FHSAA Season Preview – District 16
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
Florida District 16
The District has some changes from last season. The 5 schools are now Alonso (Tampa), Freedom (Tampa), George Steinbrenner (Lutz), Sickles (Tampa) and Wharton (Tampa). The Tampa area was shoehorned into 2 Districts of 16 teams last season and are now split into three districts so last year’s results are pretty much a lesser factor in predicting this year.
Alonso went 4-4 in conference last season and 5-7 overall, falling a game short of the District playoff. They are looking to improve in line with so many of the other area programs, and part of that will be to find a way to cut down on goals against as they yielded 17 or more goals four times last season, to the better opponents on their schedule.
Coach Aaron Barry takes the reins at the program.
Freedom finished 4-6 and 6-8 overall last season and fell to state quarter-finalist Newsome in the District playoff. 2015 showed a similar pattern to 2014 as the team struggled to compete with the top programs while winning those games they were favored to.
Coach Robert Starr assumes the coaching job.
Steinbrenner comes off an overall 10-5 season and 6-4 in what was a highly competitive District 15 that last year included Berkeley Prep, HB Plant and Tampa Jesuit, none of which are in their district this season, which makes them the preseason favorite of the district going into 2016 alongside newcomer Wharton. Steinbrenner defeated Wharton at home last year in their only matchup 12-8. Their four regular season losses were OT losses to Newsome and Tampa Jesuit, a 2 goal loss to Plant and a 3 goal loss to Berkeley, until TJ took the District final from them.
This is certainly a team and program to watch to see if they can convert those close losses to wins this season. Coach John Kuebrich looks to earn the District title and make some noise in the FHSAA playoffs.
Sickles went 2-9 and 2-11 overall as they struggled on both sides of the field, with their only wins coming against Jefferson. Coach Marc Swenson has his work cut out for him.
Wharton moves over to this district coming off a nice 9-6 season, 8-2 in conference, as they had the misfortune of playing in the same district as Newsome, which handled Wharton both times easily. Their out of district losses to Plant twice, Steinbrenner and Berkeley were all competitive games and now that they are out of Newsome’s reach it will be interesting to see how they react.
Coach Dan McCall continues to build his program.
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Alonso went 4-4 in conference last season and 5-7 overall, falling a game short of the District playoff. They are looking to improve in line with so many of the other area programs, and part of that will be to find a way to cut down on goals against as they yielded 17 or more goals four times last season, to the better opponents on their schedule.
Coach Aaron Barry takes the reins at the program.
Freedom finished 4-6 and 6-8 overall last season and fell to state quarter-finalist Newsome in the District playoff. 2015 showed a similar pattern to 2014 as the team struggled to compete with the top programs while winning those games they were favored to.
Coach Robert Starr assumes the coaching job.
Steinbrenner comes off an overall 10-5 season and 6-4 in what was a highly competitive District 15 that last year included Berkeley Prep, HB Plant and Tampa Jesuit, none of which are in their district this season, which makes them the preseason favorite of the district going into 2016 alongside newcomer Wharton. Steinbrenner defeated Wharton at home last year in their only matchup 12-8. Their four regular season losses were OT losses to Newsome and Tampa Jesuit, a 2 goal loss to Plant and a 3 goal loss to Berkeley, until TJ took the District final from them.
This is certainly a team and program to watch to see if they can convert those close losses to wins this season. Coach John Kuebrich looks to earn the District title and make some noise in the FHSAA playoffs.
Sickles went 2-9 and 2-11 overall as they struggled on both sides of the field, with their only wins coming against Jefferson. Coach Marc Swenson has his work cut out for him.
Wharton moves over to this district coming off a nice 9-6 season, 8-2 in conference, as they had the misfortune of playing in the same district as Newsome, which handled Wharton both times easily. Their out of district losses to Plant twice, Steinbrenner and Berkeley were all competitive games and now that they are out of Newsome’s reach it will be interesting to see how they react.
Coach Dan McCall continues to build his program.
Back to main preview page
