Soccer
Kicks for Autism kicks off
A new soccer program kicked off at Futbol Es Vida Indoor Soccer on Monday in Patterson, providing something unique for children diagnosed with Autism. Kicks for Autism is a six-week soccer program that will be taking place from 5 to 6 p.m. on Monday nights at Futbol Es Vida, 320 S. First St. The new […]
A new soccer program kicked off at Futbol Es Vida Indoor Soccer on Monday in Patterson, providing something unique for children diagnosed with Autism.
Kicks for Autism is a six-week soccer program that will be taking place from 5 to 6 p.m. on Monday nights at Futbol Es Vida, 320 S. First St. The new owner of the facility Victor Cortez said their fall/winter youth league ended last week and his friend Gloria Zaragoza Barajas, who has a son diagnosed with Autism, brought up the idea of starting the program so there’s a place for them to kick the ball around and have some free play.
“Our goal with the program is to enrich the lives of young players with disabilities through soccer and provide a safe environment for participation based on ability, not age,” a flyer promoting the soccer program states.
Cortez said their first night was definitely a good turnout with 15 to 20 kids showing up.
“It felt really nice,” he said. “I was walking around taking pictures and it felt nice seeing those kids playing with those soccer balls, running around the field, having free play. I felt like the parents were pretty excited watching them too.”
April is also Autism Awareness month, so starting the program in April also tied into helping raise awareness, he said.
For Barajas, who comes from a big soccer family, it provides an opportunity to share the love of the sport with her son close to home. Barajas said they previously tried other programs in other cities, but driving her son to participate over in Turlock after school typically made him tired and he didn’t really want to interact.
“I just wanted to bring (a program) closer to home,” she said, adding there are a lot of families who have autistic children in Patterson and surrounding areas that this program benefits as well.
Having an indoor facility also helps both the parents and participants.
“It helps keep them together and help try to get them more involved,” Barajas said.
In wide open spaces like outdoor soccer fields, Barajas said she and her husband were always trying to figure out which way her son was going to run and often times they ended up getting more exercise than him making sure he stayed in the designated area.
“Honestly it’s just a great opportunity for the kids. I love the sport and at least if he gets some interest it’s a plus and I love being able to help other families,” she said.
Barajas also wanted to thank her employer, Tesoro restaurant in Turlock, for helping start the program and sponsoring them with some equipment.
Registration from the program is $50, which includes a jersey. All ages are welcome to participate. For more information and to register call or text 209-276-8750.
College Sports
Prioritizing camaraderie and competition, Dadhats FC aims to expand local soccer community
MITCHELL — We’re not good. We’re scrappy. That’s the unofficial motto of Dadhats Football Club. ADVERTISEMENT Though a humble statement for a collection of local players, several of whom played collegiately or even beyond, it’s indicative of the spirit of the club, one formed by four adult friends looking for a fun, competitive outlet and […]
MITCHELL — We’re not good. We’re scrappy.
That’s the unofficial motto of Dadhats Football Club.
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Though a humble statement for a collection of local players, several of whom played collegiately or even beyond, it’s indicative of the spirit of the club, one formed by four adult friends looking for a fun, competitive outlet and a way to stay connected.
Less than three years into its existence as a club, Dadhats FC, co-founded by Mitchell natives Riley Kurtenbach, Tyler VandenBerge, Dalton Kummer and Courtney Miller, is helping a building soccer community blossom.
“We thought this would be something we could do to get together regularly while we all still live in the same area,” Kurtenbach said. “But it’s already grown into something bigger than just playing soccer on Wednesday nights.”
A member of the Dakota Alliance men’s 11-versus-11 league in Sioux Falls, Dadhats FC is in its third season of operation, competing weekly from early May until mid-to-late July. Captained by Kurtenbach, who played for Mitchell High School during his prep career (also captaining the Kernels in 2017), Dadhats FC has become a landing spot for several former local talents.
Of the 22 players on this year’s Dadhats FC roster, five are former Kernel soccer players, including Riley Kurtenbach and his younger brother, Skylar, while a sixth is a Mitchell product from before the sport was sanctioned at the high school level in South Dakota. Five Dadhats FC players also played college soccer at Dakota Wesleyan University. Caleb Larson, a 2015 MHS captain, is a notable member of both groups, and Trevor Lambert, a 2019 MHS captain, went on to placekick for the DWU football program.
Strong bonds between Dadhats FC players have helped attract new players, too. This season, the club is at the league roster limit of 22 players, and Kurtenbach said he had almost that many more looking to join for the 2025 season.
“With the level of team camaraderie we have, I think that we’ve established a community on our own. It’s not just about the 22 guys on the roster, but the however-many people who are brought together through us,” Kurtenbach said. “Seeing the progression of our team and thinking about what we can do moving forward, that’s what brings me back every Wednesday.”
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Photo courtesy of Logan Kurtenbach / Hidden Hills Media
According to Kurtenbach, the club’s namesake, Dadhats — a common term for six-panel caps without a firm front lining — started as something of an inside joke. His friends would poke fun at him for frequently wearing hats to cover up a thinning hairline. However, given the uniqueness of the club nickname, Kurtenbach is quite fond of it and is content to be the butt of the humor.
Ahead of the second year, Kurtenbach’s older brother, Logan, got heavily involved by sponsoring the club through his media production company, Hidden Hills Media. Serving as the team’s videographer and photographer, Logan is also helping grow the club’s presence on social media.
“It had been almost 10 years since I’d seen most of these guys play, but it’s been great to see everyone get back into it,” Logan said. “There was an instant click with this group, almost like it was just last week they were playing (back in high school or college).”
“There’s definitely a switch that a majority of us haven’t turned off from our time playing at a higher level,” Kurtenbach added. “It’s great when you can go and compete every week and still want to go win something, but know that it’s also just for fun.”
As Dadhats FC continues to flourish on the pitch, the club also has ambitions to contribute to local youth soccer and help grow the game. In the short term, the club is exploring options to host skills development camps and small-sided tournaments such as 3-on-3 or 5-on-5.
“We’re going to keep it going for as long as we can,” Logan said.
“It seems like the way soccer is heading in South Dakota, it’s more of an elitist type of sport, and that just pains me to see,” Kurtenbach added. “We just want as many people to be able to play the game and be afforded those opportunities as possible.”
Dierks covers prep and collegiate athletics across the Mitchell Republic’s coverage region area. His focus areas include: Mitchell High School football and boys basketball; area high school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and track and field; and South Dakota State football. He is also at the forefront of the Mitchell Republic’s podcasting efforts. Dierks is a Mitchell native who graduated from South Dakota State University with his bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2020. He joined the Mitchell Republic sports staff in August 2021. He can be reached at ldierks@mitchellrepublic.com and found on Twitter at @LDierksy.
College Sports
2025 Schedule Set for Women's Soccer
Story Links NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women’s soccer team has dropped its 2025 schedule, which features seven games at Reese Stadium and matchups against opponents from seven different conferences outside of the Ivy. The 15-game regular season slate includes eight non-conference matchups followed by seven Ivy League games. The Bulldogs will open the […]
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women’s soccer team has dropped its 2025 schedule, which features seven games at Reese Stadium and matchups against opponents from seven different conferences outside of the Ivy.
The 15-game regular season slate includes eight non-conference matchups followed by seven Ivy League games. The Bulldogs will open the season on the road at the University of Vermont before returning home for their home opener against Hofstra. Non-conference play also includes road trips to the Music City to face nationally ranked Vanderbilt, Stony Brook, Fordham, and Sacred Heart, as well as home games against UConn and Kansas.
Ivy League action kicks off at Reese Stadium against Brown. Yale will host three Ivy contests and play four on the road, including a regular-season finale at Penn. The top four teams in the league standings will qualify for the Ivy League Tournament, hosted by the No. 1 seed. Semifinal matches are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 7, with the championship match set for Sunday, Nov. 9.
Yale will be led in 2025 by team captain Ashley Kirschner, while Sarah Martinez, the Loring Family Head Coach of Women’s Soccer, returns for her fifth season at the helm. Martinez is supported by assistant coaches Andrew Hudson and Jonathan Murray.
Here’s a look at Yale’s 2025 opponents:
- Ivy League Matches (3 home, 4 away):
- Sept. 21 vs. Brown
- Sept. 27 vs. Cornell
- Oct. 4 at Princeton
- Oct. 11 vs. Harvard
- Oct. 18 at Columbia
- Oct. 26 vs. Dartmouth
- Nov. 1 at Penn
- Non-Conference Matches (4 home, 4 away):
- Aug. 22 at University of Vermont (America East)
- Aug. 24 vs. Hofstra University (Coastal Athletic Association)
- Aug. 29 at Vanderbilt University (SEC)
- Sept. 4 vs. University of Connecticut (Big East)
- Sept. 7 vs. University of Kansas (Big 12)
- Sept. 11 at Stony Brook University (Coastal Athletic Association)
- Sept. 14 at Fordham University (Atlantic 10)
- Oct. 22 at Sacred Heart University (Northeast Conference)
- Yale will play games in six states: Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
- The NCAA College Cup is scheduled for Dec. 5 and 8 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
- Live stats and video of all home games—and road games where applicable—will be available on yalebulldogs.com. All home and Ivy League matches will stream live on ESPN+.
College Sports
Coastal Carolina president enjoying final Chanticleer road trip at College World Series
Coastal Carolina President Michael T. Benson might be leaving his post as leader of the institution at the end of this month, but he’s exiting as a spirited member of Teal Nation. During the CCU baseball team’s special run at the 2025 College World Series, Benson has been leaning into a rather fitting role: a […]
Coastal Carolina President Michael T. Benson might be leaving his post as leader of the institution at the end of this month, but he’s exiting as a spirited member of Teal Nation.
During the CCU baseball team’s special run at the 2025 College World Series, Benson has been leaning into a rather fitting role: a bleeding-teal fan.
The university announced in February that Benson, who has served in his role since the start of 2021, will be the next president of West Virginia University.
He’s soon wrapping up his time with CCU, but for the last week, he’s been embracing his deep-rooted baseball fandom in Omaha with his two sons, Truman, 18, and Talmage, 14.
“I love baseball. I have loved baseball since I was a kid. I grew up a Texas Rangers fan. Nolan Ryan, I had a poster of him in my room. I got to go to the World Series game when they played the Cardinals,” Benson said. “My boys and I have always loved baseball, and we have always loved following it together. We’ve never been at a school that had nearly as good of a program as Coastal, by any stretch. We follow the Rangers, that’s kind of been our touchstone.”
The trip to Omaha always seemed to be a thought in Benson’s mind, but it became a reality when he and Talmage took the Super Regional trip to support the Chanticleers at Auburn.
Coastal Carolina President Michael T. Benson with his son Talmage at the 2025 Auburn Super Regional.
Shortly after the Chants swept Auburn in the Super Regional, Benson’s decision to make one final trip to support the Chants in Omaha was a no-brainer.
“I made travel plans to go down to Auburn, and we went down there,” Benson said. “And it was just an unbelievable atmosphere. Particularly the Friday night game, there were over 7,000 fans. And then the second game, we didn’t score until the eighth inning. So we saw all of that and knew [Omaha] was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So, we headed to Omaha.”
This week’s Omaha trip for the Bensons isn’t any ordinary athletics road trip.
Sure, it’s Omaha, a baseball paradise. Truly, a capstone experience for any passionate baseball fan.
But with Truman graduating high school this spring and headed to Utah to play college soccer, this trip meant more to Benson.
More than any other role, he’s gotten to be “dad.”
“For us to be here together, Truman is headed out to Utah to play college soccer. So, this was kind of our last boys trip,” Benson said. “We have been able to do a lot of sporting events together… We love to support our teams, be with the players and coaches.
“[Truman and Talmage] really admire the players. We were walking home from dinner and there was Caden Bodine and Sebastian [Alexander] walking down the street. And they were fans. They went, ‘Hey dad, there’s Caden!’… Stuff like that, we’re just making these amazing memories.”
Coastal Carolina President Michael T. Benson (left) in Omaha with his sons Talmage (middle) and Truman (right).
Benson is a firm believer in the power of college athletics. At WVU, he’ll have the opportunity to make an impact to help continue to build its well-known athletic department.
This week in Omaha, the CCU president has gotten another up-close and personal look at college athletics’ unique ability to unify.
“You think about the beauty of collegiate athletics — and professional athletics to a certain extent, but more so college athletics — people love their alma mater,” Benson said. “So much of what happened to us as young people, tradtional college-aged kids… they associate so many great things with those college years.
“I joke with people all the time, because everyone says they would give anything to go back to college. And, nobody ever says they would give anything to back to their first job. We want to relive our college days… College athletics has that really unique ability to bring people together and make memories.”
…. we’ll wait 
