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Hoosac Valley Names Top Students for Class of 2025 / iBerkshires.com

CHESHIRE, Mass. — Hoosac Valley High School has named Kimberly Mach and Maryn Cappiello as the valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, of the class of 2025.    Both will speak at graduation on Friday, June 4, at 6 p.m. in the school gym.    Mach, daughter of […]

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CHESHIRE, Mass. — Hoosac Valley High School has named Kimberly Mach and Maryn Cappiello as the valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, of the class of 2025. 


 


Both will speak at graduation on Friday, June 4, at 6 p.m. in the school gym. 


 


Mach, daughter of Lawrence and Loretta Mach of Adams, has been a Student Council member and treasurer all four years, as well as a member and treasurer of the school chapter of the National Honor Society. She was also a peer mentor, member of the Art Club, Girls Who Code and Student-Adult Advisory Board, and participated in the General Dynamics High School Engineering Competition.


 


She is an Advanced Placement scholar with honors and recipient of the Superintendent’s Award, Rensselaer (N.Y.) Polytechnic Institute Medal, Presidential awards for numerous honors and AP courses, and the National and the College Board’s National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program. She was a member of the Nordic and downhill ski clubs,


and played soccer for Hoosac and the Berkshire Ajax Club and was volunteer travel soccer coach for middle school girls.


 


Mach will be attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. 


 


Cappiello, daughter of Timothy and Brittney Cappiello of Adams, was a member of Student Council all four years, the National Honor Society, Student-Adult Advisory Board and Athletic Council and was class secretary and a peer mentor. She also completed the 1Berkshire Youth Leadership Program.


 


She is the recipient of the Bausch & Lomb Honorary Science Award and the Scholar-Athlete Award. She was a member of the soccer, lacrosse and basketball teams, including Hoosac’s state champion basketball teams in 2024 and 2025, and volunteered with youth sports and domestic violence victims. 


 


Cappiello plans to attend Assumption University to major in nursing. 

Tags: graduation 2025,   val & sal,   





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Black Sports Moms Empower Mothers in Athletics

Co-founders Lachauna Edwards and Andrea Odom started Black Sports Moms to empower mothers to navigate their children’s success in athletics. Courtesy: Black Sports Mom This post was originally published on Defender Network By ReShonda Tate In the fast-paced world of youth sports, mothers often serve as the unsung backbone, managing everything from practices to scholarships and now a […]

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Co-founders Lachauna Edwards and Andrea Odom started Black Sports Moms to empower mothers to navigate their children’s success in athletics. Courtesy: Black Sports Mom

This post was originally published on Defender Network

By ReShonda Tate

In the fast-paced world of youth sports, mothers often serve as the unsung backbone, managing everything from practices to scholarships and now a growing financial frontier. Enter Black Sports Moms, an organization dedicated to empowering mothers to navigate the complexities of their children’s athletic careers. 

Co-founders Lachauna Edwards and Andrea Odom are leading the charge to ensure that Black mothers are not just spectators but key players in shaping the future of their student-athletes.

The concept for Black Sports Moms emerged after an organic collaboration between Edwards and Odom, fueled by a shared passion for helping mothers. A well-known public relations professional, Edwards initially launched a platform during Black History Month to highlight the work of “mom-agers,” moms who balance parenting with managing their children’s careers. This initiative sparked Odom to connect with Edwards, an attorney with a civil rights background. Edwards, whose legal experience in contracts and name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, found that the sports world needed more resources to help mothers protect their children’s interests. What started as a simple idea quickly turned into a movement.

“It was nothing but a Godsend,” Odom explained. “We complement each other so well, and the response has been overwhelming. There’s a clear gap in the industry when it comes to supporting Black mothers in sports. These women have been looking for this kind of guidance and support.”

Filling the Gap

While many athletes credit their mothers for their success, the industry has never fully embraced or formalized their roles. For years, Black mothers have juggled their children’s sporting endeavors without the formal training or tools needed to navigate NIL deals, contracts and career decisions. That’s where Black Sports Moms fills that gap with resources, education and community.

The organization provides a comprehensive suite of services for mothers at various stages of their children’s athletic journeys. Whether their child is just beginning, entering the recruiting process, or negotiating their first professional contract, there is something for every mother. The platform offers educational courses on negotiating NIL contracts, managing a brand and building confidence in advocating for their child’s best interests.

A Comprehensive Approach

The most exciting part? Black Sports Moms aims to keep wealth and knowledge in the family. Odom explained, “We show moms who want to represent their children how to become certified agents. That means they don’t have to pay someone else to handle negotiations. Instead, they can keep that money and responsibility in-house.”

But the impact of Black Sports Moms goes beyond financial empowerment. It’s also about shifting the narrative, especially for women historically excluded from important decision-making tables. By providing personal and professional growth tools, Black Sports Moms helps mothers become informed, confident advocates for their children’s futures. And with the introduction of their upcoming conference on July 19, which has already sold out multiple times, the movement continues to gain momentum.

“Every mother who comes to us is looking for information to help their children succeed. Some of them want to manage their kids’ careers, while others just want to understand the ins and outs of NIL,” Edwards said. “What we’re building here is about creating a community where we empower and uplift each other.”

The first Black Sports Moms conference, scheduled for July 19 at the Post Oak Hotel, will welcome mothers from across the country—California, Florida, Texas and beyond—to a weekend of learning, networking, and empowerment. The conference will feature experts in athlete management, financial planning, and mental health, along with keynote speaker Kim Stroud, mother of the Texans’ star quarterback C.J. Stroud.

The conference’s popularity already has the founders planning for future cities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago. The duo was recently featured at EssenceFest after word spread about the organization.

What began as a passion project has now blossomed into a national movement, drawing interest from major sponsors, sports figures, and even national publications.

“We didn’t imagine this would grow so quickly,” said Edwards. “We thought we were creating a small space for moms to support each other. But it’s turned into something much bigger, and it’s exciting to see what’s next.”For more information, visit https://blacksportsmoms.com/



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New York Baseball Coach Protects Kids From ICE Agents

What would you do if ICE agents approached the kids on your youth sports team at practice? Youman Wilder, the founder of Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy, said that he found himself in that exact position. And he didn’t hesitate. “I heard them saying, ‘Where are you from? Where are your parents from?’” Wilder told MSNBC’s […]

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What would you do if ICE agents approached the kids on your youth sports team at practice?

Youman Wilder, the founder of Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy, said that he found himself in that exact position. And he didn’t hesitate.

“I heard them saying, ‘Where are you from? Where are your parents from?'” Wilder told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace. “And I just stepped in and said this is very inappropriate to ask these kids anything … I’m just going to have them implement their Fifth Amendment right, and not say anything to you.’”

He said that one of the agents responded, “Oh, another YouTube lawyer.”

Wilder asked the kids to move to the back of the batting cage while he talked to the agents from its only entrance.

“I got some tough New York City kids, so for them to be scared, it means something is really happening,” said Wilder in an interview with CNN. As the kids shuffled away from the agents, Wilder said he reassured them by saying, “Listen, I’m not going to let them get through me.”

In the same CNN interview, Wilder continued, “I just said to myself, ‘I’m willing to die to make sure you get home.” He even doubled down on his statement, saying, “I’m willing to die today.”

Wilder wants to make it clear that the kids who play baseball with him are upstanding kids with bright futures, not victims. In fact, 45 of his players have been drafted to the Major League.

“We graduated 400 kids out of college who walk around with degrees from Stanford and Princeton and Harvard. All African American and Latino kids,” he told Wallace. “So, we’re not going around saying, ‘Poor little us,’ because we do very, very good work.”

In the end, he said, it’s all comes down to protecting others — especially kids.

“We have to have people speaking up and we have to have a better way to do this stuff,” Wilder said. He added, “We have to care about people, young people.”

Wilder told Wallace that as he confronted the armed ICE agents, “The only thing I had that day was my Uncle Pete, who’s my bishop, my mother in my ear, the Constitution and prayer.”

Since the interview aired on MSNBC on July 14, an ICE spokesperson stated, “ICE has not conducted any recent enforcement activity in the vicinity of Riverside Park.”

Wilder stated that the officers were armed and wearing camoflage uniforms that identified them as ICE agents.

New York Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side, mentioned the confrontation in her newletter.

“I recently learned that ICE agents approached a group of kids attending baseball practice near the batting cages near West 71st Street in Riverside Park,” Rosenthal wrote, as first reported by ILovetheUpperWestSide. “The only thing that stood between those kids in Riverside Park and a Florida detention center buried deep in the Everglades was a brave coach who knew the law. Each one of us has the power to make a difference right in ourown backyards.”



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Troy University

  TROY, Ala. – Troy Cheer is hosting a pair of youth clinics this fall, prior to the Troy Football games against Nicholls (Aug. 30) and on Homecoming against Arkansas State (Nov. 1).    Open for all youth ages 5-12; participants will receive a ticket to the game, a pregame cheer clinic with the Troy Cheerleaders, […]

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TROY, Ala. – Troy Cheer is hosting a pair of youth clinics this fall, prior to the Troy Football games against Nicholls (Aug. 30) and on Homecoming against Arkansas State (Nov. 1). 
 
Open for all youth ages 5-12; participants will receive a ticket to the game, a pregame cheer clinic with the Troy Cheerleaders, partake in Trojan Walk, take part in an on-field performance with the Troy Cheerleaders and receive a 2025 Cheer Clinic T-shirt (must register by Aug. 8 and Oct. 10, respectively, to receive t-shirt). 
 
Registration is $35 for each clinic and family members of participating children can purchase discounted tickets to the games for just $10. To register, visit TroyTrojans.com/CheerClinic or contact Chris Weil at 334-808-6747 or cweil@troy.edu.



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Becker Youth Baseball Going To Bat To Replace Destroyed Equipment Shed

(KNSI) – Becker’s youth baseball organization is swinging for the fences as it tries to rebuild an equipment shed following a July 4th arson incident. A person lit off fireworks inside portable toilets at both Kolbinger Park and the Becker Athletic Complex, causing them to catch fire. In one instance, it spread to a nearby […]

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(KNSI) – Becker’s youth baseball organization is swinging for the fences as it tries to rebuild an equipment shed following a July 4th arson incident.

A person lit off fireworks inside portable toilets at both Kolbinger Park and the Becker Athletic Complex, causing them to catch fire. In one instance, it spread to a nearby shed. Becker Youth Sports Association Board Member Joy Sherwood says the crime affects the city’s youngest players the most. “We store some items above the BAC complex right there, and then we have another shed up on top of the hill too. So, the complex here is the junior ball for tee ball and coach pitch. Everything for them was in there, and that was gone.”

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help raise funds for replacing the shed. It is at about 80% of its $6,500 goal. Sherwood and the board have also gotten advice from the St. Cloud Rox and other outside organizations about grants for the project.

The hope is to maximize funding, as the incident occurred at the worst possible time. Sherwood explains that the shed was full. “Because of all the rain, we ended up doing our Tee Ball Jamboree and Coach Pitch Skills Competition the first and second. So, the coaches handed in all their equipment on the second…so everything got put back into the shed.”

Sherwood says discussions are ongoing between her organization and the city regarding the location of a replacement building. The old one was located right next to the ball fields. There are options that are safer and away from people, but that would make it more difficult to get the gear to the diamond.

___

Copyright 2025 Leighton Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be broadcast, published, redistributed, or rewritten, in any way without consent.



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Lincoln nonprofit hosts basketball tournament to raise awareness for youth mentorship

A Lincoln nonprofit is hosting a basketball tournament Friday in an effort to connect at-risk youth to mentoring, training and community engagement. The Honesty Project works to empower kids considered at-risk to make smart decisions and reach success through these resources. “This event isn’t a tool to help them get out of the mindset,” said […]

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A Lincoln nonprofit is hosting a basketball tournament Friday in an effort to connect at-risk youth to mentoring, training and community engagement. The Honesty Project works to empower kids considered at-risk to make smart decisions and reach success through these resources.

“This event isn’t a tool to help them get out of the mindset,” said Clay Anders, Honesty Project founder and executive director. “It’s the aftercare that’s going to help them get out of that mindset. This is just the tool to reel them in so they can see what it is we offer, and then that’s where we continue the aftercare and the mentorship.”

The games and dunk contest will feature Lincoln and Omaha teams, big-name Husker players and social media influencer Cam Wilder.

“They won’t show up for a lecture, but they’ll show up for a social media influencer. And when that social media influencer is somebody I’m able to talk with and be cool with and organize something with, then it gives validity to what I’m doing and what I’m saying,” Anders said.

The tournament is at the Sandhills Global Event Center in Lincoln and is free to attend. Anders will choose two crowd members to play against the social media celebrity Wilder.

According to the Kids Count in Nebraska 2024 report, nearly 8,000 youths were arrested last year.

This is the second time Anders has invited Wilder to an event. Last summer, a “park takeover” basketball game in Lincoln drew more than 1,000 people and forced Lincoln Police to ask crowd members to leave. The Honest Project organized the setup this year to turn the event center into a basketball court with the help of some of its students and trustees from the Lancaster County Detention Center.



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MLS ecosystem gives youth soccer players lots of opportunities

Tyler Adams urges growth after USMNT’s loss to Mexico in Gold Cup Final USMNT Captain Tyler Adams breaks down what went wrong in their Gold Cup Final loss to Mexico. Sports Seriously Alfonso Mondelo was 13 years old when he arrived in the United States from Spain in 1971. “Soccer was almost nonexistent,” he tells […]

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Alfonso Mondelo was 13 years old when he arrived in the United States from Spain in 1971.

“Soccer was almost nonexistent,” he tells USA TODAY Sports. “You had to go chase it.”

Your desire to see the sport might take you to New York’s Felt Forum, the then-named auditorium at Madison Square Garden where Mondelo watched the 1974 World Cup on a closed-circuit television, or to movie theaters.

Even by 1990, Major League Soccer’s longtime technical director says, when the U.S. men qualified for the tournament in Italy, you went to a bar with a satellite dish to watch them.

“If there was a baseball game, you had to fight with the baseball people to keep the soccer game on,” Mondelo says. “So this has gone to where this is the country that consumes probably the most soccer in the world. Right now, you can turn on a TV on Saturday morning at 7 o’clock, begin to watch European games and continuously watch live soccer until probably 12:30, 1 o’clock in the morning, when MLS finishes.

“It’s a sport that you can play forever. Every day, there are more American-born fans, and I would say under the age of 40 in this country, most players have played it at one level or the other.”

Mondelo, 66, spent time on the pitch in Spain’s second division while he was in the U.S. Air Force and later became a coach. He got his start as a coach in MLS with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in the late 1990s. He moved to his position in the league’s front office in 2004, when teams had no youth programming.

Today, there are 40,000 kids participating in its MLS GO recreational program and almost 18,000 enrolled in its elite MLS NEXT platform (raising to 40,000-plus with a new competition tier), which runs from the U13 to U19 levels.

As of June 15, according to MLS, 93% of the players on U.S. youth national teams are coming from MLS NEXT. This year alone, the league also has invested more than $125 million in player development, according to Mondelo.

“It’s the greatest sport in the world,” says Mondelo, whom we interviewed upon the 30th anniversary of MLS. “Once you start playing it, you get hooked on it. If you speak soccer, you can engage conversations in any country in the world. I think the Americans are catching onto it. …

“A young player who begins to play the game and has a passion for it can see a direct pathway from youth all the way to a professional team. Now, in a lot of the markets, they have a professional team that they can go see and they can aspire to be part of.”

The league realizes, of course, the overall percentages of becoming a professional player are very small. It’s constantly seeking ways to get more kids access to the game, hoping to create fans at the grassroots levels who will attend MLS matches.

Where might your son or daughter fit into MLS’ youth ecosystem? Here are the opportunities it provides:

MLS GO: Finding a lifelong love of the game

When we place our kid in a sport at a young age, a goal is they enjoy it and want to come back for another season.

“We’re not trying to create world-class players from the time of 5 or 6 years old,” says Kyle Albrecht, the general manager of MLS GO and MLS NEXT.

MLS GO is designed to teach fundamentals to boys and girls from 4 to 14 – sometimes playing in games together – in a community setting. It’s in 47 states and Washington D.C., and, if you’re in an MLS market, tickets to a pro game might be included with your entry fee.

Albrecht says the median age of an MLS GO player is 7 or 8 but it’s open to beginners throughout its age groups.

“It also gives that opportunity at the higher end of the spectrum,” Albrecht says. “Let’s say that individual player is not ready to go into the youth travel environment (with) more competitive aspects that we know have a tendency to drive kids and families out of the game.”

MLS GO, Albrecht says, was born in 2023 out of data that registered soccer participation wasn’t really growing over the past 20-plus years.

“There was a real intentionality about the push to travel too early, (the) cost growing so high at young ages. How do we build a program to combat that negativity with the game becoming too intense for that recreational audience?” Albrecht says.

MLS NEXT: Seeking your highest potential

Kids with more ambitious sports aspirations can try out for clubs within MLS NEXT starting at the U13 level. There are 29 MLS academies and 238 elite academies within the 267 clubs (including the second tier of competition) that make up MLS NEXT.

MLS NEXT academy teams compete in high-level events such as Generation Adidas Cup. The GA Cup began almost two decades ago as a gauge to evaluate how MLS academy teams were developing across the country and then started to bring in international competition.

“When we first started there, it was hard to compete,” Mondelo says. “The foreign teams were beating us; we got a draw, we felt that that was a positive result. And over the last 10, 15, years, we’re seeing that the MLS teams in some age groups are dominating the competition, so we are getting to be close to a world-level par in player development.

“Also, the interest of international clubs on the players that are being developed domestically has risen tremendously. So they’ve seen the American player as a viable option to bring into top-level clubs worldwide.”

MLS NEXT came about in 2020, taking over when the U.S. Soccer Development Academy ended operations. There are 130 NEXT players who have matriculated to MLS. They include Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Benjamin Cremaschi (Inter Miami CF), Alex Freeman (Orlando City SC), Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders FC) and Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union).

MLS NEXT top-tier players agree to forgo participating simultaneously in both MLS NEXT and high school soccer, according to an MLS spokesperson, though clubs can submit a high school waiver and play. Players in the other tier will be allowed to play it.

“Our objective from a player development strategy is to develop the next generation of talent that will affect the pro game, and the pro game includes Major League Soccer, it includes national teams,” Luis Robles, MLS NEXT’s technical director, told USA TODAY Sports in January, when laying out the parameters of the second tier. “But within that object is another sub tier of, ‘How does that play itself out?’ We saw an opportunity to deepen the player pool, to give more families that experience. … So it is the aspirational athlete, but it’s also just the athlete that wants to continue to play soccer with their friends. So it is a combination of everyone.”

The 29 lead academies offer scholarships, housing and schooling, but players at the non-MLS academies, which MLS refers to as elite academies, are given looks and opportunities to move up within the organization. These chances include trials at MLS academies, talent ID camps or sometimes guest appearances for the clubs at competitions like the GA Cup.

There are coaching and travel costs associated with elite academies, though Albrecht says MLS NEXT clubs try and look at providing financial aid where it might be needed.

“We try and get every player in MLS NEXT to reach their highest potential,” Albrecht says. “That may mean it’s Division 1 or Division III college. We’re hosting our MLS NEXT Fest event in December and that’s going to be the biggest college recruiting event in youth soccer.”

MLS NEXT Pro: Completing the path

MLS determined as it began to build its youth programs that it lacked qualified coaching compared to other parts of the world. It started working with the French Federation to develop courses.

In addition, all 30 MLS clubs have state-of-the-art training facilities where their MLS NEXT academy teams train. (San Diego FC academy is just getting off the ground and not competing in MLS NEXT yet.)

“Without a doubt, I think in the next few years, we’re going to see a world-class player emerge here that will be comparable to what’s coming out of any other country in the world,” Mondelo says.

MLS NEXT players who advance along the path toward MLS might also get the chance to participate in MLS NEXT Pro, a men’s league in the USA and Canada. MLS NEXT Pro might also include international players, older collegiate graduates and others who may not have played in MLS NEXT.

Since the launch in 2022, MLS teams have signed more than 160 players from this polishing stage.

More opportunities for girls

MLS NEXT is a boys competition but member clubs can invite girls to play on their teams. USWNT players Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, for example, played on an U19 MLS NEXT team.

MLS NEXT announced in December it had formed an alliance with the Girls Academy. According to MLS, the Girls Academy has 114 clubs and more than 16,000 players (including 48 clubs that have a boys team in MLS NEXT) from the U13 to U19 age groups.

“We’re in very regular contact with the leadership team at Girls Academy, just in terms of what are those touch points that we can add value – whether it be through events, through different coaching education initiatives, things we can do to really align that development,” Albrecht says.

The GA Cup, which Mondelo spearheaded for MLS, had a girls division for the first time in 2025. Girls Academy Red beat Girls Academy Blue in the U16 final. Their division also included FC Bayern (Germany) and Manchester City FC (England).

Initial plans, Albrecht says, have looked at expanding the girls division to allow for additional Girls Academy teams as well as international teams.

“I would not be surprised if we start seeing some of our (professional) clubs begin to develop the youth academies on the women’s side,” Mondelo says of MLS.

The future: ‘Best is yet to come’

According to MLS, MLS NEXT players have represented 32 different youth national teams around the globe in 2025. Players from 56 MLS NEXT clubs (277 players in all) have been called up to youth national teams this year.

Albrecht predicts a half-million-plus players participating in MLS GO in the years following the 2026 World Cup next summer.

Five decades ago, Mondelo says, it was strictly immigrants who would go out and watch soccer. During the most recent men’s World Cup (held in Qatar in 2022), he noticed in New York City the bars were not only full, but people were outside on the street looking inside to try to see the game.

“Americans want to be winners and want to have a team that wins,” Mondelo says. “So as our national team goes, I think we’re very nationalistic. That will also continue in this constant growth of the sport. …

“I think a lot of credit has to be given to the ownership groups in MLS, the investment that has been made in these facilities, not only for the first team, for the pro team, but for these academies, has really brought us to the next level.

“The reward will be when we start seeing these American players becoming the mainstay of MLS clubs. So ideally, the mid-level players and above will be domestically grown players, and then the influx of the internationals will be truly the superstars that will elevate this league. Major steps have been taken in 30 years, but the best is yet to come.”

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@usatoday.com



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