THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 s
Page B-3
Spirit get one more chance to make playoffs Seattle rallies to deny Washington; victory this week clinches first berth n
BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER
RAPHAEL TALISMAN/FOR THE GAZETTE
Springbrook High School graduate and former NFL player Shawn Springs (left) chats with Asher Smith (right), 13 of Potomac, Dermot O’Kelly (center), 13 of Bethesda, and Owen Hopkins, 14 of Bethesda, during Saturday’s first annual Save Youth Football combine at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda.
Non-profit organization aims to save youth football New business holds ‘Charity Football Combine’ in Bethesda n
BY ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER
Solomon Taylor said football helped him overcome personal struggles while growing up in Potomac, so when he saw the sport’s youth participation falling — which he attributed to costs and safety concerns — he decided to take action by saving the sport that helped save him. Taylor, 31, launched Save Youth Football (SYF) in June 2013, andtheBethesda-basednonprofit helditsfirstmajorevent—aCharity Football Combine — Saturday at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. More than 250 people were in attendance, including 120 youth football players who participated free of charge, Taylor said. “There’s a lot of kids out there that don’t have that opportunity to play the game, and we’re losing kids to other sports, so that’s why it’s ‘Save Youth Football,’” said Taylor, a Winston Churchill alumnus. According to the SYF website, Taylor was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder at a young age but was able to graduate high school with football’s help, and has stayed involved with the sport since then, coaching at the youth level and running a youth sports video production company. “This is the ultimate team sport,” said Taylor, owner of
Prominent Productions. “It teaches life lessons so it’s important that kids get an opportunity to play this.” But Taylor said he has seen youth football participation fall in recent years, locally and nationally. According to ESPN, Pop Warner, a prominent youth football program, had its participation drop 9.5 percent from 2010 to 2012. The decline comes as concerns about player safety and head injuries are on the rise. Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon and concussion expert at Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, recommended children under 14 not play tackle football because of the unknown long-term impact of concussions and repetitive head trauma. Taylor said the drop has more to do with rising costs ($300-plus per player) than player safety. Mark Steinwandel, of Darnestown, whose eighth-grade son played in the Rockville Football League, said that parents are concerned about player safety, but that youth tackle football can help curb risk of injuries at higher age-levels. “This is unscientific but when the kids are little and they’re all about the same size, nobody is running 1,000 miles per hour,” Steinwandel said. “If they can learn the techniques and what to do and how to protect themselves, to me, that’s really helpful.” The Charity Football Combine featured several activities for athletes, including a 40-yard dash,
a field-goal kicking station and an agility shuttle. Players were given scorecards to record their times and measurements. “This is something they watch on TV: the NFL combine,” Taylor said. “… All these kids want to run a 40-yard dash and they want to do it with a laser timer and they get excited about it … They get to seewhattheirhardworkintheoffseason has done.” The event included an equipment drive for children from underserved communities. It also featured Retired NFL All-Pro Shawn Springs, an alumnus of Springbrook High School in Silver Spring (Class of 1993), and former Washington Redskins player Marcus Washington. “Football, like any sport, adds a lot of value to anyone’s life. You learn a little bit about team work, you learn discipline, you learn about hard work. And I think there’s some important life lessons,” Springs said. “… Anything I can do to keep the sport relevant ... if there’s kids that want to play and can’t afford to play, that shouldn’t be the case.” Isaiah Nolasco, 11, of Rockville, said that his favorite part of the event was “that I get to practice and try to get better at things, and help other people.” Lamont Hagans, 12, of New Carrollton participated in several drills, including the field-goal station and the 40-yard dash. “[I’m here] so I can train more and be active … It’s pretty cool,” he said. egoldwein@gazette.net
KEEPING IT BRIEF P. Branch cheerleaders recognized for skills The Paint Branch High School varsity cheerleading team won several awards at a four-day event held last week in Ocean City. The Burtonsville school won Best Chant, Best Game Day, Best Xtreme Routine, Best AllAround Award and Leadership Award, according to coach Zina Saunders. “[Paint Branch] Cheer worked hard every day. They were always the first team to arrive in the morning, the team that practiced during lunch and after the evening session every day. The hard work paid off,” Saunders wrote in an email to The Gazette.
— ERIC GOLDWEIN
Rockville represented in international lacrosse tournament Four graduates from Rockville’s Thomas S. Wootton High School participated in the 2014 World Lacrosse Championship, held July 10-19 in Colorado. Matt Greenblatt (Class of 2010) Jason Senter (2009) and Mark Jutkowitz (2008) played for Israel, while Sam Futrovsky (2007) played for Slovakia. Bullis School (Potomac) graduates Matt Opsahl (2012) and Mitch Goldberg (2013) also
played for Isreal. Longtime Montgomery County coach Edward Kostolansky led Slovakia’s national team. Potomac’s Winston Churchill featured senior Daniel DiBono III (Spain) senior Louis Dubick (Israel), Bertan Unal (2007, Turkey) and Brett Rolf (assistant coach, Costa Rica).
— ERIC GOLDWEIN
Germantown swimmer sets world record Germantown-based swimmer Frederik Hviid, 40, set a masters world record en route to winning the 200-meter backstroke in the Men’s 40-44 age group at the 15th FINA World Masters Championships held July 27 through Sunday in Montreal. Hviid finished in a time of 2 minutes, 11.56 seconds, nearly two seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Hviid, who is a two-time Olympic distance freestyler and individual medley swimmer from Spain, opened the competition with a first-place finish in the 800-meter freestyle. His time of 8:47.75 was nearly 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Stewart Carroll. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Hviid won the consolation final of the 400-meter individual medley. He also competed in the 2000 Sydney event.
— JENNIFER BEEKMAN
B-CC assistant football coach passes away Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School assistant football coach Jeffrey Van Grack passed away on Saturday from a fight with bladder cancer. B-CC coach Josh Singer expressed his condolences on Twitter: “Real sad to say we have lost a member of our football family. We will miss you Coach Jeff Van Grack! #JVGSTRONG.” Van Grack graduated from B-CC and has worked as a lawyer in Bethesda for decades. From 2000-11, when he started coaching at B-CC, he assisted with the athletics at Northwest High School in Germantown.
— PRINCE J. GRIMES
Potomac boy wins national tennis title Benjamin Kittay, 10 of Potomac teamed with Faris Khan, 12 of Texas to win the doubles title at the U.S. Tennis Association Boys 12s National Championships held last week in Arkansas. Despite being on the youngest end of the age-group spectrum Kittay, who is ranked No. 21 nationally in the USTA Boys 12s, also reached the semifinals of the singles competition. There he lost in two close sets to eventual champion Aditya Gupta.
— JENNIFER BEEKMAN
The Washington Spirit women’s professional soccer team was mere minutes away from clinching its first National Women’s Soccer League postseason appearance Saturday night in Seattle. A win against the topranked Reign would’ve ensured Washington a top-four, regularseason finish and the Spirit led, 1-0, in the 89th minute of Saturday’s contest. Then, in a quick turn of events, Seattle’s Jessica Fishlock threaded a pass right through Washington’s backline to the feet of Scottish midfielder Kim Little. The league’s leading scorer handled a sliding challenge from Spirit goalkeeper Chantel Jones — Washington’s starting goalie Ashlyn Harris was sidelined with concussion-like symptoms — with seeming ease and buried the equalizer for her 16th goal of the year. Each team took a point away from the 1-1 draw and every point is important for the Spirit at this juncture of the season. “We scored a good goal first and then we defended and we were disciplined, I think we deserved to win,” Washington coach Mark Parsons said. “But it’s hard to stop a squad full of players that Seattle has. ... Apart from that last opportunity, I didn’t see them scoring. I think we all could’ve done better on that last opportunity, we could’ve slowed the game down. But we’ve got to learn from that, it’s a great time to learn from that.” Washington (10-8-5), which has come a long way since its last-place finish a year ago, currently sits in third place in the league standings with 35 points. Portland Thorns FC (33 points) and Chicago Red Stars (31) are not far behind. The Spirit are still in position to clinch a playoff berth but they will need to win their season finale next Saturday against the Sky Blue FC in a game scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds.
FILE PHOTO
Washington Spirit players Diana Matheson (left) and Crystal Dunn hope to lead the organization to its first playoff berth. Washington’s last outing against the New York/New Jersey-based team did not go well — Sky Blue won 4-2 — but Spirit coach Mark Parsons praised his team’s ability to get a job done when most necessary. “We keep saying, we’re our best when we have to do something, when we have to win,” Parsons said. “It will be no different against a hot, on-form Sky Blue. Our motivation is really high and we’ve been strong at home recently. Even if we won [Saturday night] going home and winning against the Sky Blue would’ve been just as high a priority and focus.” Seattle is a team ripe with starpower, Parsons said. From notoriously stingy Hope Solo in goal to experienced U.S. Women’s National Team defender Stephanie Cox, from midfielders Little and Welsh international Fishlock to the offensive third with Japanese international Nahomi Kawasumi and American stars Megan Rapinoe and Sydney Leroux, Seattle is strong in every area of the field. But the Reign, which has outscored its opponents 50-19 in 2014, has also seemed to bring out some of Washington’s best, Parsons said, as the Spirit have hung with and even controlled play against Seattle at times this seaosn. With the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in upcoming playoffs shored up, Seattle had very little riding on Saturday’s contest, except for pride and an undefeated streak at home. Little
andKawasumi,therefore,started the game on the bench — Seattle had also just played three days earlier — and Washington took advantage. The Spirit pressured Seattle’s backline and midfield and didn’t allow the Reign the space they’re used to playing with. Though Seattle had a couple looks at a goal in the first half, it was Washington that struck first in the 29th minute when Canadian National Team midfielder Diana Matheson finished a pass from Australian international Lisa De Vanna inside the far post. Kawasumi came off the bench in the 46th minute and Little in the 68th and their entries changed the complexion of the game. Seattle outshot Washington, 11-4, Saturday, though only 4-2 in shots on goal. Parsons said he was pleased with the way the Spirit held its shape defensively and remained disciplined under the pressure to maintain their advantage. It took nearly perfect play to ruin Washington’s chances of clinching a playoff berth. It was Little’s first goal against the Spirit. “In our previous two games I think we’ve done a good job with Kim Little, she hadn’t had too many opportunities against us,” Parsons said. “But you take a fresh Kim Little when we’re on a road trip on the West Coast, dealing with jet lag [we just got in the day before] and she is tough to deal with.” jbeekman@gazette.net