FSSA Sponsored "Feeding the Dream!"

Gephry Pena and Bryan Pena excel in college and will graduate in May with Honors
Bryan From St Leo and Gephry from UCF

The Hollis Appraisals softball team traveled to Nagua, Dominican Republic from June 5 to June 9, 2014 to play in the Goodwill Games and continue their charitable donations. The 60 major plus team has won the “World Championship” the previous two years in Las Vegas and continued by winning the hearts of the Dominican people through their association with the Florida Senior Sports Association (FSSA).

The team played the best that the Dominicans had to offer and won the Goodwill Games with a 3 and 1 record. The team was lead by a number of hall of fame players and boy did these legends play up to their reputations! Big Jack “Salsa King” Aronson was the lead off hitter and consistently set the table for Bob “Wally” Woldyk who hit numerous “tape measured” homeruns. Curtis “the Hammer” Nave provided consistent power and was backed up Awesome Audie Hollis who seemed to find every hole in the Dominican’s defense.

Larry ‘the Legend” Lopez was hitting like legends do and along with Ed “Big Poppa Pump” Rose, Roger “the Preacher Man” Tabor and Mel “the Mailman” Colwell and John “Frickin” Feronti played consistent defense which powered the team to the championship.

The 30 Americans on the trip continued their charitable ways by donating over 1,000 softball items including over 100 bats, gloves, balls, and clothing for the areas little league teams. The team was met on their arrival by a large contingency including the mayor, Miss Nagua, a drum and majorette corp, a dance team and several little league teams.

Audie Hollis, the president of the Florida Senior Sports Association, noted that they were overwhelmed by the reception and honored to play for the second year in the Goodwill Games. Ed Rose, the executive director of the FSSA, explained that the charitable association funded a pressurized water system for the mountain village El Simon last year and donated over 1,000 softball items. In addition the association provided a two year scholarship for a high school education for a 16 year old Dominican boy. This year the association was able to make a significant donation of sporting goods and provide another two year scholarship for a deserving Dominican boy to receive his high school education at the prestigious Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Florida.

Ed “Flannel Man” Carrington said, “The trip was a life changing experience for many of the travelers and combined softball with charitable giving.” The fastest 60 year old in softball, Mike “Magic” Monnier was excited to see the way of life in the Dominican and the passion the people had for softball. “I really enjoyed the experience of traveling, seeing a new portion of the world and traveling with some fantastic players!”

The FSSA created video's from our various tours that you can watch by clicking on them below. You can view them full screen by clicking on the YouTube brackets [  ] that appear over the video once the video starts playing.