MIDDLE ATLANTIC BATON TWIRLERS, DANCERS AND CHEERLEADERS RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY

Middle Atlantic District Baton Twirlers, Dancers and Cheerleaders have now raised over $10,000 for charities, including The American Cancer Society, The Lupus Foundation, Diabetes Research at the Joslin Clinic, The Foundation for Lime Disease and others. The charity is selected annually in honor of someone in the District Baton Twirling, Dance and Cheerleading family who is affected by a serious misfortune.

Our first donation was made to an AAU Baton Twirling team from New Orleans, who had lost much in Hurricane Katrina. Their Baton Twirling Coach reached out to say that their gym was a refuge for them, but all equipment, uniforms, etc. had been lost in the flood, and they needed help. After raising funds for this, our M.A.D. AAU family decided to begin this annual fund-raising. Subsequently, after Hurricane Sandi, the high school of one of our own New Jersey members was to have their annual senior prom. Unfortunately, having lost so much in the storm, many of their students had no means to afford to attend, let alone to get the appropriate clothing. Pinelands High School became that year's recipient of our efforts.

By accepting donated trophies and medals, from donations from the staff and parents, through raffles and other means at our District and Super Regional Qualifiers, the athletes are learning the importance of sacrifice and the exceptional gratification of giving.

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AAU NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS MAKE ORLANDO RETURN Orignally posted by Buddy Collings, Orlando Sentinel

Play tips off Saturday with the opening of the 9-and-under Division I and Division II National Championships at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and the Orlando Sports Center. Those youth teams arrive for check-ins and an opening ceremony today.

College coaches will start showing up Wednesday for the opening round of the six-day 16U and 17U National Championship tournaments, which fall in the second of three NCAA "live" periods. Recruiters can watch players this week and the next two weeks from Wednesday evening through Sunday at NCAA-certified tournaments.

About 700 boys and girls teams will arrive for AAU basketball in a spree that includes a 19U tourney opening on Friday, July 15, and 14U Nationals, July 25-30. There are also Super Showcases for 14U, 15U, 16U and 17U squads, July 20-24, and an International Championship for foreign youth teams, July 23-26.

Many of the top travel teams, including Florida's Each 1 Teach 1, CP25 Southeast Elite, Team Breakdown and Showtime Ballers, will go to the Atlanta area next week instead of playing the in-state AAU events.

An exception is the E1T1 16U team, a group of rising juniors who will play up an age group for AAU 17U nationals.

"I'm keeping my 16s here to support AAU," E1T1 director Steve Reece said. "It's in our hometown. I'm glad it's back and I'm hoping it builds back up."

Oak Ridge point guard Michael Devoe, a standout for the E1T1 16s, said going to Georgia for this week's prestigious Peach Jam tournament and later to Las Vegas are exciting road trips. But for a team that already has made multiple out-of-state trips, playing a hometown tournament is a welcomed change of pace.

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NEW YORK NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIER TO REPRESENT UNITED STATES IN TAEKWONDO COMPETITION

Story by Master Sgt. Raymond Drumsta
New York National Guard

LATHAM, N.Y. – A New York Army National Guard Soldier with the persistence to win has kicked and punched her way into an international Taekwondo completion.

Spc. Nashayla Harper, a 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade flight-operations specialist, beat a Virginia resident in the welter-weight class for 18 to 32-year old females at the 2016 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Taekwondo National Championships held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida from July 4 to 9.

Her victory clinched her a spot on the national women’s team, and she’ll be representing the United States in her weight class during an international competition – possibly the German open – in 2017, according to Joe Hasan, the Adirondack AAU Taekwondo district director.

Harper, who joined the New York Army National Guard in 2014, also hopes to someday qualify for the United States Olympics team, like her aunt and coach, Mechelle Smith. Both women reside in Schenectady, N.Y.

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