Next week, Escambia County Parks and Recreation will host the 2025 Gulf Coast Recreation Classic at the John R. Jones Ballpark at 555 East. Nine Mile Road.

The games begin on Monday, June 23 and last until Saturday, June 28. Game times are 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m., and 7:15 p.m. Monday-Friday and Saturday games will begin at 9 a.m. Roger Scott Athletic Complex, located at 2130 Summit Boulevard., will host the 10U division games June 23-24, 26-27 at 5:30 and 7:15 p.m.

There will be 62 recreation-based all-star teams participating in the Gulf Coast Recreation Classic, including teams from Escambia County, City of Pensacola, City of Gulf Breeze, Santa Rosa County, and Okaloosa County. Teams consist of youth baseball players ages 7-15. The tournament is open to the public at no charge. All spectators are welcome to support the recreation all-stars.

Escambia County teams include players from Northwest Escambia Baseball (NWE), Perdido Baseball, NEP Baseball, Molino Recreation Association, and West Pensacola Baseball.

“We’re thrilled to welcome these all-star teams back to Escambia County for another great year of youth sports,” Escambia Parks and Recreation Director Michael Rhodes said. “It’s an honor to be selected to host these teams, and I’d like to give a special shoutout to our staff who works hard to make this event happen. The passion our players and their families have for youth sports is what makes events like this possible. We look forward to a great week of youth sports and invite everyone to come out and join us.”

Pictured: NWE 10U at the Gulf Coast Recreation Classic. File photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

COLUMBUS — The Columbus Soccer Organization handed out its annual scholarships this week to local players Cassidy Remson, Conner Bastow and Brant Smith. 

Remson and Bastow are graduating seniors, attending Blue Mountain Christian and EMCC respectively, while Smith is currently enrolled at Delta State University. 

Both Remson and Bastow played for Columbus United and plan to continue their playing careers at the college level. 

The scholarship fund was established by donations made in honor of Marolyn Albertson, the grandmother of Columbus United coach Dave Albertson, to recognize her and her family’s contributions to establishing the sport in the Columbus area. This year, the scholarship fund gained additional support for the next three years with a sponsorship from Financial Concepts. 

The newly dubbed “CSO Collegiate Scholarship supported by Financial Concepts” will provide three $500 scholarships per year and will provide funds that can be used for financial emergencies.

“The scholarship is one more way that CSO supports the community,” CSO director Tom Velek said. “In an age of franchised youth sports, it is important that independent organizations such as CSO make clear we support our players – on the field and after they are done paying registration fees.”

Any CSO-registered player who played with the organization at the U15 age group or higher is eligible to apply for the award, and it can be put toward any educational, vocational or professional program after high school.

(Photo by Amber Phipps)
An image of Mark Bradley presented by his wife Tammi and their two daughters Emmie and Gabby. Mark grew up playing basketball, golf and baseball and pitched for Ohio University.

DEVOLA — The Team Bradley Fund and the Marietta Community Foundation partnered with Leveling the Playing Field (LPF) to host a ceremony for the Pack the Bin event on Friday.

Pack the Bin is an initiative that seeks for families to donate their gently used sports equipment for local youth in need.

The event took place from 1-5 p.m. Friday at the Devola Soccer Complex. Members from the Marietta Community Foundation, Team Bradley Fund, and LPF were in attendance to celebrate the initiative.

“The easiest way to think about what Leveling the Playing FIeld does is we’re basically like a food bank but for sports equipment,” said LPF Program Director Eric Rutkowski. “We’re going out across the entire state of Ohio and collecting all the gently used or excess gear from all over the state.”

Pack the Bin supports families whose kids are in sports but they can’t afford the required equipment whether it’s a ball or racket or pair of shoes.

(Photo by Amber Phipps)
Tammi Bradley cut the ribbon to commemorate the Pack the Bin initiative which provides local youth with sports equipment. Members of Team Bradley Fund and the Marietta Community Foundation were there for support.

“That has become a big barrier for a lot of kids who want to get involved in sports,” said Rutkowski.

Pack the Bin has donation bins all throughout central Ohio but this is the first hub outside of that area.

The Team Bradley Fund at Marietta Community Foundation was started by Tammi Bradley to honor the memory of her husband, Mark Bradley.

He was a coach and community leader with a passion for sports.

“On behalf of Emmy, Gabby and I, we are excited and thankful to bring this to Marietta,” said Tammi. “Mark loved teams, he loved sports and he loved the youth and we just thank you for this partnership.”

(Photo by Amber Phipps)
Members of the Marietta Community Foundation and Team Bradley Fund cheered as Tammi Bradley cut the ribbon to commemorate the Pack the Bin initiative.

Donations of sports equipment can be dropped off at the Devola Soccer Complex at 1350 River Road, Marietta, as well as all throughout central Ohio.

Go to levelingtheplayingfield.org to search the donation bin locator and learn more about the initiative.

(Photo by Amber Phipps)
Leveling the Playing Field (LPF) partnered with the Team Bradley Fund and Marietta Community Foundation to promote sports equipment donation bins for local youth.

GENE AMMIRANTE

WHEELING — For more than four decades, Gene Ammirante has been synonymous with youth basketball in the Ohio Valley, especially in the high school landscape.

Ammirante has cemented himself as one of the best high school basketball coaches in the region’s history, with 471 wins to his credit. Yet his influence goes well beyond high school basketball, and basketball in general, because his mission stretches well beyond the court.

Ammirante is a dedicated mentor to youth through basketball and other sports. That devotion to the youth of the Ohio Valley has led the Wheeling YMCA to honor him with the 2025 Dr. Lee Jones Patron of Youth Award.

That award will be bestowed upon Ammirante at the annual Wheeling YMCA Light of the Valley luncheon, to be held at noon Aug. 13 in the ballroom of Wheeling Park’s White Palace.

On top of Ammirante’s award, the luncheon’s guest speaker is scheduled to be Bellaire native, 16-year NFL veteran and current ESPN college football analyst Joey Galloway.

The Dr. Lee Jones Patron of Youth Award has been bestowed upon many notable Ohio Valley residents over the years who have served the region. Past recipients have included G. Randolph Worls, the late Bishop Bernard Schmitt, Robert Nutting, Bob Contraguerro Sr., Bob Robinson, Gary West, the late Jim Bordas and his wife, Linda, Jim Crutchfield, the late Joe Viglietta, Dr. Gregory Merrick, Dr. Daniel Joseph, Lisa Allen, Bishop Darrell Cummings and Tom Bechtel.

Wheeling YMCA Executive Director Adam Shinsky said Ammirante is the perfect person to join those notable names.

“You hear the term all the time ‘bigger than basketball,’” Shinsky said. “He uses basketball as a format to just make kids better at whatever sport, academics or anything else in their lives.”

Ammirante began his coaching career in 1976 as an assistant at Bellaire High. He then spent 30 years as the team’s head coach, compiling one of the most decorated careers in the Ohio Valley. Within those 471 wins were 14 OVAC championships, six district championships and one trip to the Ohio state semifinals.

Yet his impact on youth stretches past that one sport. He was a program supervisor for the city of Wheeling’s Parks and Recreation Department for 14 years. He initiated the department’s youth basketball program, the Saturday Morning Basketball Program with “Coach A” and the Bellaire High School Basketball Camp. He also helped run events in several other sports.

Ammirante will always take an opportunity to teach, said YMCA board Chairman Jamie Bordas.

“He’ll see a kid and he’ll just go over to him at the gym and help him out a little bit,” Bordas said. “That’s just who Gene Ammirante has been all his life.”

One of the biggest lessons Ammirante teaches that transcends basketball is the importance of teamwork. In a society where so much these days is individualized, Bordas said it is important for kids to understand what it means to be part of a team.

“You have someone like him who continues to let kids know that, hey, you are a part of something bigger than yourself,” Bordas said. “That’s going to continue throughout life, whether it be as part of an organization, a job or part of a family unit. You got to look at things as being bigger than yourselves.”

Galloway is scheduled to speak at this year’s luncheon, Shinsky said, but there is a chance that his ESPN obligations could keep him away. During Galloway’s long NFL career, he cemented himself as a premier receiver and punt returner. He has nearly 11,000 receiving yards to his credit with 77 touchdowns. He has been with ESPN as a college football analyst since 2011.

He also was an All-Ohio basketball selection for Ammirante at Bellaire.

“For him not to forget his roots and still be there for a coach in what wasn’t even his main sport, it’s just a testament to how good of a guy Joey is,” Shinsky said.

Those wanting more information on the luncheon can call Shinsky at the YMCA at 304-242-8086.

Student-athletes will have much more room to workout and thrive

Durango High School student-athletes work out in the high school’s new weight room. (Courtesy Joe Burns)

It is the year of weight room upgrades in Durango.

After Fort Lewis College unveiled its new $6 million sports performance center in May, Durango High School has a new weight room for its student-athletes and student body. The new space should help student-athletes perform better on the field and the student body as a whole build strength and good health habits.

Donors, teachers and members of the Durango Demons Booster Club met at Durango High School on June 12 to talk about the new weight room and thank all those who made the project possible.

“Our mission is to subsidize the cost for DHS athletics,” Durango Demons Booster Club Treasurer Brian Beal said. “It’s for our student-athletes to be able to compete against those on the Front Range who might have deeper pockets or more access to more financial resources. We’ve got to figure out how to bridge that gap … we were thinking about what we could do to go a bit big, and what, what might we be able to accomplish that would really make a difference … That’s when we landed on the weight room and it was called our moonshot project.”

The new Durango High School weight room is 3,608 square feet, about three times the size of the old weight room. (Courtesy Joe Burns)

The new weight room is 3,608 square feet and is about three times as big as the old weight room, according to Durango High School Athletic Director Ryan Knorr. It has eight squat racks, eight pulley stations with additional storage, a 40-yard strip of turf going down the middle of the space for speed training, weight sleds to help with strength and speed training on the turf, box jumps and dumbbells.

Two of the biggest improvements the new weight room will give student-athletes are with safety and space. In the previous weight room, it wasn’t the safest setup because the space was so condensed and therefore, student-athletes were on top of each other trying to use the weights and machines.

The old Durango High School weight room was often very congested for student-athletes. (Courtesy Ryan Knorr)

The new weight room can hold 55-60 student-athletes at a time, although coaches plan to limit the capacity to around 32 students so that there’s a good coach-to-student ratio. The new space allows the coaches to see everyone in action a lot better because of the designated sections and stations.

At first, the plan was to have the racks in the middle of the space with the turf on the outside. But the design team for the Durango weight room project saw a lot of new high school weight room builds that had the turf in the middle. This design maximizes the space, allowing student-athletes to sprint 40 yards in the winter as well as run batting cages for baseball in the winter.

Designing the space was a group effort with Knorr, Darren Tarshis, Tim Fitzpatrick and the Demons coaches all involved in the design process. They collaborated to use the resources available to best utilize the space to fit as many students’ needs as possible.

Knorr and the booster club started envisioning plans for a new weight room in November 2023. He gave the booster club a tour of the old wrestling room (the new weight room space) and then moved some of the old equipment into the new space during the spring break of 2024 to see what equipment looked like in that space. Knorr wanted to see how much equipment could fit in the space.

Student-athletes were allowed to lift with the old equipment in the new space as Knorr was talking with equipment companies on quotes for the space.

Durango High School settled on Push Pedal Pull, a company Knorr worked with when he was the Athletic Director at Cherry Creek High School.

Brian Tinker was the man from Push Pedal Pull with whom Durango High School worked with on the project. Tinker is a former coach who knows the ins and outs of high school athletics and is an expert on weight training, equipment and building functional weight rooms, according to Knorr.

“He played a part too in what’s going to make this the best room in the Western Slope,” Knorr said about Tinker. “I was so happy that he was willing to drop some of the prices and say, ‘We knock on your door, open this up and show other coaches, show other athletic directors, give them a tour.’ So it is the showroom for Push Pedal Pull and for Mr. Tinker and some of the things they envisioned.”

A big part of the design of the weight room came from Tarshis and physical education teachers Bethany Gleason and Griffith Gans.

Tarshis researched the best high school physical education and strength and conditioning teachers in the state. This led Gleason and Gans to visit Discovery Canyon, Vista Ridge and Lewis-Palmer High Schools in November 2024 to check out those schools’ weight lifting programs and weight rooms.

“One of my biggest takeaways coming back here was the level of knowledge and expertise that those coaches had and seeing how it translated to the organization of space and efficiency of their programming,” Gleason said. “The kids were bought in to that program … These kids know exactly what they’re doing and they’re working hard. There are definitely different styles throughout all of the schools, but the big common theme was that they all had very efficiently run programs and spaces with kids who were bought into that.”

The renovation of the old wrestling room into the new weight room really started the week of March 15 with a fresh coat of paint. Then by March 19, the room had to be completely empty for installers.

Once the installers showed up, everything was put in place in about a week. New floors were put in and the new turf was put in the middle. Next, the squat racks were built.

The new Durango High School weight room, previously the wrestling room, was completely cleared before instillation of the new floors began. (Courtesy Ryan Knorr)

The new weight room features a mix of new and used equipment. The racks, benches, storage, pulley system, box jumps and sleds are all brand new. The weights, the dumbbells and bars are from the old weight room.

After spring break, students were allowed in the new weight room on March 24 and 25.

“It’s really cool to see even the shift in athletic movements from the short time that we’ve been able to get in this weight room already,” Gleason said. “We’ve been able to utilize this space in such a cool way that’s building that neural activation, so the kids know how to move like athletes. It’s really cool within a semester to see that already, from having this space and being able to actually practice those movements that will translate to the field and court.”

Gleason added that it’s been incredible to see the amount of buy-in and discipline from the kids. She compared it to the kids having a shiny new car. They’ll care for it because they value the space and how it’s a showroom for the Western Slope.

Despite the student-athletes using the new weight room, there are still a few new additions to be expected. Durango High School’s graphic design class is designing on some decals for around the room. Knorr said they have plans to name the stations as well as add pitchforks as yard markers on the turf. The high school also hopes to have some more dumbbells.

Student-athletes will be the primary users of the new weight room. However, students can use the weight room through weightlifting classes. Gleason said the school has had these classes for a while, but the new weight room will allow the curriculum and programming to improve.

The new weight room cost about $136,000, according to Beal. The booster club raised about $66,000 from 85 different donors, many of whom were corporate sponsors. A huge partner for the project was the Daniels Fund, a nonprofit based in Denver. Knorr and Beal communicated with the Daniels Fund and relayed the plan for the weight room. The Daniels Fund liked what it heard and put forth a $50,000 matching grant for the project, meaning it would match up to $50,000 of the money Durango High School raised.

Local companies CommonSpirit Health, Bronson Family McDonald’s and Goff Engineering contributed greatly to the project, along with many others.

The booster club also raised $61,000 from the Colorado Youth Sports Giving Day

“I really appreciate you investing in the vision of what we had and making time to help us express our gratitude for that and for our kids … The overwhelming return I have seen in our community and the investment into our community is mind-boggling.” Knorr said to the donors. “The fact that we have a booster club with representatives from every single sport and activity that we offer here at Durango is just insane. It’s … something I’ve quickly gotten used to and feel very fortunate about.”

bkelly@durangoherald.com

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