Sofia Ibarra of Carrollton, Wayne Stofsky of Posnack win overseas. FACA honor for Brandt Moser
Sofia Ibarra of Carrollton School of Sacred Heart is having a busy summer on and off the volleyball court in Guatemala.
She plays for the Guatemala volleyball national team and recently helped the team win the Central American Cup in the U-21 Division. They went 4-0, defeating Honduras (3-2), Nicaragua (3-2), El Salvador (3-0) and Belize (3-2). For her efforts, she received the award for top blocker.
The team qualified for the Pan American Cup in 2023.
She will prepare for the upcoming high school season as well as the Central American Games, a multisport regional championship held every four years. This year is the fourth year; so it is Oct. 28-Nov. 4 in Guatemala City.
As a Carrollton sophomore last season, Ibarra made Miami Herald All-Dade second team honors. Carrollton volleyball coach Marco Paglialunga awarded her team MVP honors, also recognizing her comeback and hard work from a torn ACL en route to a great season.
The 16-year-old indoor and beach volleyball player will be a junior in the fall. She carries a 3.75 GPA with AP classes.
As an 8th grader, she also played No.1 singles for the Carrollton tennis team.
Ibarra is busy off the court, too.
She started the summer with an internship in the Communication Department of the Seeds for Progress Foundation in Guatemala City. She also worked the prior summer for the Swedish Red Cross in Sweden.
Born in New York City and now residing in Coral Gables, Ibarra has triple citizenship - United States, Guatemala, Sweden - and is fluent in three languages.
Her brother, Juan Sebastian, plays water polo for Gulliver Prep and competes in ice hockey for the Junior Panthers. His twin sister, Anna Viktoria, is a junior varsity volleyball player for Carrollton.
FACA Hall of Fame Honors
American Heritage-Plantation golf coach Brandt Moser and former Pembroke Pines Charter softball coach Tom Fadul will be inducted into the 2023 Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Six outstanding present or past members of the FACA, including Moser and Fadul, were selected by the FACA Awards Committee and the Board of Directors for induction into the Hall of Fame on Jan. 7, 2023 at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort.
Each inductee will be presented with two Hall of Fame plaques -- one for the honoree and one for his or her high school. The plaque will include an 8x10 color portrait of the inductee as well as a brief resume of his or her career in coaching, teaching and involvement in the FACA. Each honoree will also receive a beautiful FACA Hall of Fame ring.
The Class of 2023 inductees are Robert Dupler, Lecanto (Softball); Tom Fadul, current Satellite (Softball), former Pembroke Pines Charter (Softball); Earl Garcia, Hillsborough (Football); Brandt Moser, American Heritage-Plantation (Golf); Mike Pickett, St Johns Country Day (Girls’ Soccer); Mike Posey, North Florida Christian (Baseball).
Maccabiah Games baseball
Wayne Stofsky, the athletic director of the David Posnack Jewish Day School in Davie, coached the Team USA Maccabi U18 baseball team to the gold medal at the prestigious 21st World Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Team USA went 4-0 in pool play including a 14-2 victory over Team Canada and a 4-3 win over Team Israel (its 18U national team). Team USA beat Team Israel 11-2 in the gold medal game. The players on the championship USA team were from throughout the country (California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York), selected from various tryout camps.
Stofsky, one of the Broward’s best baseball players all-time, competed for Nova High School, before taking his talents to LSU. Originally from Pembroke Pines, he resides in Cooper City. He coached baseball at Cooper City High School and Pine Crest, before accepting the athletic director position at Posnack.
USA lacrosse
USA Lacrosse invited more than 100 of the nation’s top high school boys’ lacrosse players to compete in the National Team Development Program Combine at its headquarters in Sparks, Maryland. The players represent high schools from 28 states.
The stellar list includes locals Gabriel Cairns (U18) of Archbishop McCarthy / True Florida and Dominic Veloso (U18) of Gulliver Prep / Florida Crabs / Team Eighteen.
The three-day combine features on-field, strength and conditioning, nutrition, recruiting and sport psychology training to help players prepare for higher levels of play and introduce them into the U.S. national team pipeline.
Following the combine, 44 players will be named to USA Select teams at the U16 and U18 levels and will participate in the Brogden Cup featuring international competition Oct. 14-16.
Awards, honors, college signings
If you have local, state, national and/or team awards for your varsity student athletes, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
College signings, too.
New athletic directors, coaches
For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have new sports administration and/or coaching hires to announce, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
Submit summer sports results
For high school aged athletes in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have summer results, top performers and stats for this column, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the event, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.
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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
