TRAVERSE CITY- The Michigan State Police are hosting their second annual basketball cop initiative this Saturday in Traverse City. This is the first year the event will be held in Traverse City, it’s a statewide program that connects officers with youth through the game of basketball, food, and music.

Special Lieutenant Ashley Miller says troopers have been practicing their skills.

“I think that we have a pretty good team.

You know, the Michigan State Police and our local partners feel like we need to connect with the the youth, especially, on a fun, carefree level instead of just a time of crisis. So we’re using basketball, food, fun, free gifts to just make those community connections.

And so we thought, what a better place than Traverse City” (Miller).

The event will be at the TC Curling Center and run from 11:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m.

JR Boyles and his partners were looking for a place to call their own. They wanted to create something new for Casper families. Boyles wanted there to be a place in town where families could go for a good time. Casper continues to grow exponentially, and with that growth comes a plethora of new events, activities and facilities for its residents to enjoy. But Boyles and his team wanted to create something for everybody; a place for children to play, a place for grownups to socialize, and a place for everybody to feel welcome.

That place is The Range at 5150 and it is officially open for business!

In 2021, Boyles and his business partners — Tennis Pro Eric Nokes, as well as Jared and Brian Stack — purchased the former Wyoming Athletic Club. Nokes was the director of tennis at the WAC and he was friends with the Boyles family, so when they found out the WAC was closing and that the building itself was being sold, they had an idea.

“We said, ‘Let’s buy it,’” Boyles stated. “‘Let’s buy it and let’s do something with it.’ We didn’t know exactly what we wanted to do with it, but we knew we didn’t want to see Casper’s only indoor tennis facility go away.”

Of course, tennis wasn’t the only activity that took place at the WAC, and they wanted to maintain some of those other activities as well. But they also had a few ideas of their own on what they could add to the facility, the biggest of which being a fully functional bar and liquor store.

“As far as where the bar idea came from, it wasn’t really our background,” Boyles said. “We didn’t wake up one day and go, ‘Hey, I really want to own a bar.’” But we thought it would be a good addition to Casper’s east side of town; like an upscale sports bar–type place because everywhere else on this side of town is primarily a restaurant first, bar second. We had a massive amount of space that wasn’t being utilized, so why not give it a try?”

The east side of Casper has a multitude of restaurants and a bevy of liquor stores, but very few — if any — actual bars.

Restaurants like Wyoming Ale Works, FireRock Steakhouse, Old Chicago and more all feature full-service and fully functioning bars, but Boyles said that he thinks a legitimate sports bar on the east side of town would benefit the masses in a big way.

He thought that indoor golf simulators would be a big hit as well.

“If you look at The Sand Trap and you look at Durbin Street Golf, they’re both incredible places,” he said. “But we think we’re missing the mark on fun places for families that offer a little bit of fun for everyone. We even looked at how fun our place could be for couples looking for a new date night. With the technology and games in these newer simulators, you don’t have to be good or even know anything about golf to have a good time.”

Boyles was quick to highlight how much he enjoys and respects the other indoor golf simulators that are in Casper, but both of them, he said, are downtown, and he really wants to see the east side flourish as well.

He doesn’t just want to benefit locals, either (though that is his main priority). Boyles serves on a number of different boards, including being the President of the Board of Directors for the newly built Wyo Sports Ranch. He knows how often other sports teams visit Casper for athletic events, and he wants something for those kiddos and families to do when they’re here as well.

“We thought that, when you do a lot of travel for youth sports, when you’re going to other towns and things like that, you’re always looking for something to go do with your kids,” he said. “You might only play, say, two basketball games in a day. What do you do for the other 22 or 23 hours of the day? You want to find something to do with your kids, with your family. So we thought this was a good opportunity to offer some more upscale golf simulators, to give people a place to come watch sports and just hang out.”

Boyles also revealed that, starting Thursday, July 31, The Range will officially open its new restaurant, courtesy of Gringo @ The Range.

“Gringo previously had a food truck that they ran here in town,” he said, “but beginning Thursday, they’re going to be a full restaurant. It will be Gringo @ The Range. Kelly, the owner of Gringo, prepares and creates food like Casper has never had. 99% of what he makes is from scratch; it’s absolutely delicious and I know Casper is going to love it.”

Boyles continued, saying, “It’s kind of funny — when I tell people that Gringo is getting close to opening, they always respond with something like ‘I love Mexican food!’ But I have to explain to them that it’s not actually Mexican, it’s everything — from smash burgers to barbeque, to salads, even avocado toast with homemade sourdough bread.”

Boyles smiled at the thought of it, because what is a round of golf or a cold beer during a football game if you don’t have some great food to go with it? That, Boyles said, is exactly what customers will get at The Range at 5150.

“It’s really the one piece that we thought we were missing: the full menu,” Boyles said. “We had a very basic bar menu since we opened, but we really felt like we were missing a full menu for lunch and dinner. A lot of people will come in here and get a drink before and/or after dinner, so how do you make it a one-stop shop? How do I make it a true date night, where I can bring my girlfriend out and play golf and have dinner and drinks?”

Boyles said that there’s a misconception about golf — indoor or outdoor — that it’s a male-dominated sport, and, he says, that’s just not the case.

“Golf, especially our golf simulators, are for anybody and everybody,” he said. “It’s no different than going bowling with your girlfriend or taking your wife and kids out. We have different simulators and there are a lot of fun games you can play. It’s not just playing 18 holes of indoor golf. You can play darts, you can play putt putt; there’s Angry Birds– and Top Golf–style games.”

The Range doesn’t just get its namesake from a golf range. It’s also a place designed to entertain a wide range of people of all different ages, backgrounds and skill levels. It’s something for everyone. Boyles said that The Range even provides golf clubs, though people are welcome to bring their own as well.

“We do have clubs.” he reiterated. “There are clubs in each bay, so you don’t even have to rent them; it’s just part of the simulators. People do bring in their own, but they don’t have to. If you’re just looking for a cool date night, or if you just want to stop in for an hour or so, we’ve got you covered.”

Boyles said that The Range has four total bays, three of which are HD golf simulators and the fourth of which is an HD golf simulator with a multi-sport package.

“The multi-sport function has been really good for birthday parties and things of that nature,” he said. “People can play soccer; there’s archery on it, zombie shooting and various other cool things.”

Speaking of birthday parties, The Range at 5150 is the perfect place to hold one. It’s available to rent for large gatherings, private parties, company gatherings and any other special occasion. The Range also hosts various leagues and puts on a variety of different tournaments throughout the year. In short, The Range is open to anyone, for anything, at (almost) any time.

So what, exactly, compels somebody to embark on such a massive undertaking? For Boyles, the answer is surprisingly easy.

“If you ask my wife, it’s because I get bored easily and I’m always looking for something to do,” Boyles laughed. “I sold my business — an oil and gas company here in Casper — in 2022, so the timing was just right for us to take on our next venture. We saw this building, and it’s too big of a building to just go to waste. It’s an 81,000-square-foot building and it was deteriorating when we bought it.”

Boyles, his wife and his partners purchased the building in 2021. They remodeled the entire thing over the course of a couple of years. It was, in a very literal sense, a labor of love. It was hard work, turning the former WAC into what The 307 Tennis Club and The Range at 5150 would eventually become, but it was the best kind of work to do because Boyles and partners knew that they were building something good. They were building something important. They were building something special: a love letter to Casper and its people.

“When it comes down to it, I’ve lived in Casper my whole life,” he said. “Born, raised. We’ve got three children in high school, middle school and elementary school, all in Casper. This is our home and these are our people. And we just wanted to give Casper something cool to do.”

Boyles and his family have invested in their future and the future of Casper; they’ve built their home on The Range. In doing so, they’ve created Casper’s newest family-friendly establishment that’s perfect for first dates or 50th dates or play dates. It’s available for big games, birthday parties or business after hours. The Range at 5150 is a golf course, a sports bar, a restaurant, a liquor store and everything in between. It’s sports. It’s entertainment. It’s a place to take a sip, take a swing or to take something home with you after a long day at work. Eat, drink, play — you can do it all at The Range at 5150.

For more information on The Range at 5150 or to book a tee time, visit their website and follow them on Facebook for daily updates, specials and more.

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It is one of the great achievements in Manchester United’s history and the kind of record that even supporters of rival clubs begrudgingly have to admire.

How else can you describe United’s feat of naming a player who has come through their academy in every first-team squad since October 1937?

To put it into context, that’s a run of 4,321 games, and counting, with 44 major trophies accumulated in the process, including three European Cups and 18 of their 20 league titles.

Suddenly, though, the run is looking unusually vulnerable and, without wishing to be alarmist, it feels legitimate to ask whether the 2025-26 season might be when it finally comes to an end.

Marcus Rashford has gone to Barcelona. Alejandro Garnacho is out of manager Ruben Amorim’s plans. Jonny Evans, another player brought up in United’s academy, has called time on his playing career. Scott McTominay and Mason Greenwood have both been moved out of Old Trafford over the past year or so in very different circumstances. Brandon Williams, too.

Kobbie Mainoo is still on the scene, but what if the 20-year-old picks up an injury? Or a suspension? Mainoo missed 17 matches last season and 21 the year before that. So what happens if, or when, he misses out again?

“Selling McTominay was an error,” Tony Park, the United fan, historian and author, states matter-of-factly. “Rashford hasn’t been managed right, Williams the same. I think Garnacho just wants to play attacking football and the manager is quite defensive in his approach. There’s no one really standing out in the academy right now and the whole system is very vanilla.”

It was Park’s research and number-crunching in 2013, while co-authoring his Sons of United book, that established the details of a long, unbroken sequence that now stretches to almost 88 years.

Rashford has joined Barcelona on loan (Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images)

Does it really matter? Well, yes, it does to many people connected with the club, given what it says about United’s traditions and their dedication, year after year, to bringing through players who could qualify for the chant of “one of our own”.

As Nick Cox, United’s academy director, told The Athletic last year: “It was youth development that helped us survive the Second World War. Youth was there to help us recover from the Munich disaster. And youth has been at the heart of our best days as well, winning league titles and European Cups with a core of young players.”

Exhibit A: the FA Cup final in 2024, when Garnacho and Mainoo scored the goals to defeat Manchester City in arguably United’s finest moment since Alex Ferguson’s retirement 11 years earlier.

“It’s never been forced, it’s not a gimmick, it’s not a PR stunt,” Cox added. “It’s just a byproduct of the way we do things here. The club is incredibly proud of its traditions of youth development. The fans expect to see young, local players in the first team because youth has been a consistent part of our history, including our darkest days.”

What, though, of the club’s current position now that the choices have been dramatically reduced?

Park’s analysis shows that, last season, the average number of youth players in each first-team squad was 4.51, down from 6.65 the previous year. This season, it might be the slimmest pickings for three decades.

“In the 1990s, we regularly only had one player on the substitutes’ bench keeping the record alive,” he says.

Park, like many United fans, would like to believe the record can be extended. “Losing so many youth players doesn’t help from several perspectives, and we shouldn’t be losing certain players. Something is wrong somewhere. However, if the likes of Tyler Fredricson, Jack Fletcher, and one or two others can get regular bench time, things should be OK.”

Tyler Fredricson playing for the first team last season (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

It is going to be a close-run thing, though, and that, in turn, raises the question about how seriously the record is viewed at the top of the club.

Do the Glazers care? Does Sir Jim Ratcliffe view it as a source of pride? Is it ever discussed? “I’m not convinced how important it is to the club,” is Park’s verdict. “A lot of people in charge don’t seem to ‘get it’ from a number of aspects.”

That would be a shame, particularly given the importance previous United managers have placed on promoting the club’s own.

“Using youth players so consistently, and winning trophies along the way, is definitely something to be proud of,” says Park. “We have been doing it since the 1930s. Walter Crickmer believed in it during the Second World War and then we had two managers, Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson, who really made it part of the United DNA.”

So what of Amorim? This is a big season for the current United manager, desperate to show that his tactics can work in the Premier League, and he is probably entitled to have other priorities given last season’s 15th-placed finish. But does he really want to be the manager who breaks such a proud record?

One idea that has been floated by some fans (though not by the club) is to make it an official stipulation. Would United become the first club to make it a mandatory rule? Would they even write it into the managers’ contracts?

“I’m not a fan of that personally, although it wouldn’t be hard to do,” Park counters. “Every manager should strive to give youth its chance as a matter of course. But at the end of the day, every player has to earn their place in the squad.

“It’s a meritocracy. If our youth players aren’t good enough, don’t pick them. However, if it gets to that point, we have got things terribly wrong somewhere.”

(Top photos: Getty Images)

Doug Jarry, 64, of Hudson passed away July 24th, 2025, at St. Joseph’s Hospital after a period of declining health. He was born in Nashua on May 29, 1961, to the late John “Jack” Jarry and Fleurette (Plante) (Jarry) Rioux. Doug loved sports and played basketball and football in his youth. Later, he was a team member of D.J.’s Bad Boys softball team. He enjoyed playing a round of golf with his nephew, Carlos Disla, and friends, and he would say, “I’m not very good at it, but I love playing anyways”. He was a fan of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. Doug served in the 82nd Air Borne Division of the U.S. army and was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. While enlisted, he performed over 1,000 jumps which he was proud to have obtained. After he returned to Nashua, Doug worked at the Bronze Craft Corp for 14 years in the snag room, then as a bench molder in the foundry. He eventually worked for the Nashua School District and retired this past March as an assistant head custodian at Nashua High School South after 21 years. Doug was a member of the Club National.

Doug is survived by his wife of 29 years, Kathy (Kearns) and son Dan of Hudson; his parents Flo and Lenny Rioux of Nashua; brothers John Jarry of Hampton, Dennis Jarry of Nashua, Jeff Jarry and his partner April Hocut of Nashua; nieces Stephanie (Joshua) Goodman of Derry, Nicole (Sean) Simpson of Manchester; newphew Chris Jarry of Portland, ME; great niece Kylee Goodman; great nephews Jameson and Landon Simpson; brother-in-law Steve (Gloria) Kearns of Merrimack, Jean (Jim) Saytanides of Milford, Callie Kearns of Portland, IN, Ellen (Chris) Parsons of Gustine, TX, Arlene (Ralph) Boisvert of Nashua; lifelong friend Charlie Langlais; as well as several aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Assisting the family with arrangements is the Cremation Society of NH, Nashua. There will be a Gathering on Friday, August 8, 2025, at 11am at the Cremation Society of NH, 26 Kinsley Street, Nashua, NH. A Memorial Service will be held at the funeral home following the gathering at 12pm. To view Douglas’ Online Tribute, send condolences to the family, or for more information, please visit https://csnh.com.

Youth sports have long been dominated by local community associations. Local recreational and competitive leagues were run by parents or community members with the goal of engaging kids physically and socially.

Now, national brands backed by private equity firms are jumping onto the scene — one that American parents spend an estimated $30-$40 billion on each year. These firms can positively impact the industry as long as they don’t just focus on profitability, said Tom Farrey, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program.

“It’s going to entirely come down to the question whether private equity see business models to engage more children, at a lower price point with a higher quality experience,” Farrey said.

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Farrey about the current state of play in the ever-growing youth sports industry.

To hear the story, use the audio player above.

This fall, Blacksburg Parks and Recreation Department will offer three new youth athletics programs: Mini Flag Football, appropriate for kindergarten and first graders; Mite Tackle Football, appropriate for second and third graders; and Mite Cheerleading, appropriate for second and third graders.

Registration for these programs is currently open and ends soon – don’t wait!

Questions: Contact Marty Gordon, Athletics Supervisor at mgordon@blacksburg.gov, or 540.443.1105.