Sports Archive

Practice is underway on a humid summer night at the NYSA Soccer Complex, and talented teen soccer standouts are getting ready to keep their special club season with Navarre United rolling along.

They wrapped up April with an FYSA President’s Cup championship, punching a ticket to Texas for the regional stage of the tourney.

Navarre head girls soccer coach Rob Simon sits at a table checking in youth players for another day of Raider soccer camp.

That check-in process ends up taking a while. After all, more than 100 young athletes are here at the NYSA Soccer Complex this week. The 131-player total is the largest ever.

Justin Gatlin stood on the infield of the track at Sherman Robinson Stadium in Pensacola on a warm Sunday afternoon in early June signing autographs for the host of athletes on hand for an AAU meet.

He signed medals, shirts and pieces of paper and even posed for photos.

Caden Howard had his athletic career derailed at one point, suffering an ACL tear that kept him away from track most of 2021 and off the football field for most of his senior season.

Yet, Howard never let that stop him from putting in the work to get back to full strength, and earlier this spring, the Navarre senior signed a national letter of intent to continue competing in both sports at NCAA Division III Huntingdon.

Hunter Pfiester was thrust into a starting role for Navarre at the end of last season after Kyle Chambers went down with an injury.

Heading into 2022, the junior quarterback is ready to take on more responsibility within the offense and help keep things moving in the right direction.

As the first half of the Southern League season winds down, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos find themselves in the mix for securing a playoff berth.

Entering this week’s series against Tennessee, the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins is 3.5 games up on every other team in the South Division.

Young athletes cheer on each other as they launch up shots at the basket last Wednesday morning. Every time the ball goes in, the player gets to pick up a cone and move to the next spot on the court.

The energy is undeniable. The fun is, too, as 60 basketball players take part in the final day of the Navarre Raider hoops camp.

Callan Taylor isn’t too far removed from her days on the University of West Florida softball team.

And that proved to be a plus for Taylor, a Navarre alum who just spent her first season at Campbell as a graduate assistant.

Kirk Whited has always wanted to be a head coach.

That time to be in the position is now as Whited has been tabbed to take the helm of the Navarre Raider baseball team.

Student-athletes have a lot on their plate. The combination of school, sports, maintaining a social life and the added dynamic of social media can take their pressure to another level.

For some, a tragic breaking point is reached. Already this year, five college athletes have died by suicide.