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First Place By A Stretch

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By LOIS KINDLE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

RIVERVIEW - Scott Childers' normal work week includes making pizza pies and managing the staff at East Coast Pizza. But recently his dough-stretching duties were anything but routine, as he tossed his way to first place at the 2007 Orlando Pizza Show and won a spot on the 2008 U.S. Pizza Team.

In March, the 25-year-old Brandon resident and Bloomingdale High School graduate will head to Italy, where he will vie for the gold against pizzamakers from all over the globe at the World Pizza Games.

Not bad for a last-minute entry.

Childers was at Orlando's Orange County Convention Center Sept. 7-9 for the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show to check out new products with his boss, Aaron Fredricks, and three other members of the East Coast Pizza staff - Adam Ercoli, Rick Sherring and Mike Cummings. Sponsored by Pizza Magazine, the show was held in conjunction with the larger event.

Childers said that as he was walking by the competition, he was urged by his friends to sign up for the dough-stretching event on the spot. Competing fourth in a field of nine, Childers said he had no idea he could win the contest.

'I'm just a boy from the South who can make a good pizza,' he said. 'I just went with it and decided to have fun. When I put down the dough and it was measured at 39.5 average horizontal and vertical inches, the crowd gave a big who-haa!'

'It was very exciting,' Fredricks said. 'We were all screaming to urge him on and very surprised when he won. This was his first competition.'

Last year's champion was the closest finisher, taking second place, with 36 inches.

'You have to know your dough,' he said. 'You can't be too aggressive, and you need to be gentle with it.'

Childers began making pizzas part time eight years ago, while he was in high school and later as a student at Lively Technical Center in Tallahassee, where he earned an associate's degree in culinary science in 2003. He said he worked in a number of pizzerias before joining East Coast two years ago.

He would like to run his own store one day or go into food sales, where he said there's 'lots of money to be made.'

Next year, East Coast Pizza's Laz Rodriguez, 18, plans to compete alongside Childers.

'Scott and I will take first and second place,' he said. 'I'll be first.'

The U.S. Pizza Team, who will head to world championships in Italy in March, is a group of pizzamakers and dough acrobats, whose goal is to bring the world's attention to the talent and camaraderie of the pizza industry.

The categories they compete in are: fastest pizzamaker, the person who can slap out five dough balls the fastest over a 12-inch screen; largest dough stretcher, the one who can stretch 500 grams of dough the largest in five minutes; freestyle dough tossing, the artist who can do the most tricks with 10 dough balls set to music; and best pizzamaker, the person making the tastiest and best-prepared pizza.

Since 2000, the team has captured four gold medals, a silver and a bronze. The team has appeared on ESPN's 'Cold Pizza,' CNN's 'Headline News,' CBS's 'The Early Show' and 'Sunday Morning,' ABC's 'Good Morning America,' the Food Network's '10,000 Pizza Challenge' and numerous other national and local television stations.

For information, visit www.uspizzateam.com.

Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813) 865-1553 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.

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