WELLINGTON – After his junior campaign ended at Chamberlain (Tampa), Rony Sainbert was forced to move.
With the blessing and support of his family, Saintbert was able to choose between two options: Wellington and Palm Beach Central. Due to its recent stretch of producing an array of award-winning players, coaches, and teams, he went with Wellington for his upcoming senior season.
“I transferred to Wellington after the Christmas break,” the quarterback said. “I seen the history of Wellington high school being back-to-back champs (District 9-8A champions in 2014 and 2016), so I decided to become a Wolverine.”
In 2014, Wellington head Tom Abel was selected as the Lou Groza Coach of the Year, while his team also went on to win the Lou Groza Team of the Year. And in 2015, Wellington legend and former Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Ahmmon Richards took home the Lou Groza Player of the Year.
Most importantly, Abel is the only coach in Palm Beach County to have produced three Lou Groza Placekicker of the Year winners in this past decade: Alex Ng (2014), Logan Robinson (2016), and Morgan Suarez (2019).
Abel is ecstatic about Saintbert leading this year’s upcoming team.
“Rony coming in just made us better,” Abel said. “He has a cannon and he can run. He is highly intelligent and motivated to lead us to a championship season. He wants to make his senior season special, and he knows what we have coming back this year. And he and I are excited about the situation we are in. He is our senior leader now, and he knows that. He is ready for the challenge.”
Saintbert had a productive junior season at Chamberlain. In 12 games played, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound quarterback accounted for 23 total touchdowns and had 1,130 total yards (passing and rushing).
Saintbert’s best individual moment was in Week 2’s 47-8 win over East Bay, when he threw his first touchdown pass of the season. He ultimately helped Chamberlain reach the Class 5A playoffs and win a game (25-13 Region 3-5A quarterfinal victory on the road over Rockledge).
Now that Saintbert has some experience under his belt, he’s ready to take his game to another level. His individual goals are to have at least 30 touchdown passes, 1,000 yards, and at least 5 rushing touchdowns. In addition to his goal of becoming a Palm Beach County All-Star Game participant, he wants the Wolverines to win their first district title since 2016.
“The coaches are committed, and that’s one thing I love the most,” Saintbert said. “Being the new kid on the football team is not always great, but when I came there they treated me like family. Coach Abel is a great coach. When I came there, he looked out for me, always giving me new updates and all. He keeps getting my name out there. I really appreciate him and all the coaches there.”
