Avery is ‘Boomer’ national Female Athlete of Year
Avery Flatford needed last-minute promotional help and got it: from the Tennessee Smokies organization, choosing her to throw out the first pitch at Smokies Park before a game in early June, and from the recently famous “Voice” champ Chris Blue with whom she cut a short Facebook video.
About those promotions intended to get contest votes,
“We had to get very creative,”
said Avery, a 13-year-old rising eighth-grader at Farragut Middle School who earned “Team Boomer Female Athlete of the Year” honors Tuesday, June 6, among a nationwide field of top student-athletes battling cystic fibrosis.
Her battle hasn’t stopped Avery from becoming an honors student and a standout pitcher on the FMS softball team, a point recognized by more than 81,000 voters nationwide — most by either gender — selecting Avery as Team Boomer champ.
“It was very exciting, even though it was late at night,” Avery said about getting the final voting results Tuesday night, June 6. “I had Chris Blue do a big video with me, like a 10-second short video.”
Avery will be recognized next April in New York City by Boomer Esiason Foundation, Team Boomer sponsor, which supports those with cystic fibrosis while fighting to end the disease.
“I look forward to just going to New York and being able to spin my story and the videos they’re going to do” about her succeeding while dealing with cystic fibrosis, Avery said.
During the late spring and summer, Avery is a starting pitcher for Force Elite Champions ’03, a summer travel softball team out of Dalton, Georgia. “She plays a lot throughout the southeast,” Chuck Flatford, her father and FMS softball head coach, said. “She’s heading to the [travel league] World Series in Panama City [Florida] in about a month.
“It’s a very good experience for her as far as competition.”
While looking forward to becoming a Farragut Lady Admirals pitcher in high school starting in the 2018-2019 school year, Avery’s long-range goal is to play college softball “at least close to the beach,” she said.
However, “Not just because of the beach, but also because it helps me perform better, helps me clear my lungs. Makes it easier for me to breathe just because of all the salt water in the air,” Avery said.
