Sports
SECTION C Saturday, July 13, 2013 Northwest Herald
Breaking news @ www.NWHerald.com
Sports editor: Jon Styf • jstyf@shawmedia.com
McHENRY COUNTY CLASSIC
Fountain of youth Photo provided
Chicago Force offensive lineman Tami Engelman, a 2000 Crystal Lake Central graduate, is a three-time Women’s Football Alliance All-Star.
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL ALLIANCE
‘Nasty streak’ an advantage for Engelman CLC graduate helps Force make deep run in playoffs By JEFF ARNOLD jarnold@shawmedia.com
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Men’s 20-and-older singles No. 2 seed Amir Heydari, 50, of Crystal Lake returns a serve Friday against Wade George of Algonquin during the McHenry County Classic at Cary-Grove High School. George won, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Tennis keeps CL’s 50-year-old Amir Heydari young By MAREK MAKOWSKI
“I don’t think I look good playing, but it’s efficient for me.”
mmakowski@shawmedia.com n his second-round match in the McHenry County Classic, Amir Heydari’s playing style did not look like that of a conventional second seed. Heydari is a humble lefty who applauds his opponent’s shots while pushing and chopping at balls for his own. “I am, what my boys call, a cheap player,” the 50-year-old from Crystal Lake said before his match against Algonquin’s Wade George at Cary-Grove High School. “I just stay in the point, I try not to do a lot of unforced errors, and I tend to frustrate my opponents because of that. I don’t think I look good playing, but it’s efficient for me.” The style has been efficient for Heydari, who has shown opponents he’s a fierce competitor. Although he began playing just eight years ago, Heydari has quickly ascended to the top of McHenry County’s tennis sphere after finishing second in the men’s 20-and-older division as an unseeded
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Amir Heydari McHenry County Classic tennis player from Crystal Lake dark horse in last year’s tournament. He attributes his success to his sons, who have brought him into the sport and helped nourish his passion for it. “I started [playing tennis] because my oldest son [Jamal] at that time was a junior in high school,” Heydari said. “He had picked up a racket when he was a freshman, became really, really good at it, and went to state.” Heydari watched as his two other sons blew through McHenry County as tennis stars, and he wanted to do what they did. Last fall, his middle son Naveed coached his youngest son Bijan to a state appearance with Prairie Ridge. Heydari watched
his sons’ progression through their young careers, and then he joined them on the court to begin his. “You need to have, in my opinion, physical toughness, mental toughness, and emotional toughness,” he said. “I think I learned each of those from one of my boys. My oldest boys taught me how to be tough physically, my middle son taught me how to be mentally tough, and my youngest son taught me how to be emotionally tough.” That toughness has been crucial to Heydari’s success on the court, especially since he frequently enters himself into youngeraged divisions. Heydari again is in the men’s 20 division, which means he has battled quicker opponents, such as his 27-year-old fresh-faced foe in Friday’s match. “You can get very good competition [in younger divisions],” Heydari said. “In tennis, you want to play people that are better than you to get better. I think that’s why I like this division.”
See TENNIS, page C2
MCHENRY COUNTY MEN’S AMATEUR
Woodstock’s Hagen in hunt for overall title out of A flight By PATRICK MASON pmason@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – With his dad watching every shot, Jamie Hagen played a remarkable round of golf and was the talk of the tournament. The 21-year-old routinely plays rounds of golf in gusting winds on unforgiving courses at Clark University in Dubuque, Iowa, which raised his handicap. So when the Woodstock High School graduate signed up to play in the two-day McHenry County Men’s Amateur at Crystal Woods, his 3.2 handicap placed him in the A flight, just out of the championship flight, which has a range of 2.0 to 2.9. But playing in the lower flight didn’t faze Hagen, who dominated the course on a perfect day for golf with little to no wind. He shot a 3-under-par 69, which left him one stroke behind championship flight leader Riley Bauman of Crystal Lake for the overall title. “I wasn’t hitting the ball particularly well on the front nine,” Hagen said. “But
Saturday’s tee times All of Saturday’s McHenry County Men’s Amateur second-round tee times can be found in Fine Print, page C7. on the back nine, I got in a zone and started rolling everything in.” He wasn’t kidding. His playing partners Sean Lorch and Brent Sloat – both in the championship flight – marveled at the way Hagen was able to find another gear and hit perfect approach shots and sink difficult putts. After carding one birdie on the front nine, Hagen settled in and birdied his final five holes and even had a shot at eagle on the par-5, 505-yard 18th hole, but his eagle putt lipped out. When word of his remarkable finish reached those in the clubhouse, they joked he should be allowed to start his second round a day earlier while he was in a groove.
See GOLF, page C2
Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
Jamie Hagen hits onto the 15th green from a bunker Friday during the first round of the McHenry County Men’s Amateur at Crystal Woods in Woodstock.
The first time Tami Engelman expressed an interest in playing organized football, she didn’t have a fully stocked support system behind her. Her father was dead set against it. Her mother, meanwhile, welcomed the chance for her only daughter to branch out and be a little different. And when Engelman “Women are vicious. – then a 6-foot, Women are mean.” 310-pound high s c h o o l s o p h oTami Engelman more – walked into a meeting Chicago Force offensive for interested lineman from Crystal Lake players at Crystal Lake Central Saturday’s game 14 years ago, the welcome she reChicago Force vs. Atlanta ceived wasn’t Phoenix, 6 p.m., Evanston High exactly warm. Boys scoffed, School’s Lazier Field, 2285 insisting Engel- Church St., Evanston. man was in the wrong room. When she persisted, repeating she was prepared to earn a spot on the Tigers’ offensive line the following year, the head nods and eye rolls continued. You’ll never show up, players told Engelman. But when she did – reporting for the first day of summer camp before her junior year – Central coach Dennis Koerner pulled her aside and questioned her commitment level. “Are you really sure you want to try out?” he asked. “This is going to be tough.” Engelman stood her ground. She wanted to play football. Years later, Engelman hasn’t stopped. She’s now in her fourth season with the Chicago Force, who play in the Women’s Football Alliance, a nationwide professional women’s football league. The Force (9-0) play the Atlanta Phoenix in the third round of the WFA playoffs Saturday in Evanston. The Force have won all of their games this season by at least 43 points. Engelman, an offensive lineman, has made the league’s all-star team three of the past four seasons and returned from Finland this week after winning a gold medal while playing for Team USA at the women’s football world championships. At times, she marvels that she’s even playing football, let alone at a level where women from all walks of life – from mothers to lawyers and deans of students – pay $700 a season – just for the right to say they play tackle football. It’s a lifestyle many don’t understand. “People will say, ‘So you play football in bras and underwear?’ ” Engelman said, explaining people’s confusion between the WFA and the Lingerie Football League. “And I tell them, ‘We wear full pads. “People see this and say, ‘Oh my gosh, if you didn’t know this was women’s tackle football, you wouldn’t know this is women’s tackle football.’ But I’ll tell you. Women are vicious. Women are mean.” In her own way, Engelman has found a way to fit right in.
See ENGELMAN, page C2
THE DAILY FEED Tweet from last night
What to watch
Really?
3-pointers
“When I stand on top of that podium, I’m going to think of you, and how you didn’t believe in me, and I’ll love every second of it.” – Cary-Grove
Softball: USA vs. Japan, 8 p.m., ESPN The United States faces Japan in roundrobin play of the World Cup of Softball in a possible preview of the championship game. The Americans improved to 2-0 in the tournament after defeating Australia on Friday night, 4-0. Canada upset Japan on Friday, 2-1.
Now that Metta World Peace has been waived by the Lakers, he knows what he wants to do with the rest of his life – sort of: “I want to go to China, or coach or play arena football,” he said Friday, according to an ESPN. com story.
Three things Metta World Peace might enjoy doing now that he has time on his hands: 1. Bull riding 2. Base jumping 3. Sword swallowing
graduate Josh Freeman @FreemanThrows70 Follow our writers on Twitter: Tom Musick – @tcmusick Jeff Arnold – @NWH_JeffArnold Joe Stevenson – @NWH_JoePrepZone
AP file photo