The Churchill Community Coalition on Dec. 17 named Daylene Starr, left, Andy Lenon, Star Olsen and Dawn Blundell as 2025 Community Champions.

The Churchill Community Coalition recognized Dec. 17 Dawn Blundell, Sarah Lavy, Star Olsen, Andy Lenon and Daylene Starr as 2025 Community Champions for their contributions to building a better community.

Blundell serves as the senior pastor at Epworth United Methodist Church and the Wolf Center Community Services. During the recent disruption in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program she stepped up to organize meals, volunteers and food bank resources for affected families. She also facilitates a group for LGBTQ+ individuals called “The Rainbow Connection.”

Lavy also played a vital role in managing resources during the SNAP shutdown. She coordinates an annual coat and clothing drive, prepares Thanksgiving boxes and connects sponsors with struggling families for assistance at Christmas.

Olsen, co-owner of Bighorn ATV, currently serves as a board member and volunteer with the Fallon Theatre. She has also given her time to groups such as the Churchill County High School Grad Nite committee, local schools, Girl Scouts, kid ministry and youth athletic programs.

Oasis Academy Vice Principal Lenon was recognized for his dedication in connecting students with resources they need to succeed personally and academically. He is known as someone who the students and staff can depend on to have their best interests at heart.

Starr runs an in-home daycare while volunteering as the secretary of the Fallon Youth Football Board, ensures the snack bar is always fully stocked and performs administrative responsibilities.

The devoted sports mom also serves on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Board with a key role in supporting the annual Battle Born Broncs Rodeo.

Undefeated 8 and under team has a 21-0 record.

Steve Marshall served in the Army for 14 years, including deployments to the Horn of Africa and Syria, then left in 2024. He is currently a Fire Medic with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

When he returned from Syria, he began coaching to share the experience of football with his six-year-old son. In May 2025, he heard that a head coach position had opened up for the Plant City Dolphins. He had never been a head coach, but he applied and got the role. Marshall’s goal for the boys: “I want them to push themselves through adversity, play as a family, protect each other, and have fun loving the game of football.” 

The season started in June. The Dolphins won two preseason jamboree games, then went 10-0 during their season, winning the Tri-County Division Championship by beating the Dover Patriots in Dover. In the subsequent playoffs, they won both games, then won the Tri-County Superbowl. The team also won two games to emerge victorious in the Strawberry Jam Tournament. This made the team 17-0. 

As a result of this success, the Plant City Dolphins were allowed to put together an invitation-only team to compete in the United Youth Football League National Championship. There, the team won all four games, ending the season 21-0. In the championship, the Dolphins defeated a team from Cleveland by scoring in the last minute, and holding the line on a 4th-and-1. “Their execution was fantastic, so they didn’t look like little seven-year-olds and eight-year-olds,” Marshall said. “They looked like little men, the way they played football. Our quarterback is the best 8U player in the country. He can throw a football 50 yards.” 

During the season, the boys on the team scored 529 points while allowing only 25 points, and had 18 shutouts. “I know this season put a lot of core memories in these kids forever,” Marshall commented. “They’ll never forget it.” 

This success didn’t come without hard work. The team practiced twice a week. Including games and watching film, the coaches put in at least 14 hours a week, and some spent even more time watching film. Marshall gave enormous credit to his coaching staff, praising his phenomenal offensive, defensive, and assistant coaches. “You never know you can do something until you finally do it,” Marshall said. “I never thought that after seven months of coaching, that I would find myself winning a National Championship. You always think you have a championship team, but to be gifted one like I was, and have the coaching staff I did…some of them would drive eight hours on practice days. To have the group we had, the parents we had, the kids we had. It was a perfect storm to make this happen. It takes a village to make this happen, and we had the perfect village. These kids got these rings and these trophies, and it is a beautiful thing.”

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To the editor: As a member of this island community and a supporter of Nantucket’s young people, I want to speak from both the heart and the facts about our proposed synthetic turf field.

Much of the recent conversation has focused on fear — fear of PFAS, fear of microplastics, and fear of change. Those concerns deserve to be heard and addressed. But they also deserve to be balanced by current science and an understanding of what this project truly means for our kids, our schools, and the fabric of our island community – not backdoor lobbying and fear mongering.

What the Science Shows: Earlier generations of turf fields did contain PFAS additives used to strengthen plastic fibers. However, today’s technology has changed dramatically. In March 2025, FieldTurf released independent testing results showing no detectable PFAS in new turf products using natural infills such as cork and sand — verified through EPA’s most advanced testing protocol FieldTurf, 2025. Similarly, AstroTurf announced in 2023 that all U.S. fields are now manufactured without intentionally added PFAS AstroTurf, 2023. These shifts show an industry moving toward safer, more sustainable materials.

Yes, we must remain vigilant and ensure ongoing testing. But painting all synthetic fields as environmental hazards ignores this progress and prevents honest discussion of what our students truly need.

What Our Students Need: Over 70% of Nantucket High School students participate in athletics — nearly twice the national average. That’s not just a statistic; it’s a lifeline. Organized sports are linked to lower rates of substance use and improved mental health among teens, particularly in small or geographically isolated communities like ours CDC Youth Risk Behavior Data, 2023.

Our island faces one of the lowest ages of initiation for drugs and alcohol in the country. The more opportunities we provide for safe, structured, year-round activity, the better our chances of keeping kids engaged, connected, and healthy.

A turf complex does more than withstand weather. It gives teams consistent practice time, reduces cancellations, and allows for shared spaces that promote inclusion and camaraderie. When athletes feel pride in their facilities, it spills over into school culture: better attendance, improved grades, and fewer students feeling the need to leave the island for boarding schools to pursue athletics.

The evolution of artificial turf technology has led to products that offer enhanced safety, playability, and durability, addressing many historical concerns associated with earlier generations Gosnell et al., 2022; Russo et al., 2022. These advancements include improvements in infill materials and shock pad designs, which collectively contribute to reduced impact forces and improved biomechanical responses during athletic activities Gosnell et al., 2022. This allows for more consistent playing surfaces, reducing the risk of injuries compared to natural grass fields that can degrade over time due to weather and overuse. Furthermore, artificial turf fields have demonstrated the potential to significantly increase participation opportunities in sports by providing reliable playing surfaces year-round, which is particularly beneficial in regions with challenging climates or high facility demand May & Parnell, 2018. This expanded access to sports facilities can lead to numerous positive outcomes, including improved physical health, enhanced mental well-being, and greater social cohesion within communities Logan et al., 2023. The increased usage of these surfaces can also lead to economic benefits through enhanced revenue generation from rentals and event hosting, while simultaneously reducing maintenance costs associated with natural grass fields Barnes & Watkins, 2022; May & Parnell, 2018. Beyond these tangible benefits, participation in high school athletics has been linked to improved academic performance, increased accountability, and enhanced communication skills, translating directly from the field to classroom success Selber & Selber, 2021. These comprehensive benefits underscore the strategic value of investing in high-quality athletic infrastructure to foster holistic student development and community engagement Popek, 2024. Specifically, the overall injury rates on modern artificial turf are often comparable to, and in some cases lower than, those on natural grass, particularly as design and maintenance protocols have become more standardized Gosnell et al., 2022; Jastifer et al., 2018. For instance, third-generation artificial turf has significantly improved shock absorption and player-surface interaction characteristics, addressing concerns such as injury occurrence, physiological fatigue, and biomechanics during activities like cutting, turning, and kicking Strutzenberger et al., 2020.

A Healthier Island Spirit: Athletics are community-building. Friday night lights, youth clinics, and shared victories bring us together in a way few things can. They give our young people — and all of us — something to rally around. That unity matters on Nantucket, especially at a time when our community often feels divided.

This project isn’t just about turf. It’s about belonging, opportunity, and hope. By investing in a modern, responsibly designed athletic complex, we are choosing to believe that our island’s future will be stronger when our youth are supported, active, and proud to call Nantucket home.

Sincerely,

J. Brent Tartamella

DICKINSON — Hockey in Dickinson is continuing to grow and evolve since it was established back in 1985. The sport expanded four years later with Dickinson High getting a boys and girls team. Over the past 11 years, enrollment in youth and high school programs has tripled — increasing from about 200 participants to nearly 600.

“As Dickinson has grown with the oil boom, it’s created another opportunity for kids. One thing that I think we do really well at hockey that other sports can’t compete in is we’re able to get them in the door at 3, 4, 5-years-old,” Dickinson hockey coordinator Dallas Kuntz said. “You never know if they’re going to be stellar athletes, but I feel we’re getting more of those athletes coming out and playing hockey because we’re able to target that age range to get them hooked on the game.”

The Dickinson Hockey Club, known as the Dickinson Outlaws, expanded further heading into the 2025-26 season. They added an additional bantam B team, for kids aged 13-14, to go along with its four peewee teams and five squirt teams.

Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press

“I think hockey, more than any other sport or activity, teaches life lessons. It’s a sport very similar to golf in the aspect that till the day you quit playing, you will not attain perfection — skating, puck skills, all that kind of stuff,” Kuntz said. “It’s a sport that you’re not going to get better at unless you truly dedicate yourself to it. I also think that it’s the best team sport.”

One program that continues to grow exponentially is the girls hockey clubs. Dickinson now fields separate 10U and 12U teams instead of one group composed of players aged 9-14.

Most players that go through these youth programs at an early age tend to have more success when they arrive at the high school level. Meanwhile, there have been a small number of individuals who are still playing hockey past high school. While the pipeline is small, Kuntz expects that pipeline to grow.

“We have a lot of kids in our youth program that we’re gonna be seeing in the next year or two. I’m really excited to see what our high school programs are gonna look like and that’s a credit to the kids that are coming up,” Kuntz said. “We have more kids today that are on the ice 12 months a year, or they’re putting the work in away from the rink. We started our summer program here three to four years ago. We got over 200 kids that are on the ice in the summer, Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.”

Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press

Two of the most notable figures that are still playing are Michael McChesney, who is in his third season in the Southern Professional Hockey League with the Peoria Rivermen, and Sierra Raatz, who is in her third season of ACHA club hockey at Adrian College.

One of the foundations of the success of the Dickinson Hockey club is its Learn to Play program. This is the grassroots of young players in the area to get their feet wet and hold a stick and shoot a puck for the first time. The high school players also hop out on the ice to provide instruction and guidance.

“It’s giving those kids that introductory balance. We just want these kids buzzing around on the ice. We can teach them proper knee band, proper stride, but we just want the balance and we want them to be super aggressive,” Kuntz said. “The best hockey players that I’ve seen come through are the ones that, when you put them on the ice and they don’t know how to skate, they literally run three feet and then just wipe out.”

Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press

The community support is what drives the programs to build for the future. A big goal for the club is to build a third sheet of ice so more kids can have more access and reduce competition for ice time. That has been one of the biggest challenges that the Dickinson hockey community has had to face for the past few years.

“I know a lot of people don’t think it’s a top priority for us but the hockey community here in Dickinson is very strong and very big. More ice time is going to be big for us,” Kuntz said. “We want kids to keep coming out and playing. It’s challenging because they only have a half-ice for their practice. So there’s a lot of challenges but we’re ready to tackle them and just kind of adapt and overcome as we can.”

Jacob Cheris covers a variety of high school and college sports. A graduate of Penn State University’s class of 2023, with a degree in broadcast journalism, he covered Penn State Men’s Hockey for three years. Jacob also covers Big Ten Hockey for College Hockey News.