As time moves on, youth sports continue to get more and more expensive.
The effect has been felt in the youth tumbling, acrobatics, cheer and gymnastics scenes, with many families being priced out by soaring costs.
Now, children in Cabazon can take tumbling, acrobatics and cheer classes at an affordable price, thanks to the Southern California Association.
The Southern California Association’s tumbling and acrobatics, and tumbling and cheer classes are hosted every Wednesday at the James A. Venable Community Center in Cabazon. For just $10 a month, or a slightly higher fee for a la carte classes, local youth can participate.
The association is a member of American Youth Cheer and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
Toddlers ages 2 and 3 learn pre-tumbling and movement, children ages 4 to 6 begin practicing basic tumbling and movement, and kids ages 7 and older can take rhythmic gymnastics, baton twirling, cheer, acrobatic gymnastics and team gym.
To help keep the costs low, the Southern California Association periodically receives grant funding to be able to purchase uniforms, give discounted rates and pay to enter competitions.
Ariel Armstrong, program coordinator and head of management for the Southern California Association, said the low costs are maintained to help the community.
“We want to do something for the community, so that’s what we’re doing,” Armstrong said. “We aren’t jacking our rates up like people are doing everywhere, and a lot of families just can’t afford to spend $500 a month. We’re hearing horror stories from parents.”
All of the coaches who run the classes are vetted, CPR and safety certified professionals. As with any sport, the goal of the classes is to help children improve, but at the Southern California Association’s classes, coaches put an emphasis on creating good teammates.
“Our coaches actually ask the children, ‘Who’s the best here?’” Armstrong said. “They point to the one that maybe can do the no hand cartwheel or some fancy trick, and we say ‘Nope. Who’s the best here?’ And then they’re like, oh, the one that’s the best is the one who uses their manners and cares about their teammates.”
Armstrong said no children are excluded from the classes if they want to participate, including boys. She said many gymnastics coaches tend to pick favorites based on looks and skill level.
“What we do is we take everyone they don’t,” Armstrong said. “We teach the kids that everyone’s important…and that you guys are all special. We teach them a motto that says, ‘My goal is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be.’”
For more information about the Southern California Association’s tumbling, acrobatics and cheer classes, call 951-777-8326.
Three Edwards County residents has had felony charges filed against them this week by Edwards County State’s Attorney, Eric St. Ledger.
Phillip Walden, 54, of Albion, has been charged with domestic battery with a prior conviction. This charge was also filed on Monday, and a court date is pending.
25-year-old Bradley Cummins of Grayville has been charged with possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, a Class 3 felony. He also faces charges of aggravated assault, a Class A misdemeanor, and possession of an expired FOID card. No court date has been scheduled.
43-year-old Martin A. Williams of Grayville faces aggravated drunk driving charges—his third such offense—as well as aggravated DUI while driving on a revoked license. The charges were filed on Monday, and a court date has not yet been set.
The Myrtle Beach Corvette Club (MBCC) recently presented checks to two local nonprofit charities that the club supports.
Proceeds from their 28th Annual Corvettes at the Beach are used to make these contributions possible. The donations went to Canine Angels, where rescued dogs are trained as service dogs to assist disabled veterans, autistic children and first responders, and Julie’s Kids, which provides for children in foster care.
2025 is a record year for the club donations to charity. Checks were presented in the amount of $15,260 to each charity. Through its annual car show, the club has raised over $240,000 over the past 10 years. Myrtle Beach Corvette Club website is www.myrtlebeachcorvetteclub.com.
The Myrtle Beach Corvette Club covers Brunswick County in North Carolina and Horry and Georgetown counties in South Carolina, with over 300 club members between the three counties.
Down the Middle Foundation (DTMF) and its partners helped brighten the Christmas holiday for children across the area through its sixth annual Shop with a Cop event.
DTMF founder Darnell Lee Jr. noted that the event gives area children the opportunity to cultivate a positive relationship with area law enforcement as they participate in an exciting shared endeavor — shopping for presents that the children can have for Christmas.
This year’s iteration of the event took place Tuesday, Dec. 16, and featured second graders from Capron Elementary School, Meherrin Elementary School, Nottoway Elementary School, Riverdale Elementary School and Kilby Shores Elementary School in Suffolk.
Participating law enforcement agencies included Southampton County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police.
“The goal is to have 20 (children involved) every year, and we’re trying to increase it every year, but this year we were able to have 13 kids in the store,” Lee said.
The store partnering with DTMF for the event is the Walmart located in the city of Franklin.
“What Walmart does, they provide little goodies for the kids at Walmart, and then each kid will be partnered with a police officer, and they will shop for $100 of whatever they want,” Lee said. “And after that, we go to the (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community) Center, we have volunteers that wrap gifts and (we) eat pizza. (Franklin) Parks and Rec partners with us, they provided the crafts at the MLK Center.”
As noted on its website, Down the Middle Foundation, which Lee founded in 2009, has a mission “to support the character development and athletic skills of youth through community service, mentorship, team building, and sports education.”
Lee explained that the Shop with a Cop event aims to develop youth in a positive way by dispelling fears they may have about law enforcement, helping them to understand that officers are here to help the community.
A lot of local teams have a lot of different needs
Fort Lewis College men’s basketball head coach Jordan Mast cheers his team on while playing Adams State University on Dec. 13 at FLC. (Jerry McBride/Herald)
Jerry McBride
It’s the holiday season, so there’s no time like the present for a fun Christmas-themed article that looks back at the first part of the winter sports season.
Local winter sports teams have had varying amounts of success, but all of them want to improve in certain areas to reach their potential.
Let’s look at some local sports teams and what gifts their coaches should’ve asked Santa for this Christmas.
Fort Lewis College men’s basketball: The gift of health
The FLC men’s basketball team has had a decent start to the season at 6-5 overall and 4-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. FLC has a win over a top-25 team in Division II, and four of its five losses were against teams that were either in the Division II top 25 or were receiving votes in the poll.
However, the season has already started to turn into a what could’ve been story with all the injuries the Skyhawks have had. It began in the preseason with senior guard Jude Tapia tearing his meniscus, freshman guard Daniel Steverson tearing his ACL and freshman forward Garrett Barger breaking his collarbone.
Tapia was the RMAC’s leading scorer at Adams State last season and was expected to be a big part of FLC’s success this season; Tapia is still out. Steverson is a promising guard who will miss the rest of the year, and Barger has only played a few games since his return.
After the season started, the Skyhawks lost redshirt sophomore guard for a few games to a sprained MCL. Senior forward Cassius Carmichael missed a few games with a concussion and redshirt sophomore guard Nate Penney has only played in three games with a broken foot.
FLC still has the depth and talent to do well in the RMAC even with the injuries. However, FLC needs the gift of health so no more players get hurt.
FLC women’s basketball: The gift of free-throw shooting
The Skyhawks women’s basketball team is off to its best start in six years, with the team at 9-3 overall. FLC is having a great year so far despite struggles at the free-throw line.
FLC ranks last in the RMAC in team free-throw percentage at 60%. Free-throw shooting hasn’t cost FLC a close game, but it’s only a matter of time before that happens.
The schedule will get much tougher for FLC in RMAC play, and if the Skyhawks want to keep a winning record, make the RMAC tournament and secure some key upsets along the way, FLC will need to hit its free throws at a higher percentage.
Durango High School boys basketball: The gift of role-player production
It’s a transition year for the Durango boys basketball team after the Demons lost valuable seniors from last season’s state-tournament team.
Durango is 3-4 overall after two non-league tournaments down in New Mexico. The Demons have gotten great production out of their top two players, junior King Kerlin and sophomore Taj Batiste.
After that, the production hasn’t been so reliable from the role players, which isn’t surprising considering a lot of these role players don’t have experience at the varsity level.
Once the Demons get into league play, teams will be keying in on Kerlin and Batiste. Durango can’t expect those players to play well every night, so the role players will have to produce on some nights for Durango to win.
Durango High School girls basketball: The gift of consistent offense
The Durango girls basketball team lost a lot of production from last year’s Great 8 squad, with four experienced seniors graduating. Therefore, it’s not surprising the offense has been inconsistent for the Demons with some new main characters.
Durango failed to hit 40 points in its first four games, and the Demons have scored at least 49 points in their last four games. Can the offense be consistent? That’ll likely be the key to Durango’s success as the Demons have always been strong defensively under head coach Lauren Moran.
Durango High School boys wrestling: The gift of experience
Like Durango boys basketball, the Durango boys wrestling program is going through a reset year after losing star wrestler Ryan Dugan to graduation.
The Demons have some experience, but even those wrestlers haven’t hit the heights of competing in top matches at state. After that, the Demons have a lot of inexperienced wrestlers who are still trying to figure it out on the mat.
Head coach Jason Silva has said this year is all about his team getting experience, as most of the wrestlers will be back for next year.
Ignacio High School wrestling teams: The gift of continued success after big tournaments
The Ignacio boys and girls wrestling teams have had a great start to the season with Lincoln deKay picking up a few wins, other wrestlers making it to the finals and other Bobcats placing.
Ignacio has competed in some of the top local tournaments, including the Western Slope Showdown and Warrior Classic. For a 2A school, the Bobcats faced a lot of wrestlers from bigger schools that they won’t see again this season.
The question is: Can the Bobcats take this early-season success to the postseason tournaments? deKay has shown he can wrestle at the top of the state after finishing second last season. Larissa Espinosa also placed last season for the Ignacio girls.
Can either of these two get over the hump and win a state title? Using what worked for them in those bigger tournaments early in the season will help.
Hosting an ESIAC quad meet Dec. 19 proved to be an early present for Delmarva Christian’s swim teams.
The boys scooped up their first two wins of the year by besting Sts. Peter & Paul 41-4 and Salisbury School 39-15. Salisbury Christian’s talented team got the best of the Royals 49-31.
“Tonight, we just got every guy qualified for states,” said senior Cole Parker. “Last year, almost everybody went.”
A legend was born during the quad meet when the 200 freestyle relay team qualified. Trax Rogers was the second swimmer to leap off the blocks, and if you can believe it, the junior had just wrapped up swimming the 500.
“The 500 is distance, a long-haul race, and Trax gave it his all in that race and turned around and did the relay right after,” said coach Laurel Kamosa. “He did great, and they ended up qualifying for states at the exact time, which was amazing.”
Diving over to the girls, they got a taste of each outcome in the quad meet, edging out the Dragons 39-36, tying the Sabres 31-31 and losing to the Jaguars 66-16. The girls stand at 2-3-1 with just three meets left when they come back from their January term.
“We’re doing really good,” said senior Libby Dawson. “We’re pushing ourselves to be the best we can with limited practice in limited time.”
At 2-5, the lads have a bit more ground to make up, but lucky for them, one of the three meets is a tri-meet and another is a quad meet.
“We’ve had our ups and downs a little bit, and like Libby said with limited practices and stuff, I think that’s made it a little bit tougher, but other than that, I think all the guys at least have been pushing themselves, and that’s just great to see,” Parker said.
“We’ve got a lot of good swimmers,” Kamosa said. “We’re working on technique, we’re working on getting faster, and we’re definitely seeing that with the kids. At the end of the day, we want to have fun and have a good time, but make strides along the way, so I think we’re doing that.”
Gains this season are a result of buy-in from the older swimmers who have seen the program grow year by year.
“Freshman year to now, the growth is insane, and just building the program more and more each year is just the biggest thing we can do,” Dawson said. “Building it more in our school and putting more of a light on swimming at Delmarva Christian.”
“The confidence is definitely building with the kids,” Kamosa said. “They’re building that camaraderie with each other, and with the other teams as well. I really appreciate their sportsmanship with the other schools.”
Orange High School is the site of the 60th annual Orange Holiday Basketball Classic beginning Friday, Dec. 26. The event will include both boys and girls divisions and wrap up on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
Coach Jake Rhodes will lead his Orange Panthers boys basketball team into the long-running tournament.
In the boys division, Pool A consists of Incline, Nev; Irvine, Orange and Shadow Ridge, Nev. Pool B will include Boulder City, Nev., Cerritos, Fullerton, and Long Beach Wilson.
In the girls division, Pool A includes Apple Valley, Laguna Hills, Montclair, and Valley Christian. Pool B includes Cabrillo, Fullerton, Irvine, Orange.
Pool play games:
FRIDAY, DEC. 26:
Girls: Orange vs. Cabrillo, 9 a.m.; Irvine vs. Fullerton, 10:30 a.m.; Valley Christian vs. Montclair, noon; Apple Valley vs. Laguna Hills, 1:30 p.m..
Boys: Cerritos vs. Long Beach Wilson, 3 p.m.; Orange vs. Incline, 4:30 p.m.; Shawdow Ridge vs. Irvine, 6 p.m; Fullerton vs. Boulder City, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, DEC. 27:
Girls: Laguna Hills vs. Valley Christian, 9 a.m.; Cabrillo vs. Irvine, 10:30 a.m.; Montclair vs. Apple Valley, noon; Fullerton vs. Orange, 1:30 p.m.
Boys: Cerritos vs. Fullerton, 3 p.m.; LB Wilson vs. Boulder City, 4:30 p.m.; Shadow Ridge vs. Orange, 6 p.m.; Irvine vs. Incline, 7:30 p.m.
MONDAY, DEC. 29:
Girls: Fullerton vs. Cabrillo, 9 a.m.; Laguna Hills vs. Montclair, 10:30 a.m.; Apple Valley vs. Valley Christian, noon; Orange vs. Irvine, 1:30 p.m.
Boys: Irvine vs. Orange, 3 p.m.; Incline vs. Shadow Ridge, 4:30 p.m.; Long Beach Wilson vs. Fullerton, 6 p.m.; Cerritos vs. Boulder City, 7:30 p.m.
The tournament wraps up on Tuesday, Dec. 30 with games starting at 9 a.m. The girls championship will be at 6 p.m. followed by the boys tournament final at 7:30 p.m.
“Looking forward to helping our AD host the oldest running Christmas Tourney in Orange County,” Rhodes said on X this week. “We have great teams ranging from LA County, OC, San Bernardino County and Southern and Northern Nevada.”
