Italy Varsity Girls & Boys will be playing in the Italy Invitational Tournament Championship Saturday, Dec 6th. The Varsity Lady Gladiators play Saturday, at 6:00 p.m. for the championship. Italy’s Varsity Boys play in their championship game at 7:30 p.m. Everybody make it to the Coliseum and cheer loud for our Italy basketball squads and let’s get the Dome Rocking!

This week names were released for the District 13A All-District Honors for volleyball. Five Italy students received honors, as well as five from Avalon, four from Milford and four from Frost. The list reads as follows:

The Coliseum – Italy’s 7th grade boys make strong showing against a talented Hampton squad featuring one of the top Junior High prospects in the state. Also, Italy’s 8th grade boys show improvement as they leave it all on the court against the Hampton Phoenix.

How about some basketball? If you are interested in some high school action, Italy High School is the place for you to be December 4-6 at the dome. Play begins at 9:00 am on Thursday.

The Coliseum – The Italy Junior High girls basketball squads competed with the upstart Hampton Preparatory School which is in it’s first year of operation. However, the Hampton Phoenix didn’t lack confidence as they gave it their all against Italy.

The IYAA will be having its end of the season football/cheerleading banquet on Saturday, December 6, 2008. The festivities will start at 12:00 p.m. and end around 2:00 p.m. at the Stafford Elementary School gymnasium in Italy, Texas. Hotdogs and beverages will be provided before the trophy ceremonies.

If you would like to sign-up your girl(s)/boy(s) to participate in the IYAA Basketball league for the 2008-’09 season, sign-up forms are available at the Fina station located in downtown Italy.

ITALY – The Italy Varsity Boys left the Meridian Yellow Jackets in their dust all night long as the Gladiators were simply driving through the lane in a different gear.

A hustling Italy J.V. Boys squad launched a relentless assault on Meridian and buzzed by the Yellow Jackets in the first game of the season. Italy dominated both defensively and offensively outscoring the Jackets by 20-points.

ITALY – The Italy Varsty Girls squad competed against the speedy Chilton Lady Pirates at home in the Coliseum. The Lady Gladiators stayed the course but the Lady Pirates sailed out in front early.

District 21-A

The Italy Gladiators mascot has made the final Daily Ticket selection of best and most unique team names. It’s time to show some spirit for our school mascot and cast your vote in this fun & exciting poll before Monday!

On Saturday, November 22, Frost High School will host a basketball camp for kids 3rd grade through 8th grade 9:00 am to approximately noon. This is no ordinary basketball camp. Ty “Hollywood” Brown of Harlem Globetrotter fame will be in charge.

Italy J.V. and Varsity Girls had the Italy High School Coliseum rocking against the Mildred Eagles Tuesday night. Both Italy squads were forced to pull off last minute come backs that had the fans cheering until the last second.

The Italy 8th grade basketball squads got the ball bouncing on their 2008-’09 seasons against Red Oak Life Monday evening at the Italy High School Coliseum. The games showcased many bright young stars from both Italy and Red Oak.

The IYAA C-Team Gladiators had to endure a bitterly cold 9:00 a.m. game start to compete for the Conference Championship against the Scurry Rosser Wildcats. Scurry’s previous loss to the Gladiators and the frigid weather didn’t detour them as the Wildcats jumped out to a 19-6 halftime lead.

ITALY – The Italy Lady Gladiators, led by Senior Captain Becca DeMoss, hosted the Rice Lady Bulldogs Friday night at the Italy High School Coliseum. From the opening tip-off the action was fast and furious.

It was a proud and happy group that was gathered at Avalon ISD in Superintendent David Del Bosque’s office Thursday afternoon.

The Italy Lady Gladiators JV and Varsity squads tipped-off their 2008-2009 basketball seasons Thursday night at the Italy Gladiators Coliseum. The Varsity girls were outfitted in brand new uniforms as they competed against the Dawson Lady Bulldogs in a very physical ball game.

The IYAA football teams wrap up their regular season and prepare for playoffs! In the playoffs this Saturday, November 15, B division’s third ranked Italy B-Team (6-2) will play Scurry Rosser. Undefeated C Divison Champions the Italy C-Team (8-0) will play Scurry Rosser as well. Let’s all make it to the games and support our young players in Hubbard!

ITASCA — The Italy 7th grade football team ended their successful 2008 season unfortunately with a loss to the Itasca Wampus Cats 6-0. Italy finished in second place behind Axtel. A classic defensive battle relied on a busted play to determine the outcome in this one.

ITALY, Texas – Italy High School honored their Senior football players, cheerleaders and band members before Italy’s final game of the season against the undefeated Itasca Wampus Cats. The game becomes an instant classic!

DAWSON, Texas — Diamond Rodgers led his team mates into battle carrying a sacred golden flag as the Italy Gladiators stormed into the Dawson Bulldogs’ stadium looking for a win.

ITALY, Texas — Hard hits and big plays defined this contest between old rivals as a late touchdown grab by #84 Paul Harris gives Italy a chance.

The Italy Youth Athletic Association hosts Homecoming every year around the same time as Italy High School’s Homecoming. This year was no different. On Saturday, October 25, after a wonderful day in the parade, the football teams — A, B, and C — played football against the Rice Bulldogs.

The Lady Gladiator volleyball team gathered to say goodbye on Tuesday night. There are five seniors that will not spike a ball over the net on that court again.

On Tuesday night, the Lady Gladiators played their last game for the season against Kopperl. They gave a good fight but could not push past the competitors. They lost the match in 3 sets. The score: Kopperl def. Italy 25-20, 25-19 and 26-24. The Lady Eagles add another win to their belt.

If you were at the IHS football game on Friday night, you saw old friends and the hustle and bustle of activities. Some even may have won a prize.

ITALY — The Italy Gladiators steam rolled over the Wortham Bulldogs 39-0 on Friday night for their homecoming game. Italy hit the field ready for the contest and never let up until the final buzzer.

The Lady Gladiators hosted Covington this week. The volleyball teams were equally ready to play, but the Lady Owls were brought to a screeching halt at the end of the night.

Tuesday night, was the IYAA bonfire and what a night it was. You started your evening off with pizza, pizza and more pizza! Parents and their children did not go hungry.

The winds of change are blowing through Gladiator Land. The new head coach for the girls basketball team is Stacy McDonald and she has some new plans for the Lady Gladiators.

HUBBARD — Trying new plays paid off for the Italy Gladiators Friday night with a 28-8 win over the Hubbard Jaguars. Quarterback Jasenio Anderson led the Gladiators with 109 yards rushing and 163 yards passing. He hit his receivers 10 of 13 for 141 yards in the first half alone.

Life Charter found it difficult to contain Justin Buchanan Thursday night at Willis field. Buchanan racked up 76 yards rushing and 192 yards passing. With only 12 players, Italy had their work cut out for them and would have to play both ways with little or no relief. They handled the challenge and proved they would do whatever it takes to bring home the victory.

Italy hosted Hubbard on Thursday night and the game went down to the wire, but Italy lost in the final seconds 20-12.

Have you been thinking about Christmas shopping or even Graduation gifts? You could be the owner of a beautiful, brand new quilt.

IYAA has lots of fun every weekend. Boys from age groups of kindergarden through 6th grade. Check out their progress this past weekend.

The Italy City Council honored the Italy Youth Athletic Association (IYAA) at a special meeting called Monday evening.

ITALY – The Gladiators looked like a different team than the one that smothered Frost two weeks ago. This week’s team added a loss in their district column when the Axtell Longhorns came to Willis Field and took home the 18-13 win on Friday night. Italy was inactive last week which could have been a factor in the contest.

The 12-and-under team, “The Travelers”, have won the Garland Fall Invitational. They played seven games and won them all. Some of these girls are future Lady Gladiators. Congratulations, Travelers!

The Milford Lady Bulldogs came to Italy and stopped the Lady Gladiators Tuesday night in four sets of volleyball.

The Lady Gladiators were on fire Tuesday night as they hosted the Lady Eagles in volleyball. Italy stepped up and won 3 sets — another mark in the win column. The final scores were 25-13, 25-14 and 25-16.

The three teams of IYAA lined up once again and fought hard, this time against the Scurry Wildcats on Saturday. Italy “C” team, consisting of K, 1st and 2nd graders, lead 20-0 at halftime. The young Gladiators changed the team around and changed things in the course in the second half. The final score was 31-19 with Italy putting another notch in their belt. Their overall record is 3-0.

The Lady Gladiators traveled to Covington on Saturday. The JV won their match against the Lady Owls but the Varsity was defeated in 4 sets.

Italy’s 7th and 8th grade Gladiator teams defeated the Hawks from Red Oak and the Frost Polar Bears to add a win to each of their records.

All three teams from IYAA (Italy Youth Athletic Association) performed this past Saturday against Blooming Grove Lions. These kids are Kindergarden to 6th grade, divided into three teams. They are our future Italy Gladiators and the on the field training proves to be a good thing.