BRAINERD — A strong senior class hopes to build off last season in Brainerd head coach Nick Weeks’ second season.

The Warriors tallied a 4-9-3 record last year, with all four wins coming in Central Lakes Conference play. As the No. 7 seed in Section 8-3A, Brainerd lost to Bemidji, the eventual Section 8-3A champions, 5-0 in the quarterfinals.

“We are really excited about the young talent coming in this year,” Weeks said. “A lot of juniors led efforts from our team. That is good for any team that is competitive and makes a run. It starts with a really good junior class. The kids’ intensity this year is just at a different level. It’s really cool to see how hard they have been working and where they have come year to year.”

Captain and goalie Odin Sjoberg collected four clean sheets last season as a junior. He anchors the Warrior defense in net with a strong voice.

“I think we need a big voice in the back and Odin provides that,” Weeks said. “He has the athletic ability and it will be his second year at the varsity level. The goalies for that second year usually do a lot better. They know what to expect and they know the talent that’s around them.”

Seniors Owen Robertson and Cole Popp are also captains as the Warriors have eight seniors total.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

“Our captains are very different,” Weeks said. “Owen is a quiet leader and it’s been fun to see his progress — he’s been one of my favorite players for years. Cole Popp is a vocal leader who has a connectability aspect where he can connect with different kids. And I’ve coached Odin since he was seven-years-old, so it’s been fun to see him play and he is a fierce competitor. It’s fun to coach them all.”

The Warriors don’t know who all will play defensively in front of Sjoberg, but senior Alex Nacey is a candidate to lead the defensive unit.

“Defense is probably a big question mark of the year for us,” Weeks said. “We are still working through it, but Alex Nacey will be a big name that will be out there. We are trying different combinations right now, but he’s going to play a big spot for us.”

Robertson leads the group of talented midfielders. Sophomore Kai Halbersma and junior Max Spartz add depth to Brainerd’s midfielders.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

“We have so many midfielders it’s incredible,” Weeks said. “I love our midfield class. We’ve got kids that can play outside, inside and all sorts of stuff. Robertson is just a monster athlete and I can’t say enough nice things about him. He works hard every single day and he just gives you 100% every time. Kai will see some big minutes this season and will step into a big role. He’s been with us since his eighth grade year and has really grown. He is just a really competitive kid. Max Spartz is one of our Pequot Lakes kids and he is just a work horse. He works his butt off to be the best team player he can be.”

Offensively, the Warriors have changed formations slightly to hopefully put more balls in the back of the net. Junior Alex Paysse is a forward along with Popp and Andrew Loftstrom to hopefully score some goals. Paysse is also the backup goalie.

“Alex is one of those kids who is going to be an absolute talent for us,” Weeks said. “As a goalie he knows the secret code to scoring goals. One of the kids we have been most impressed with is Andrew Loftstrom. The kid is an absolute monster. He works so hard every time and there is no amount of skill that will beat him because of how much effort he puts in.”

Section 8-3A looks different this year with additions of Alexandria and Monticello and the departures of Sauk Rapids and Sartell. The Warriors open the season with three straight home games. The home opener is Thursday, Aug. 21, against Rogers.

“There should be no surprises this year,” Weeks said. “It’s the metro teams that you have to worry about. Buffalo is someone you have to worry about. St. Michael-Albertville has a strong squad. Throughout the whole section it is very competitive and there is no pushover game. Anyone can beat anyone and everyone is about the same. Anything is possible for this team. It’s just about how much they want it and how much leadership responsibility they take on.”

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

Warriors roster
Seniors: Caleb Borders, Wyatt Brown, Jonah Lake, Andrew Loftstrom, Alex Nacey, Owen Robertson, Odin Sjoberg, Cole Popp
Juniors: Preston Bernander, Brady Larson, Maxwell Spartz, Alex Paysse, Ace Schindler, Max Neptune, Markus Rustad, Kenden Smit, Isaac Boesen, Sam Webber, Harry Nysather
Sophomores: Kai Halbersma, Jonathan Desmond, Matthew Kunstleben, Landon Loftstrom, Sam Manecke, Grayson Roberts, Ryden Sample, Conner West
Freshmen: Tate Brooks, Nolan Ehalt, Krasten Heitkamp, Caden Johnson, Kyle Sandberg, Cavan Sparks, Rhys Gabrielson, Easton Sweet, Diego Mendzo

Warriors schedule
Thursday, Aug. 21: hosts Rogers, 4 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 23: hosts Hopkins, 5 p.m.
Aug. 26: hosts St. Cloud Apollo, 7 p.m.
Aug. 28: at Fergus Falls, 7 p.m.
Aug. 29: at Elk River, 11 a.m.
Sept. 4: hosts Sartell, 7 p.m.
Sept. 9: hosts Detroit Lakes, 7 p.m.
Sept. 11: at Alexandria, 7 p.m.
Sept. 13: hosts Buffalo, 4 p.m.
Sept. 16: hosts St. Cloud Tech, 7 p.m.
Sept. 18: at Sauk Rapids, 5 p.m.
Sept. 20: at Bemidji, noon
Sept. 23: hosts Willmar, 7 p.m.
Sept. 25: at Moorhead, 7 p.m.
Sept. 27: hosts St. Michael-Albertville, 11 a.m.
Sept. 30: at Rocori, 7 p.m.

Warrior boys soccer
Head coach: Nick Weeks, 2nd season
2024 finish: 4-2-3 in CLC, 4-9-3 overall
Assistant coaches: Chad Morlock (lead varsity assistant), Larry Zelenz (head jv coach), Shayla Burdow (goalies), Aden Davis (jv assistant)
Captains: Owen Robertson, Cole Popp, Odin Sjoberg

Little League Baseball should consider moving pitching mounds back to better protect players as pint-sized phenoms are hurling fastballs that clock more than 80 mph, advocates told Newsweek.

Lin Chin-Tse, a 12-year-old ace for Chinese Taipei, tossed consecutive 82 mph pitches against Mexico at the Little League World Series (LLWS) on August 14 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. With mounds just 46 feet away from the plate, that speed would be the equivalent of 107 mph in the major leagues, according to ESPN, where pitchers throw from more than 60 feet away.

The fastest MLB pitch ever recorded was 105.8 mph, tossed by Aroldis Chapman for the Cincinnati Reds in 2010.

John Engh, executive director of the National Alliance for Youth Sports, said LLWS officials should consider making the change as an added safeguard for the roughly two million boys and girls who play Little League worldwide.

“They’ve reacted in other ways,” Engh told Newsweek during an interview Wednesday. “When run production went way up because the fences got too short because of the technology of the bats, they moved the fences out. I do think it’s time to consider moving the mound a little bit back and maybe modifying the height of the mound.”

Engh said Little League officials should continue that proactive approach regarding the proposed change.

“I think they do a really good job with safety, but they’ve got to react to the things that are happening,” he said. “The kids are just working out more at younger ages and getting way stronger, and they’ve all got strength and speed coaches, so they’ve got to adapt. And they have in the past.”

“That’s way too fast for those kids,” Engh said. “The reality is the size difference between some 12-year-olds and others can be vast, especially when you talk about how these kids have a one-day age verification. So, some kids who turned 12 one day after the deadline versus a kid who is one day short of that deadline could be a huge difference in growth spurts.”

Engh noted how even some casual Little League fans notice the disparity in size among some young athletes.

“How many times have you seen somebody watching the Little League World Series and go, ‘This kid is 12, can you believe it?'” he said. “And they look at the other kid and he looks like he’s 8. That’s the other factor — there’s just a wide difference between body types, strength and other things.”

Little League Baseball officials did not immediately return a request seeking comment early Wednesday.

Shawn French, host of The Determined Society podcast and former LSU baseball player, balked at Engh’s proposal, insisting the current distance is appropriate.

“I’m not really for that,” French told Newsweek of the suggested shift. “If you look at this anomaly, this kid from Taiwan throwing that hard — it’s one of how many pitchers? And I think what it does is it gives the kids a challenge. When you’re that young, you don’t look at it as, ‘Wow, this is almost impossible.’ They get excited for the challenge. Taking that away could be potentially worse for the kids.”

But French acknowledged that getting struck in the head with a pitch going that fast, and from that distance, could be catastrophic for a child.

“My gut instinct is let them play, let them figure out the adversity standpoint,” French said. “But also, you start to blur the line — is there a potential safety risk there?”

Additional mandatory protective gear isn’t the answer for French, a former catcher who played in the College World Series in 2003.

“It could impede their vision at the plate and there’s nothing more dangerous than not having full vision in the batter’s box,” French said.

The long-term impact of throwing that hard at such a young age is also unclear, French added.

“There’s a lot of different training methods to gain velocity for the younger players, which does kind of scare me,” he said.

“Their arms and bodies are still underdeveloped; how much stress and how many miles can you put on that engine before their arm completely blows out when they’re in high school and then there’s no career. There’s a lot of things going on here.”

The Little League World Series remains underway in Pennsylvania, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday.

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Aug. 20, 2025) — A group of Fort Drum youths embarked on a whitewater rafting trip along the Black River on Aug. 19, as part of the Fort Drum Child and Youth Services’ Sports and Fitness Adventure Camp.

They learned how to properly wear safety equipment, basic paddling techniques, as well as the importance of working as a team.

“We need your cooperation and participation in today’s event, which means paddling together,” one of the guides instructed the kids. “The better you paddle together, the less you are going to have to paddle. But it’s going to be a workout.”

The voyage began quietly on calm waters as the children concentrated on working the paddles to the cadence of their guides. They roared with shock and laughter when their guide “surfed the rapid” – plunging the front end of the raft downward to give them all a face full of water.

“I was just scared at first because it felt like we were going to go underwater,” said Aleena Gonzales, 10. “When I saw the wave going over their heads, and I was like, ‘Is it going to come for me next?'”

It wasn’t the first thrill of the summer for Aleena, who also attended the first iteration of the Adventure Camp in July.

“I really like whitewater rafting,” she said. “It’s tiring, but it’s also really fun.”

Fellow rafter Ace Gage said he asked his parents to sign him up for the Adventure Camp so he could try something new.

“It was like hitting speed bumps in the car, but you get splashed every time you hit one,” he said. “It wasn’t hard, but this was definitely a workout.”

A summer of fun and adventure concludes this week for children participating in the 2025 CYS Sports and Fitness Summer Camps Program. From archery and golf, to pickleball, soccer and flag football, there were plenty of options to keep family members active before the new school year begins.

“We teach a lot of the fundamentals of the sport at each of the camps,” said Ed Malinowski, CYS Sports and Fitness assistant director. “But a big part of it is trying to make it fun, and that’s what I tell them on the very first day. At the end of each day, and at the end of the camp, my goal is that they enjoyed playing the sport so they want to keep playing.”

Moving from one sport to the next, week after week, requires a versatile and knowledgeable team of camp coaches.

“They do a great job preparing well in advance to make sure we are on track to have a well-run program,” said Michael D’Augustino, CYS Sports and Fitness director. “Our team also does a great job bonding with our youth, which helps the overall effectiveness of the program and makes it a better experience for everyone.”

This was the first summer camp season for Madi Staples, who started working as a CYS sports specialist last year.

“I grew up playing sports, and for my degree in physical education they taught us every single sport you could think of and how to play it,” she said. “They wanted us to be proficient in coaching, playing and teaching.”

Staples said they begin each camp with a broad lesson plan – to include warmups, drills and games – and then adjust based on age groups and experience levels.

“The older kids don’t require as much guidance then the younger kids,” she said. “You can give them a drill and they’ll do it on their own.”

In addition to traditional sport camps like archery and soccer, new ones such as pickleball and wrestling were added this summer.

Josh Herzig, CYS Sports and Fitness assistant director, has been coaching wrestling for many years and was excited to bring the sport into the summer camp program.

“We did this once before, maybe six years ago,” he said. “One of the reasons why we brought it back was we had a huge following this year for our winter wrestling program. The parents were really pushing for this to happen, so a lot of the kids were here for the summer camp.”

Dan Hanifin, with 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, volunteered to help coach the wrestling camp.

“I used to coach before I joined the Army, so I figured I could help out here and do some volunteer coaching,” he said.

It also gave him a chance to see his son Jacob develop his own wrestling skills.

“This is the first time we’ve been in a spot where he’s old enough to participate, which is great,” he said. “He did the winter wrestling program, and that’s how we met Coach Josh and Coach Nick (Huff). That program was a lot of fun – it had just the right amount of instruction and intensity for that age group – and he wanted to keep doing it this summer.”

Stephanie Stoltz registered her sons, Vincent and Raymond in wrestling … and golf, and gymnastics, and archery, and baseball.

“The camps are great, and they have really enjoyed the time playing sports,” she said. “It’s a good way to break up the summer days.”

Children also had the opportunity to join a fitness camp and gymnastics camp (see related story at www.dvidshub.net/news/545443/fort-drum-children-build-balance-confidence-with-cys-gymnastics).

D’Augustino said the summer sports camp program serves as a good introduction and learning opportunity for a variety of sports.

“Our mission is to serve the military community, and I think camps are a great way at meeting this goal,” he said. “Having a diverse offering of activities ensures we have something for everybody. In many of the camps we focus on the basics and teaching the skills to the youth. This will then hopefully blossom into them continuing the sports throughout the years.”

To learn more about the upcoming fall sports leagues, call (315) 772-6718, or visit https://drum.armymwr.com/programs/youth-sports-and-fitness-program and www.facebook.com/FortDrumYouthSports. The CYS Sports and Fitness Center is located in Bldg. 10790 on Chapel Drive.

By Bruce Sayler

Mentored by its third head coach in the four years of the program, the Butte High girls’ flag football entry looks to continue sport familiarity and improvement as the 2025 season approaches.
Former Whitehall head football coach John Stenson has taken over the Butte High girls’ program after having also coached tackle football for the East Middle School boys between a couple of respites from the rigors.
He followed Eric Zahler and Steve Shahan to the helm and inherited some good returnees to go with a promising turnout loaded with eager underclassmen.
The Bulldogs will hold their intrasquad scrimmage Friday at 2 p.m. at Naranche Stadium as Butte High unveils its fall sports programs to the public. The flag football team will launch its schedule on August 30 in a three-game jamboree at East Helena where the Bulldogs will square off against East Helena, Boulder and Three Forks. Their first home game is set for September 3 with tilts against Kalispell Flathead and Missoula Big Sky. Stenson added that the Butte High girls will play an exhibition on September 12 at halftime of the boys’ game with Kalispell Glacier at Naranche Stadium.
“I’ve coached quite a bit of football, but never flag,” Stenson, a Butte High teacher who played in the secondary of the Bulldogs’ 1991 state Class AA championship football team during his own prep days. “It’s been a challenge learning the rules and flag football being a lot football in everything from tackle football. There’s a lot to learn and I’ve really been enjoying it.”
The team’s enthusiasm was evident at the late Tuesday afternoon practice held in 90-degree heat on the George Paul Memorial Fields at Copper Mountain Sports Park. The Bulldogs have been using both the Copper Mountain site and Naranche Stadium for practices since last week when they officially began.
Stenson has had to play catchup and fast. He said he has watched some games on TV, but his first live flag football game he will likely see will be the first one he coaches on August 30.
“I love the game of football,” he said. “It is in my blood and I’ve always loved coaching. This is something different and something new. It’s fun to challenge yourself. This gets me back into coaching and into the school (activities), which I really enjoy.”
Stenson’s roster will likely have 25-30 girls by the time season starts as “27 or 28” have been taking part. The senior representation is small with only four on the team.
He has tried to make up for his and the team’s lack of experience by attending summer flag football camps.
“I saw a lot of schools at the camps and I learned a lot,” he said.
Blocking is more like screening with physical contact meant to be minimal, pass rushers are designated (two per play) and required to line up two yards off the line of scrimmage, and anyone on the field who isn’t an official is an eligible pass receiver, Stenson clicked off as some of the rules different from tackle football.
The coach said freshman Rylee Erickson is currently fronting the quarterback candidates with senior Allie Ballensky also expected to take some snaps. Junior McKenna Ketchum is also in the mix.
Offensive weapons include Charliee Richter, Jayda Gustafson and McKenzie Read. Stenson said Richter is No. 1 at running back while Gustafson and Read combine ballcarrying abilities with good receiving skills, and are strong defensive players.
Most positions are still being closely contested and the Friday scrimmage should help sort it all out.
“Our strength, I think, is energy,” Stenson said. “The girls have a lot of fun and are in high spirits. They love to learn. We had summer workouts and a lot of girls were there. They’re serious about, about wanting to do the job. A lot of the girls are wrestlers and I think flag football is a great fall sport for them.
“Also a strength is our group of freshmen and sophomores. And, we’ll still welcome more girls to come out. It is a great opportunity to be part of this team for years to come.”
The sport is not yet sanctioned by the Montana High School Association (MHSA), but work is going on to make such happen, possibly in the next couple of years, Stenson noted.
His assistant coaches are veteran mentors Mike McGurk, long an instructor in many Butte youth and school sports, and Josh Hettick, who has served recently as assistant girls’ wrestling coach at Butte High and as a coach in the youth softball league.
“They’re great guys and bring a lot of knowledge,” Stenson said. “They’re great to work with.”
Stenson said a varsity team and a junior varsity team will be formed. Fund-raisers are being planned as the flag football starter program grant from the NFL Atlanta Falcons has expired. It was in effect for three years to help the sport gain footing.
“I’d like the people to know we’re here and that the town will come out to support us,” the coach said.
Stenson expressed gratitude for the help his program has gotten and will continue to receive from Butte High head tackle football coach Arie Grey and Activities Director Travis Johnson.
“They’ve been helping us out a lot in getting it going,” Stenson said.
The flag football season is to end with the state tournament in Hamilton October 1-2.

Aug. 19, 2025

Bernalillo County, N.M. – Despite rigorous life-saving efforts, an inmate died Sunday at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC).

The individual who passed away, a 62-year-old male, was booked into MDC on Saturday morning at approximately 7:18 a.m. On Sunday, at approximately 9:12 p.m., he experienced a medical emergency, prompting a code to be called. MDC staff, alongside the UNM Hospital medical team, quickly responded, stabilized him, and transported him to the medical unit. Approximately 22 minutes later, the inmate experienced a second medical emergency. Life-saving measures were initiated, and an ambulance was dispatched to the facility at approximately 9:53 p.m. Albuquerque Ambulance arrived at MDC at approximately 10:08 p.m. Life-saving efforts continued until he was pronounced deceased by UNM Hospital staff at approximately 10:26 p.m. MDC is not currently identifying the inmate as next of kin notification has not yet occurred.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) was informed and responded to the scene. In accordance with standard procedures, the incident is under investigation by the MDC Office of Professional Standards and BCSO.

The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator will determine the official cause of death.