- December 16, 2024
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Seabreeze boys soccer coach Alex Perez underwent knee replacement surgery on Thursday, Dec. 12. That evening he coached the Sandcrabs from a truck in a corner between fields at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
Perez was in pain. He couldn’t walk. He went over the game plans ahead of time with his players and assistant coaches with the intention of missing a few games and practices. He changed his mind. He convinced his son, Franco, to drive him to the sports complex.
“I just decided to go out there. I didn’t want to let the team down,” Perez said. “I asked Franco to drive me down there. (During the game) I was screaming and yelling the best I can so they could hear me. I was on the phone with my assistant coaches sometimes, saying we should do this, we should do that. At halftime, the players came to me.”
Seabreeze defeated University 5-1. After the game, the players ran to Franco’s truck and celebrated with their coach.
“Not many of the parents knew I was there,” he said. “They were wondering why all the players ran to the corner.”
After losing six straight games, the Sandcrabs have won three in a row to improve to 5-6 heading into a Dec. 16 game at Deltona. Last year, Seabreeze won just four games. Perez took over the team this season.
Perez missed the 4-1 win at Atlantic on Dec. 13. He was in too much pain to make the trip, but he planned to ride with his assistants to the Deltona game and attend practice on Dec. 17 to prepare for the Dec. 19 contest at Spruce Creek.
“I’m trying not to miss anything,” he said. “I need (the players) as much as they need me, and I can’t stay in bed; I’m a very active person. I can survive the pain. The players give me the energy to keep moving forward.”
Perez, 47, said he suffered major knee injuries in 2011 and 2017 while playing soccer and he has been in pain ever since.
“The cortisone shots weren’t working anymore,” he said. “The doctor looked at my MRI and thought I was in a motorcycle accident. My wife, who is a nurse, said I can either have surgery at the end of the year or end up in a wheel chair. I decided to have the surgery.”
The Hammock Beach Saturday Morning Men's Golf Group held its third annual Christmas tournament and lunch on Dec. 1 at the Ocean Course, raising funds for Christmas Come True. The group raised $11,705.
Former Matanzas High School kicker Landon Grover has announced he is transferring to Bethune-Cookman University.
As a freshman at Division II Kentucky State this season, Grover was good on five of seven field goal attempts with a long of 37 yards. He also converted 20 of 24 extra-point kicks, hitting 17 in a row before his first miss. As a punter, he landed 10 punts inside the 20.
Grover announced on “X” in November that he was entering the transfer portal. He will join former Matanzas teammate Cole Hash at B-CU. The Wildcats have been recruiting more local players. Mainland seniors Kwasie Kwaku and Phillips Moore signed with B-CU on Early Signing Day, Dec. 4, joining 2024 freshmen Marquis McCants (Mainland), Javon Ross (DeLand) and Truth Moody (Spruce Creek) along with Hash.
First Baptist Christian Academy’s girls basketball team improved to 4-0 with a 75-22 win at Life Christian in Kissimmee. Jay Rose led FBCA with 22 points.
