BRADENTON — They are honoring Mike Kelly this weekend, just as the Florida chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is honoring all of its 2011 inductees tonight in Lake Buena Vista. It’s a well-deserved honor, even if Kelly himself probably wouldn’t have seen it that way. “He would want to know what all the fuss was about,” said Mike’s son, John. “It wasn’t his purpose.”
Mike Kelly passed away in 2006 at the age of 56, but not before leaving his mark at Manatee High as well as the rest of the wrestling world. Tonight, he goes into the Hall of Fame and receives a posthumous award for his lifetime service to wrestling. “He was a real father figure to me,” said Manatee wrestling coach Andy Gugliemini.
Gugliemini took over the Hurricanes in 1996. The first thing he did was make Kelly, Manatee’s coach from 1988-92, his junior varsity coach. The reasoning was twofold. Not only was Kelly an experienced matman who coached Gugliemini while Gugliemini was a Hurricane, but he also helped his former pupil get the job.
Kelly himself fell into wrestling by accident. He was coaching high school football in the late 1970s in southern Indiana when the school decided to start a wrestling program.“They didn’t have a coach, so he became the wrestling coach,” John said. “And so it went.”
The Kellys moved to Florida in 1980, when Mike landed at Manatee. “The only job he applied for,” Kelly said, “was at Manatee.” He fell back into football at Manatee thanks in part to Joe Kinnan, who became the Canes’ head football coach in 1981 and made Kelly the junior-varsity coach. “Mike was a dear friend,” Kinnan said. “He was a joy to be around, and he always brightened up the room.” He then began coaching wrestling at the school, and began his officiating career in ‘82. “He was all about the kids from Day One,” John said. “He didn’t do any of this for him.”
Officiating, however, became one of Mike Kelly’s greatest passions, and where he found some of his greatest accomplishments. He weighted in wrestlers during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and at one point, was considered a FILA 1 Official, which is a step below an Olympic official.
Yet perhaps Kelly’s greatest achievement came in Fargo, N.D., home to the biggest high school wrestling tournament in the nation. It was there where Kelly came up with a system that allowed over 1,000 wrestlers to weigh in in approximately 20 minutes.
“He had the system down to a science, and perfected it,” Rick Tucci, the president of the United States Wrestling Officials Association, said at the time of Kelly’s death.
To those who knew him, however, that’s what Kelly did — he helped the kids. Whether he was coaching football or wrestling, officiating a match or serving as Manatee’s equipment manager during the 1990s, Kelly’s heart belonged to the kids.
“Mike Kelly, you could tell he cared,” Gugliemini said. “He was always there. He cared about what he did.”
Consequently, in the wake of Kelly’s death, Gugliemini named Manatee’s annual dual-meet tournament the Coach Kelly Memorial Hurricane Team Challenge.
His legacy lives on at Manatee, just as it lives on through John, who wrestled who now serves as an official himself.
Now that legacy will live on in the Hall of Fame, a thank you of sorts to man who gave so much to the sports he cared about.
“It’s some place he definitely deserves to be,” John said. “Am I surprised? No.”

The Eternal Summer Surf Camp On White Avenue

The Eternal Summer Surf Camp is back again for their 4th year in a row, teaching children how to surf on Anna Maria Island. The Eternal Summer Surf Camp has been held on White Avenue every Sunday from 2pm – 4pm since July 4th weekend. There are still 6 weeks of Surf Camp left so it’s not too late to sign your children up.

Your children will learn how to pop up, paddle out, and start surfing.  The Eternal Summer Surf Camp was founded by a few surfers who saw an opportunity to make Christ Relevant to kids through the instruction of surfing. The Eternal Summer Surf Camp is a non-profit Christian surf camp free to kids, and operates solely on donations from generous people and organizations.

To get involved all you have to do is go online and fill out the form or just show up on the beach near White Avenue at 2pm, sign up and get started. The Eternal Summer Surf Camp is always looking for donations and volunteers take a look at the The Eternal Summer Surf Camp website for more information.

Spend your weekend at the beach while your kids learn to surf! Contact us today for accommodations, we have vacation rentals on White Avenue, and all over Anna Maria Island. See you at the beach!

What a difference a week makes. Last week, I fished offshore from 110 to 150 feet, catching plenty of red, yellowtail and mangrove snapper. Seas were calm and the water was beautiful. Then came a tropical wave into the Gulf late in the week.

Up next is fellow Manatee County resident Sabine Lisicki, a wild-card entry who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by beating 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1 earlier today.

Both players train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy at IMG in Bradenton. Sharapova defeated Lisicki 6-2, 6-0 on March 26 on a hard court in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in their only meeting.

Other teams from Miami, Jacksonville and Ocala were at the beach as well enjoying the water and sand between their games.  More USSSA Girls Softball action will take place next month with a large regional event and then its on to Nationals for the teams.