Gulf Breeze High’s Class of 2025 officially became alumni Friday as the school’s 55th graduating class. Commencement Exercises took place at the Pensacola Bay Center (the middle of three ceremonies — after Navarre’s and before Pace’s). Peyton Dykes performed the national anthem before Principal Sarah Barker introduced Salutatorian Derek Smith and Valedictorian Connell Bartling, who both gave addresses. Barker then […]

The Dutch Olympic and Paralympic Committee NOC*NSF, Team NL, and Sportinnovator launched a subsidy call for innovators to help athletes in the upcoming edition of the Olympic Games, which will take place in Los Angeles in 2028. This call seeks groundbreaking ideas that can enhance performance in elite sports such as paracycling, triathlon, and swimming, among others. 

Launched by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, SportInnovator orchestrates collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including centers of innovation, sports institutions, businesses, and municipalities. This conglomerate has assessed over 1250 innovative ideas since its inception in 2015, ensuring that over 100 innovations not only reach the market but also transform sporting practices.

The call for groundbreaking sports innovations 

The call, financed with €250,000, offers innovators the chance to test their ideas with elite athletes. For this call, sports associations and Team NL identified eight challenges across 11 disciplines: 

• Para cycling and paratriathlon: better performance due to less vibration from the handbike
• Swimming: Improved swimmer’s physical condition through data-driven training schedules
• Water polo: recognize opponents’ tactical patterns faster
• Rowing: higher speed through better aerodynamics
• Wheelchair tennis: player and wheelchair in perfect harmony
• Sailing, windsurfing, and kitefoiling: collecting sensor data and providing real-time feedback
• Synchronized swimming: optimal training and performance during extreme oxygen deficiencies
• Wheelchair basketball: higher scoring chances through greater insight into tactical choices

Entrepreneurs, knowledge institutions, or other innovators are all invited to apply. Each innovation project can receive up to €50,000 in funding, with applicants contributing to 30% of the total project budget. Selected projects can then apply for an extra €30,000 subsidy for the implementation phase. 

The timeline for applications includes an online information session on June 25, 2025, and a mandatory matchmaking session registration deadline on July 15, 2025. The matchmaking event is scheduled for September 3, 2025, at the National Sports Center Papendal in Arnhem, offering a platform for collaboration and partnerships. The final grant application must be submitted by 14 October 2025, with a subsequent funding decision expected in mid-December.

5 TU Delft innovations that are boosting sports performances

The Delft University of Technology Sports Engineering Institute is making a difference in athletes’ performances. Here are five examples.

Quanz led the squad in community service hours throughout the year, participating in both events and programs offered through the Student-Athlete Experience department.

Participating in both volleyball and soccer’s trick or treat events, food drives, volunteering at department events and local schools. Quanz has represented both the program and Mississippi State in the community and on campus, being involved heavily at the TK Martin Center.

Quanz has been a staple on the cross country and track and field teams, competing in the long-distance races. She was the 2024 U20 Canadian champion in the 3000m steeplechase.

Quanz will return in the fall to compete in the 2025 cross country season for the Bulldogs.

For more information on the Mississippi State track and field program, visit HailState.com and follow “HailStateTF” on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

By BSU Sports,

Bluefield, WV—Bluefield State University athletics has named Keyonna Morrow the new head volleyball coach. Morrow brings a strong background in collegiate and club volleyball, emphasizing player development and dedication to building well-rounded student-athletes.

Morrow joins Bluefield State from Oklahoma Panhandle State University, where she served as the assistant volleyball coach for two seasons before taking on the role of director of volleyball operations. During her time at OPSU, Morrow played a vital role in player development, strength and conditioning programming, and academic coordination.

Prior to OPSU, Morrow was the head JV coach and assistant varsity coach at Madison Central High School, and coached multiple AAU teams with Lexington United Volleyball. Her leadership developed young athletes across age groups, ranging from 14U to 18U.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity to lead and continue to build this program,” said Morrow. “I am committed to helping develop student-athletes on & off the court.”

Morrow graduated from West Virginia University Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Athletic Coaching Education and a minor in Sports Management. She is currently pursuing a Master of Education in Higher Education with a concentration in Student Affairs from Liberty University.

Morrow was recently named a recipient of the 2024 American Volleyball Coaches Association Diversity Award, recognizing her commitment to expanding opportunities and representation within the sport.

When people think of Deep Ellum, several things come to mind: crime stories that are often overblown, the cluster of nightclubs that have taken over the east end of the neighborhood, and its history as a blues hub where Black families settled. What they don’t think of is surfing. Since it opened in June 2024, Goodsurf Beach Club — located in a space off Canton Street formerly occupied by a beach volleyball club — has tried to change that.

Now, owners Zach Shor, Andrew Limbocker, Joe Pomerenke, and Turner Eakins are bringing in reinforcements. They’re making a big splash by partnering with one of Dallas’s most lauded chefs, Nick Badovinus (Town Hearth, Brass Ram), to serve up some stellar food to go with the “quality hang” vibes.

Alexender Simões

“The fact of the matter is, we didn’t accomplish what we wanted to with the menu last year,” Shor says, noting that Goodsurf staff handled the food at launch. Shor and his co-owners learned, after a year in business, that the pickleball courts and surf pool can only accommodate a limited number of people at a time. Therefore, the venue must also be equally well-known as a bar and restaurant, which can serve a significantly larger number of people.

That’s where Badovinus came in. Shor has been a patron at his restaurants for years. Badovinus’s fast-casual restaurant in Dallas, Desert Racer, closed, and his Surf Camp rooftop spot Downtown is open when the chef feels like it — which is very infrequently. So, Shor proposed that Badavonus and his team and his hospitality group, Flavor Hook, create a new menu for Goodsurf. Badovinus not only created a new menu, but also reorganized the kitchen space, assisted the owners in redesigning the dining room, and gave the operation a new name: Quality Hang at Goodsurf.

Alexender Simões

Alexender Simões

“One of the things I love that Nick and his team did is taking an item from our old menu and upgrading it, dragging it into a Baja or SoCal vibe,” Shor says about the New Wave Asada Fries. The dish, served on a silver tray, features a layer of waffle-cut sweet potato fries topped with skirt steak marinated in teriyaki sauce and accompanied by pico de gallo, avocados, cotija cheese, and lime ranch dressing. Also notable are the crispy rock cod tacos, featuring fish from the Kanaloa Seafood Market in Santa Barbara. “I don’t think Kanaloa would have taken our phone call if we weren’t working with Nick,” Shor says.

He predicts that the QP Cheeseburger will be the bestseller of the summer — it’s a classic burger with mayo on a Martin’s potato roll — but the sleeper hit right behind it will surely be the Ahi Poke Wonchos, a plate of nachos made of fried wonton wrappers topped with chunks of ahi tuna that’s tossed in dynamite sauce, jalapeño, radish, and sesame seeds.

Alexender Simões

For those who partake, at least until Senate Bill 3 determines the fate of THC products in Texas, there are THC-infused sparkling waters from Cali Sober, which is based in Dallas, that Shor says go well with a morning of yoga, an afternoon in the sun, or even a game on the pickleball courts, all depending on your fortitude. It also serves margaritas on tap that come out just as quickly as any beer, an array of house cocktails including a cucumber mojito and a hibiscus ranch water, low- and no-proof drinks, and a few wines.

Even better, there is plenty of parking space in the lot out front, which is a rarity in this neighborhood. You won’t forget you’re in Dallas while you’re looking at the Downtown skyline in the distance or the mural on the warehouse facing the courts, but you can sure have a quality hang.

United States President Donald Trump has been persecuting one of the most marginalized groups in the world in transgender people, since returning to the Oval Office for his second term.

Trump has even outlawed the participation of trans athletes in collegiate sports, despite there being no statistical evidence that being transgender provides a marked advantage.

Fortunately, one politician has decided to push back against Trump’s hateful rhetoric.

“I’m just going to say it, shame on any of us who throws a trans child under the bus for thinking they’re going to get elected,”  Minnesota governor Tim Walz said on Saturday, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. “That child deserves our support. Don’t worry about the pollsters calling it distractions, because we need to be the party of human dignity.”

People reacted to Walz’s words on social media.

“It’s called being principled about protecting the most vulnerable in our society,” one person wrote on BlueSky.

“I want to move to Minnesota just for the pleasure of voting for this man,” another person added.

“An easy W for Walz. Still upset about him forcing corporate RTO mandates in cities, however,” wrote someone else.

Hopefully, this country bands together to protect its most vulnerable members.