champion from the west to claim the national title.  The west teams are playing a tournament in Arizona.

The Team Florida organization has already won the championship twice, once in 2000 then again in 2001.

“No team has ever won more than one, we’ve got two,” Merchant said.  “We’re trying to expand on that.”

“We went down last year, we didn’t win,” Team Florida pitcher Blake Norred said.  “We were one error away from making the final eight.  It’s a lot of fun down there.  A lot of competitive teams, a lot of college coaches, a lot of big time college coaches.”

“We’re by far the most known program going down there,” Team Florida outfielder Seth Miller said.  “No one’s ever won two like we have. So it’s some pretty tough shoes to fill.”

The team leaves Friday morning for a tournament in Pensacola.  That tourney will serve as a tune-up for the Junior Olympics, which will be held next week.

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