Sliding mitts a ‘must-have,’ even if they’re all fashion, no function
By WILL GRAVES, AP National Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andrew McCutchen hasn’t had the conversation with 7-year-old son Steel yet, but the Pittsburgh Pirates star knows it’s probably coming at some point. Steel, already playing in a youth baseball league, will probably come home at one point and ask his five-time All-Star father if he […]
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andrew McCutchen hasn’t had the conversation with 7-year-old son Steel yet, but the Pittsburgh Pirates star knows it’s probably coming at some point.
Steel, already playing in a youth baseball league, will probably come home at one point and ask his five-time All-Star father if he can have whatever hot item his teammates might be wearing during a given spring.
McCutchen plans to accommodate Steel up to a point. The oldest of McCutchen’s four children is already rocking an arm sleeve, just the way dad does.
Yet if Steel is hoping his father will spring for a sliding mitt — a padded glove a player can slip over one of their hands to protect it should the hand get stepped on while diving headfirst for a base — he probably shouldn’t get his hopes up.
McCutchen, who has stolen 220 bases at the major league level, has never worn one. And he’s quick to point out the next time the cleat of a fielder mashes his hand will also be the first.
Still, the 38-year-old understands. Once upon a time, he was a 20-something who epitomized baseball cool, from his dreadlocks (long since shorn) to his goatee to his rope chain to the occasional skull cap he wore underneath his batting helmet, all of it designed to accentuate McCutchen’s innate blend of talent and charisma.
“It’s all about the drip,” McCutchen said with a smile.
Even if the “drip” (Gen Z slang for stylish clothes and their accessories) emphasizes fashion over function, particularly when it comes to the gloves — which look a bit like oven mitts — that are becoming just as ubiquitous in the Little Leagues as they are in the major leagues.
FILE – Chicago White Sox’s Scott Podsednik steals second base during a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians, June 29, 2009, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)
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.
That was around 2021. By early 2024, McMillen had launched “ Goat’d,” a specialty baseball accessory company with everything from sliding mitts to batting gloves to arm sleeves to headbands and more, many of them religiously inspired.
Sales during their first full year? Over 1 million units.
“We were surprised at how large the marketplace is,” McMillen said.
Maybe he shouldn’t have been.
The pressure to keep up
Here’s the thing: In most — if not all — youth baseball leagues, headfirst slides that would require a player to stretch out their hand to secure the bag are illegal.
In Little League, for example, stealing bases for players 12 and under is rare because the player can take off only after the ball has reached the batter. And even if they do bolt for the next base, they have to slide feetfirst. The only times in Little League that a baserunner can dive headfirst toward a base is when they are returning to it while in a rundown or during a pickoff attempt, both of which are also rare.
That doesn’t stop the players from wanting a sliding mitt. It also doesn’t stop their parents from buying them, all part of the pressure to “keep up with the Jones” that has practically been a part of youth sports culture since the first time somebody came to practice with a batting glove or wristbands.
It’s a phenomenon Chelsea Cahill and her family has known for years. The longtime educator who lives just east of Columbus, Ohio, has spent most of the last decade shuttling her three boys from practice to games to tournaments.
What she and her husband have learned over the years is that some trends come and go, but the pressure to have the right stuff remains.
“There’s always that feeling of ‘This is the next new thing’ or ‘This is what you’ve got to get,’” Cahill said.
They appeased their sons up to a point, but only up to a point.
Last summer their youngest son Braxton, then 11, and the rest of the kids on his travel team kept pestering their parents to buy sliding mitts. Entering the final tournament, the team moms decided to give in.
Sort of.
Rather than plop down that kind of money for something they didn’t actually need, the moms headed to a local dollar store and bought them actual oven mitts — the kind used to pull tonight’s dinner from out of the oven. Average retail price? Less than a cup of coffee at the gas station.
Oh, and the kids loved them, and wore them during the game. Cahill posted video of them playing with the mitts stuck in their back pocket to her TikTok account. The video is now at 12 million views and counting.
“They thought it was hilarious, but we didn’t really think they would wear them for the rest of the tournament,” Cahill said. “We were wrong. They really embraced it!”
Among viewers of that TikTok, by the way, were the people at Goat’d, who sent Braxton a couple of mitts as a result.
The good news is, Cahill now won’t have to buy one for Braxton this spring. Yet there’s also something else she has learned through the years: This time in her boys’ lives is fleeting.
For proof, just look at her calendar. Her two older sons — the ones who played travel baseball just like Braxton, and asked for all the cool stuff their teammates had, just like Braxton has — gave up baseball by the time they got to high school.
Her advice to parents who might be feeling the financial pinch of what it takes to play these days: Relax.
“We’ve learned as parents is to stop taking it so seriously,” she said. “They’re kids. Let them have fun.”
San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr., left, scores before Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart can apply the tag on a wild pitch by pitcher David Bednar during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
The reality
A day after hundreds of members of the Monroeville Baseball and Softball Association marched through the Pittsburgh suburb’s well-appointed community park, the regular season is in full swing.
All four fields are alive with the chatter of coaches, parents and boys and girls aged anywhere from 5-12.
Over on Field 1, the Rays are in the middle of their season opener. Playing first base, Josiah Jones has his glove at the ready, with a black sliding mitt noticeably sticking out of his left back pocket.
Per the league rules, the Rays and the other players at the “Bronco” level (ages 11-12), play actual full-on baseball. They can take leads and steal bases whenever they like, though headfirst slides are only allowed when returning to a base, just like in Little League.
Longtime MBSA executive commissioner Josh Plassmeyer is milling about, trying to keep tabs on everything. Plassmeyer outlawed sliding mitts on his son Grant’s 10-and-under tournament team, calling them a “distraction” because players would spend so much time fiddling with them once they got to first base, they would miss signs from the third-base coach.
About 50 feet away, Jones settles into the box and rips a ball to left-center field. His long legs carry him past first base, and he cruises into second with an easy double.
As his teammates erupted in the dugout, Jones beamed for a brief moment. Then, as the opposing pitcher stepped onto the rubber, he took an aggressive lead off second and eyed third.
His back pocket, the one where his sliding mitt had been 30 minutes before, was empty.
Ayla McDowell’s path to South Carolina women’s basketball, Dawn Staley
COLUMBIA — When Ayla McDowell was a freshman, Taneisha Rogers, her basketball coach at Cypress Springs High School in Texas, sent a text message. It was to South Carolina women’s basketball associate head coach Lisa Boyer. “I don’t know where you are with recruiting the class of 2025, but you need to come see this […]
COLUMBIA — When Ayla McDowell was a freshman, Taneisha Rogers, her basketball coach at Cypress Springs High School in Texas, sent a text message.
It was to South Carolina women’s basketball associate head coach Lisa Boyer.
“I don’t know where you are with recruiting the class of 2025, but you need to come see this kid,” Rogers wrote.
Though Rodgers was putting her freshman’s name on coach Dawn Staley’s radar, it was still early.
“I knew she wasn’t there yet,” Rogers told The Greenville News. “I didn’t see her playing at that level yet, but I knew the player that she was going to be just because of her work ethic.”
In many ways, Rogers’ early read was accurate.
McDowell, now a 6-foot-2 small forward/wing, learned that some college coaches were questioning her ability to defend and to shoot 3-pointers.
She began waking up Rogers at 5 a.m. for gym sessions before school and wouldn’t leave the court until she made 20 consecutive free throws or shot above 50% from certain spots on the 3-point line.
“If she didn’t really perform how she wanted to perform the game or workout before, she would keep that in her mind,” Rogers said. “She’d take that into her next workout to try to perfect or to be better at it than the day before.”
Year after year, McDowell worked. She aimed to become a product too shiny to turn down, and one that ultimately, a coach as successful as Staley would want to sign.
Rodgers believes what McDowell did at the 2024 Nike Nationals, which is the championship tournament for the Nike Girls Elite Youth Basketball League, changed everything.
For four days, Staley and her staff sat inches from the sideline in the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago to watch some of the best girls high school basketball.
“Sitting front row, kind of taking note of the way that she developed, I don’t think that she was on their radar,” Rodgers said. “(McDowell) really just kind of took her game to the next level. She played in ways that I don’t think, you know, many people knew that she could play.”
McDowell visited South Carolina on Oct. 5 and despite witnessing the football team lose 27-3 to Ole Miss, she shut down her recruitment right after.
She announced her commitment by revealing a Gamecocks T-shirt under her jacket on Nov. 13, becoming the first signee in the class of 2025 for Staley.
In some ways, Dawn Staley has a veteran in freshman Ayla McDowell
Staley admitted in March that when things go wrong, she blames the point guard. One of the greatest ever to play the position, Staley understands the intricacies and the ripple effects it has on the four other players.
Vocal criticism and blame can be a polarizing coaching method. Some embrace the challenge; others don’t.
Though she isn’t a point guard, Rodgers wanted McDowell’s vocal leadership to grow, so two seasons ago she gave her a challenge.
“Everything that went wrong in practice was her fault, and I told her that,” Rodgers said.
Ranging from turnovers or a dress code issue, it was McDowell’s fault.
“That made her kind of take a more vocal approach to being a leader,” Rodgers said. “I think that along with her natural God-given talent it’s gonna help her be ready for the next level. I think she’ll be an immediate impact.”
2026: South Carolina, Dawn Staley host Saniyah Hall, No. 1 recruit in 2026 class, for an official visit
What makes Rodgers so confident in McDowell is not a short list. She’s witnessed her work ethic firsthand and understands McDowell just wants to impact the game. Whether that be cheering from the bench, providing 15 points or just five rebounds, she’ll be a freshman who is willing to be flexible yet effective in her role.
Heading into the 2025-26 season, Staley must replace three starters but brings in McDowell along with wing Agot Makeer and transfers in point guard Ta’Niya Latson and center Madina Okot. McDowell’s minutes and specific role could change game to game, and it’s unclear how Staley will utilize her, but regardless of how she does, Rogers expects her to challenge the other team.
“She’s just an elite-level wing who can score at all three levels,” Rodgers said. “So it’s extremely hard to scout what she does, because she can kind of play all over the floor.”
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
AJ Williams Ascent To Basketball Stardom Continues
The accolades continue for the No. 2 player in the nation AJ Williams. Just a few weeks ago, Williams was named to ESPN’s 2028 top 25 rankings by basketball analyst Paul Biancardi. Since being ranked, he has picked up several notable camp invites to high-stakes camps that have some of the best basketball players from […]
The accolades continue for the No. 2 player in the nation AJ Williams.
Just a few weeks ago, Williams was named to ESPN’s 2028 top 25 rankings by basketball analyst Paul Biancardi.
Since being ranked, he has picked up several notable camp invites to high-stakes camps that have some of the best basketball players from all over the country participating. Williams was invited to the FIBA Americas Training Camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 22nd-24th and the U16 FIBA Americup Championship on June 2nd-8th (Argentina). He was also invited to the Nike Elite 100 camp.
Williams is currently running with the flagship program, the Georgia Stars, on the AAU circuit and continues to establish himself as a noteworthy player. He already has several notable performances, including scoring 30 points in an On The Radar Hoops circuit. He was also named a standout in the Nike EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League) Session 1 tournament in Indianapolis.
When you watch his game, you see a 6’7 athletic wing that can score from anywhere on the floor. He can create space with elite ball handling and also knock down tough contested shots. Just when you least expect it, he will come into the lane and throw it down on you. His athleticism is off the charts, but he is not reliant on it and makes you pay in other ways, showcasing his versatile skillset.
So many young players fall victim to only being offensive stars, but that is not the case with Williams. He is a great on-ball defender and a pest who jarres the ball loose, leading to easy scoring opportunities on the other end. He prides his game on the defensive end to Kawhi Leonard and on the offensive end to Jayson Tatum, he said in an interview with Pro Insight. To be so young, he already has a deep bag that is only growing every day.
This past season on the hardwood for Dutchtown, he was named Region 3-5A Co-Player of the Year. He didn’t waste any time letting people know how good he was, averaging 18.4 PPG and 12.5 rebounds early on to start his prep career. He has continued to churn out memorable performances on the court and is cementing himself as the next elite prospect.
The Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival—hailed as the largest Juneteenth celebration in the DMV—is back for its third year, offering a week of music, cultural events, youth activities, and family fun. Organized to honor and support historic Black communities across the region, the festival will take place June 15-19 in Potomac. Tickets are now available for […]
The Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival—hailed as the largest Juneteenth celebration in the DMV—is back for its third year, offering a week of music, cultural events, youth activities, and family fun.
Organized to honor and support historic Black communities across the region, the festival will take place June 15-19 in Potomac. Tickets are now available for several events, with many offerings free to the public.
Week of Events
Interfaith & Father’s Day Brunch
The festival kicks off with an Interfaith & Father’s Day Brunch on Sunday, June 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lakewood Country Club. Dr. John Paul McGee will deliver the keynote sermon, accompanied by a performance from the Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church Choir. Tickets are $65.
Youth Sports Clinics – Free Admission
Empowering the next generation is a key focus of the festival, which includes free youth sports clinics throughout the week:
Dance & Cheer Clinic with the Washington Commanders Entertainment Team: Monday, June 16, 6–8 p.m., Cabin John Middle School Gym. Reserve a spot.
Basketball Clinic led by Coach Eric Smith: Tuesday, June 17, 6–8 p.m., Cabin John Middle School courts. Reserve a spot.
Football Clinic hosted by Club 480 and the Churchill Bulldogs: Wednesday, June 18, 6–8 p.m., Winston Churchill High School Stadium. Reserve a spot.
Spots are limited; advance registration is required.
Juneteenth 5K Road Race & 1-Mile Family Walk
The annual race invites runners and walkers of all ages to celebrate along 7 Locks Road, passing the historic Black community of Scotland. The event begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday, June 19, at Bells Mill Elementary School. 5K registration is $33; the family walk is $23. Register.
Family Carnival and Parade – Free with Ticket
The festival’s grand finale, a Family Carnival, features live performances, a parade with marching bands, carnival rides, games, crafts, a petting zoo, face painting, and food trucks.
Admission to the park is free, but attraction tickets are required. Tickets are free through June 1 and $5 per person after. Register.
How to Participate
Visit Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival’s website to reserve or purchase tickets, register for events, and learn more about the full schedule.
The festival’s theme—Celebrate Community, Honor Culture, Embrace Freedom—reflects its mission to bring people together in joy, remembrance, and unity.
Memphis sports bar shut down, deemed nuisance | News
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis Police shut down a sports bar Wednesday morning, deeming it a nuisance, and arrested its manager. Memphis Mayor Paul Young, Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis, and other city leaders spoke to reporters outside of Infiniti Sports Bar & Grill on North Watkins Road and announced the closure just after 11:30 a.m. […]
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis Police shut down a sports bar Wednesday morning, deeming it a nuisance, and arrested its manager.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young, Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis, and other city leaders spoke to reporters outside of Infiniti Sports Bar & Grill on North Watkins Road and announced the closure just after 11:30 a.m. on May 14.
Mayor Young called the venue and similar nuisances across the city “hubs of violence.” Young said the bar has been “harboring criminal activity for quite a while now.”
Chief Davis called the bar, known as Club Infiniti, a hot spot for criminal activity. Throughout the first five months of 2025, Davis said MPD responded to 26 calls at the bar, including four homicides. One of those homicides was the first of the year recorded in Memphis. Over the past year, MPD said officers have responded to 264 calls for service within a one-tenth-mile radius of the business. Fourteen of those calls involved violent crimes, police said. Chief Davis also said that, within the past two years, MPD has responded to 93 calls at the bar itself, including homicides, shots fired, armed parties and more.
RELATED: MPD releases photos of suspect wanted in Frayser sports bar shooting that killed 2, injured 3 others
Most recently, two people were killed and three others injured in a shooting at the venue. That mass shooting occurred less than a week before authorities closed it as a nuisance. CrimeStoppers is offering a $4,000 reward for anyone who has information on the person or people responsible for that shooting.
“A little over a week ago there was a mass shooting at this location. But the investigation that MPD did confirmed that that was not by any means an isolated incident,” said Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy.
MPD said the club’s manager, 57-year-old John Curry, was storing and selling liquor without a license. Police charged Curry with possession of unstamped liquor over three gallons, unlawful sale of alcoholic beverages, storage of liquor for sale, dispensing alcoholic beverages without a license, and driving while license suspended or revoked.
Davis said other closings could be on the horizon.
“This is not a one-and-done,” Davis said. “There are other properties on our radar, and more actions are coming. Every business owner in this city has a choice: be part of the solution or be held accountable.”
Both Young and Davis thanked State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, who recently passed legislation to expedite nuisance closures. That legislation goes into effect in July.
“When we shut down nuisance businesses, it removes the gathering places for criminal activities and sends a strong message to other irresponsible property and business owners: this will no longer be tolerated in our city,” Parkinson said.
Mayor Young addressed the recent shootings in Frayser, saying his office is working on putting in place protective measures which will tackle gun violence, including solutions directed at young people. Chief Davis added that more arrests could follow in the search for a man who was wearing a green shirt on the night of the mass shooting and captured on surveillance cameras.
If you have any information that could help investigators, you’re asked to call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.
Download the FOX13 Memphis app to receive alerts from breaking news in your neighborhood.
Prominent Mount Vernon youth coach arrested on sex charge involving minor
A Mount Vernon youth basketball coach and official who took to Facebook last week to deny an allegation he had inappropriate contact with a minor has been arrested on a sex charge involving a child under the age of 13. Dwayne Murray, 62, was arraigned on Wednesday, May 14, in Mount Vernon City Court on […]
A Mount Vernon youth basketball coach and official who took to Facebook last week to deny an allegation he had inappropriate contact with a minor has been arrested on a sex charge involving a child under the age of 13.
Dwayne Murray, 62, was arraigned on Wednesday, May 14, in Mount Vernon City Court on a charge of course of sexual conduct against a child, a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
Murray is executive director of the Mount Vernon Junior Knights program, coaching its 7th and 8th grade girls team, and is also a longtime assistant coach of the Mount Vernon High School boys varsity team.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the Westchester District Attorney’s Office put out an advisory saying it would announce the following day the arrest of a prominent member of Westchester’s youth sports community.
They did not identify who it was and a spokesman declined to confirm that it was Murray. But the details of Murray’s court appearance were posted on WebCrims, the state court system’s online court docket.
The charge accuses him of two or more incidents of sexual conduct with someone younger than 13 over a period of at least three months.
WebCrims indicated that Murray had been ordered held without bail but as of 8:15 p.m. Wednesday there was no record of him at the Westchester County Jail on the jail’s online inmate lookup.
He could not be reached for comment.
Dwayne Murray denied allegations in Facebook video
Last week, Murray, wearing a Junior Knights T-shirt, posted a six-minute video on Facebook acknowledging an allegation but insisting it was “absolutely, completely false.” He wrote that he would “not allow those in the ‘shadows’ to smear me or my program.”
“I want to make it crystal clear, I’ve never, ever done anything inappropriate with the players on my team or any team for that matter,” he said.
The video was in the context of his support for a slate of challengers in next week’s Mount Vernon school board election. He called the allegation part of a smear campaign by supporters of an opposing slate that includes two incumbents and a former school trustee.
In the video on May 5, Murray said that one place the accusation was made was in a text message to Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard by Gregory Bonaparte, the husband of school board President Adriane Saunders, one of the incumbents running next week. Bonaparte’s text did not name Murray but said he had learned of an allegation that a “middle aged close associate of (the mayor’s)” had inappropriate contact with an 8th-grader.
Murray said that the mayor had sent a copy of the text to the Westchester DA’s Office. He said he was willing to speak with investigators and urged Junior Knights parents to cooperate fully with any investigation “should it happen.”
Timothy Allen, a city spokesman, said that the mayor is a mandated reporter of allegations of sexual misconduct, because she is a minister and a social worker, and “takes that responsibility seriously.” He said the context of the text was “vague, suspicious and appeared politically motivated” but that she did not hesitate to contact the DA’s Office “to ensure justice could take its full course.”
Neither Allen nor the DA’s Office would comment on whether the mayor reaching out had prompted the investigation or whether it had begun earlier.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Mount Vernon NY youth basketball coach Dwayne Murray faces sex charge
High school sports classification – The Pagosa Springs Sun
Dear Editor: Lately, there’s been some thoughtful conversation in school districts across Colorado about a new kind of high school sports classification—one based on skill level rather than gender. I’ve followed it with interest, especially as a long-time supporter of our public schools and student athletes. This idea may feel unfamiliar, but that doesn’t mean […]
Lately, there’s been some thoughtful conversation in school districts across Colorado about a new kind of high school sports classification—one based on skill level rather than gender. I’ve followed it with interest, especially as a long-time supporter of our public schools and student athletes.
This idea may feel unfamiliar, but that doesn’t mean it’s unworthy of discussion. A performance-based model could create more evenly matched games, potentially improving safety and allowing students to compete at their true level. That might mean more confidence, better development, and opportunities for athletes who may otherwise get overlooked. It’s a change, yes—but one that could reflect how much youth sports (and young people themselves) have evolved.
As a community, we’ve always taken pride in building programs that grow with our students. I hope families, educators, and students will explore this resolution with curiosity and care. Even if it’s not a perfect solution, it might spark new ways to support all our athletes.
Thanks for considering new possibilities alongside tradition.
