MONTREAL – Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes are golden again on home sand.

The Paris Olympics silver medallists defeated Germany’s Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann on Sunday to capture the Montreal Elite16 title on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.

Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes took the gold-medal match in straight sets (21-15, 22-20) at Parc Jean-Drapeau, two years after winning the first title of their partnership at the same event.

The Toronto duo also got some revenge en route to the final.

Earlier on Sunday, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes earned a semifinal victory (21-11, 22-20) over Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos (Duda) Lisboa in a rematch of last summer’s gold-medal match at the Paris Games.

Müller and Tillmann won in three sets (15-21, 21-18, 15-10) over Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova to book their ticket to the final.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2025.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Redemption was high on the agenda for San Ġiljan this season, after allowing Sliema to nip in and steal the honours last year.

For a club of San Ġiljan’s stature, falling short was a sting that demanded a response… and they delivered emphatically.

Success in life never comes easy. That timeless dictum applies no less to the sport of waterpolo, where every triumph is preceded by painstaking preparation, sacrifice, and vision.

San Ġiljan’s resurgence is a testament to all three.

In a bold move, the club chose to break from the past and entrusted the team’s helm to Giorgos Katsaounis, appointing the Greek tactician as head coach.

It has proven to be a masterstroke. Katsaounis has become a central figure – if not the cog in the Saints’ wheel – guiding them to their 11th Knock Out Cup title with a commanding 16-10 win over rivals Neptunes on Thursday.

It wasn’t all plain sailing. The Saints endured a brief but bumpy ride in the early stages of the summer competition.

But once they found their rhythm, they tuned their engine and navigated the rest of the campaign with precision and confidence.

A calm and composed figure, Katsaounis has instilled a sense of tranquillity into his squad, reflected in San Ġiljan’s improved discipline and composure.

They have conceded fewer fouls in key areas and granted their opponents fewer man-up situations.

Perhaps more importantly, they avoided the kind of in-the-water incidents that, last year, spiralled into off-the-pool controversies – distractions that ultimately cost them silverware.

“My agenda is winning,” Katsaounis said.

“Since my arrival in March, the main targets have always been to win all trophies.”

The Greek mentor was crystal clear in his mission: restore a winning mentality at a club that had fallen short in both the league and Knock-Out competitions the previous year.

“San Ġiljan missed out on the league and KO titles last year, and for me, the priority was to help the players rediscover this sense of winning,” he explained.

Katsaounis is a firm believer in hard work, discipline, and the right mindset – not just from the players, but the entire technical setup.

“Consistency is key. I wanted to ensure that the team maintained a high level of performance throughout the season without any dips in form. And you can only achieve that through hard work – there’s no other way, believe me,” he insisted.

On the deck, Katsaounis displays a tense, focused demeanour.

But when contesting decisions with referees, a more relaxed and light-hearted version of the Greek coach emerges – proof of his ability to balance intensity with calm.

“What I don’t want is for my players to lower their guard,” he said.

“That’s why I was angry in the two matches before the final – against Valletta and Sirens. I don’t want us to take any game for granted. I respect our opponents – they don’t need any favours.”

“I wasn’t nervous. I was angry because I know the value of my players and what they’re capable of. And in the final against Neptunes, we stepped up, gave 100%, played with our hearts on our sleeves – and it showed in how we won.”

Most would agree that Neptunes underperformed in the Knock-Out final – and will be a different proposition in the upcoming Premier Division Play-off final.

Katsaounis is fully aware of that. His focus has already shifted from celebration to preparation.

“These are two different competitions,” he said.

“Today we celebrate. But from tomorrow, we’ll start working on how to beat Neptunes again. This job – the Knock-Out title – is done. But we’re not finished yet. The most important challenge of the season is still ahead of us, and we need to keep our feet on the ground.”

Agreed. But there’s no better way to begin preparations for a title-deciding series than with a morale-boosting, statement win over your fiercest rivals.

Transgender Athlete Files Big Lawsuit Against The NCAA originally appeared on The Spun.

A transgender athlete has filed a big lawsuit against her former school team and the NCAA.

The debate surrounding transgender athletes in sports is ongoing. President Trump signed earlier this year a “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order. The President of the United States has made it clear that he does not want to tolerate transgender athletes competing on women’s sports teams.

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The NCAA has been backing President Trump, though not every U.S. state is fully complying. Now, an athlete has decided to file a lawsuit against the NCAA and her former team.

Evie Parts, a transgender athlete, has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and Swarthmore College, where she was part of the women’s track and field team, before being removed.

The transgender athlete was removed from the team on February 6, 2025 — the same day the NCAA announced a new policy regarding transgender athletes and participation in sports.

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Parts makes serious accusations

The transgender athlete has made serious accusations in her lawsuit, suggesting that the NCAA’s ruling brought on thoughts of suicide.

The lawsuit alleges that the ruling prompted “such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself.”

Her attorney did not hold back.

“As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy,” attorney Susie Cirilli said. “Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law.”

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Meanwhile, Swarthmore College has released a brief statement.

“We recognize that this is an especially difficult and painful time for members of the transgender community, including student-athletes,” the college said. “We worked to support Evie Parts in a time of rapidly evolving guidance, while balancing the ability for other members of the women’s track team to compete in NCAA events.”

Transgender Athlete Files Big Lawsuit Against The NCAA first appeared on The Spun on Aug 17, 2025

This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 17, 2025, where it first appeared.

In complementing the recent push for investment into certain capital projects and fan-forward programs, the University of New Mexico Athletics Department has also had a focus on creating more promotional and social media content.

On Aug. 4, to announce that kids under 12 would now get free admission into football games with the purchase of an adult single game general ticket, the New Mexico Lobos released a video that went viral, with over half a million views on X alone.

The video parodies an episode from the television show “The Office”, named “Scott’s Tots,” with Head Football Coach Jason Eck experiencing a humorous miscommunication with Director of Athletics Fernando Lovo. As a result, Eck ends up promising free tuition to a classroom of elementary school students instead of free tickets to a football game.

Associate Athletics Director for Creative Services Chase Christiansen said he knew the video could go viral as soon as the idea was presented if it could be executed right.

“It was really rewarding to see all the hard work that went into it. All the acting, Coach Eck was great in it. He was fully on board with doing whatever we wanted him to do,” Christiansen said. “Fernando (Lovo) was fully on board. So just seeing everyone work together and accomplish what we set out to accomplish, and probably even exceed our expectations for what it would be, it was just really rewarding.”

This is not the only attention-grabbing video done by the UNM Athletics Department recently. To announce the new $4 value menu at home football games, the department posted a video to X on Aug. 7 which included references to the Netflix sketch comedy show “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.” The video garnered approximately 65,000 views on X.

The video ends with Lobo football tight end player Dorian Thomas ordering “fifty-five Lobodogs, fifty-five sodas, fifty-five waters and fifty-five popcorns.”

On June 10, Lobo Track and Field posted a video on X in preparation for the NCAA Track and Field National Championships that detailed the meaning behind the teams’ turquoise uniforms. The team has a tradition of only wearing turquoise at the national championships tournaments to honor New Mexico’s  history and connection with the color. The post has approximately 35,000 views on X.

“There’s just been a lot of investment in our creative departments over the last eight to nine months, and we’re reaping the benefits of that now, seeing the exposure we’re getting by the investment that we’re putting in,” Christiansen said.

Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey