By CASEY OLSON
The Mirror
• The Federal Way Boys and Girls Club is currently enrolling youth for its 2008 spring baseball and softball leagues. The deadline for registration is April 18. Late registration will be accepted on a space-available basis.
The leagues are programs for boys and girls in kindergarten through seventh grade. Grades 1 and 2 will be a co-ed, coach-pitch baseball league. Grades 3 and 4 and 5/6/7 will be separate baseball and softball leagues for boys and girls. Teams are formed from local elementary and middle schools, area and grade. The season runs from April 21 to June 14. Games are played in the surrounding Federal Way-area school ball fields.
The club is also offering a Kindergarten Clinic for 4 and 5 year olds, held on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. The clinic runs from May 3 to June 14. The program costs $60 for 1st-7th grade and $55 for the kindergarten clinic (plus $20 club membership fee).
Registration can be done online at www.fw-bgc.org or in person at the club, 30815 8th Ave. S.
• The Class 4A boys basketball state championship game between the Federal Way Eagles and Ferris Saxons will be re-broadcast on Fox Sports Northwest at noon on March 31.
• Teams are now forming for the upcoming softball league with the Federal Way Girls Fastpitch Association. No experience is necessary. The organization focusus in on girl’s athletic development and self esteem. For more information, visit www.eteamz.com/fwgfa or call (253) 520-6514.
• Federal Way Public Schools is establishing an Athletic Hall of Fame to honor past employees who have made a major impact on the district’s athletic programs. Nominees to the Hall of Fame will be evaluated based on the following criteria — has served the district for a minimum of 10 years, has been retired for at least five years or deceased and has made a significant impact on the district’s or a school’s athletic program.
The Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a regular-season football game in the fall of 2008. Each Hall of Fame member will receive a certificate and have his or her name inscribed on a special banner placed at Federal Way Memorial Field.
A renovated Memorial Stadium will serve as the backdrop for the ceremony and Hall of Fame football game. The stadium’s turf and track are due to be renovated this summer with the use of state match funds the district received as a result of the passage of the bond measure.
In addition, the new electronic scoreboard purchased as a result of a donation by Federal Way’s Del Taco will be installed and operational. The district will dedicate the stadium’s new turf, track, and scoreboard during the Hall of Fame ceremony.
Send nominees to Greg Flynn, 1300 S. 308th St., Federal Way, Wash. 98003. Nominations can also be faxed to (253) 945-5577 or emailed to gflynn@fwps.org.
The deadline for nominations to be received is April 1. A 15-member committee of present and former district coaches and administrators will select the first class of inductees.
• The 73rd running of the $300,000 Longacres Mile is set for Sunday, Aug. 17, the centerpiece of a 35-race stakes schedule at Emerald Downs in 2008.
A total of $2,310,00 will be offered in stakes purses, including a record $50,000 minimum for every stakes race. The 91-day meeting begins April 18, with the first stakes race the $50,000 Seattle Handicap for older sprinters on May 4.
The Grade III Longacres Mile tops a stakes doubleheader with the $100,000 Emerald Distaff. This year’s Longacres Mile champion automatically qualifies for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita Park on Oct. 25.
Longacres Mile weekend also features the $100,000 Washington Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on Aug. 16.
Other leading stakes races are the $100,000 Emerald Downs Derby for 3-year-olds on Labor Day, Sept. 1, and the $100,000 Gottstein Futurity for 2-year-olds on Sept. 27.
The season concludes Sept. 28 with the Stanislaw Ashbaugh Claiming Challenge, a series of six starter handicaps ranging in distance from 6 furlongs to 2 miles.
• USSSA softball is looking for umpires for King County and the south end. Umpires are paid monthly and set their own schedules. For more information, contact Paul at (425) 870-1043 or Dale at (425) 481-2005.
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