Tiny Mites are twice as nice
HERALD PHOTO BY CHUCK BALLARO
James South, 5, a Tiny Mite player for the Port Charlotte Bandits, shakes hands with his opponents after a game on Sept. 1.
HERALD PHOTO BY CHUCK BALLARO
Mike Boyd, coach for the Port Charlotte Bandits Tiny Mite team, places Lajuon Mitchell where he needs to be during a football game Sept. 1 at Franz Ross Park. Coaches are allowed on the field to assist players at this level.
HERALD PHOTO BY CHUCK BALLARO
Tiny Mite cheerleader Kyah Frenandez, who participates with the Port Charlotte Bandits’ program, leads her squad Sept. 1 at Franz Ross Park.
HERALD PHOTO BY CHUCK BALLARO
Malakai Graham, a Port Charlotte Bandit, tip-toes his way into the end zone during a football game with Naples Sept. 1 at Franz Ross Park.
HERALD PHOTO BY CHUCK BALLARO
Port Charlotte Tiny-Mite Dylan Gauthier barrels through the hole on his way to the end zone during a football game with Cape Jr. Sept. 1 at Franz Ross Park.
HERALD PHOTO BY CHUCK BALLARO
Tiny Mites players with the Port Charlotte Bandits’ program warm up on a dew-dampened Franz Ross Park field.
By CHUCK BALLARO
Sports Writer
The sun had barely come up, trying to burn through the light fog, and the morning dew still dampened the ground at Franz Ross Park when a group of 19 Port Charlotte Bandits from the Pop Warner division’s Tiny Mites team took the field for warm-ups.
Their movements weren’t quite as agile and their helmets looked as though they swallowed their heads, but they still looked like football players in their sharp-looking red and black uniforms.
