Pub. 56 2015-2016 Issue 1

40 F or the second time in three years, family members of the TADA staff played in the State Kickball tournament, this year in Brownsville. Mackenzie Nerenberg, Penny Thomas’s 11 year old granddaughter, and Kate Braziel, the 13 year old youngest daughter of TADA’s Rob Braziel, played for the Junior and Senior Northwest Austin (NWA) All Stars at the State tournament. The 2015 NWA All-Star season begins at the closing ceremonies for the regular season the first week of June. Both the Junior and Senior teams consist of 15 girls who are picked from the top players from each regu- lar season team. There are 12 girls selected who play during tournament games and 3 alternates who work out and participate in every team event. Before All-Star practices start, the girls are offered opportunities to work out with different coaches conditioning to help the girls get used to the heat and amount of work they are expected to put in through June. Conditioning was offered every evening. It is not mandatory, but most girls, including Mackenzie and Kate, chose to attend. Regular practice began the first week of summer vacation. Practices consisted of drills, kicking, catching, fielding, running, sprinting, and more running! The girls completed two-a-day practices, 7am-9am and 6pm-8pm, most days in June. At least once a week there were scrimmages against teams made up of former All-Star players, the NWA Women’s league, and one spe- cial scrimmage against the Dads around Father’s Day. The 2015All-Star State Tournament was hosted by the Tip-O-Tex league in Browns- ville, Texas over the July 4th weekend. Opening Ceremonies were held at Veterans Memorial High School on July 2nd. Play began for the NWA Junior All-Star team on July 3rd. Mackenzie played center field and second base for the Junior Team and TADA Families Represented at State Kickball Tournament Again Northwest Austin All Star Teams Finish Second and Third in Brownsville