FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Typically, at the Baptist Health IcePlex, there are Panthers on the ice. Well, today, there are kittens and cubs.

It’s part of the Learn-to-Play Program, where they teach the game’s basics to kids.

In previous years, there have been around 750 children in the program, but this year, that number has increased to an estimated 1,000 children.

For the next two weeks, all eyes in the South Florida sports world will be on the Panthers as they look to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

While the defending champions aim to win the series against the Edmonton Oilers, a group of youngsters seeks to help grow the game.

“It’s cool,” said Mason Bobo, a Learn to Play athlete.

“It’s very cool,” said Sloan Munoz, a Learn to Play athlete.

That very cool enthusiasm from the kids is courtesy of the Learn to Play Program.

The Program is for boys and girls from five to nine, aiming to provide cost-effective hockey lessons to kids while also offering free equipment.

While the kids love the gear, there was one problem for Bobo. “I don’t have a number,” when asked what number he’d like to wear, “19.”

That’s right, the fan favorite is Matthew Tkachuk, and these young hockey stars get on-ice training with Florida Panthers Alumni and USA Hockey-certified coaches—the same people who trained Tkachuk.

Now for the goods: what do these kids love most about the program?

“I really like skating and shooting the puck in the goal. It’s just a really fun sport,” said Munoz.

The program allows each kid to share the same practice facility as the defending Stanley Cup champs.

“It’s exciting, and it’s really fun. Hockey is probably one of my favorite sports,” said Munoz.

It’s reactions like that that make parents so happy to have the Panthers reaching back to the youth and growing the game in South Florida.

“It’s a great program to get the kids started. We love the Panthers, and it’s awesome to be sponsored by the Panthers and NHL. It’s great to be in our neighborhood and to be able to interact with Stanley and Victor,” said Mason’s dad Barrett Bobo.

Very late on Friday afternoon, we got a massive end-of-the week news dump when a judge officially approved a settlement in the NCAA v. House case. With the ruling, the landscape of college athletics will soon look very different than it has prior. The goal of the settlement is to provide structure to the NIL landscape in college football, which is currently effectively a free-for-all. Following the ruling, On3 discussed some of the ramifications of the ruling.

“Since the NCAA was founded in 1906, institutions have never directly paid athletes, On3’s Pete Nakos wrote. “That will now change with the settlement ushering in the revenue-sharing era of college sports. Beginning July 1, schools will be able to share $20.5 million with athletes, with football expected to receive 75%, followed by men’s basketball (15%), women’s basketball (5%) and the remainder of sports (5%). The amount shared in revenue will increase annually.

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“Power Four football programs will have roughly $13 to $16 million to spend on rosters for the 2025 season. Many schools have front-loaded contracts ahead of the settlement’s approval, taking advantage of contracts not being vetted by the newly formed NIL clearinghouse . . .

“ . . . The settlement also imposes new restrictions on college sports. An NIL clearinghouse will be established, titled ‘NIL Go’ and run through Deloitte. All third-party NIL deals of $600 or more must be approved by the clearinghouse. If not approved, the settlement says a new third-party arbiter could deem athletes ineligible or result in a school being fined. In a gathering at the ACC spring meetings last week, Deloitte officials reportedly shared that 70% of past deals from NIL collectives would have been denied, while 90% of past deals from public companies would have been approved.”

It remains to be seen exactly how the new rules will affect USC specifically. Given the Trojans’ recent hire of Chad Bowden and the subsequent revamping of their recruiting operation, USC seemingly has the right people in place to bring the program into college football’s new era.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: NCAA House settlement approved, as college sports braces for impact

Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles is going head-to-head with one of the most vocal opponents of transgender girls and women competing in female sports, former college swimmer Riley Gaines.

Biles — the most decorated Olympic gymnast is history — called the former college athlete “sick” and a “sore loser” in a post on X Friday night.

“You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports,” Biles, 28, wrote. “Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!”

“But instead… You bully them,” Biles continued. “One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”

As a college swimmer, Gaines tied for fifth place in a competition with then-University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who is transgender, in 2022.

Since then, Gaines has largely built a career as a pundit in conservative media advocating against trans women competing in female sports, arguing that it is unfair to include them in competition and their inclusion is at times unsafe for other competitors.

Gaines, 25, has also built an enormous following on social media, with over 1.5 million followers on X, where she regularly lambastes and mocks transgender athletes.

On Friday, Gaines posted an image of a Minnesota girls high school baseball team, which supposedly includes a trans player. She appeared to taunt the player, referring to her as a boy, which appears to have elicited Biles’ response.

Gaines almost immediately responded to Biles’ criticism in a series of posts on X.

“This is so disappointing. My take is the least controversial take on the planet,” Gaines wrote. “Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card.”

The issues of trans girls and women competing in female sports has become a lightning rod issue in the United States in recent years.

In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aiming to prohibit transgender women and girls from competing in female sports.

Before that, at least 27 states already had laws, regulations or policies banning transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identities, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank.

GATES MILLS, Ohio — Gilmour Academy’s valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2025 are residents of Gates Mills and Pepper Pike, respectively.

This year’s top academic honors went to Ian Miller and Carter Richmond. Both delivered remarks at the school’s commencement ceremony held May 25.

Gates Mills’ Miller, the valedictorian, earned the highest grade point average, not just in his class, but in Gilmour’s last eight years of graduating classes. He was named a National Merit Finalist, scored just a few points shy of a perfect SAT score, had a perfect score on the PSAT, and earned a perfect score on every one of his AP exams, to date. Miller was named an AP Scholar of Distinction by the College Board.

Recognized by his teachers with awards for excellence in math, English, Latin, science and social studies. Miller is the recipient of the Phi Beta Kappa Award, the Oliver Seikel Award for Excellence in Science, the University of Rochester Bausch and Lomb Science Award, and the Yale Junior Book Award.

He received Highest Honors all four years at Gilmour, and has been inducted into the National Honor Society and the Cum Laude Society.

In completing Gilmour’s Catalyst program, Miller worked as part of a research team in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Cleveland State University, where he focused on loading and measuring the efficiency of polymer nanoparticles infused with blood pressure medication.

He also participated in Gilmour’s VECTOR program in the Engineering & Design cohort, where his capstone project combined creativity and cutting-edge Meta AI technology to develop a Gen Alpha slang translator.

Miller served as captain of Gilmour’s Academic Challenge quiz bowl team, which won the TV show’s season championship, and he earned first place individually at the 2024 National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) Northeast Ohio Fall Tournament.

He was an active member of Gilmour’s robotics team, and served as co-president of the St. Adalbert’s Service Club, accruing more than 80 hours of community service during his four years.

In the fall, Miller will attend the University of Pennsylvania, where he plans to study chemical engineering.

The salutatorian, Pepper Pike resident Richmond, also demonstrated exceptional dedication in the classroom, earning top grades while actively participating in campus life.

He was named a National Merit Commended Scholar. His transcript reflected 11 AP courses along with Multivariable Calculus and completion of the Catalyst program, where he worked in Case Western Reserve University’s Two-Phase Flow and Thermal Management Lab, focusing on the cryogenic fluids used in space missions.

He is a member of the National Honor Society and Cum Laude Society, and is a three-time recipient of the Head of School Award.

Over the years, he has been awarded for his achievements in AP Spanish, Biology, AP Physics C, and AP U.S. History. He was the recipient of the Paul Primeau Award in Science, the Br. Richard Keller Service Award, the Basil Moreau Award, and the Robert B. Tomaro Award, which recognizes a student for their keen mind, and sense of justice and passion for doing what is right.

At the Senior Awards ceremony, Richmond was presented with Gilmour’s highest honor for a graduating senior, The Gilmour Trophy.

Richmond is passionate about flight and spent a summer at Brown University studying space travel systems and space tourism. As a member of the Gilmour VECTOR program’s Engineering & Design cohort, he built a sonar system for his senior capstone that is capable of detecting an object’s direction and distance.

Outside of the classroom, Richmond was a four-year starter for the varsity soccer team and served as team captain. He served as president of the Jewish Heritage Club, sharing his Jewish culture and tradition with the Gilmour community, and was a co-president of the Investment Club, whose investment fund of real dollars outperformed the S&P 500.

He also served as a member of the school’s Honor Council.

Richmond will continue his education in the fall at the University of Virginia, where he will major in aerospace engineering.

Members of Gilmour’s Class of 2025 were admitted to 20 of the Top 30 colleges and universities, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. These include Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, University of Chicago, UCLA, Rice, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Southern California, UC San Diego, NYU, University of Florida and University of Texas.

Ten members of the class earned full-tuition scholarships. Additionally, 34 students, or 26 percent of the class, made commitments to continue their athletic careers at the next level in baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, track and field and volleyball.

With over 37,000 students and no defined campus borders, Boston University does not promise a typical college experience.

Commonwealth Avenue runs freely through the city of Boston, making it difficult to distinguish urban living from BU’s campus. While one could assume this interferes with college life, it only enhances BU’s sense of community and tradition.

Painting the BU Greek Rock

The BU Greek Rock —  commonly known as the BU Rock — is a large painted boulder in Central Campus.

Covered in more than 1,000 layers of spray paint, the rock has been a focal point of BU Greek Life for decades. During Greek Week, BU’s sororities and fraternities competitively spray over one another’s tags, changing the rock almost daily.

Jaise King, a sophomore and campus tour guide, said he always shares this tradition with prospective students.

“It started off as a little pebble, but as more layers of spray paint are added, it’s gotten to its current size,” King said.

Other campus clubs join in as well, making painting the BU Rock a tradition that extends beyond Greek Life, King said.

“One of my clubs is planning on painting the rock next year, and I’m excited to do that,” he said.

BU hockey chants 

In addition to Greek Life, the student body is blessed with a vibrant hockey scene. While the BU Terriers are ranked eighth in D1 Men’s Ice Hockey and boast more than 100 alumni in the National Hockey League, many are fans of the lively student section — aptly dubbed the Dog Pound.

At each game, the Dog Pound prints a “Dirty Laundry List” with information on the opposing team — “why they suck, who their sieves are” — and “opponent-specific chants to heckle them about,” according to the Dog Pound FAQ sheet.

Junior Lily Thorpe recalled the surprise of attending BU hockey games and learning the chants on the “Dirty Laundry List” — something she’s come to value as part of her college experience.

“I’m a big hockey girl, and [it’s] something I didn’t really expect coming into BU,” Thorpe said. “Freshman year, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is so fun,’ and then I learned all the chants.”

She said her personal favorite is when the student section turns their backs to the ice during the opposing team’s introduction, waving their fingers and pointing.

Other traditions include yelling “sieve” at the opposition’s goalie when the Terriers score and throwing hats onto the ice after the Terriers score a hat trick.

“The energy is just so good,” Thorpe said.

A slice at T. Anthony’s

While BU’s campus offers an array of restaurant choices, many students are partial to T. Anthony’s Pizzeria — open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Established in 1976, T. Anthony’s honors its Terrier patrons by covering its walls in BU sports paraphernalia. After a BU hockey game, Thorpe said she’s partial to grabbing a slice at T. Anthony’s.

“That’s definitely my spot,” Thorpe said. “I’m forever a T. Anthony’s girl.”

MarMon 

The neighborhood of Allston, which is a close walk from West Campus, is home to several BU fraternity houses. While the frats throw parties on any given weekend, the city of Boston’s own traditions are sometimes specially integrated.

The Boston Marathon, held annually on the third Monday of April, is celebrated by college students and Bostonians alike. While some students honor the day by standing alongside the marathon trail to cheer on runners, others attend parties held from early morning to late afternoon.

King said one of his favorite traditions at BU is “MarMon” due to everyone’s excitement.

“It was just such a fun and vibrant time around the city of Boston,” he said.

Red Sox game at Fenway Park

At a university so enmeshed in Boston sports culture, many Terriers pass their time at Fenway Park catching a ball game. In signing up for Student9s, the official student ticket program of the Boston Red Sox, BU students can receive discounted $9 tickets on game days.

Junior Summer Genovese said going to Fenway to watch the Red Sox play, “even [if] you don’t know anything about baseball,” is always great.

However, Genovese said she warns against being caught off guard by overpriced food, recalling an $18 bill for two sausages.

“I mean, jaw on the floor,” Genovese said. “A universal BU experience could be paying for overpriced Fenway food.”

With 186 years and more to come, BU Terriers have had nearly two centuries to invent unique campus experiences and traditions.

As new faces arrive on campus, King said he urges incoming students to talk to everybody at Splash, BU’s fall club fair, and join everything they can.

“A little word of advice, please get as involved as possible … you will thank yourself,” he said.