It was a fierce competition at One Buc Place Saturday, but the heat was off the field.

  • 3rd Annual Gridiron Competition hosted four teams from schools across Central Florida
  • Teams given 60 minutes to prepare the best dish
  • Teams competing for $2,500 and other prizes

The third annual Gridiron Competition hosted four teams of young chefs from schools across Central Florida. Sponsored by the Dairy Council of Florida and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the cooking competition gave the young chefs 60 minutes to whip up an entrée worthy of $2,500 and other prizes.

“This is the future of the culinary industry,” said Eric Lackey, Executive Chef at Ulele and one of the competition’s four judges. “Kids like that learning today make our lives easier in the future when we’re hiring, because they have that passion, they have that ambition.”

Judges looked for presentation, taste, use of dairy and teamwork when evaluating the meals. Lackey said it was important to watch the team work, as well as taste their food.

“I learned a long time ago from a chef that he wasn’t teaching me cooking, he was teaching me life skills,” Lackey said. “And that’s what they’re learning today, too."

Fourth-grader Cameron Keehn joined three of his schoolmates in the competition. The group from New River Elementary in Wesley Chapel made a cheesy bacon quesadilla with a yogurt vegetable dip. Keehn said it was important to go in with a game plan.

“If we didn’t have a game plan, it would be a lot of chaos right now,” he said.

The group worked like a well-oiled machine, and was the first to finish cooking their meal. Though they didn’t win, Keehn said the experience was more important to him.

“I wanted to do it for fun, not just to win,” he said. “To show people to eat healthy and how good food can be by eating healthy.”

The winning team came from Lecanto Preparatory School in Citrus County. They won $2,500 for their school, as well as tablets, cooking classes, and other prizes.