SPORTS
Forest Hills Journal
July 14, 2010
| YOUTH | Editor Melanie Laughman | mlaughman@communitypress.com | 248-7573 HIGH
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St. X football on radio
Clear Channel Radio recently entered into an agreement with St. Xavier High School to broadcast the upcoming regular season and post-season football games on Fox Sports 1360. The agreement also includes broadcasting all games world wide on Foxsports1360.com. “Building a partnership with Fox Sports 1360 is a great opportunity for the school in general and athletic department in particular,” said John Sullivan, athletic director for St. Xavier. “We have a chance to promote our students and their accomplishments in a unique way with these weekly broadcasts. We have a challenging schedule against some of the top teams in the city, state, and country and I feel certain sports fans will enjoy the effort and intensity of Bomber football” Besides games against GCL rivals Elder, Moeller, and LaSalle, the Steve Specht coached Bombers will play traditional powerhouses Indianapolis Cathedral, Louisville St. Xavier, Cleveland St. Ignatius. The long-time Internet voices of the Bombers Tony Schad and Ralph Nardini will handle the play-by-play and color. Fox Sports 1360 is the home of the Dan Patrick and Jim Rome shows as well as NFL Sunday Night and Monday Night Football and NCAA March Madness.
Officials hall of fame
Michael Sharkey of Cincinnati is one of 14 sports officials who were inducted into the OHSAA Officials Hall of Fame, June 19 in Columbus. A total of 285 local officials organizations are responsible for the nomination of officials to their district officiating boards, which is based on officiating and overall contribution to high school athletics. Recommendations from the district boards are then sent to the hall of fame committee, which ultimately chooses the 2010 class of 14 inductees. Sharkey officiated baseball, basketball, football, soccer, baseball, volleyball and softball. He was a member of the OHSAA officiating corps from 1974 until his untimely death in 2008. His work in baseball was rewarded with 28 years as a tournament official and four state tournament assignments. He received numerous post-season assignments, including action in state games for football. While officiating basketball, Sharkey received 27 years of tournament assignments and was recognized by the Ohio Valley Basketball Officials Association for his work on and off the court. Sharkey’s greatest officiating accomplishments came in baseball: OHSAA tournaments; three seasons at the professional level; 30 years as an NCAA Division I umpire; NCAA Division III National Championship. He served as an officer and president of the Queen City and Blue Chip Umpire Associations.
FILE PHOTO
Danney Saylor, the Amateur Softball Association Cincinnati Metro Commissioner, hands out coins for one of the many team draws used to establish brackets for the Cincinnati Metro City Championships at Rumpke Ballpark during a previous installment of the nation's largest softball tournament.
Metro softball tourney fast approaching
By Anthony Amorini aamorini@communitypress.com
Known affectionately by locals as The Metro, the 58th installment of Cincinnati’s large-scale softball tournament hosted annually by Rumpke Ballpark begins open division play Thursday, July 29. The 2010 event is officially dubbed the 58th Annual EMR Group/Ohio Army National Guard Amateur Softball Association Cincinnati Metro Championship. Cincinnati’s Metro has the impressive distinction of being the largest ASA Metro Tournament in the nation for 25 years. The Metro includes more than 300 teams competing in 11 divisions of play. Referred to as the City Tournament, the bulk of tournament play begins Thursday, July 29, with the start of competition for nine
Metro schedule
Cincinnati’s 58th Annual Metro Softball Tournament will be at Rumpke Ballpark, 10400 state Route 128, in Harrison. The schedule for the Amateur Softball Association Metro Championship events: • July 10, 11: Men’s B and C Industrial Metro • July 29 to Aug. 11: City Championships for Men’s Level I, Level II, Level III, Level IV, Level V and Level VI and Women’s C and D • Aug. 14, 15: Men’s 35over, 40-over, Modified and 16-inch open divisions including Men’s Level I, Level II, Level III, Level IV, Level V and Level VI and Women’s C and D, and Co-Ed. Registration for the nine open divisions closes at noon Sunday, July 24, with the draw taking place Tuesday, July 26th. The open divisions conclude play Wednesday, Aug. 11.
The final divisions – the Men’s 35-over, 40-over, Modified and 16-inch divisions – begin tournament play Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 14 and 15. The Metro’s two largest divisions, Men’s Level IV and Level V, will continue using Dual and Quad formats with American and National brackets for Level IV and American, National, East and West divisions for Level V. The winner of each division will advance to a double-elimination tournament to determine a champion. ASA Cincinnati Metro Commissioner Danney Saylor is once again at the helm of the event for the summer of 2010. Rumpke Ballpark is at 10400 state Route 128 in Harrison. For additional information, visit www.rumpkeballpark.com or call the office at 738-2646.
TONY MEALE/STAFF
Cincinnati Steam
McNicholas High School graduate Paul Uhl (2008), who plays baseball for Thomas More College, is a member of the Cincinnati Steam. As a freshman at Thomas More, Uhl, a pitcher, went 5-1 in 10 appearances and had 37 strikeouts in 49 innings. He is seen here before a Steam home game at Western Hills High School July 8.
U-19 girls were foundation for Ohio Elite soccer By Mark Chalifoux mchalifoux@communitypress.com
The Ohio Elite Soccer Academy has developed an impressive reputation for its ability to develop players, especially when it comes to girls teams. And a major reason for the continued success has been the U-19 team, which has found success at every age group along the way. That team won eight consecutive state championships, played in five regional championship games, won two regional championships and appeared in the national final in 2009. They were regional runner-ups this season, the last with the club for many of the girls, as U-19 is the oldest age group they can play. “They were pretty successful for us,” said head coach Doug Bracken. Bracken is also the girls director of coaching for Ohio Elite. “This team was the start of building a very successful program. I’ve coached them since they were 10 years old. They were the first team I worked with when I
FILE PHOTO.
Elizabeth Burchenal was a standout at St. Ursula and was also one of the standouts for Ohio Elite over the past few years. Her team was the academy's most successful and helped develop Ohio Elite's strong reputation in the area. came to Cincinnati and they have been our most successful team. “These girls have received some impressive accolades. They all play Division I soccer, three of the kids are in the national team pool and one of them made the ESPN Rise AllDecade team. This is a team I will always remember. They were not only great players but they are great
kids and, in a lot of ways, they helped us establish Ohio Elite.” Some of the top players on the team were Elizabeth Burchenal, a St. Ursula graduate who will attend the University of North Carolina, Tara Campbell, a McNicholas alumna who was an All-ACC player as a freshman at Duke University last season, Alyssa Rich, a Milford alumna who made the ACC All-freshman team this year at the University of North Carolina, and Meredith Snow, an Indian Hill grad who was a captain for Ohio Elite and was also a captain at the University of Mississippi in her sophomore season. Alix Hildal, a Sycamore alumna who went on to play with Snow at Ole Miss, was another standout. Bracken said he knew this team would be special when they won their first regional title when they were 14 years old. “We went to nationals and learned some lessons, but you could tell the kids were hungry to keep getting better,” he said. “That was the first time I
FILE PHOTO
Alyssa Rich kicks around the ball while practicing with her Ohio Elite team in 2008. Rich has been one of the standouts for Ohio Elite’s strongest teams. knew they had a chance to be special.” Even though Bracken was a college coach for 10 years and played soccer for much of his life, he said he learned a lot from his years coaching that group of girls. “They gave me the opportunity to coach in a lot of big games and when you coach in big games you learn and get better,” he said. “They really put me in every situation you can be
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in as a coach. I’m a way different coach now than I was nine years ago.” The Ohio Elite girls teams are now strong all the way through the academy as many won state titles and the U-17 team won a regional championship. “We have some very good teams now, but the important part is that we helped develop a lot of individual players,” Bracken said. “Even more than team success we want to help individuals develop and become successful in high school and college. We have a lot of good players, and not just on that one team.” Bracken did say he developed a special bond with the U-19 girls since he’s been coaching them for the last eight years. “It’s fun to see them progress. I was able to go around the country and see a lot of those kids play this year and it’s fun to watch that. I remain close with all of those kids and keep up with them. We want to help them get to whatever level they want so to see them get that is the fun part of coaching.”