SAN DIEGO — The San Diego State football team practiced once again on Tuesday morning at the on-campus facility. It was the 12th practice for the Aztecs, who are now halfway through fall camp before opening their season on Thursday, Aug. 28 against Stony Brook at 7 p.m. PT.

SDSU practiced in shells for a second consecutive day as it gears up for its annual Fan Fest at Snapdragon Stadium on Thursday night. With temperatures in the low-70s under sunny skies and a plentiful breeze, San Diego State did team flex (stretching), special teams individual drills, pops, special teams punt, 1-on-1s with wide receivers vs. the defensive backs, as well as offensive line and running backs, team tempo gold zone and team tempo.

Roy Manning joined the Aztecs staff as the defensive edges coach in January, bringing nearly 15 years of coaching experience at seven different Power 5 institutions where he coached in 11 bowl games and three conference championship games. He enters a room full of experience and promise, including the ability to coach the Mountain West preseason defensive player of the year Trey White.

“I walked into a great situation if you coach, obviously having one of the best players in the country in my room, and it’s just been a delight to have opportunity to work with him,” said Manning. “He’s steady Eddie every single day. Just like all the great players that I’ve coached at other stops, they want to be coached hard.

“I think we all have room for growth. They constantly are pushing themselves and others to be their best and never feel satisfied. So, we’re going to continue to push and hopefully have one of our best seasons.”

In addition to being named the MW preseason defensive player of the year, White has also been named to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List (most outstanding defensive player) and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List (national defensive player of the year). Last year, White totaled 60 tackles (40 solo), 18.5 tackles for loss (No. 1 in MW, No. 7 (tied) in FBS), 12.5 sacks (No. 1 in MW, No. 5 (tied) in FBS), two pass breakups and a forced fumble. White’s 12.5 sacks were tied for the third most in SDSU single-season history.

“I love Coach Manning,” said White. “He pushes us super hard. He comes from the league, and he kind of knows what things are going to be like there. And I like that. He brings that to us, and kind of lets us know what to expect. And he just wants the best out of us every day. You can make all the mistakes in the world, but as long as we give effort, that’s all he cares about, and we’ll fix the other little things later.”

White has been impressed with the defense halfway through camp.

“Everything’s looking great, (even) better than I expected,” said White. “I knew we were going to come out with this energy and kind of chip on our shoulder. So, I’m glad to see that kind of come to fruition. And all the competitive spirit out here. Everybody’s just like a big family out here, very competitive. I love it.”

One of the newcomers who has added depth to the edges is Niles King. The Southfield, Michigan, native spent the last three seasons at Division II Grand Valley State, where he totaled 70 tackles, including 27 tackles for loss and 20 sacks in 34 career games, while adding seven passes defended and four forced fumbles. He made consecutive first-team all-GLIAC selections.

King has enjoyed watching White come to work each day.

“Trey’s a workhorse,” said King. “He does the right thing every time. If he doesn’t, he’s going to do the wrong thing (with) 100 percent (effort). So, just to be in the room with a guy like that just really pushes you to up your game. You don’t want to fall behind him and you want to keep that same standard. You don’t want any drop off.”

King loves the depth of the edges.

“We have a really deep edge room,” said King. “I’m a little biased, but I think it’s the best room in the building. We’ve got dudes like Brady (Nassar), who started last year, Ryan Henderson has a lot of snaps under his belt, obviously, Trey (White). So, it’s just a room full of football experience. It’s a really good, competitive room.”

“He’s kind of a do it all guy,” said Manning of King. “He can go power when he needs to go power. He has pass rushing abilities. Obviously, he has the body type and can play with length and play behind his pads and get separation and he’s still growing, too, in his walk. All these guys, they’re all different and unique. They all add something different. But when you look at it as a whole, it’s a good problem to have.”

The 13th of 24 fall practices is set for Wednesday morning before the opener against Stony Brook on Thursday, Aug. 28 at Snapdragon Stadium at 7 p.m. PT.

San Diego State also has home games vs. California (Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. PT), Colorado State (Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. PT), Wyoming (Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. PT), Boise State (Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. PT) and San Jose State (Nov. 22, time TBA).

Digital Consultancy Ferry Embarks From Scotland

Night Train Digital boss Caitlin Meek O’Connor and social content expert Mark MacDonald are relocating to Scotland to launch Ferry, a YouTube-focused consultancy. The married couple will work with companies to put in place strategies, staffing and structure for their YouTube and social media operations. Meek O’Connor has been Head of Night Train Digital, which is part of the London-based Night Train Media, for the past two years. Previously, she had worked at All3Media-owned Little Dot Studios for six years as Programmes and Acquisitions chief, and has held senior roles at Beyond Rights, DRG, Mercury Media and the BBC. MacDonald had also worked at Little Dot in several senior roles, and was most recently Global Head of Social Media at Banijay Entertainment. He has been consulting since March, when he exited the France-based giant. “After two fantastic years at Night Train Digital, I’m excited to start a new chapter with the launch of Ferry, the consultancy Mark and I have founded to help companies unlock the full potential of their YouTube strategies and to work closely with Scottish businesses to elevate their digital output and reach new audiences,” Meek O’Connor told Deadline. “It’s an exciting time to be helping content travel further.” Night Train Digital has not yet replaced her directly, with Lara Sword, Head of Factual Network, leading the unit as of now.

Ormax To Track Indian Sports Viewing

Ormax Media, the Indian insights consultancy, is launching Ormax Sports Track. The syndicated audience research tool is an attempt to track the engagement and marketing impact of sports on streaming services in the country. Given the huge numbers following cricket on digital services in the country – and widening interest in soccer, tennis, kabbadi and wrestling – platforms, sports leagues and advertisers will have been searching for such a tool. Ormax will will evaluate tournaments on four parameters – buzz, reach, appeal and potency. “With Ormax Sports Track, OTT platforms now have a powerful, subscription-based tool to benchmark the impact of their sports campaigns against industry-wide trends,” said Keerat Grewal, Head of Business Development (Streaming, Television & Brands). “This tool integrates rigorous audience tracking with strategic insights, helping clients drive subscriptions, optimise marketing spend, and stand out in a crowded sports landscape.”

Adelaide Film Festival Selects ‘Jimpa’ For Opening Night

The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) has selected Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa as its opening night film. The feature is a multi-generational story in which filmmaker Hannah (Olivia Colman) takes her trans non-binary teenager Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) to Amsterdam to meet their gay grandfather, Jimpa (John Lithgow). It’s inspired by the death of Sophie Hyde’s own father, and the queer family she was raised in. Jimpa premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year and is now getting its debut in Australia, where it will be released by Kismet. Other features selected for AFF are Journey Home, David Gulpilil, by directors Maggie Miles and Trisha Morton-Thomas; The Colleano Heart from Pauline Clague; Lynette Wallworth’s Edge of Life; South Australian horror thriller Penny Lane is Dead from writer/director Mia’Kate Russell; Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident by from Iranian director Jafar Panahi; and Fwends, from first-time director Sophie Somerville. Jimpa, My Colleano Heart, Edge of Life and Penny Lane is Dead were supported into production by the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund. A full AFF program will be announced on September 9.

Alena Gonzalez 

North Idaho Water Polo 

Gonzalez, a 2025 graduate of Coeur d’Alene High, helped lead the North Idaho Water Polo to the Session III Junior Olympic championship in Dallas in August, earning tournament MVP. “She can play any position on the team, including set, set defense, driver and outside of it,” North Idaho Water Polo coach Mark Collingham said. “She is the best driver on the team and is also an excellent defender. Alena is a leader and a role model for the rest of the club.” 

Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

I’ve written about this phenomenon a few times already, and I expect to do it several more times this year … but everybody in college sports is looking to drive more revenue.

Sure, that’s always been the case, but it is especially true now, as programs face the new expenses of athlete revenue-sharing and expanded scholarship spending, while also navigating institutional financial challenges like the undergraduate enrollment cliff and vanishing federal research money.

Since media rights revenue is typically already accounted for in long-term contracts, and schools can usually only sell so many more tickets, many athletic departments are looking square at their multimedia rights (MMR) partnerships to drive more revenue. If you can’t sell more tickets or get more money from ESPN, perhaps you can sell more sponsorships.

This is also true at the athlete compensation level. If a school already has a corporate sponsorship agreement in place, the university and MMR partner can’t simply redirect funds from the athletic department to individual athletes without that money counting against the House settlement cap.

But if athletes sign new brand sponsorships, even if those sponsorships include university assets, those contracts won’t count against the cap, so long as the contracts pass inspection from the College Sports Commission.

So tl;dr, that means there will be a lot of interest in MMR companies helping to find, or create, legitimate marketing opportunities for college athletes. Every dollar an athlete makes from Nationwide Insurance is a dollar that doesn’t have to come from an athletic department.

The most common ways for athletes to secure brand deals is via social media influencer campaigns. But the dirty little secret is that being good at sports does not automatically mean you’re good at social media influencing. Many brands decided not to renew campaigns with athletes from 2022 to 2024 simply because they weren’t seeing the value of the campaigns. You can’t just give an athlete a smartphone, have them shoot some vapid behind-the-scenes content, and expect people or brands to pay for it.

So if you want to drive new marketing deals via influencer marketing, you have to figure out a way to make athlete-driven content actually work. And at scale, that has so far been difficult to pull off.

But Learfield thinks it has a strategy that actually works … one that won’t just provide financial opportunities for athletes, but educational and professional ones as well.

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A Mesa-based water polo team is looking for members as it works to expand a Valley-wide league, including a Queen Creek team that’s now being formed.

The Topaz Water Polo Club was formed in 2020 for a couple of reasons, according to Mariah Hagemann, who has club program manager oversees tournament planning, travel coordination, and the overall development of the athletes and teams.

“While most local youth sports focus on land-based activities, we saw a need for greater access to aquatic sports – especially water polo, said Hagemann. “So we set out to create something different: local, affordable, high-quality programs that give families access to the sport without the high cost or travel burden.”

The club practices at Kino Aquatic Center in Mesa and Chandler Aquatics Center, led by collegiate and national-level coaches, including John Cogliandro, head coach at Ottawa University.

He also coaches the budding league’s teams, which current comprise three from the East Valley and one from the West Valley. He also will be coaching a new team that’s forming in Queen Creek.

“Over the past year, we’ve been building a growing youth water polo community in Mesa and Chandler, offering kids ages 8–18 the opportunity to learn and compete in a fast-paced Olympic team sport that has historically had little presence in Arizona,” Hagemann said.

She said Arizona’s first community-based youth water polo league is focused on providing “consistent local competition.”

“Right now, most teams travel long distances and pay high tournament fees, limiting who can participate,” she explained. “Our goal is to remove those barriers and grow the sport in our own backyard.”

“Water polo is one of the most challenging and rewarding team sports,” she added, “and we want to spread awareness, build access, and open doors for East Valley kids.”

The Topaz Water Polo Club current counts about 40 athletes across all ages.

The youth program serves ages 6-18 and a women’s and men’s masters program is available to people 18 and older, though Hagemann said, “Our main focus is youth development.”

“We recently sent a team to the 2025 Junior Olympics in California, the largest youth water polo tournament in the country,” she noted. “We also compete in local and regional events throughout the year and are continuing to build toward consistent national competition.”

Hagemann, who was been playing water polo since she was a kid and belongs to Topaz’s women’s masters team, said, “We’re in the pilot phase of launching the league. 

“We’ve already run several scrimmage days and mini-tournaments, and are now finalizing rules, structure, and scheduling in preparation for a full launch this coming spring.”

While finding available public pools “used to be one of our biggest hurdles,” Hagemann said, “We’ve made great progress. We now have consistent pool time secured, which gives us the ability to run regular practices and games across multiple sites.”

The club is co-ed, especially for our younger groups ages 6–14. For older athletes, there are both co-ed and gender-specific practices.

Currently, Topaz is offering free trial weeks. “No prior experience is required,” Hagemann said, “just a willingness to learn and have fun in the water.”

To learn more: topazwaterpoloclub.com. 

McKendree University, located in Lebanon, IL and home of the Bearcats, invites qualified applicants to join our team. McKendree University offers a competitive compensation and benefits package and the opportunity to influence the future leaders of tomorrow.

The mission of McKendree University is to provide a high-quality educational experience to outstanding students. We guide our students in the pursuit of academic excellence, which will prepare them for leadership roles in our society. To achieve this end we encourage broader vision, enriched purpose, engagement with community, commitment to responsible citizenship, openness to new ideas and dedication to lifelong learning. In keeping with our history and traditions, we provide our students with a rigorous, broadly based liberal arts curriculum joined with specialization in a specific discipline.

Position Summary and Key Responsibilities This position is responsible for assisting the Manager of Event and Game Operations in planning, coordinating, and execution of all home athletic events, as well as assisting the Athletics Operations Manager in general day-to-day operations. This includes game operations, events/facilities management, ticketing & promotions, fan engagement, laundry management, and coordinating travel & lodging. This is a part-time position.

Work Conditions Able to lift 25 pounds. Nights and weekends availability is required. Some travel is required.

Required Application Materials Cover Letter Resume/CV

Equal Opportunity Employer

McKendree University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, and other statuses protected by law. This extends to all aspects of the employment relationship, including recruiting, hiring, training, on-the-job treatment, promotion, layoff, and termination.

Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and acceptance into a master’s program at McKendree University is required.

About McKendree University

McKendree University, Illinois’ first and finest, is a private university in Lebanon, Ill., just 25 minutes from downtown St. Louis. The school has approximately 2,000 full-time students and offers both undergraduate and graduate school programs. As a private, independent university, we are committed to providing a personalized education that allows student to reach their full potential. The University has a long tradition of quality and success in intercollegiate athletics and sponsors 36 intercollegiate sports programs. The University is a member of Division II of the NCAA and is a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

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