Rec Sports
Siegel vs. Blackman
Siegel’s Seleen Barrett (1) celebrates her touchdown against Blackman with Siegel’s Lyriq Lillard (5) during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal Siegel’s Seleen Barrett (1) carries the ball as Blackman’s Kloey Phillips (15) goes for her flag and Siegel’s Jaida Purvis (2) […]


Siegel’s Seleen Barrett (1) celebrates her touchdown against Blackman with Siegel’s Lyriq Lillard (5) during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s Seleen Barrett (1) carries the ball as Blackman’s Kloey Phillips (15) goes for her flag and Siegel’s Jaida Purvis (2) moves in to help during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s quarterback Carsen Bigelow (0) scrambles with the ball during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game against Blackman at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Raighan Buchanan (11) looks to passes the ball as Siegel’s Mac Ventura (23) moves in to take her flag and Blackman’s quarterback Jordan Krise (9) tries to block her during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Adyson Moore (25) carries the ball as Siegel’s Kylee Rudd (27) goes after her flags during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s Seleen Barrett (1) runs the ball in for a touchdown as Blackman’s Adyson Moore (25) tries to grab her flag during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Christian Griffin (35) carries the ball while trying to avoid Siegel’s Jaida Purvis (2) as she is surrounded by while she is surrounded by Siegel’s Averi Magree (15) and Siegel’s Mac Ventura (23) during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s quarterback Carsen Bigelow (0) passes the ball as Blackman’s Samara Schroeder (14) puts on the pressure as Siegel’s Lyriq Lillard (5) looks on during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Makia Rosado (6) carries the ball during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game against Siegel at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Raighan Buchanan (11) passes the ball as Blackman’s quarterback Jordan Krise (9) blocks Siegel’s Lyriq Lillard (5) from getting to her during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s Seleen Barrett (1) runs the ball in for a touchdown as Blackman’s Kyndall Whiteside (2) tries to grab her flag during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s Nori Akers (7) celebrates her touchdown against Blackman after intercepting the ball during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, as Siegel’s Athletic Director Greg Wyant celebrates in the background.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s quarterback Carsen Bigelow (0) runs the ball in for an extra point as Blackman’s Eliana Robles (1) tries to remove her flag and Blackman’s Kyndall Whiteside (2) looks on during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Raighan Buchanan (11) hands the ball off to Blackman’s Christian Griffin (35) during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s Aubry Carroll (26) catches a pass and carries the ball as Blackman’s Jonna Patterson (21) moves in to catch up with her during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s Nori Akers (7) intercepts the ball and runs it in for a touchdown as Blackman’s quarterback Jordan Krise (9) trie to catch her during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Raighan Buchanan (11) passes the ball as Siegel’s Mac Ventura (23) covers her during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s Nori Akers (7) celebrates her touchdown against Blackman after intercepting the ball with teammates Siegel’s Mac Ventura (23), Siegel’s Kylee Rudd (27) and Siegel’s MD Graham (6) during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Adyson Moore (25) misses a a pass Siegel’s Kylee Rudd (27) misses an interception during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s quarterback Carsen Bigelow (0) passes the ball as Blackman’s Samara Schroeder (14) puts on the pressure during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Adyson Moore (25) carries the ball as Siegel’s Kylee Rudd (27) goes after her flags during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s quarterback Carsen Bigelow (0) passes the ball during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game against Blackman at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Adyson Moore (25) carries the ball as Siegel’s Kylee Rudd (27) goes after her flags during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s quarterback Carsen Bigelow (0) grabs a snap during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game against Blackman at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Blackman’s Adyson Moore (25) intercepts the ball out of bounds that was called back during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game against Siegel at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal

Siegel’s quarterback Carsen Bigelow (0) scrambles as she looks for a receiver during the Rutherford County Flag Football Championship game against Blackman at Blackman, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal
Rec Sports
Frederick (Fritz) Crang – The Santa Barbara Independent
Frederick (Fritz) Crang passed Away peacefully at the age of 90 on April 27th, 2025. He was born Apr 24th, 1935 in a small farm town Clinton, Illinois. He grew upraising cows, bailing hay, and playing sports for Clinton HS. He then went on to college at Illinois U, did some time in the military, […]

Frederick (Fritz) Crang passed Away peacefully at the age of 90 on April 27th, 2025. He was born Apr 24th, 1935 in a small farm town Clinton, Illinois. He grew upraising cows, bailing hay, and playing sports for Clinton HS. He then went on to college at Illinois U, did some time in the military, and quickly headed west to CA to lay his roots. He met his first wife Marilyn skiingin Tahoe and upon getting a job with South Coast Business Machines they settled in Santa Barbara in the early 60’s where he resided the rest of his life. Fritz became active in the local Rotary club and helped start the local YFL. He had a passion for youth sports and coached many teams in town. He was a constant tinkerer who built many things in his woodshop for others. He later went on to work for Capital Hardware where he sold and loaded lumber for many years until his retirement. Later in life on a trip to Italy he met his 2nd wife, Anna. They were married for 26 years until his passing. Fritz will be remembered as a loving dad during his younger years, someone with a gift for gab, and a penchant for mischief. He is survived by his loving wife Anna. His daughter Stephanie, her husband Doug and their childrenTerra and Noah. His son Wade,his wife Jill, and their children Alana, Camryn, and Mason.
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Rec Sports
Pa. Senate passes sports ban for trans women and girls
May 6, 2025 | 8:16 PM Five Democrats joined all 27 Republicans to send the bill to the Pa. House. Both House Democratic leadership and Gov. Josh Shapiro opposes the bill. Jordan Wilkie/WITF As the democracy reporter for WITF, I will cover any kind of story […]

Five Democrats joined all 27 Republicans to send the bill to the Pa. House. Both House Democratic leadership and Gov. Josh Shapiro opposes the bill.
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Jordan Wilkie/WITF

Jelani Splawn / For Spotlight PA
“Over the past half-century, we have fought to protect athletic opportunities for female students,” state Sen. Judy Ward (R., Blair), one of the main sponsors of the legislation, said at a rally in early June. “And now these opportunities are in jeopardy.”
After an hour-and-a-half of heated debate, the Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to ban transgender women and girls from joining women’s and girls’ sports teams. Five Democrats, including newly sworn in Lancaster County Sen. James Malone, joined all 27 Republicans in voting for it.
The legislation, titled Save Women’s Sports Act, would govern child athletics in K-12 public schools and Pennsylvania colleges.
Republicans advocating for the bill said it was about protecting the advancement of women’s equality and the guarantees of equality under Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.
The bill defines a person’s “sex” by what they were assigned at birth — strictly male or female, with no consideration for gender.
“We cannot allow the opportunities that Title IX enshrined for women to be lost,” Judy Ward, R-Blair County, said after the vote. “With our passage of the Save Women’s Sports Act today, my Senate colleagues and I showed that they will defend women and their right to safe and fair competition.”
Democratic senators opposing the bill said it could result in harm to transgender children and young adults, and that Republicans were engaging in political theater rather than constructive legislation.
What “transgender” means: The Associated Press defines transgender as an adjective that “Describes people whose gender does not match the one usually associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.”
“This is not governance,” said Sen. Maria Collett, D-Montgomery County, during floor debate. “It is a failure to lead, and it is another example of the majority’s unwillingness to admit that the only answer they have for people looking to build a better future here is ‘no.’”
Democrats have opposed the proposal since it was introduced, and it’s almost certainly dead on arrival in the Democratic-led House of Representatives. Gov. Josh Shapiro has also stated he would veto the bill.
Sen. Lisa Boscola of Lehigh County, the only Democrat who voted for the bill to speak during debate, said the issue of transgender people’s participation in sports would not go away until the Legislature “creates a policy that works for all involved.” She suggested creating a third category of competition that would allow athletes of any gender identity to compete against each other.
Claims of harm to girls and women
Republican senators argued that allowing trans girls or women to participate in girls’ or women’s sports cause harm by reducing opportunities for other girls to win medals, and by potentially subjecting other girls to injury.
Defining “trans girls or women”: A person who is assigned male at birth and transitions to align with their identity as a girl or woman is a transgender girl or woman.
During the debate, Republican senators repeatedly referred to trans girls or women as “biological males,” a phrase sometimes used by opponents of transgender rights to portray sex as more simplistic than scientists assert, and to downplay the significance of gender and how it differs from sex.
“ It is a fact that girls and women have been physically injured by boys and men competing on a female team,” said Sen. Lynda Culver, R-Montour County, referring to trans girls and women. “It is a fact that girls and women have lost records, medals, titles to boys and men competing on a female team.”
In opposition to the bill, Sen. Steven Santarsiero, D-Bucks County, said a tiny number of athletes in the country are transgender.
Of roughly 500,000 athletes who compete in the NCAA, fewer than 10 are transgender, according to NCAA President Charlie Baker. There is no clear information on how many transgender youth play sports in Pennsylvania’s public schools. Approximately 1.3% of Pennsylvania’s 12- to 17-year-olds identify as transgender, or about 10,000 children, according to research from UCLA’s Williams Institute. As a national average, four out of 10 transgender highschoolers participate in sports.
One of President Donald Trump’s first actions during his return to the White House in January was to sign an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” similarly barring transgender women and girls from participating in competitive sports.
The NCAA Board of Governors updated the organization’s policy in early February to comply with Trump’s orders. Soon after, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, which oversees public and private schools’ athletic competitions in the state, removed its “Transgender Policy” from its manual to follow suit.
Research on harm to transgender people
In their floor statements, Democrats who opposed the bill described harms to transgender people, beyond a ban on participation in sports. Passing the bill sends a bullying message to all trans people, Santarsiero said.
“ That’s the message that gets sent, and it’s a message that can do real harm to people who are struggling for acceptance, struggling for love and compassion,” he said.
Democrats referenced a study by The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization that focuses on LGBTQ+ youth, that showed state-level anti-transgender laws increase suicide attempts among transgender teenagers by a “statistically significant amount,” though the study found a wide rage of potential impact.
“ I cannot support legislation that would possibly cause harm to any Pennsylvanian and certainly not someone of a vulnerable population,” said Sen. Katie Muth, D-Berks.
Malone splits from Dems
Malone faced pushback from his supporters after he said in a virtual forum last month that he planned to support the bill. The Elizabethtown Democratic Committee posted to social media urging Malone to change his mind, while activist group Lancaster Stands Up did the same in a statement.
After Malone voted for the bill Tuesday, his spokesperson declined to comment.
Lancaster County’s Democratic state representatives, Izzy Smith-Wade-El and Nikki Rivera, both called the bill discriminatory against transgender people. Neither directly criticized Malone’s decision, with Rivera saying she is “only responsible for how I vote.”
The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.
Rec Sports
Sliding mitts are baseball’s ‘must-have,’ even if at youth levels, they’re all fashion, no function
Safety and self-expression Former major leaguer Scott Podsednik (career stolen base total: 309) is credited with ”inventing” the sliding mitt during the late stages of his 11-year career. Tired of having his hand stepped on, Podsednik worked with a hand therapist for a solution. The initial mitts were relatively simple. A 2009 picture of Podsednik […]

Safety and self-expression
Former major leaguer Scott Podsednik (career stolen base total: 309) is credited with ”inventing” the sliding mitt during the late stages of his 11-year career.
Tired of having his hand stepped on, Podsednik worked with a hand therapist for a solution. The initial mitts were relatively simple. A 2009 picture of Podsednik sliding into second base shows his left hand covered in what looks like a padded modified batting glove, all wrapped in black to match the trim on his Chicago White Sox uniform.
Things have gotten considerably more intricate over the years. Google ”sliding mitt designs” and you’ll find themes ranging from the American flag to an ice cream cone to aliens to a poop emoji ( yes, really ).
Scott McMillen, a lawyer in the Chicago area, had no plans to get into the baseball accessory business. He first took notice of sliding mitts when his son Braydon, then 10, pointed out one of his teammates had one and said basically, ”Oh hey dad, wouldn’t it be nice if I had one, too.”
They headed to a local sporting goods store, where McMillen was surprised at the variety available.
Rec Sports
Dick’s Sporting Goods Leads Investment in Unrivaled Sports
Dick’s Sporting Goods announced Tuesday (May 6) that it led a $120 million strategic investment in Unrivaled Sports through its corporate venture arm, DSG Ventures. The funding round also included Dynasty Equity, LionTree, Miller Sports & Entertainment, and founding investor The Chernin Group. The Chernin Group incubated Unrivaled in early 2024 and remains its largest […]

Dick’s Sporting Goods announced Tuesday (May 6) that it led a $120 million strategic investment in Unrivaled Sports through its corporate venture arm, DSG Ventures.
The funding round also included Dynasty Equity, LionTree, Miller Sports & Entertainment, and founding investor The Chernin Group. The Chernin Group incubated Unrivaled in early 2024 and remains its largest institutional shareholder. Dick’s now holds a minority stake in the company.
Unrivaled launched in 2024 with $40 million in early funding from The Chernin Group, alongside support from RedBird IMI and sports investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer, according to Variety. With the new $120 million raise, the company has secured $160 million in total capital to date.
Unrivaled operates youth-focused sports properties across 30 U.S. states, serving more than 600,000 athletes annually. Its portfolio includes Cooperstown All Star Village, Ripken Baseball Experiences, and Under the Lights Flag Football.
The investment will, in part, fund national programming expansion, facility upgrades and new marquee events. These include the Unrivaled Flag High School Girls Nationals and the NFL Flag Championship, both slated for the company’s ForeverLawn Sports Complex in Canton, Ohio.
Dick’s said the investment supports its broader goal to increase access to youth sports. The retailer already owns GameChanger, a youth sports streaming and analytics app expected to generate $100 million in revenue this year, Bloomberg reported.
“This investment accelerates our shared mission of creating the most accessible and inspiring youth sports experiences across the country,” said Unrivaled CEO Andy Campion.
The move reflects a broader trend in sporting goods retail: investing directly in experiential platforms to build long-term brand loyalty and engagement.
Dick’s is the largest sporting goods retailer in the U.S. by revenue and operates more than 850 stores. The Unrivaled deal expands its digital and physical footprint in the youth sports space.
For more on strategic investments and digital-first growth in consumer engagement, visit PYMNTS Intelligence.
Rec Sports
Sports take: Trump administration threatens future of funding for brain injury patients, research
By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer A recent request from the Trump Administration has put high school and youth sports in jeopardy. The administration’s 2026 fiscal budget request sent to Congress proposes eliminating funding for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and education. While this would detrimentally impact the medical field directly, the significance lies in […]

By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
A recent request from the Trump Administration has put high school and youth sports in jeopardy. The administration’s 2026 fiscal budget request sent to Congress proposes eliminating funding for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and education.
While this would detrimentally impact the medical field directly, the significance lies in addressing head injuries in sports among young athletes.
“Each year, between 1.6 and 3.8 million concussions occur in the United States as a result of sports or recreational activities,” according to an article published by the National Library of Medicine. “Concussion is a type of mild traumatic brain injury.”
The proposed budget was released on Friday and includes funding cuts for traumatic brain injury research within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This would mean withdrawing the $8.25 million that was previously funding TBI research within the CDC and public education on the dangers of concussions. In addition to the money going directly to TBI research, the administration is also considering cutting $3.59 billion for CDC funding.
While this would initially impact high school and youth sports, the repercussions of this change would also cause immense problems for college athletics.
Here’s the good news: although Trump proposed this, Congress still has to approve the final budget; however, the fact that this is being considered is highly concerning. Concussions and head trauma are a considerable factor affecting all of athletics, and jeopardizing funding for that is putting young adults and youth at risk.
To further deepen the issue, cutting funding would also affect concussion-prevention programs as well as employees working in the area of head trauma research at the CDC.
Patients with brain trauma often require ongoing treatment, and eliminating funding would mean stopping services that those patients need to continue functioning in life and facilitate recovery.
For people who have experienced brain injuries, there is often no permanent solution, and this request would mean leaving someone with a lifetime problem with no help.
A concussion-prevention program called “Heads Up” is already having a significant impact. The program was created for athletic trainers, youth and high school coaches and other sports officials. The CDC workers who ran the program were put on leave, leaving the forty-five states that utilized the program empty-handed.
“A pause in federal funding would disrupt many brain injury programs throughout the country and would directly impact brain injury survivors and the healthcare professionals providing treatment and support,” Rick Willis, president and CEO of BIAA, said. “Survivors of brain injury face so many obstacles in their day-to-day life, and many require ongoing support and services. Suddenly stopping programs that many of them rely on is inexcusable, especially with no warning.”
Ultimately, this request comes with a multitude of problems that would create a domino effect of chaos for both government workers and people affected by head injuries. Research would be significantly hindered, and athletic programs across the country would suffer immensely due to the lack of resources and information the cut would cause.
Rec Sports
Hotels approve funding for youth sports facility coming to Kalamazoo
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Youth sports have long been a significant aspect of life in Kalamazoo, enriching both the lives of local children and the area’s economy. In a move poised to further boost these benefits, a new youth sports facility is expected to soon begin development, after getting the approval of funding last month. WXMI […]

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Youth sports have long been a significant aspect of life in Kalamazoo, enriching both the lives of local children and the area’s economy.
In a move poised to further boost these benefits, a new youth sports facility is expected to soon begin development, after getting the approval of funding last month.

WXMI
A variety of sports activities, including volleyball, play a pivotal role in helping kids develop essential life skills. Annemarie Boarman, general manager at Next Level Sports, also known as “The Dome,” emphasizes the importance of sports in fostering interpersonal communication.
“I mean, you see kids that are really disengaged, they don’t know how to communicate as well anymore. So I feel like sports is a place where they can get back to having kind of that presence with people in person again,” Boarman said.
Brian Persky, director of business development at Discover Kalamazoo, highlights the profound economic impact of sports tourism. “Just to give you an idea, like, all of our sports tourism business that we do in a year is about a $30 million economic impact on the community. That’s about 50 to 60 events per year,” Persky explains.
The new 150,000-square-foot youth sports facility is projected to almost double that impact, reaching approximately $48 million annually.
Funding for the facility received a boost last month when a 4% tax assessment was approved by 34 hotels in Kalamazoo. This initiative is viewed positively by Erika Regner, director of sales at Delta Hotels.

WXMI
“We see a lot of sports, but we see a lot of hockey, we see a lot of skating, we see a lot of wrestling, and that’s about it. A lot of our families are traveling out of the area to go to teams or go to places to compete against teams that are from the area. And that’s just a huge loss of revenue for the city and for us,” Regner said.
Local basketball coach and alumni coordinator Donte Hudson from The Kalamazoo Promise expresses optimism about the potential benefits for local youth. “Having a facility like this would just give us the opportunity to touch more lives, reach out to more kids, and extend our reach to other areas, and not just Kalamazoo,” Hudson said.

WXMI
Hudson sees the facility as a means to create opportunities for children through sports.
“We foster relationships with them through basketball. So we want to see all of them succeed, and having a sports facility like this will just give everybody, like a hub or, you know, just that safe space to have these conversations and impact these lives,” he added.
There are currently three potential sites in consideration for the new facility, with a decision expected by early June, with the facility projected to be open by 2027.
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