Rec Sports

Record Crowd Celebrates Hall of Fame Inductions, Fundraising Success at Watertown Baseball Association Event | Local News

{KXLG – Watertown, SD} Saturday night was a memorable occasion for the Watertown Baseball Association (WBA) as they hosted their 2025 First Pitch Outing at Second Street Station. The event drew a record crowd to celebrate the induction of four esteemed members and two exceptional teams into the WBA Hall of Fame. The evening’s honorees […]

Published

1 month ago

May 6, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The evening’s honorees were Bryan Barger, Rich Remmers, Gene Soupir, and the 1997 and 1998 Watertown American Legion Baseball Teams. In front of a “record crowd,” they were recognized for their significant contributions to the Watertown baseball community.

Adding to the celebratory atmosphere, the event also proved to be a significant fundraising success, with over $27,000 raised for the Watertown Baseball Association. These funds will be crucial in supporting the association’s ongoing operations and programs.

HOF Photo 2.jpg — Members of the 1997 & 1998 Legion Team Ceremony Link: **https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj2IbME0KN0&t=3567s**

Photo Credit: Brent Nathaniel

“It’s was an incredible night that honors some of the most important individuals in our baseball community, while also raising crucial funds for the association,” said Director of Operations and Arrows Coach Ryan Neale. “This event means so much to me personally, and to everyone involved in Watertown baseball. Thank you to everyone who attended, supported, or contributed in any way — your impact is deeply appreciated.”

Additional information is available at https://sites.google.com/view/watertownbaseball/home/wba-hall-of-fame?authuser=0 for those interested in learning more about the Watertown Baseball Association or viewing past inductees into the WBA Hall of Fame.

A recording of the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is also available for viewing on the Post 17 TV channel on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj2IbME0KN0&t=3567s

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Rec Sports

NBPA Top 100 Elite Youth Camp Brings Together Basketball’s Best

Credit: Courtesy The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) will hold its annual Top 100 elite youth camp in Rock Hill, S.C. June 9-13. Now in its 31st year, top high school sophomores and juniors from around the country, as well as international players, participate in several days of skill development, instruction, and related activities. Christopher […]

Published

5 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) will hold its annual Top 100 elite youth camp in Rock Hill, S.C. June 9-13. Now in its 31^st year, top high school sophomores and juniors from around the country, as well as international players, participate in several days of skill development, instruction, and related activities.

“It is very important for us to get the best of the best,” Christopher Jean, NBPA THINK450 associate vice president of business development and basketball activation, told the MSR last week via Zoom.

This year the NBPA introduced a new system for inviting participants, including nominations from elite youth basketball circuits, and using evaluations from 25 top scouts to vote and rank nominees. “We have a lot of folk nominating kids…the right kids and diamonds in the rough,” added Jean.

Former campers and current NBA players include the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards, Steph Curry, Jalen Brunson, Kevin Durant, “and a host of others,” said Jean.

Also new this year is a camp director. Phil Handy, who recently coached in the first year of the Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league and is a longtime NBA assistant coach, will serve in that capacity. Other elements at the camp include an NBPA Coaching Program for participating NBA players; legendary coaches like Tubby Smith and Phil Martelli as instructors; an NBPA Parent Program; and educational sessions on such topics as NIL, mental health and wellness, and financial literacy.

“It’s one thing to make them better on the court, but also make them better off the court as well,” stressed Jean, who added that each camper at the conclusion of the camp will receive a report card and “real time feedback from their coaches.”

Rock Hill Sports and Events Center is the campsite for the first time. “We want to make sure we use every inch of the facility,” Jean declared of the state-of-the-art camp.

The NBPA is the NBA players union, and THINK450 is the group’s licensing and partnership engine.

Gopher 100 update

There are approximately 100 African American and other student-athletes of color this school year at the University of Minnesota. In an occasional series throughout the school year and sports year, the MSR will highlight many of these players. This week: Gopher honorees

Anthonett Nabwe (center on podium) Credit: Gopher Athletics

Anthonett Nabwe, a Liberian native who came to North Dakota before her high school freshman year, is one of the country’s best throwers. The redshirt sophomore last weekend was among 39 Minnesota athletes who competed in the 2005 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field First Round May 29-31 at Texas A&M University.

Nabwe came into the field events 19^th in the shot put, 6^th in the discus and 4^th in the hammer throw. She was ranked first in both the hammer throw and the discus, and seventh in the shot put at the 2025 Big Ten Championships.

“I’m still striving for more,” said Nabwe earlier this year to the MSR, “because I’m trying to make it to the [2028] Olympics, get on the big stage. The more nervous I am, the better I tend to perform, because that gives me more of a push instead of if I’m too laid back, I don’t really perform like I’m supposed to.”

Junior Breezy Burnett was among five Gopher softball players named last week to the College Sports Communicators 2025 Academic All-District Team. She was a 2024 Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

The Florida native started all 50 games for Minnesota this year and led the team with three triples, second with two stolen bases, and third with 24 RBI.

“I still got next year, so I’m excited to keep chipping away,” said Burnett. “School is really good.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.

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Rec Sports

Boys sports declining? NBA Finals shines light on youth athletics

How do we get more boys to play sports and keep them involved? Seattle Mariners’ newest player shares promotion with family Cole Young announces his move to the big leagues playing for Seattle Mariners during an emotional phone call with his family. BERKELEY, CA – If you saw Antonio Davis on the court, you remember […]

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24 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

How do we get more boys to play sports and keep them involved?

BERKELEY, CA – If you saw Antonio Davis on the court, you remember a fierce power forward and rebounder. As he played, he saw failure as something he couldn’t afford.

“If you would have taken sport away from me, where would I be today?” says Davis who helped lead the Indiana Pacers to four NBA Eastern Conference finals in the 1990s.

“That’s a scary feeling for me, and I don’t know what a 6-9 skinny kid would have been doing, but it wouldn’t have been pretty. Growing up here in Oakland, I could have done a lot of other things.”

We were at March’s Project Play Summit, asking him and two other successful men brought up in their own distinct ways through sports, about why they think the athletic participation rate among boys has crashed.

As the Pacers play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, a trend you might find troubling lurks at the grass-roots levels. It underscores the thesis of Richard Reeves’ 2022 book, “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to Do About it,” and a more recent brief undertaken by his institute about “The quiet decline of boys’ sports.”

According to the latest data from Sports & Fitness Industry Association, half of boys aged 6 to 17 participated regularly in sports in 2013. But only 41% did in 2023. The number has been at 41% or lower for eight straight years as the participation rate for girls (35.6% in 2023) has remained steady.

At the same time, according to Reeves’ research team, sports are the only extracurricular activity boys are more likely to do than girls.

“It’s not like on the average, boys are going to go to theater or math club – maybe they should,” Reeves tells USA TODAY Sports. “Participation in youth sports is a big issue in and of itself, but the stakes are even higher for boys than they are for girls, because they’re less likely to do other stuff and they need to move more.”

How do we get more boys to play sports, and keep the ones who are playing? We spoke with Reeves and sat in on his discussion with Davis and Larry Miller, the chairman of Nike’s Jordan Brand advisory board, to help find answers that could help you and your young athlete.

Another ‘way out’

Miller, who grew up in Philadelphia, says he was the teacher’s pet through elementary school. He was in junior high when he got distracted.

“The cool guys were doing the stuff that was in the street and I got pulled into that,” he told the crowd in Berkeley.

At 16, he killed another teenager he mistakenly believed was a rival, according to ESSENCE.com, and spent years in a juvenile correction center.

He rehabilitated himself first by taking college classes in jail, eventually matriculating at Temple University.

“Of all things, as a criminal I decided to get an accounting degree,” he said.

After revealing his dark background to a hiring manager cost him a job with Arthur Anderson, he kept the story to himself for 40 years. After Miller built his career at Nike, though, his eldest daughter, Laila, suggested it might inspire other people. They collaborated to write, “Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom.”

Michael Jordan and Phil Knight, the company’s chairman, supported his decision, and he meet with the family of the young man he shot to ask for their forgiveness. In February, Miller launched the Justice and Upward Mobility Project (JUMP) to provide opportunities to those affected by the justice system.

“Part of our goal is how can we provide more opportunity for people who have the talent but just don’t have the ability to utilize that talent?” he said.

Why not through sports?

“I think in the Black communities, brown communities, the sense of hope has kind of dissipated,” Miller says. “And I think that’s why boys in particular are saying, ‘Hey, there’s no reason for me to do this, because it’s not going to lead to anything.’

“In our community, people saw sports as a way out. And I think what happens as boys advance, (they) realize that, ‘I’m not gonna be able to play professionally, I’m not gonna to be able to get a college scholarship, so I’m just going to fall off and try to figure out a different way out. I’m gonna go do something else that can allow me to get paid.’ ”

A re-education starts, Davis suggests, with a change in perception of what it means to be a kid, and what it means to be a man.

‘Get back to the basics’: Normalize what success means for kids

Davis’ dad was killed when he was in high school. He remembers being singularly motivated to provide for his family. After he played for 13 years in the NBA and raised a son (A.J.) and daughter (Kaela) who both played high-level college basketball and professionally, he thinks more about the benefits he got from sports.

Today, youth coaches seem to link their self-worth with winning a game more than providing kids with an experience.

“All the pressure that’s being put on them by their team and their parents, I just think they’re opting to do all the other stuff that’s kind of pulling and tugging on them, whether it’s playing video games or just hanging out or doing other things,” Davis says. “I think they’re just being kind of turned off. And I feel we just have to get back to the basics of the importance of all the other life lessons that you’re going to learn from just playing sport. I’m a big advocate of just give kids space to move around and move their bodies and learn how to be in shape and to be healthy.

“And then as we go on, as I did with my kids, introduce all kinds of sport and whatever they gravitate towards, because that’ll be something that’ll be tugging at their heart and not forced into.”

Coach Steve: American kids get a D- in physical activity. What can we do about it?

Davis, who is also the CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, says the No. 1 thing former players say they miss about the NBA is the camaraderie.

That’s a benefit from sports we all get.

“I’ve played almost every sport you can think of really badly, but I had a great time,” says Reeves, the British author, who played rugby at the University of Oxford. “The great thing about sport is that someone has to lose. I think one thing that should be zero-sum in sport is you have to lose. And by God, you can lose brutally sometimes. Some of my strongest memories were playing in subzero temperatures (against) these massive kids and losing like 67-0. So you lose. …

“And because I moved around from different sports, probably I would lose more. And I think that that sense of you can compete, you can lose, and that’s great, was actually an incredibly important life lesson for me because you lose in life all the time.”

Coach Steve: Have we lost the sportsmanship in high school sports?

What do we ‘call a man’? Boys need male role models

Reeves, who raised three boys who are now in their 20s, writes in “Of Boys and Men” about how girls consistently outperform boys in school, and about how men are struggling to fit into society and the workforce.

He founded the American Institute For Boys and Men (AIBM), which shares in its brief that while we don’t have definitive answers as to why boys might be playing sports less often, one hypothesis behind it is the decline in male teachers who serve as coaches, particularly at the high school level.

Meanwhile, according to AIMB research, men account for 23% of U.S. elementary and secondary school teachers, down from about 30% in 1988.

“Coaches of boys sports are mental health professionals in disguise, and part of it is because they do it shoulder to shoulder, which is a much more male friendly way of doing it,” Reeves tells USA TODAY Sports, “but the coach sitting next to the young man or the boy on the bench saying, ‘How you doing? You seem off today. How are things at home?’ … that may be one of the most important men in that boy’s life. That’s very interesting to me, coming from a different culture and raising my kids here, is the almost iconic position of coach in American culture.”

Davis was raised in Oakland by his mom. He says his grandmother told him what to avoid, and he had influential men around him who gave him sports opportunities and a safe space. Being a professional athlete, he says, doesn’t make you a role model. What does is taking accountability for yourself and what you make out of your life.

“I hate that if we play sport and we don’t make it, we feel like a failure,” Davis says. “Whether you are a young man or a growing man, we have to learn how to take this stance, that no matter what society says, no matter the outcome, I’m doing the things that I’m supposed to do: Being a contributor to my community, taking responsibility if I have kids,” Davis says. “And we have to find ways to let our kids know that it’s OK to hopefully graduate from high school, go off to college if he or she is lucky, and then go on to get a job.

“It’s not bad to just say, ‘Hey, I got a job. I’m making good money, I’m taking care of my kids, I got a ride that can get me from A to B.’ We don’t have to have the best car and the biggest house and a pocket full of money in order to be what we call a man.”

Ask your kids about what they get out of sports, and always be there to support them

Our life in sports doesn’t have to end when our career does. Reeves plays squash and tennis, “and I can still beat my kids at badminton,” he says.

Working for Jordan Brand, Miller has gotten to travel the world, where, he says, he can attend any sporting event he wants.

“I never even came close to being a professional athlete,” he says. “There are all these other incredible benefits that come from playing sports and I think we’ve gotten away from teaching that: The teamwork you learn, the working with others, the being able to be part of something that’s bigger than yourself.”

Basketball remains perhaps the most popular sports for boys and girls to play. According to the Aspen Institute’s State of Play 2024 report, more than 7 million kids between the ages of 6 and 17 played it regularly in 2023. However, the percentage of kids who play it has declined or remained the same since 2013.

“As I kind of move around and watch a lot of youth basketball, and coach youth basketball, I feel that there’s just kind of this pressure: If you’re not the best, if you’re not going to succeed, then why even try?” says Davis, 56. “And I think there’s a lot of layers to why that happens: Parents, the way that it is today with social media and I think a lot of our young men are getting turned off very early by I guess the system.”

He has a grandson who plays football.

“I ask him why is he playing,” Davis says. “Regardless of what’s going on outside of my house and all this other stuff that I can’t control, what I can control is his perception: ‘Did you learn something? I saw you get knocked on your butt. How did that feel?’ We have to fight against it by getting into the heads of your kids and the teams that you run.

“We can’t let it take away what we know to be true, which is, if our kids play sports, they’re eventually gonna be better off than not playing.”

His grandson is a 12-year-old lineman. When Davis watched him recently, though, he was allowed to play quarterback. He took the ball, went a couple of steps, and was tackled. Davis acted like he scored a touchdown.

“I’m not sure why I did it,” he said, “but I needed him to understand the fact that he did something should be celebrated: that he was out there and he was engaged and he got up and he was smiling and having fun. Like, make that the normal, not being a champion.”

Reeves said the anecdote reminded him of when he was 12, and he finally managed to break through that rugby line. As he ran to score, he saw someone tagging along with him on the sideline. It was his father.

“He was more excited than I was,” Reeves said.

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@usatoday.com

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College Sports

Walker Horn returns to Kentucky following House Settlement approval

Walker Horn is back with the Kentucky Wildcats after initially entering the transfer portal earlier this offseason. The 6-foot-3 senior guard returns as part of Kentucky’s now 15-man scholarship roster following a judge’s approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, which allows teams to exceed the traditional scholarship limit through a grandfathering clause. Horn, the […]

Published

5 hours ago

June 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Walker Horn returns to Kentucky following House Settlement approval

Walker Horn is back with the Kentucky Wildcats after initially entering the transfer portal earlier this offseason.

The 6-foot-3 senior guard returns as part of Kentucky’s now 15-man scholarship roster following a judge’s approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, which allows teams to exceed the traditional scholarship limit through a grandfathering clause.

Horn, the son of Northern Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn, appeared in 13 games across three seasons in Lexington. He saw action in four games during the 2022–23 campaign, four more in 2023–24, and played in five contests this past season. Though he didn’t score in his limited minutes, he contributed two assists and a rebound in 16 total minutes.

Originally choosing Kentucky over offers from Marquette and Michigan State, Horn began his prep career at Covington Catholic (Ky.) before finishing at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas.

The House settlement’s approval not only secures Horn’s return but also could bring back former walk-ons Grant Darbyshire and Zach Tow under the same grandfathering policy. Both were part of last year’s team and may now be eligible to return despite the roster expansion.

Horn’s return adds leadership and continuity to a Kentucky team entering its first full offseason under head coach Mark Pope, as the Wildcats prepare for a new era in college athletics.

Rec Sports

Lisbon Arts Initiative launching art-based program for K-5 youth | News, Sports, Jobs

LISBON – The Lisbon Arts Initiative will launch “Art Building Community Developing Expression” (ABCDE), an arts-based program created for youth in grades K-5, on June 28, at the New Lisbon Presbyterian Church from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The ABCDE project is LAI’s first public arts initiative. The focus is to offer these youth an […]

Published

9 hours ago

June 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The ABCDE project is LAI’s first public arts initiative. The focus is to offer these youth an opportunity to learn, experience, and gain exposure to the arts through their participation in 18-minute/to 60-m experiential workshops led by local artists. These workshops include dance, improvisation, music, and painting. We are hoping future workshops can include poetry writing, puppetry, sculpture, and more.

The ABCDE workshop will give students in grades K-5 a chance to learn and expand their experiences in the arts as they participate in experimental workshops taught by local artists:

— Dance workshop will be taught by Christine Martin, owner of Leap of Faith Dance Studio at the Trinity Playhouse and a choreographer for productions by Stage Left Players in Lisbon.

— Paul Dahman, Stage Left’s master teacher, will orchestrate the improv class.

— Debbie Fonner, retiring music teacher at Lisbon’s McKinley Elementary, will lead a music class

— Barbara Schmidt, a retired art teacher from East Liverpool Schools and owner of Warm HeARTs Studio in Columbiana, will teach visual arts.

“I’m so excited to be able to find creative ways to help bring the arts into our community,” said Mark Hamilton, Lisbon Arts Initiative president and Source Gallery owner. “This first workshop will be a fun way for kids to experience some of the variety in arts and performance and begin to think about what forms of expression they like best, what touches their heart. The Lisbon Arts Initiative team is looking forward to offering this and many more future events.”

Parents have the option of signing up their kids in advance or just show up the day of the workshops. We ask that the kids bring their own box lunch, water will be provided for the kids.

Adults and local high school honor society student volunteers will also be onsite at each workshop and escort the students from one arts project to another.

Following the launch, the ABCDE team will evaluate feedback from the participating youth, parents, and artists in order to determine the best options to continue offering arts events and programs for area youth, and to identify currently available opportunities for expression.

Other ABCDE members include Kandace Cleland, executive director of Stage Left Players; Deborah Fonner, Lisbon Exempted Village Schools music teacher; Kristen Huston, executive director of the Almost Perfect Foundation; and Georgia Smith, Lisbon Counseling Center; and Sarah Morris of Epoch Decor. ABCDE was facilitated by Bellefontaine, Ohio native Jane Collins, who coaches Ohio communities on addressing local needs through employing local artists.

ABCDE and LAI are made possible in part by a grant from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically.

For information on ABCDE contact Mark Hamilton at mark@lisbonartsinitiative.org. For information on starting a similar initiative in your community, contact Jane Collins at jahcollins@gmail.com.

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Rec Sports

Heart screenings at Amplus Academy aim to prevent sudden cardiac arrest in youth

LAS VEGAS — A community-driven initiative at Amplus Academy is making strides in preventing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) among young athletes. Hosted by the nonprofit Vegas For Athletes, the Heart & Health Event on Friday provided crucial screenings for student-athletes to detect signs of SCA, the leading cause of medical death in youth sports. Since […]

Published

9 hours ago

June 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

LAS VEGAS — A community-driven initiative at Amplus Academy is making strides in preventing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) among young athletes.

Hosted by the nonprofit Vegas For Athletes, the Heart & Health Event on Friday provided crucial screenings for student-athletes to detect signs of SCA, the leading cause of medical death in youth sports.

Since 2023, Southern Nevada has faced the tragic loss of four young athletes due to SCA.

In response, Vegas For Athletes is advocating for electrocardiogram (ECG) screenings to become a mandatory component of annual physicals for student-athletes.

The organization has already conducted over 650 free heart screenings, identifying 16 students with heart abnormalities and 7 with life-threatening conditions, despite all having passed standard sports physicals.

These findings underscore the necessity of incorporating advanced screening tools like ECGs in routine athletic checkups.

Through collaborations with Las Vegas professional sports teams, schools, athletes, and camps, Vegas For Athletes is committed to creating a safer environment for young athletes and preventing future tragedies.

For more information regarding Vegas For Athletes, visit here.

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Rec Sports

Little League: Mid-Island LL legendary coach Bill Rogers will take centerstage in street naming

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The corner of Victory Blvd. and Travis Avenue is getting a well-deserved upgrade on Father’s Day. And it’s been a long-time coming. Bill Rogers, the legendary Mid-Island Little League president and fabled coach of the loop’s Little League World Series championship in 1964, will have a street sign with his name […]

Published

9 hours ago

June 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The corner of Victory Blvd. and Travis Avenue is getting a well-deserved upgrade on Father’s Day.

And it’s been a long-time coming.

Bill Rogers, the legendary Mid-Island Little League president and fabled coach of the loop’s Little League World Series championship in 1964, will have a street sign with his name added to the aforementioned corner during a ceremony on June 15th.

The gala, which is expected to be attended by many, will begin at 11 a.m.

The street naming ceremony will be a part of Mid-Island’s “Bill Rogers Day” festivities.

Rogers died three years ago this month. He was 86.

Celebration time — Mid-Island Little League manager Bill Rogers, center left, celebrates with his team after they won the 1964 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.(Advance/SILive.com)

John Pleszewicz, Mid-Island’s long-time president, is thrilled to finally see Rogers get his due.

“I’m happy to see the man get recognized, it’s something that been long overdue,’’ said Pleszewicz. ”He was a great mentor to me. He came around and showed me the ropes and that’s something I’ll always appreciate it.’’

Rogers, who eventually became Staten Island’s District Administrator, never hesitated to come back to Mid-Island’s Travis complex and give the loop’s players a pep talk.

“He was a perfectionist and he always wanted the kids to understand that it was an honor to play All Stars for Mid-Island Little League,’’ said Pleszewicz. ”He always brought back some of his players from the ‘64 team and they’d wear their World Series jackets to try and get the kids inspired.’’

Following his death three years ago, Dan Yaccarino, a star pitcher on the ‘64 team, might have summed it up best when referring to Bill Rogers.

“Bill was a great man and a great leader,’’ said Yaccarino. ”He led a bunch of 12-year-old kids and made us into men in one summer.”

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