Sports
How to make Wisconsin youth sports more play
Participation in local youth sports programs can have plenty of positive benefits for children, including exercise, life lessons and healthy competition. In her new book “More Than Play: How Law, Policy, and Politics Shape American Youth Sport,” author Dionne Koller makes the case that youth sports create value for a variety of stakeholders but also […]

Participation in local youth sports programs can have plenty of positive benefits for children, including exercise, life lessons and healthy competition.
In her new book “More Than Play: How Law, Policy, and Politics Shape American Youth Sport,” author Dionne Koller makes the case that youth sports create value for a variety of stakeholders but also come with some negative consequences.
She told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” this is a $20 billion industry that serves as the starting point for many future professional athletes.
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“We love sports in this country at all levels,” Koller said. “Everything from parents who just enjoy watching their kids perform to the Olympic and Paralympic movements, [which] get the benefit out of a pipeline of kids who become elites at a very early age.”
Fiercer competition for that successful payoff at the youth level has brought more specialization and professionalization for young athletes, which Koller said can have problematic outcomes.
She noted research showing significant burnout that has children leaving sports because it stops being fun for them.
“Kids are encouraged to pick a sport, become really good at that sport, and then train year-round,” Koller said. “That is mentally exhausting. It is physically taxing. They end up with what the medical community has called an ‘epidemic of preventable over-training issues.’”
Koller said youth sports can also expose young athletes to varying forms of abuse, ranging from overuse injuries and developmentally inappropriate training to the most extreme examples like the sexual assault case of disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
She pointed to a lack of regulation in the industry, with Congress and many states taking a hands-off approach to how children’s sports are administered.
“Parents are surprised that, no, for the most part, nobody else is watching,” Koller said. “It’s a very low barrier to entry to get into youth sport coaching because there’s no government entity saying, ‘Hey, we need to make sure that the people who are engaging children’s minds and bodies in sports necessarily know what they’re doing.’”

She wants to see governments put in place basic minimum safety standards, like background checks for coaches but “not micromanaging tee ball.”
At the same time, Koller would like youth sports organizations to make sure they put more emphasis on fun and fitness rather than specialization and training.
That’s one of the goals of the Oshkosh Area School District’s Recreation Department.
Director of recreation Kabel Helmbrecht told “Wisconsin Today” that the philosophy of his staff and volunteers is all about setting up kids to play and have fun with their friends.
“It’s not about the wins and losses. It’s about skill development,” Helmbrecht said. “It’s about the friendships that these kids are going to make, teaching them life skills — how to manage adversity, how to work together as a team — all of these great things that happen in youth sports.”
Working under the umbrella of the school district gives his programs some advantages over municipal recreation divisions and other independent sports organizations.
Helmbrecht is able to organize participants by the school they attend, so they can be more comfortable playing with other students they already know.
School district resources also help them keep the cost down for parents and families, ensuring competitions are held locally, with fixed schedules and no travel.
He sends out surveys to families who participate in their youth basketball program, and he’s proud of their 93 percent satisfaction rate.
The emphasis on fun and play instead of wins and losses means their volunteer coaches, who all go through criminal background checks, don’t need to be experts on their sports. They just need to be engaged and supportive.
“The biggest thing is just being a positive role model for the kids,” Helmbrecht said. “Having fun with the kids and just being an active adult in their lives is huge.”
He also sees kids branching out into less traditional sports that may be more accessible and less competitive, like disc golf, pickleball or bowling.
Helmbrecht sees those as activities that can start in youth sports and last a lifetime, even if the child never earns a varsity letter or an Olympic medal.
Sports
Highlands Natural Pool opens Saturday
Highlands Natural Pool, located next to the New Weis Center and Norvin Green State Forest at 180 Snake Den Road, Ringwood, will open for the season Saturday, May 24. The pool is a nonprofit community-owned and -operated facility. The drug- and alcohol-free facility is open to the public on Memorial Day weekend, then on weekends […]

Highlands Natural Pool, located next to the New Weis Center and Norvin Green State Forest at 180 Snake Den Road, Ringwood, will open for the season Saturday, May 24.
The pool is a nonprofit community-owned and -operated facility.
The drug- and alcohol-free facility is open to the public on Memorial Day weekend, then on weekends until the end of June.
Beginning in July, the pool is open daily until Labor Day, then on weekends through September.
The pool hours are noon to 6 p.m.
Day passes may be purchased at the entrance. They cost $20 for adults age 18 and older; $15 for senior citizens age 65 and older and active military/veterans; and $10 for children ages 3-17. Children age 2 and younger are admitted for free.
Memberships also are available.
The cost is $25 for a table with grill in the picnic grove.
Adjacent to the pool and picnic grove on New Weis Center property is a beach sand volleyball court and ping pong tables.
The Norvin Green State Forest offers a variety of hiking options and destinations. Several of the trails climb hills of up to 1,300 feet, providing views of the New York City skyline, Wanaque reservoir and Ramapo mountains.
For information, go online to highlandsnaturalpool.org or call 973-835-4299.
Sports
Treavor Scales Returning to ESPN as SportsCenter Anchor
Television host and digital personality Treavor Scales is returning to ESPN as an anchor for SportsCenter, the network’s signature news and information program. He will begin work on Tuesday, May 20. “Returning to ESPN to host SportsCenter is the latest scene in what feels like a dream sequence of a career — one that started […]

Television host and digital personality Treavor Scales is returning to ESPN as an anchor for SportsCenter, the network’s signature news and information program. He will begin work on Tuesday, May 20.
“Returning to ESPN to host SportsCenter is the latest scene in what feels like a dream sequence of a career — one that started in Remote Operations at ESPN as a Crewing Coordinator,” said Scales. “Being given the opportunity to, once again, play a role in what is the gold standard for sports news and highlights is truly an honor, and I’m ecstatic to join this incredibly talented team.”
Scales previously spent nearly a decade (2013-21) with ESPN in a variety of on-air and digital roles, including hosting SportsCenter on Snapchat, co-hosting The Wrap Up and The College Football Show, and contributing across the network’s digital platforms.
Since departing ESPN in 2021, Scales has served as a host with Bally Sports and FanDuel Sports Network, anchoring pre- and post-game coverage for the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks. He also spent the past two seasons as a reporter and sideline analyst for CW Sports’ college football broadcasts.
“Treavor brings an authentic creative energy that fits perfectly with where SportsCenter is headed,” said Mike Foss, ESPN Senior Vice President of Studio & Entertainment. “He’s got a great feel for storytelling, knows how to connect with fans, and understands how to thrive across multiple platforms. We’re excited to have him back in the lineup.”
Scales is a graduate of Harvard University, where he was a standout running back on the Crimson football team. He launched his broadcasting career through ESPN’s early digital verticals, helping to shape the tone and voice of sports content for a new generation of fans.
Scales will be based at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn.
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Media contact: Beatrix.Panitz@espn.com
Sports
Wildcats of the Week: May 12- May 18
Story Links DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. – Kasie Ugeh of B-CU and Micheal Walker of B-CU Track & Field has been named Wildcats of the Week for the week of May 2 – May 18, 2025. This past week, the Wildcats traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where they competed in the 2025 SWAC Championships. Kasie […]

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. – Kasie Ugeh of B-CU and Micheal Walker of B-CU Track & Field has been named Wildcats of the Week for the week of May 2 – May 18, 2025.
This past week, the Wildcats traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where they competed in the 2025 SWAC Championships. Kasie Ugeh finished second in the javelin with a mark of 40.08m. She also finished third in the discus with a mark of 42.70m.
Micheal Walker placed first in the javelin with a mark of 52.70. It marks his personal best of the season.
Each week, The Bethune-Cookman Office of Athletic Communications recognizes one male and one female student-athlete through the Wildcats of the Week award.
This award recognizes student-athletes who have excelled in competition, in the classroom, and in the community over the past week, exemplifying the Championship Culture of Wildcat Athletics.
2024-25 Wildcats of the Week
May 12 – May 18
M: Micheal Walker, Track & Field
W: Kasie Ugeh, Track & Field
May 5 – May 11
M: Andrey Martinez, Baseball
W: Kendall Macauley, Softball
April 28 – May 4
M: Jose Fernandez, Baseball
April 21 – April 27
M: Edwin Sanchez, Baseball
W: Kasie Ugeh, Track & Field
April 13 – April 20
M: De’Quon King, Track & Field
W: Katie Robinson, Women’s Golf
April 7 – April 13
M: Shanard Walker, Track & Field
W: Alyssa Lopez, Softball
March 31 – April 6
M: Andrey Martinez, Baseball
W: Alyssa Lopez, Softball
March 24 – March 30
M: Joel Core, Baseball
W: Kasie Ugeh, Track & Field
M: (CO) Xavier Bogan, Track & Field
March 17 – March 23
M: Sytrevion Dyer, Track & Field
W: Kasie Ugeh, Track & Field
March 10 – March 16
M: Edwin Sanchez, Baseball
W: Zahara El-Zein, Tennis
March 3 – March 9
M: Nehemiah Armstrong, Track & Field
W: Zion Harvey, track & Field
February 22 – March 1
M: Armani Newton, Baseball
W: Shanai Owens, Softball
February 17 – February 23
M: Joel Core, Baseball
W: Lauren Johnson, Track & Field
February 10 – February 16
M: Joel Core, Baseball
W: Emma Bradley Tse, Softball
February 3 – February 9
M: De’Quon King, Track & Field
W: Molly Blackwood, Softball
January 27 – February 2
M: Xavier Bogan, Track & Field
W: Keona Burley, Women’s Tennis
January 20 – January 26
M: Victor Kibet, Track & Field
W: Valencia Butler, Track & Field
January 12 – January 19
M: Trey Thomas, Men’s Basketball
W: Asianae Nicholson, Women’s Basketball
January 6 – January 12
M: Xavier Bogan, Track & Field
W: Alyssa Wiliams, Track & Field
December 30 – January 5
M: Brayon Freeman, Men’s Basketball
W: Janessa Kelley, Women’s Basketball
December 16 – December 22
M: Reggie Ward Jr., Men’s Baskeball
W: Daimoni Dorsey, Women’s Basketball
December 9 – December 15
M: Daniel Rouzan, Men’s Basketball
W: Asianae Nicholson, Women’s Basketball
December 2 – December 8
M: Victor Kibet, Track & Field
W: Alyssa Williams, Track & Field
November 25 – December 1
M: Brayon Freeman, Men’s Basketball
W: Asianae Nicholson, Women’s Basketball
November 18 – November 24
M: Dennis Palmer, Football
W: Ktyal Price, Volleyball `
November 11 – November 17
M: Brayon Freeman, Men’s Basketball
W: Mecca Freeman, Volleyball
November 4 – November 10
M: Dallaz Corbitt, Football
W: Asianae Nicholson, Women’s Volleyball
October 28 – November 3
M: Joshua Thornhill, Football
W: Mecca Freeman, Volleyball
October 21 – October 27
M: Victor Kibet, Cross Country
W: Valencia Butler, Cross Country
October 14 – October 20
M: Dennis Palmer Jr., Football
W: Elizabeth Philips, Volleyball
October 7 – October 13
M: Victor Kibet, Cross Country
W: Elizabeth Phillips, Volleyball
September 30 – October 6
W: Ashlie Hobbs, Women’s Golf
W: Ktyal Price, Volleyball
September 16 – September 22
M: Victor Kibet, Cross Country
W: Valencia Butler, Cross Country
September 9 – September 15
M: Darnell Deas, Football
W: Jasmine Robinson, Volleyball
September 2 – September 9
M: Raymond Woodie III, Football
W: Elizabeth Phillips, Volleyball
August 26 – September 1
M: Dearis Thomas, Football
W: Niara Hightower, Volleyball
For all the latest Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUathletics), Instagram (@BCUathletics) and www.bcuathletics.com.
Sports
Surprise Stadium to Host Big 12 Baseball Championship Starting in 2026
Story Links IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference has selected Surprise Stadium, the spring training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals, as the new host site for the Big 12 Baseball Championship beginning in 2026. Located in Surprise, Arizona, Surprise Stadium was recently ranked #1 in USA Today’s […]

IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference has selected Surprise Stadium, the spring training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals, as the new host site for the Big 12 Baseball Championship beginning in 2026. Located in Surprise, Arizona, Surprise Stadium was recently ranked #1 in USA Today’s Best Spring Training Facility rankings.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with REV Entertainment as the Big 12 Baseball Championship moves to a world-class venue in Arizona,” said Big 12 Chief Competition Officer Scott Draper. “Surprise Stadium is a premier facility that will create a great atmosphere and experience for our student-athletes and fans.”
The 10,714-seat venue offers lawn seating, air-conditioned suites and other premium seating areas. Surprise Stadium has hosted MLB spring training for two decades as well as the Arizona Fall League and an annual college baseball tournament that will be operated by REV Entertainment in partnership with the City of Surprise beginning in 2026.
The Big 12 Baseball Championship has been hosted at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas since 2022 in conjunction with REV Entertainment. The Big 12 will continue its partnership with REV Entertainment for the planning and operation of its baseball championship at Surprise Stadium.
“Bringing the Big 12 Baseball Championship to Surprise Stadium represents an exciting new chapter in our partnership with the Big 12 Conference and the City of Surprise,” said Jared Schrom, Senior Vice President of REV Entertainment. “We look forward to creating a new tradition in Arizona starting in 2026.”
The 2026 Big 12 Baseball Championship will make its debut at Surprise Stadium with its 12-team field May 20-23.
Sports
In Case You Missed It – Ewelina Gacek Mental Health Advocate on and off The Court
NCAA Article – George Mason Volleyball’s Ewelina Gacek Champions Mental Health on and off the Court A four-year member of the George Mason women’s volleyball team, Ewelina Gacek is clearly a talented athlete, having helped the Patriots this year to their most successful season since 2010, but she’s also so much more. While competing at […]

A four-year member of the George Mason women’s volleyball team, Ewelina Gacek is clearly a talented athlete, having helped the Patriots this year to their most successful season since 2010, but she’s also so much more. While competing at the D1 level, she has been a cadet for the George Mason police force and an advocate for mental health awareness. This is her story.
When she came to George Mason, Gacek entered as a criminal justice major with plans to apply to law school after finishing her undergrad. It was her sophomore year that ended up shaping Gacek’s future. She describes it as “probably my lowest point […] nothing brought me happiness.”
She took a chance while at her lowest and ended up getting into the police cadet program, which she describes it as the best thing for her. “After that is when I realized I had a worth outside of my sport and I can do things outside my sport that makes me happy,” said Gacek.
Though it doesn’t seem like it, volleyball and law enforcement intersect in very interesting ways. They both can increase in leadership skills as well as working as a team to do things like winning a game or trying to serve the community. According to Gacek, “I feel like student-athletes are put into a bubble that like that is all that they are.”
Gacek is going against that bubble. While being a police cadet she “realized the importance of doing something outside of the one thing that defines you.” As time went on with her job as a police cadet, it gave her a thing that she neglected in her freshman and sophomore years: connecting with other people outside of her normal sphere. It helped spread her wings and she was able to branch out in the George Mason community.
One of the benefits of being more connected in the community is that Gacek could used her voice as a volleyball player and a police cadet to try and spread mental health awareness. As an ambassador for the Morgan’s Message club on campus, she helped organized a Morgan’s Message dedication game this fall, and the police program came out to the event to support her.
According to fellow student and Cadet LT Ellen Hailey, “we try to come out to her games and support her in that way, but also to [Morgan’s Message] kiosks and show her that different areas in her life can be supported here.”
Having her police program come out to the Morgan’s Message dedication game meant a lot to Gacek. She reflected on it, saying, “it’s one step toward our goal of getting more training for police departments to raise mental health awareness, training for them to work with people having these mental health crises, and knowing that they have their own outlets to get help themselves so they no longer have to silence their thoughts due to their field.”
Mental health is a thing that a lot of people struggle with and that is no different with police officers. “They work in a field that asks a lot of them and are the ones that are supposed to be almost like a role model with people looking up to them to the serve the public and not show signs of weakness,” said Gacek. “A lot of police departments are talking more about mental health especially for police officers recently. There have been a lot of officers in the past year that have taken their own live due to the stress of the job.”
Gacek has seen this and has stepped up to try to raise awareness of mental health in general and to try to find ways to help others with improving it. She recovered from her own struggles with mental health and wants to help people recover from similar struggles. According to Gacek, she’s trying to “just show people that it is okay, talk about it, bring the conversation up. I think it has been successful recently.”
After graduating from George Mason in the spring, Gacek plans to get her master’s in criminal justice and to continue playing beach volleyball next year. With how much outreach she has been able to do as a police cadet, she is “thinking about doing victim advocacy work – working in a police department but not really being a uniform patrol officer.”
Ewelina Gacek’s story is one of perseverance. Of a student-athlete dealing with mental health issues, to being the one that stepped up to advocate for others. She says she hopes to continue to be impactful and “be the change and shed a light on this issue.”
Sports
Sprinters Sara Schermerhorn and Liam Danitz Qualify for NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Story Links Hope College juniors Sara Schermerhorn and Liam Danitz have qualified to sprint at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week: SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, outside of Cleveland, is hosting the three-day meet that runs Thursday-Saturday, May 22-24. Watch the meet live on ncaa.com. Schermerhorn […]

Hope College juniors Sara Schermerhorn and Liam Danitz have qualified to sprint at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week:
SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, outside of Cleveland, is hosting the three-day meet that runs Thursday-Saturday, May 22-24.
Watch the meet live on ncaa.com.
Schermerhorn (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West HS) will race in the 200-meter prelims on Thursday at 6:55 p.m. and in the 400-meter prelims on Friday at 3:15 p.m., aiming to qualify for Saturday’s finals in both events.
The exercise science major will make her third trip to outdoor nationals. In 2024, Schermerhorn finished fifth in the nation in the 400 and earned All-America First Team accolades, and 14th in the 200 and received All-America Second Team honors.
In March, Schermerhorn placed seventh in the nation in the 400 at the NCAA Indoor Championships and ninth in the 200.
Danitz (West Branch, Michigan / Ogemaw Heights) has qualified for outdoor nationals for the first time and will compete in the men’s 200 meters.
The exercise science major will race in Thursday’s prelims at 6:45 p.m.
At this year’s NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, Danitz placed seventh in the nation in the 200 meters and claimed All-America honors.
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