RIVERDALE RIDGE EKES OUT WIN

March. In the news conference, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said the city would give at least $200,000 to the nonpro t to match the Daniels Fund. e money will come from the $12.5 million the city got from the Broncos sale.

Scholarships range from about $1,000 to about $3,000 per athlete, per year/season.

e new organization gave its rst scholarships this winter to Denver basketball players. Athletes in other sports will receive money later this year.

e average U.S. family pays about $900 each year for one child’s primary sport, taking into account equipment costs, monthly fees, participation fees and travel expenses.

Chance Sports “is designed to help increase participation and to help supplement the costs for travel, fees and equipment,” said Rodney Bates, who has coached the Lady Blackhawks girls’ basketball team for 14 years, and overall has 24 years as a coach.

“It allows young ladies in my program to have the opportunity to showcase their talent at a national level,” Bates said. “In some house- including the Drive, Chip & Putt junior skills competition.

In fact, Collins will be at the Masters Tournament next week at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia to help coordinate the Drive, Chip & Putt National Championship, which will take place the Sunday before the Masters tees o on April 6. ink about that for a moment — a 26-year-old who had never played golf or even swung a club before landing the fellowship will be at professional golf’s biggest event.

“I can’t wait. It’s going to be so exciting,” said Collins, who eventually wants to work in a diversity and inclusion capacity for the PGA of America. “ e practice rounds are what I’m most excited about. I’ve heard those are the best.” holds, college is not a conversation because of the costs. But because of their skill and being able to demonstrate this at a national level, they have a chance to get a scholarship and follow aspirations beyond sports. In the last 13 years, we’re talking about hundreds of young ladies playing year-round.”

It’s safe to say that a door to a world Collins initially knew nothing about was opened to him.

He’s waded into that world.

His rst group of players were in the fourth grade when he formed the team. ey graduated from high school in 2020.

“We have about 15 young ladies that went to college,” Bates said. “We want to give them the tools they need to go to college. Competitive basketball is very expensive. If we can break down that cost, more participate and the more we’ll see them do something really positive.” e bene ts? Larson pointed out that being involved in sports can help boost GPAs, can contribute to better mental and physical health, closer friendships, high rates of volunteerism and voting in later years. ere’s talk about spreading the program throughout the state and eventually to other states.

“Our vision is to help out the kid that wants a chance to play,” Coleman said. “I know at some point we wanted to scale our organization, but do it right. Take care of home rst.”

To learn more about Chance Sports, visit chancesports.org.

Riverdale Ridge’s Ty Thompson has to come o the bag to retrieve the pick-o attempt during his team’s game against Horizon March 29, while Horizon base runner is Austin Petersen grabs base. RRHS built an 11-3 lead, then pushed over a seventh-inning run for a 12-11 win on the Ravens’ field. Davis Wilkins had two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs. Nick Lay had two hits and two RBIs. Austin Williams led the Ravens with two hits and three RBIs. Cayden Trujillo scored four runs and drove in one. Hunter Hendrixson had two RBIs.