James, Vanderjagt part of Sports Gala

Immokalee’s Edgerrin James and former Indianapolis Colts teammate Mike Vanderjagt will be in Southwest Florida for the National Sports Gala and National Sports Achievement Awards Presentation on June 24 on Marco Island.

James, who left the Colts to sign with the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason, and Vanderjagt, who signed with the Cowboys, co-own a sports bar on the island, called Vandy’s With An Edge Sports Pub. Colts receiver Reggie Wayne also is part of the ownership and is expected to attend the ceremony.

The gala and awards presentation is sponsored by the Marco Island YMCA and will include dozens of current and former sports personalities. Tickets are $150, with proceeds benefiting scholarships for needy children. For tickets, call 394-3144, ext. 275.

“The YMCA is always looking to have events where they can have kids involved in sports,” said event chairman David Rice, who knows James, Vanderjagt and Wayne through the restaurant. “We want kids to set high goals for themselves. We were talking about that, and what better way than to try to get some folks who achieve success in sports? We’re always talking about how kids today don’t have proper images.”

Two high school athletes are being honored: Immokalee High School running back Javarris James, Edgerrin’s cousin, and Jacksonville Bartram girls basketball player Steffi Sorenson, the state’s Miss Basketball who has signed with Florida Gulf Coast University. The younger James will follow in his cousin’s footsteps at the University of Miami.

“I wanted to try to make it a family thing with the Jameses,” Rice said. “I thought it would be a great tie-in because we’re honoring Edgerrin and we selected Javarris.”

Each table of 10 patrons will have one of the sports personalities or honorees at it. A silent auction — open to the public and dinner patrons — will start at 5:30 p.m. at the Radisson Beach Suite Resort on Collier Boulevard. A cocktail hour and dinner will follow. A post-dinner social will take place at Vandy’s With An Edge, with James, Vanderjagt and Wayne slated to be there.

“Usually you go to a sports dinner and you’re lucky if you have one guest speaker ... ,” Rice said. “Our idea was to get as many people as we can, put (the personalities) one at a table and have a lot of fun, talk sports and be up close and personal.”

Rice said the list of current and former sports personalities include: former NBA player, head coach and general manager Allan Bristow, former Miami Dolphins Don McNeal and Dave Kocourek, former punter Herman Weaver, former Chicago Bear Don Healy and College Hall of Fame track coach Buddy Fowlkes. FGCU men’s basketball coach Dave Balza and women’s coach Karl Smesko, as well as Immokalee High football coach John Weber and swamp buggy racer Eddie Chesser also are listed.