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IU Northwest to host youth athletic camps in July: IU Northwest : Indiana University

As the 2024-25 school year comes to an end, the Indiana University Northwest athletic department has opened registration for its annual summer athletic camps, which take place in July. Volleyball starts the camp season July 14 – 16 from 8:30 to11:30 a.m. at the Savannah Center Gymnasium located on the IU Northwest campus. Volleyball camp […]

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As the 2024-25 school year comes to an end, the Indiana University Northwest athletic department has opened registration for its annual summer athletic camps, which take place in July.

Volleyball starts the camp season July 14 – 16 from 8:30 to11:30 a.m. at the Savannah Center Gymnasium located on the IU Northwest campus. Volleyball camp is open to kids ages 7 to 12.

Soccer camp kicks off July 21 – 24 from 8:30 to11:30 a.m. at the Dean and Barbara White Community Center (6600 Broadway, Merrillville, IN 46410). Soccer camp is open to kids ages 7 to 12.

Basketball offers two camp sessions July 21 – 24 at the Savannah Center Gymnasium located on the IU Northwest campus. Kids Camp for ages 7 – 12 meets 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and Skills Camp for ages 12 – 17 meets from 1 to 4 p.m.

The cost for the camp is $50 per child, with a second child in the same household registration fee being only $40. Registration fee includes a cost of a RedHawk t-shirt.

For questions and to register, please visit iunredhawks.com/camps.

IU 2030: Service to our State and Beyond

IU Northwest will improve the lives of the people and economic vitality of Northwest Indiana and beyond by fostering and strengthening collaborative relationships that promote, build and sustain the well-being of the campus and our communities.



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Just Another Day in the Gym: Maltreatment in Youth Sports

This post is part one of a series. When I was growing up in sports in the ’80s and early ’90s, the only thing referred to as “abuse” was direct physical harm by the coach. Any non-contact, physically harmful coaching behaviors were par for the course. These included requirements to train on injuries, the denial […]

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This post is part one of a series.

When I was growing up in sports in the ’80s and early ’90s, the only thing referred to as “abuse” was direct physical harm by the coach. Any non-contact, physically harmful coaching behaviors were par for the course. These included requirements to train on injuries, the denial of medical care, punishments by way of excessive conditioning, the restriction of food, water, and rest, requirements that athletes “do what it takes” to lose weight (without any nutritional guidance), and requirements to perform dangerous skills without appropriate safety measures.

So, you can imagine that when it came to what we would now call emotional abuse, there was no appropriate language or conceptual framework to capture it, though it was the most common form of harmful treatment we encountered. Being yelled at, insulted, humiliated, intimidated, threatened, and generally terrorized was treated as “just another day” in the gym. It was what you had to deal with if you wanted to participate.

Thirty years later, it is still the most common form of abuse that athletes encounter. The U.S. Center for SafeSport’s 2024 Athlete Culture & Climate Survey shows that 78% of athletes experienced behaviors related to emotional harm and neglect during their sports involvement. Because emotional abuse continues to go unrecognized and tolerated, I’ve felt compelled to describe its patterns in hopes that athletes struggling with it will know that they are not alone, that there is a name for it, that it is not ok, and it is not their fault. My hope is also to help coaches and parents realize that emotional abuse is not just a form of “tough coaching”; it does intense short- and long-term damage to the athlete, and there is no justification for it.

To be clear, not all coaches of my era subscribed to abusive coaching methods (and I am grateful to have had some coaches who reminded me of what a human being deserves). But enough of them did that you could not escape it if you were in competitive (rather than recreational) sports for any length of time. The statistics suggest that the same is the case today.

Unspoken Principles of Authoritarian Coaching

The pervasive coaching regime, which I’d now call “authoritarian,” embodied a few key unspoken principles: The coach is always right and entitled to have you do with your body anything they see fit, even if it is dangerous, scary, painful, or injurious. Ruling by fear is the most effective way for a coach to control athletes and raise their performance level. The athlete must obey orders or be punished (usually in ways that cause more fear, danger, and injury). Punishment is the most effective form of “discipline” or “motivation.” Complaint of any kind is a sign of weakness, disloyalty, or insubordination, as is any show of pain or fear. These deserve further punishment. And, finally, you should be ready and willing to sacrifice everything to become a champion – your body, your relationships, your sanity, your childhood, and your happiness. If not, you’re not committed enough.

If the coach’s actions or belief system ever seemed unwise, unsafe, or unjust, you’d better “suck it up.” There was no recourse for feedback, discussion, or change. If you couldn’t deal with it, you weren’t tough enough to handle the pressures of the sport.

Coping With a Problem That Had No Name

As young athletes who wanted the chance to participate in the sports we had fallen in love with in lower-stress environments, we tried our best to cope with it.

In my sport of gymnastics, the onset of the coach’s negative “treatment” (for which we had no appropriate name) coincided with facing significant fears surrounding the skills we were learning. Fear is a common but challenging issue that comes with the territory of regularly flipping and twisting backwards, knowing there’s an ever-present danger of falling on your head. The more fear an athlete experienced, the more frustrated the coaches seemed to get, adding threats to already unbearably stressful situations.

Many coaches of my era subscribed to the “don’t think, just do” philosophy of coaching, which my friends and I privately called the “chuck it and pray” method. Such a method was devoid of actual teaching in which the coach might break down the skill into safe and manageable stages or drills. It lent itself to feelings of chaos and made for daily absorption in fight/flight/freeze responses.

I was regularly consumed by all three of these responses, starting at age 11, for which I earned plenty of fancy names: headcase, stubborn mule, and eventually “uncoachable.” The feelings of fear and chaos became so bad that I was losing control and confidence over old skills I had successfully done hundreds of times. I felt lost in the air. I became paralyzed just thinking about it. And yes, I did fall on my head a few times.

I’d find myself standing at the end of the mat, frozen, being yelled at to “just do it” (do a back flip with a full twist), or else be kicked out of the gym, sent back a level, or made to run laps till I couldn’t breathe. Or, I’d be left alone on a high beam (as tall as me) while the rest of the team went on to another event, told that I could not get down until I did my ever-dreaded back handspring series. Shaking and terrified, I’d ultimately jump down and then be ordered to do 300 pushups. The day would be capped off with some rhetorical questions about what was wrong with my brain and why I was being so stubborn, and some lecturing about how I was a waste of time, a disappointment, letting everybody down… and my parents would be mad at me for squandering their money if they found out. The point, in retrospect, was to make me feel worthless, ashamed, trapped… and silent (so that I would not tell my parents). The more “broken” I was, the easier I would be to control.

As you might have predicted, these repeated dramas did not cure me of my fear or teach me how to find my way through the skills. They made things worse — for my performance, for my mental health, and for the person I was becoming. It taught me that the most important adult in my life, the one whom I spent the most time with, the one I depended on for safety, guidance, and encouragement, was someone I could not trust. It taught me that I could not show my vulnerabilities without getting in trouble, that there was no one I could go to for help, and that I needed to protect myself from anyone who claimed authority.

I watched some of my teammates suffer through similar terrors and (what I perceived to be) mean-spirited and unfair treatment. We were being forced, under various threats, to do things with our bodies that we weren’t ready to do. Then we were being punished for our confusion and fear, and having our relationship with our parents manipulated. Meanwhile, injuries increased, which we were expected to train on as long as we could walk. Any attempt to tell the coach about a concern was met with suspicion that we were lying, lazy, or “being a baby.”

Life in sports became one of fear, dread, panic, pain, muffled tears in the locker room, blank stares in car rides home, stomach aches, and nightmares.

On the day the coach gathered us up to tell us we were the worst team he’d ever coached, some of the girls could not maintain their stoic façade any longer and broke down. By the time I was age 13, the majority of the kids I’d grown up with in the sport had quit. The coach moved on to another club to presumably repeat the cycle. And as a pre-emptive protective measure, I started to wear the “uncoachable” label as a badge of honor in the hopes that future coaches would leave me alone.

Stay tuned for part two.



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Development of Kalamazoo Youth Sports Complex gaining momentum

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo is taking steps towards the creation of a new youth sports complex, set to be located on an undeveloped patch of land off West Main and U.S. 131, near two Holiday Inn Express locations. The complex will cover an estimated 150,000 square feet and aims to provide new opportunities for local […]

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KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo is taking steps towards the creation of a new youth sports complex, set to be located on an undeveloped patch of land off West Main and U.S. 131, near two Holiday Inn Express locations.

The complex will cover an estimated 150,000 square feet and aims to provide new opportunities for local youth.

Corey Person, a leader with United Pursuit Basketball, expressed his excitement for the project.

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Development of Kalamazoo Youth Sports Complex gaining momentum

“I’m super excited. I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for the youth, a lot of the youth, and give our community and our area a lot of new opportunities that we haven’t had in recent years. To be able to help a lot of the youth achieve the goals that they’re trying to do,” Person said.

Person is set to become a board member overseeing the project.

Brian Persky, Director of Business Development with Discover Kalamazoo, noted that the next step involves presenting recommended board members to the Kalamazoo County Commission on Tuesday.

“We are recommending the appointment of 9 of the 11 authority members that’ll serve on this authority,” Persky said.

He emphasized the authority board’s role in managing the project. “The authority board oversees the project as a whole. They are responsible stewards of those dollars, and how it gets spent,” Persky said.

In April, local hotel owners allocated a 4% assessment to help fund the sports complex. The goal is to boost business in Kalamazoo.

Person highlighted the community’s need for more sports space.

“I just hope to be able to give a lot of insight as to what’s going on currently in the community and just what the needs are, and just try to best serve those issues that we’re having with lack of space as best as we can,” Person said.

Persky also provided an update on the project timeline.

“There hasn’t been a shovel in the ground yet, but we’re still on track— we’ve hit all of our deadlines to this point. We remain very optimistic that we’re going to continue to hit those deadlines. Our goal is to have it open by 2027.”

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Follow FOX 17: Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – YouTube





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Former youth pastor indicted for sex crimes in Lewis County

WESTON, W.Va. — The former youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting several child over the course of many years has been indicted by a Lewis County grand jury. John Radcliff (WVRJA) John Radcliff, 58, of Nettie, was indicted for 47 felony charges that reportedly involved eight victims between 1987 and 2003. Radcliff also faces charges […]

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WESTON, W.Va. — The former youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting several child over the course of many years has been indicted by a Lewis County grand jury.

John Radcliff (WVRJA)

John Radcliff, 58, of Nettie, was indicted for 47 felony charges that reportedly involved eight victims between 1987 and 2003. Radcliff also faces charges in Harrison and Nicholas counties.

The charges range from sexual assault, sexual abuse to incest.

Court documents report some of the victims told investigators the sexual abuse began as young as 3 or 4 years old.

Radcliff’s wife, Kathy Radcliff, 53, has been indicted on a charge of principal in the second degree.

 



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ICYMI: More Than One Million Enrollments in PlayLA Three Years Away From 2028 Games Opening Ceremony

En Español 한국어  LOS ANGELES — Marking three years until the 2028 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Mayor Bass joined city leaders, LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover, Olympians and Paralympians and hundreds of youth at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum yesterday to announce that there have been more than one million enrollments in PlayLA – a program […]

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En Español

한국어
 

LOS ANGELES — Marking three years until the 2028 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Mayor Bass joined city leaders, LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover, Olympians and Paralympians and hundreds of youth at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum yesterday to announce that there have been more than one million enrollments in PlayLA – a program that offers youth and adaptive sports at a low cost for kids across L.A. Among the athletes who were present for the announcement was 17 year-old Paralympic silver medalist Arelle Middleton, who is a PlayLA alum. 

Play LA is operated by the Department of Recreation and Parks and funded by a $160 million investment from LA28 and the International Olympic Committee. The funding allows greater access to youth sports programming by providing enhanced sports programs and steeply discounted — and in some cases free — enrollment.   

“We’re exactly three years out from welcoming the world to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and already we have achieved an extraordinary legacy of youth development thanks to the Games,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “Just as children in parks today still benefit from the legacy of the 1984 Olympics, hundreds of thousands of families across the city have already benefited from the LA28 Games. Through PlayLA, the youth of Los Angeles have affordable, quality and inclusive sports programming. I want to thank LA28 and the International Olympic Committee for making these programs possible and for their continued work to host the greatest Games yet.”

“Experiencing the Olympic and Paralympic Games in-person is an unforgettable memory that will stick with you for life, but the tangible impact that PlayLA is having on thousands of kids across Los Angeles is a pre-Games legacy that extends beyond the framework of a major sporting event,” said Reynold Hoover LA28 Chief Executive Officer. “To have one million program enrollments in PlayLA in just five years – with three years still to go – speaks to the quality, availability and desire for youth sport and adaptive sport programming.”

“I’m proud of this milestone achievement for our department, it reflects our unwavering commitment to equity, access, and opportunity for all,” said Jimmy Kim, General Manager, Department of Recreation and Parks. “Thanks to the support of LA28 and the International Olympic Committee, we’re building healthier communities and expanding opportunities for every child to reach their full potential ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games.”

PlayLA is one way that 2028 Games are supporting Mayor Bass’ vision of ensuring that Angelenos across the City benefit from the Games. Mayor Bass is committed to ensuring that this will be a “Games for All.” Through the PlayLA Youth & Adaptive Youth Sports Program, the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks offers city-wide access to quality sports programming for youth of all abilities. Every L.A. City Recreation Center and Aquatic Center (Pool) offers PlayLA programming. With more than 40 different sport options, children across L.A. have an opportunity to thrive in their sport of choice. Young Angelenos can register at laparks.org/play-la

 



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Free youth sport event in Toledo promotes healthy, drug-free lifestyles

The free event will take place on July 18 at Wilson Park. TOLEDO, Ohio — The city of Toledo is inviting kids in Lucas County to attend a free, one-day event that promotes healthy habits and positive decision-making.  The Healthy Lifestyle with Basketball and Martial Arts event is open to all incoming 4th–7th and 8th–11th […]

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The free event will take place on July 18 at Wilson Park.

TOLEDO, Ohio — The city of Toledo is inviting kids in Lucas County to attend a free, one-day event that promotes healthy habits and positive decision-making. 

The Healthy Lifestyle with Basketball and Martial Arts event is open to all incoming 4th–7th and 8th–11th graders. 

As part of the initiative “One Pill Can Kill. One Voice Can Save a Life.” participants will learn about the dangers of drug abuse and misuse while engaging in basketball and martial arts activities. 

RELATED: Salvation Army gives Lucas County students free backpacks and supplies, here’s how to register

The event will take place on July 18 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Wilson Park located at 3235 Otto St. Attendees will receive a certificate of participation.

Registration is required to attend. To register for the event, send an email to amy.danos@deaef.org.

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NIKE (NKE) Teams With Special Olympics For Global Youth Sport Inclusion Initiative

NIKE recently announced a milestone partnership with Special Olympics, promoting sport inclusivity during the Global Week of Inclusion. This collaboration potentially bolsters the company’s brand image, aligning with its longstanding community engagement. Over the last quarter, Nike’s share price experienced a significant 32% rise. While the market was largely mixed due to inflation concerns and […]

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NIKE recently announced a milestone partnership with Special Olympics, promoting sport inclusivity during the Global Week of Inclusion. This collaboration potentially bolsters the company’s brand image, aligning with its longstanding community engagement. Over the last quarter, Nike’s share price experienced a significant 32% rise. While the market was largely mixed due to inflation concerns and tech sector rallies, Nike’s move might be partially supported by its commitment to social causes amid broader sector volatility. Additionally, despite challenging financial results and removal from key indices, the overall market uptrend could have facilitated Nike’s positive stock performance.

NIKE has 1 possible red flag we think you should know about.

NKE Revenue & Expenses Breakdown as at Jul 2025
NKE Revenue & Expenses Breakdown as at Jul 2025

Find companies with promising cash flow potential yet trading below their fair value.

Alongside the recent partnership with Special Olympics, Nike’s ongoing shift to sports performance products and digital integration could have a lasting effect on its revenue and earnings forecasts. The focus on sport performance aims to drive growth and reduce reliance on declining product lines, potentially enhancing future earnings. The company’s brand enhancement through these social initiatives supports long-term strategic goals by aligning with community values, but the revenue impact remains to be seen.

Over the past year, Nike recorded a modest total return of 3.49% including dividends, reflecting on-market performance despite challenging financial times. However, when compared to the US Luxury market, which saw greater returns of 5.2% in the past year, Nike has underperformed. Despite this, its 32% share price increase in the last quarter highlights investor confidence amidst a mixed market environment.

The current share price of US$72.25 is below the analyst consensus price target of US$76.02, indicating a perceived upside in market value. However, this aligns closely with the analyst consensus, reflecting varied perceptions of future performance. The anticipated growth includes revenue reaching US$50.5 billion and a potential uplift in profit margins. While Nike’s commitment to inclusivity is positive for brand image, translating this into substantial financial returns could take time. As Nike navigates macroeconomic uncertainties, its valuation and strategic pivots will be closely watched by the market.

Gain insights into NIKE’s past trends and performance with our report on the company’s historical track record.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



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