The Federal Way Heat girls basketball team won their division at last weekend’s 2009 Spokane Hoopfest. The Heat won the girls seventh/eighth-grade recreation division of the three-on-three tournament in Spokane.
The Heat included Sophie Afework, Audrey Shin, Shelby Gavigan and Carrie Lyn Ramos and were coached by Dan Afework. Afework, Shin and Ramos will also be attending Illahee Middle School in the fall.
Spokane Hoopfest is a yearly event that basically takes over the downtown area of Spokane, as city streets are cordoned off in order to put up basketball hoops and basketball courts. This year’s event included more than 6,000 teams.
Hoopfest, in its 20th year, is the largest 3-on-3 street basketball tournament in the world, and will be recognized as such this year by the Guinness Book of World Records.
The Federal Way Heat finished a perfect 5-0 in their bracket during the two-day tournament. There was a total of 16 teams in their division and won the championship game by a score of 17-2.
• Federal Way 17-year-old Jacob Duncan won the 16-year-old and up category at the Under the Lights ‘09 skateboarding competition held June 26 at the Valley Ridge Skatepark in SeaTac.
Duncan beat out close to 30 other skateboarders in a competition that included rails, ledges, transitions and ramps. Duncan started skating about seven years ago at the Steel Lake Skate Park.
“It was my sister’s boyfriend at the time that got me into skating,” Duncan said. “I watched him skateboard and thought it was pretty cool.”
“It’s just a great opportunity for these kids,” Duncan’s mother, Linda, said. “For them to use the skateparks that the city’s are putting out is very cool.”
• The Seattle Seahawks will open 14 training camp sessions at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, running from August 3-20, the team announced this week.
Fans must register on Seahawks.com starting July 16 at 10 a.m. Registration is first-come, first-serve.
The VMAC parking lot will be closed to the public and fans will be bussed to and from the VMAC with a $5 per person transportation fee.
The Seahawks have partnered with The Landing Shopping Center in Renton for parking. Fans can check and get training camp passes at the Seahawks Training Camp Guest Services location, at the south end of the Landing at 915 North Landing Way.
Practice times, bus schedules and maps will be available online at the time of registration.
The team will also host open practices at the University of Washington on August 7 and August 18. Parking will be available on the UW campus.
• Several Federal Way school district athletes have inked their letters of intent to play sports at community colleges around Washington and Oregon.
Recent Thomas Jefferson graduate Erik Davis will play baseball at Shoreline Community College, Decatur graduate Justin MacDonald will play baseball at Green River Community College, Decatur graduate Sarah Quantz will play basketball at Tacoma Community College and Decatur graduate Kramer Stuth will play baseball at Linn-Benton Community College.
• Metro Parks Tacoma has been named a grant recipient of the 2009 Olympic Opportunity Fund. Awarded by the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Olympic Opportunity Grant will help fund the recently developed Paralympic Sport Club at Metro Parks Tacoma. This club provides an adaptive rowing program in conjunction with the wounded warriors from Ft. Lewis’ Warrior Transition Battalion and is open to military and non-military participants with physical disabilities who are interested in learning various types of rowing.
“We hope to spark a love of water, help build confidence in participants and for some, challenge them to pursue the sport up to the Paralympic level,” said Kodi Smith-Doty, Recreation Coordinator for Metro Parks.
The Olympic Opportunity Grant Program was started in 2007 to provide financial assistance to sport organizations across the United States. This year, the program was open to Paralympic Sport Clubs, USOC Paralympic member organizations, as well as veteran and military organizations with primary focus of developing Paralympic programs that serve injured military personnel and veterans.
“We are proud to invest in the incredible work of Metro Parks Tacoma,” said Charlie Huebner, Chief of Paralympics, USOC. “Together, we will have a tremendous impact on the availability of Paralympic sports programming and be able to provide more opportunities for persons with physical disabilities and injured service members to participate in Paralympic sport at the community level.”
A total of 39 grants amounting to more than $500,000 were awarded to Paralympic community organizations across the country.
• The Seattle Thunderbirds will open the 2009-10 season at ShoWare Center in Kent on Friday, Sept. 18, at 7:35 p.m. against the Everett Silvertips.
A special presale for group tickets to the season opener is now under way. The T-Birds have three group ticket options for fans to see the 2009-10 home opener. Fans can purchase group tickets in the seating bowl, a ShoWare Center luxury suite or the Blue Zone.
The Blue Zone is a new special section located in the first three rows of Section 113, on the glass, and includes 50 tickets and access to the ShoWare Center club lounge.
“This is the earliest we have been able to announce the date of our home opener,” said T-Birds Director of Operations Rick Ronish. “Having our home opener scheduled this early will allow us to do a summer pre- sale for our Groups and Season Ticket Holders, prior to tickets going on sale to the general public. We expect that tickets will once again sell quickly for Opening Night against Everett.”
To order any of the group ticket options to the season opener call the T-Birds office at 253-239-PUCK (7825).
The T-Birds complete 2009-10 regular season schedule will be released in early August.
T-Birds single game tickets for the 2009-10 season will go on sale on Aug. 19, at 10 a.m. online on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office.
The Thunderbirds also announced a five-game preseason schedule. The only home preseason game of the year will be on Saturday, September 12, against the Silvertips at ShoWare Center at 7:05 p.m.
They will face the Portland Winterhawks at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Memorial Coliseum. They will then play three games in the Silvertips Preseason Tournament at Comcast Arena over Labor Day Weekend. They will play the Prince George Cougars on Friday, Sept. 4 at 11:30 a.m. The T-Birds then take on the Silvertips at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5. They finish out the weekend against the Spokane Chiefs at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6. Federal Way resident TC Cratsenberg is entering his second season with Spokane.
T-Birds season tickets are also currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T- Birds office at 253-239-PUCK.
• Tickets for the “Showdown on the Sound” Big Sky Conference football game between Eastern Washington University and Portland State University are currently on sale. The game between the Eagles and the Vikings takes place on Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. at Qwest Field in Seattle.
Tickets will be available via Ticketmaster.com and GoEags.com, with pre-orders currently being taken by calling 1-866-4GO-EAGS. Costs are $30 for club seats and $15 for regular seating. Eastern season ticket holders will receive a $5 discount on each ticket price.
It’s believed to be the first time in Eastern’s 100-year football history that it has played a game in Seattle. The Eagles will play their first game in the Puget Sound area since Oct. 30, 1982, when Eastern won at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.
The Eastern Washington roster includes wide receiver Bryant Cameron (Thomas Jefferson graduate), defensive lineman Evan Cook (Beamer) and running back Chase King (Decatur).
• The Federal Way School District starts the third year of business sponsorship designed to raise revenue for high school athletic and activity programs. Approved institutional advertising is available at Federal Way Memorial Field and/or high school gymnasiums and fields. Signage fees may be dedicated to a specific school or distributed evenly to all high schools.
All business or organizational advertising will be in the form of a vinyl banner authorized by the FWSD. Outside banners will be 4’x 6’ and interior 3’x5’. After an initial fee of $500, there will be a yearly renewal fee of $200. All signs will be made by the FWSD and are subject to Policy 7414 (Business Sponsorships) available on the district Web site or at Memorial Field.
For more information, contact the FWSD Athletic Liaison, Greg Flynn, at gflynn@fwps.org or (253) 945-5575.
• Learn individual and team football techniques Seattle Seahawk players during the Marcus Trufant Football Camp July 9-12.
The camp, which offers overnight and day-camp options, will be at Evergreen State College in Olympia and will feature Trufant.
“The goal of the camp and instructors is to maximize the potential of each young player while giving them an experience they will never forget,” said Trufant.
The camp is designed for players ages 7 to 18, features daily instruction, lectures and demonstrations by Trufant and Seattle Seahawk members. The college and high school coaches on staff will ensure individual and team instruction on both offense and defense. Even though this is not an “autograph camp” Seahawks will be available for autographs.
Trufant recorded a career-high seven interceptions in 2007, including one for an 84-yard touchdown and was voted to the Pro Bowl that same year. He was also the 11th overall pick in the 2002 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
Obtain more information and request a camp brochure that includes an application by calling 1-800-555-0801 or visit www.footballcamps.com. Space in the camp is limited and registrations will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.
• Secoma Lanes will have bowling royalty throwing strikes in Federal Way next month.
Walter Ray Williams Jr. is coming to town to conduct two bowling clinics and to compete in the Professional Bowlers Association Regional Tour at Secoma Lanes July 17 to 19.
“It’s going to be exciting,” said Secoma Lanes’ bowling manager Mike Martin. “We have never had a PBA Regional event here at Secoma Lanes. We are hoping to get 80 to 100 regional players at the tournament.”
The most well-known, by far, will be Williams. The California native was recently voted the second greatest bowler in the 50-year history of the PBA and is a member of the PBA Hall of Fame.
Williams has won the tour’s Player of the Year award six times and his career earnings top the $4 million barrier. He has appeared on television 165 times and won at least one PBA event in 16 consecutive seasons.
Williams will be conducting a pair of clinics on July 16 and both sold out within a week, according to Martin.
Players can register for the tournament by contacting Secoma Lanes at 927-0611.
• The 62nd annual Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games and Clan Gathering rolls into the city of Enumclaw’s Expo Center July 25 and 26.
These Highland Games, hosted by the Seattle Scottish Highland Games Association, are the sixth oldest in the United States and the largest, 2008 attendance was 30,000, in Washington state.
Visitors can stroll through the Avenue of the Clans and the Glen of the Clans and delve into Scottish ancestry and heritage or wind through the Hall of Vendors and the Celtic Marketplace to see the workmanship of Scottish artisans.
Don’t forget to wander through the Scottish farm with shaggy Scotch Highland cattle and Clydesdale horses or the Celtic Kennel and plan to attend the Ceilidh, a traditional Scottish party with music, sing-along, stories and Scottish country dancing Saturday evening.
Gates are open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults per day or a two-day pass is available for $22. Lower prices are available to senior citizens, children and active military.
For information visit www.sshga.org
• The Kiwanis Club of Greater Federal Way is sponsoring its annual golf tournament fundraiser, which will be held on July 10 at the Whispering Firs Golf Course on McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma.
The tournament will benefit several charities in the Federal Way area. The cost is $320 per foursome and includes green fees, carts, lunch and awards. For more information, contact Donavon Potter at (253) 946-1093.
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