In conjunction with this year’s National Celebrate Lacrosse Week, USA Lacrosse is proudly recognizing volunteers from across the country who are helping to grow the game on the grassroots level.
Each day, USA Lacrosse profile someone who makes a positive difference in their community. Join us as we celebrate local lacrosse heroes from coast-to-coast.
Name: Chris Barton Local Lacrosse Organization: Avon Youth Lacrosse Location: Avon, Ohio
How Barton Impacts the Local Growth of the Game
Barton began coaching with Avon eight years ago and has been instrumental in expanding a game that was unknown to many in the community when it first launched. Through his dedicated service, he has introduced the game to hundreds of first-time athletes and helped mentor many other parent volunteers along the way.
Community Involvement
Barton has coached across nearly all age groups, including junior varsity boys, varsity boys, and most recently, the varsity girls’ team at Avon High School, but his commitment goes far beyond these school programs.
He continues to dedicate his time and energy to summer and club lacrosse through organizations like Xcelerate, Resolute, and Spiders — ensuring that players have year-round opportunities to grow, compete, and develop their skills.
Most Significant Contributions to Lacrosse
Barton has helped build a sustainable future for lacrosse in Avon by mentoring new coaches, improving access to equipment for all players, and bridging the gap between the local youth and high school programs. His tireless efforts have created a lasting foundation where young athletes feel supported, empowered, and inspired to give back.
What Barton’s Peers Say
“Whether on the sidelines or behind the scenes, Coach Barton’s passion and tireless dedication have laid the foundation for continued growth. He has empowered our local athletes and their families to carry the sport forward, leaving a lasting impact on the game and the lacrosse community he has helped to build. His ability to balance high expectations with genuine care has inspired athletes to grow not only as players, but as people.”
FOX VALLEY (WLUK) — Youth sports have become a year-round reality for many families, as more and more indoor sports facilities are being built in Wisconsin.
“I try to fill that gap for some of the boys,” said Rick Cavaiani, owner/founder of Cavaiani Baseball Training in Little Chute.
Youth sports have become a year-round reality for many families, as more and more indoor sports facilities are being built in Wisconsin. (WLUK)
Training starts as young as eight years old
Teams of 10-year-olds and 11-year-olds scrimmaged while off of school for Christmas break Monday afternoon. Cavaiani serves players from ages eight to 18, providing structured training beginning in November.
“I feel a lot more prepared than normal teams would, because they don’t practice in the winter,” said Garrett Reukauf, who plays for Cavaiani’s 11-and-under team.
Reukauf hopes to become the next Alex Breckheimer of Chilton or Ethan Cole of Fond du Lac, going from Northeast Wisconsin to professional baseball.
“When I first started playing travel baseball, my facility was an old glass-blowing company,” said Cole, who was drafted by the Colorado Rockies last year and played for 5 Star Wisconsin, based in Oshkosh. “It was a super small building — two cages, maybe a room for 90 feet.”
The current setup includes nearly a full infield and multiple batting cages, a weight room, high-tech devices to track his pitching and a small locker room. He doesn’t think he would have been drafted without the facilities or coaching at 5 Star — believing those to be necessities in Wisconsin.
“We’re inside the majority of the year,” said Evan Wick, the co-owner of 5 Star Wisconsin, when asked about the disadvantage Midwest baseball players have. “Kids down south get to see the real ball fly at their own real field every single day.”
The indoor training is producing results.
“When I graduated in 2002, there were four of us in the state of Wisconsin, including myself, that eventually played Division I baseball,” said Cavaiani. “I think this past year, there were almost 50.”
Concerns about longevity, injuries and cost
There are certainly concerns about year-round sports.
It costs thousands of dollars per player, as youth sports has become a $30-40 billion industry
Sports injury has become the second leading cause of emergency room visits for youth
Burnout is on the rise
It’s for the parent to decide whether the risk is worth the reward. But from November to April — for some players once a week, and others three-to-four times — you may find a 10-year-old or a college student playing baseball in Northeast Wisconsin.
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio — Marcus Johnson grew up coming to his father’s holiday basketball showcases at Garfield Heights.
He led the Bulldogs each of the last three seasons at the NEO Youth Elite Christmas Classic and had one more to play Sunday as a senior at the school. Johnson, the state’s reigning Mr. Basketball winner and a South Carolina recruit, put a bow on his holiday performances by scoring 40 points and leading his team to a 74-70 win against Glenville.
“I wanted to go out with a bang,” Johnson said. “I knew it was my last time playing my dad’s event like this. I wanted to give it my all.”
His father, Garfield Heights coach Sonny Johnson played a smaller lineup against Glenville. With it, the Bulldogs matched the speed of the Tarblooders’ quick guards.
They gave the hosts all they could handle early in a back-and-forth game.
The Bulldogs (4-4), who are ranked sixth in the cleveland.com Top 25, pulled away in the fourth quarter to take a 15-point lead. Johnson led much of it with three of his seven 3-pointers in the final period. Sophomore guard C.J. Williams added 10 points and found Johnson on three of his 3s.
Williams finished with four assists and three steals in what he called a “must-win game” after the Bulldogs lost three games at the highly decorated City of Palms Invitational in Florida.
“After coming down from Florida after all those games, it was pretty tough for us,” Williams said.
The three teams they played had multiple Division I college recruits, headed to schools such as Duke and Indiana.
Against Glenville (2-4), which reached last season’s Division IV state semifinals, the Bulldogs overcame a strong effort by the Tarblooders’ starting five. Jahi Hobson led them with 16 points before fouling out. Arvell Nelson Jr. added 15 points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final score. Gio Ramos added 14 points and 16 rebounds, while Garry Pritchett Jr. had 14 points before leaving with a leg injury in the fourth.
Their game was one of five played Sunday at Garfield Heights. Here is what else happened:
No. 2 Lutheran East 60, No. 10 Warrensville Heights 38: Sophomore guard Dylan Zeigler scored the first and last points of the Falcons’ convincing win, avenging last year’s loss to Warrensville at this event.
Zeigler, who finished with 20 points, didn’t forget that.
“They were talking a lot of trash, and we took it disrespectfully,” Zeigler said, “and we took it to them.”
Zeigler knocked down one of his two 3s early to get the Falcons (6-0) going, and he capped off the night with a slam dunk before time expired.
The Tigers (3-3) hung around through the first half. They trailed by only two points after one quarter and six at the break. Their aggressive defense, filled with presses and traps, is what Zeigler and his teammates said they expected.
They adjusted accordingly with quick passes to break that defense. Junior point guard Chris Hill served as the maestro with seven assists, including a behind-the-back pass to freshman Bryce Irby for a slam dunk in transition.
Hill scored 11 points and had three steals. Ocho Davis scored 13 points, while Warrensville got eight points off the bench from Camden Hill.
No. 7 Hawken 87, Rhodes 80: Sophomore guard Ice Taylor scored a game-high 25 points, while senior Greg Price took home MVP honors for his 24 points, which included nine in a strong start for the Hawks (8-1).
They needed it, as Rhodes (4-2) rallied within five points in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Jahavi Dye led the Rams with 20 points. He scored 15 in the fourth with three of his four 3s in that final stretch.
Hawken had a 21-point lead in the third quarter, but turnovers fueled Rhodes’ comeback attempt.
No. 15 Akron Garfield 73, No. 12 Euclid 71 (2OT): Monty Thompson Jr.’s jump shot from the baseline beat the buzzer in the second overtime and lifted the Rams (8-1), who needed more heroics just to reach that point.
Senior guard Rayshawn Hamilton, who scored a game-high 27 points, forced the second overtime with a buzzer beater on an over-the-head pass with 1.9 seconds left from Avanti Caldwell under the opposite-end hoop. Thompson, who scored 17 points off the bench, also beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer. Thompson hit three 3s, while Terion Chapman added 14 points and Reggie Edwards pulled down 11 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Mekhi Asberry led the Panthers (5-3) with 19 points, including five 3s. Kye Owens scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds with his 6-foot-8 frame.
Richmond Heights 74, Orange 56: The Spartans (5-5) scored the first 14 points and maintained a lead of at least eight points for the rest of their opener at Garfield Heights. Sophomore point guard Dereon Barber paced Richmond Heights with 21 points, while senior guard Khyell Moreland added 20 points, including four 3-pointers.
Freshman guard Aaron Lewis, nephew of former Northeast Ohio standout Trey Lewis, scored 22 points to lead the Lions (2-6) off the bench. He connected on four 3s.
SANFORD, Fla., Dec. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a significant expansion of its presence across the Asia-Pacific Zone, with a strategic focus on the 10-15 year-old age group. The initiative will be led in partnership with longtime Japanese youth baseball executive and coach Takaharu Nasu, as Perfect Game continues to grow its global footprint and strengthen pathways for elite youth development.
As part of this expansion, Perfect Game will increase its operational and developmental presence in key baseball markets including Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and additional countries throughout the region. The effort reflects Perfect Game’s long-term commitment to supporting the global growth of the game while maintaining its standards for competition, scouting and player development.
Among the enhancements planned for the Asia-Pacific Zone expansion is the introduction of Perfect Game’s DiamondKast® technology, the company’s industry-leading digital scoring and data platform. DiamondKast will provide teams, players, families and coaches in the region with real-time game data, advanced statistics and expanded visibility aligning the Pacific Rim experience with Perfect Game events worldwide. Additionally, showcases in various locations will be held to measure individual player data while discovering talented youth baseball players throughout the region.
“This expansion represents a major step forward in Perfect Game’s international vision,” said Perfect Game Chairman Rick Thurman. “With Takaharu Nasu’s leadership and deep understanding of the baseball culture throughout the Pacific Rim, we are positioned to create meaningful opportunities for young athletes while connecting global baseball communities.”
The continued growth in the Pacific Rim will also lead to Asian youth baseball teams competing in Perfect Game events in the United States beginning in 2026, offering players a unique opportunity to measure themselves against top domestic competition and experience elite-level events firsthand.
Nasu brings over a decade of experience in international baseball development and administration, with strong relationships across Asia’s most established and emerging baseball markets. For the past eight years, he has served as the representative director of the Japan Pony Baseball Association, where he has also spent the last decade coaching the Ichihara Pony team. His role will focus on building sustainable programs, aligning local organizations with Perfect Game standards, and creating long-term pathways for international participation.
“By bringing Perfect Game and its technology to the Asia-Pacific Zone, we will be able to discover promising players from the region that otherwise may have gotten overlooked for various reasons,” said Nasu. “We strongly believe that Perfect Game is a league that is in line with the times and a baseball organization that can help produce many future top players.”
Perfect Game’s Asia-Pacific Zone initiative underscores the company’s broader mission to grow the game globally, foster competitive excellence and provide young athletes with unmatched exposure and development opportunities no matter where they play.
Perfect Game is the world’s largest elite youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, producing nearly 10,000 events, hundreds of thousands of games and showcases each year across the country. Perfect Game is dedicated to giving amateur players exposure to take their game to the next level, whether that be in college or in the professional ranks. At Perfect Game events, players perform with top-level competition in front of college recruiters and professional scouts from all over the country. Because of this, these events prove to be invaluable to college coaches as well as Major League Baseball, as they can scout a large population of talented ballplayers in one location. To date, more than 2,383 players that have played in a Perfect Game event have also played in Major League Baseball. Since 2003, 15,797 Perfect Game alumni have been selected in the MLB First-Year Amateur Player Draft. In the 2025 Draft, for example, 92 percent of all players selected had played in Perfect Game events, and every player selected on the Draft’s first day had previously attended Perfect Game events.
View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/perfect-game-expands-presence-in-pacific-rim-strengthening-youth-baseball-development-302650173.html
Nevada youth rank last in sports participation. Will rising costs make it worse?
Parents and experts told The Indy that heat is just one reason that Nevada consistently ranks last nationwide for participation in youth sports. High costs and complicated scheduling issues also play a big part. Nevada has had the lowest or second-lowest rate of children on sports teams every year since 2017 except 2019, according to data collected through the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), a project of the Census Bureau, and analyzed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
Nike allowed its “Total 90” trademark registration to lapse in 2019, opening the door for a third-party registration
Hugh Bartlett, a New Orleans-based engineer and youth soccer coach, registered “TOTAL90” in February 2022 and later filed an infringement lawsuit against Nike
A federal judge denied Bartlett’s motion to temporarily restrain Nike from selling Total 90 products, citing lack of evidence of consumer confusion
The case illustrates “trademark arbitrage,” where parties acquire undervalued marks and leverage them strategically
The preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for January 8, 2026, with Nike’s World Cup marketing plans in the balance
The Trademark Gap That Started It All
Nike’s Total 90 line launched in 2000 and became one of the most recognizable names in soccer footwear for nearly a decade. The brand was worn by players including Wayne Rooney, Roberto Carlos, and Fernando Torres.
Nike formally abandoned its trademark registration for “Total 90” in 2019. Hugh Bartlett, a Louisiana-based engineer and youth soccer coach, registered “TOTAL90” in February 2022. Bartlett’s company, Total90 LLC, developed a fantasy soccer app in 2019 and began selling apparel and footwear in 2022.
According to court filings, Bartlett contacted Nike in December 2024 about a potential collaboration. When that didn’t materialize, Nike claims Total90 LLC demanded $2.5 million for the trademark rights before filing suit.
Nike Wins Early Round, But Case Continues
U.S. District Judge Wendy B. Vitter ruled in Nike’s favor on the temporary restraining order motion. The judge emphasized that under U.S. trademark law, ownership is established by use, not registration.
Total90 LLC failed to demonstrate evidence of actual consumer confusion or that both companies use similar retail outlets. The court also noted that Total90’s 11-month delay between first contacting Nike and filing suit undermined claims of urgent, irreparable harm.
Nike argues its Total 90 products have been available for more than 25 years, giving it priority of use regardless of the lapsed registration.
A Case Study in Trademark Arbitrage
Trademark experts point to this dispute as an example of “trademark arbitrage,” where parties acquire marks that others have undervalued and then leverage them strategically.
As the lawful trademark owner, Total90 LLC now holds multiple options: sell the trademark back to Nike at a premium, pursue legal claims if Nike uses the mark without permission, or continue developing the brand while benefiting from renewed attention generated by the dispute.
“Nike didn’t ‘make a mistake.’ They simply stopped using the mark. They formally abandoned it,” said Andrey Mincov, Founder and CEO of Trademark Factory®. “No responsible trademark attorney would tell a client to manufacture fake use just to keep a registration alive. At that time, Nike had no interest in TOTAL 90. Now they do, and that change comes with consequences.”
What’s at Stake for Nike’s World Cup Plans
Nike has significant plans to revive the T90 aesthetic ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America, including a collaboration with Palace that features T90 imagery. The ongoing litigation creates uncertainty around these marketing efforts.
The January 2026 hearing will determine whether Total90 LLC can secure a preliminary injunction. A ruling against Nike could complicate product launches timed to the tournament.
This case offers a lesson for youth sports operators and brands managing intellectual property. As Mincov noted: “The TOTAL 90 story is a powerful reminder that in today’s fast-moving market, maintaining trademarks is not just a bureaucratic formality. It’s a strategic business decision.”
For organizations with legacy marks or dormant product lines, the minimal investment in trademark maintenance may prove far less costly than the alternative.
YSBR provides this content on an “as is” basis without any warranties, express or implied. We do not assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, legality, reliability, or use of the information, including any images, videos, or licenses associated with this article. For any concerns, including copyright issues or complaints, please contact YSBR directly.
Appendix: Sources
Benzinga (December 25, 2025) – “Soccer Coach Beats Nike To ‘Total 90’ Trademark, Sparks Legal Fight Ahead Of World Cup” – https://www.benzinga.com/news/legal/25/12/49590587/soccer-coach-beats-nike-to-total-90-trademark-sparks-legal-fight-ahead-of-world-cup
Sportico (November 2025) – “Nike Defeats Motion to Restrain Sale of Total 90 Soccer Shoe Line” – https://www.sportico.com/law/analysis/2025/nike-total90-trademark-decision-1234878043/
Footy Headlines (November 18, 2025) – “Nike Loses Total 90 Trademark – Sued for Alleged Copyright Infringement” – https://www.footyheadlines.com/2025/11/nike-loses-total-90-trademark.html
The Fashion Law (November 20, 2025) – “Nike’s TOTAL 90 Trademark Clash Shows Risks of Brand Revivals” – https://www.thefashionlaw.com/nikes-total-90-trademark-dispute-highlights-risks-in-brand-revivals/
The Fashion Law (December 2025) – “Nike Beats TRO Bid in ‘Total 90’ Trademark Clash” – https://www.thefashionlaw.com/nike-beats-tro-bid-in-total-90-trademark-clash-with-smaller-brand/
Youth Sports Business Report is the largest and most trusted source for youth sports industry news, insights, and analysis covering the $54 billion youth sports market. Trusted by over 50,000 followers including industry executives, investors, youth sports parents and sports business professionals, we are the premier destination for comprehensive youth sports business intelligence.
Our core mission: Make Youth Sports Better. As the leading authority in youth sports business reporting, we deliver unparalleled coverage of sports business trends, youth athletics, and emerging opportunities across the youth sports ecosystem.
Our expert editorial team provides authoritative, in-depth reporting on key youth sports industry verticals including:
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Are you a brand looking to tap into the world’s most passionate fanbase… youth sports?
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About Play Up Partners
Play Up Partners is a leading youth sports marketing agency connecting brands with the power of youth sports. We specialize in youth sports sponsorships, partnerships, and activations that drive measurable results.
Why Sponsor Youth Sports?
Youth sports represents one of the most engaged and passionate audiences in sports marketing. With over 70 million young athletes and their families participating annually, the youth sports industry offers brands unparalleled access to motivated communities with strong purchasing power and loyalty.
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We’ve done the heavy lifting to untangle the complex youth sports landscape so our brand partners can engage with clarity, confidence, and impact. Our vetted network of accredited youth sports organizations (from local leagues to national tournaments and operators) allows us to create flexible, scalable programs that evolve with the market.
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Every partnership we build is rooted in authenticity and value creation. We don’t just broker deals. We craft youth sports marketing strategies that:
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We have answers. Reach out to info@playuppartners.com to learn how Play Up Partners can help your brand navigate the youth sports landscape.
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The LaLiga EA Sports Matchday 18 fixture kicks off at 16:15 CET on Saturday afternoon. Below you have a guide to help you follow the match from wherever you are in the world.
You can also follow the fixture, and keep up to date with everything Athletic related, through the official Athletic Club app, as well as on our website and social media accounts:
In addition to the kick-off times in different countries, we have compiled a list of broadcasters around the world with the rights to show LaLiga matches.
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee this particular fixture will be broadcast in your region, so please check with the relevant LaLiga TV operator as well.
If you want to join or set up an official Athletic Club fan club in your region, this is how to do it:
Global TV Guide
(SATURDAY, JANUARY 3)
The Americas
United States and Puerto Rico: San Francisco (07:15), Boise (08:15), Miami (10:15), San Juan (11:15)
ESPN
Canada: Vancouver (07:15), Toronto (10:15)
TSN or RDS
Mexico: Mexico City (09:15)
Canal 5, Izzi or Sky
Central America + Dominican Republic: San José (09:15), Panama City (10:15)
Sky
In Belize, also on: ESPN, Sports Max / Dominican Republic: Sports Max
