This year the city is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Sister City status with Takamatsu. As part of the celebrations Takamatsu is hosting the Friendship Games this August during their annual summer festival. Takamatsu invited St. Petersburg’s International Committee to send a team of 13-15 year olds to participate in this event.

Council member Bill Foster is head of the International Committee. On Opening Day, standing on our forty year old Major Field, Mr. Foster announced the selection of Fossil Park to assemble a team of 15 players and 5 coaches to be the city’s ambassadors for these Friendship Games.

Over the last 40 years there have been numerous players and coaches involved in the baseball program here at Fossil. We currently have teams with three generations involved in the program. Fossil parents sponsor teams, volunteer time to work in the concession stand or staff carnival games opening day, and enthusiastically support the kids from the sidelines. This strength of commitment to baseball and the children who play it here at Fossil was recognized by the International Committee when they decided the St. Pete Friendship Games team would come from here.

Numerous teams have represented the park at State Tournaments with many of them returning with trophies. But the ability to win the Friendship Games was not the first consideration for selecting players for the team. As ambassadors of the city it will be more important for these individuals to win the hearts of their hosts.

Fossil’s Board selected the manager and coaches for this event who then had the difficult task of selecting the fifteen players. “There are so many boys in this park who would be good for this team. We could easily have selected 30. It was difficult to narrow it down to just 15 boys,” said Manager J.D. Davis. With the help of coaches Roy Bonneau, Mike Cherico, Jim Mateer and Johnny Lancaster fifteen players were selected. John Bolvin, Cory Bonalewicz, Dale Brannon, Marquis Ford, Charlie Golenbock, Burke Hedges, Andrew Jones, Byron Jones, Kurt Lancaster, Brett McKean, Chase Newman, Patrick Rees, Jonathan Phin, Zachary Taylor, and Joey Tribou will travel to Japan August 8.

Being selected to participate in this once in lifetime event is an honor. However, it also comes with a large dose of responsibility. The city of Takamatsu and its families will host the team when they arrive. The support of the city of St. Petersburg and its families, especially those who have played a role in the excellence of youth baseball at Fossil over the years, will be needed to get this team to Japan and home again.

Many of you have already shown your pride in being part of a program that has resulted in such a wonderful opportunity by making donations, purchasing commemorative t-shirts, or taking corporate donor request packages to your employer. There will be additional opportunities to show your support throughout the coming months.

Members of the community are already involved in helping ensure the success of this venture for the team. The Rays agreed with the sentiments that since the team represents a major league city the uniforms should reflect the same. They are providing home and away Ray jerseys for the team. Following the second game of the double header in Takamatsu the teams will exchange away jerseys.

The Rays are also allowing us the use of Ray Namoli stadium for a charity ball tournament. This is being organized by Holleywood and Brewski of WTAN radio and utowndtown.com. They promote unsigned and independent Florida musicians on their show which airs Thursdays from 8 p.m. to midnight on 1340 AM. More information regarding this and other events will be provided as details are confirmed.

Allen’s Sporting Goods is providing warm-up suits for the team and Office Depot has donated copying services for the corporate donor packages. The parents of the team members are staffing the Tropicana Tropical Shop concession at Ray’s games through the end of May. If you are attending a game you will find them at the first booth on the left inside the rotunda.

Support, whether through donations of cash, products or services or volunteering time for events is what will insure the team “Earns Their Wings”. We encourage you to participate in celebrating 40 years of sister city status with Takamatsu and 40 years of youth baseball at Fossil Park. Reflect on the 40 years that have brought us to this point and anticipate the opportunities and successes of the next 40 years.