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Prep talk: Time to start getting excited about next weekend's Arcadia Invitational

Prep talk: Time to start getting excited about next weekend's Arcadia Invitational

Yahoo05-04-2025

Prep talk: Time to start getting excited about next weekend's Arcadia Invitational
The Arcadia Invitational track and field meet at Arcadia High is one week away. It's time to start getting excited.
Two of the world's best teenage track and field athletes are confirmed to participate.
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Brandon Arrington from San Diego Mt. Miguel is the fastest sprinter in California and defending state champion. He's run 10.24 seconds in the 100 meters and 20.37 in the 200 this year.
Then there's Sam Ruthe from New Zealand. He became the youngest to run a sub-four-minute mile as a 15-year-old last month. He ran 3:58.35 and is coming to race against the best on the West Coast.
There are plenty of Southern Section and City Section athletes ready to test themselves in what's close to a preview of the state championships in Clovis.
The April 12 invitational field events begin at 3:30 p.m. The first running event is 5 p.m. …
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The Michelle Carew Classic softball tournament championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Peralta Park in Anaheim.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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City Section football notebook: James Boyd is new coach at L.A. Jordan
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City Section football notebook: James Boyd is new coach at L.A. Jordan

Former L.A. Jordan quarterback James Boyd, a former City Section player of the year, is the school's new football coach. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times) The City Section held its annual football coaches meeting Monday in the Rams' locker room at SoFi Stadium, and the newest head coach was introduced. It's 33-year-old James Boyd, who was a star quarterback and four-sport athlete at L.A. Jordan during his high school days, signed with USC as a defensive end and is returning to take over his alma mater. His high school coach at Jordan, Elijah Asante, is now head coach at Hamilton and said he expects Boyd to do a good job inspiring Jordan players because of his own success story. A lot of news came out of the meeting. Advertisement View Park Prep dropped its football program for the 2025 season. That might help nearby Crenshaw, which has struggled to fill its football roster. Terrence Williams has replaced Monty Gilbreath as the football coach at Gardena, which means the Marine League will have new coaches at Gardena, Banning, Carson and Narbonne. The only returning coach is Corey Walsh at San Pedro. After 13 years of trying, the Los Angeles Unified School District has approved schools to use student body funds to pay for HUDL, which helps coaches handle videos of players and games. Previously, coaches had to write checks, use personal credit cards or seek help from booster clubs. San Fernando and Sylmar have agreed to play their Valley Mission League game at the Coliseum on Oct. 17. There also will be a girls' flag football game and JV game. Advertisement The City Section has changed its mercy rule. If a team leads by 42 or more points at halftime, a running clock will begin. Also, if a team leads by 35 or more points in the fourth quarter, that leads to a running clock. Coaches and adults are facing increased penalties if they are ejected from games for unsportsmanlike behavior. Coaches are expected to receive a three-game suspension for being ejected. Parents who are ejected from a game will receive a three-game ban. The City Section sit-out period for transferring without moving ends on Thursday, Sept. 25. More teams have been playing on Thursdays because of an officials shortage, so this helps teams that would be at a disadvantage if the date was on a Friday. Official practice begins on July 28. Advertisement Schools must exchange rosters before games. There was a discussion about adding boys' flag football, but there was no consensus on what part of the school year would be viable and concerns were raised about whether it would further deteriorate 11-man rosters. Crenshaw coach Robert Garrett will start the season this fall with 290 career victories. Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

City Section football notebook: James Boyd is new coach at L.A. Jordan
City Section football notebook: James Boyd is new coach at L.A. Jordan

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time5 days ago

  • Los Angeles Times

City Section football notebook: James Boyd is new coach at L.A. Jordan

The City Section held its annual football coaches meeting Monday in the Rams' locker room at SoFi Stadium, and the newest head coach was introduced. It's 33-year-old James Boyd, who was a star quarterback and four-sport athlete at L.A. Jordan during his high school days, signed with USC as a defensive end and is returning to take over his alma mater. His high school coach at Jordan, Elijah Asante, is now head coach at Hamilton and said he expects Boyd to do a good job inspiring Jordan players because of his own success story. A lot of news came out of the meeting. View Park Prep dropped its football program for the 2025 season. That might help nearby Crenshaw, which has struggled to fill its football roster. Terrence Williams has replaced Monty Gilbreath as the football coach at Gardena, which means the Marine League will have new coaches at Gardena, Banning, Carson and Narbonne. The only returning coach is Corey Walsh at San Pedro. After 13 years of trying, the Los Angeles Unified School District has approved schools to use student body funds to pay for HUDL, which helps coaches handle videos of players and games. Previously, coaches had to write checks, use personal credit cards or seek help from booster clubs. San Fernando and Sylmar have agreed to play their Valley Mission League game at the Coliseum on Oct. 17. There also will be a girls' flag football game and JV game. The City Section has changed its mercy rule. If a team leads by 42 or more points at halftime, a running clock will begin. Also, if a team leads by 35 or more points in the fourth quarter, that leads to a running clock. Coaches and adults are facing increased penalties if they are ejected from games for unsportsmanlike behavior. Coaches are expected to receive a three-game suspension for being ejected. Parents who are ejected from a game will receive a three-game ban. The City Section sit-out period for transferring without moving ends on Thursday, Sept. 25. More teams have been playing on Thursdays because of an officials shortage, so this helps teams that would be at a disadvantage if the date was on a Friday. Official practice begins on July 28. Schools must exchange rosters before games. There was a discussion about adding boys' flag football, but there was no consensus on what part of the school year would be viable and concerns were raised about whether it would further deteriorate 11-man rosters. Crenshaw coach Robert Garrett will start the season this fall with 290 career victories.

Three years away from the Olympics, L.A. is tripping over hurdles and trying to play catchup
Three years away from the Olympics, L.A. is tripping over hurdles and trying to play catchup

Los Angeles Times

time07-06-2025

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Three years away from the Olympics, L.A. is tripping over hurdles and trying to play catchup

Los Angeles is now a mere 12 months away from serving as primary host of the World Cup soccer championships, and three years away from taking the world stage as host of both the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Athletes and tourists by the tens of thousands will pour into the region from around the world, and I'm reminded of the classic film 'Sunset Boulevard,' in which Gloria Swanson proclaimed, 'I'm ready for my close-up.' Will L.A. be ready for its close-up? That's a question I intend to explore on a semi-regular basis, and you're invited to worry and wonder along with me by sending your comments and questions to To let you know where I'm coming from, I'm a sports fan who watches the Olympics on television despite the politics, the doping scandals and the corporatization of the Games. But I'm also a professional skeptic, and my questions extend far beyond whether we're ready for our close-up. Here are just a few: Will the benefits of hosting outweigh the burdens? 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Softball and canoe slalom competitions will be held in Oklahoma City. But as lead host and a partner in the staging of mega-events that will draw an international spotlight, the reputation of the city of Los Angeles is on the line. One financial advantage the 2028 Games will enjoy over previous Olympics is that there's no need to erect any massive, ridiculously expensive new stadiums or arenas. There'll be soccer at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, track and field at the L.A. Coliseum and baseball at Dodger Stadium, for instance. All of which will keep the overall cost of the Games down. But playing the part of primary Olympic host carries as many risks as opportunities. 'The Games have a history of damaging the cities and societies that host them,' according to an analysis last year in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, which cited 'broken budgets that burden the public purse … the militarization of public spaces … and the expulsion of residents through sweeps, gentrifications and evictions.' Even without all that, L.A. has a raft of problems on its hands, and the close-up at the moment is not a pretty portrait. Tens of thousands of people are homeless, and the agency overseeing homelessness is in turmoil amid damning financial audits, so unless there's a quick turnaround, the city will be draped in blue tarps for all the world to see. Meanwhile, planned transportation improvements are behind schedule, skyrocketing liability claim settlements are expected to cost $300 million this year, and on top of all that, it suddenly dawned on local leaders several weeks ago that the city was broke. 'Our budget situation is critical,' Mayor Karen Bass wrote in an April letter to the City Council, outlining a nearly $1-billion deficit and proposing numerous program cuts and layoffs. The City Council restored some of those trims, but the outlook is still grim, with several hundred workers losing their jobs. Bass and other local leaders maintain that playing host to mega-events will help restock the treasury. But the opposite could be true, and if the $7-billion Games don't break even, the already-strapped city will get slapped with a $270-million bailout tab. For all the hand-wringing at City Hall, it's not as if the current budget deficit should have come as a surprise. Revenue is down, the response to homelessness devours a big chunk of the budget (without transformational progress to show for the investment), and the bills keep coming due on the City Hall tradition of awarding public employee pay raises it can't afford. That's why there's a 10-year wait to get a ruptured sidewalk fixed (although the city is much quicker to pay millions in trip-and-fall cases), and there's an estimated $2 billion in deferred maintenance at recreation and parks department facilities. At TorchedLA, journalist Alissa Walker reports that in an annual ranking of park systems in the largest 100 cities, L.A. has dropped to 90th, which she fairly called 'a bad look for a city set to host the largest sporting events in the world.' Speaking of bad looks, moving thousands of athletes and tourists around the city will be key to the success of the Games, but some of the so-called '28 by 28' transportation improvements slated for completion by the start of the Olympics have been dereailed or scaled back. And my colleague Colleen Shalby reported last month that Metro's projected budget deficit over the next five years is massive: 'Critical parts of Metro's Olympics plans are yet to be nailed down,' she wrote. 'The agency has yet to confirm $2 billion in funds to lease nearly 3,000 buses, which are integral to Los Angeles' transit-first goal for the Games.' Michael Schneider, founder of the nonprofit Streets for All, said L.A.'s budget crisis 'is coming at the worst possible time.' Not that the delivery of basic infrastructure needs should be tied to major sporting events, but he had hoped the Olympics would trigger a substantial investment in 'bus rapid transit, a network of bike lanes, sidewalks that aren't broken, curb ramps. Just the nuts and bolts of infrastructure.' Jules Boykoff, a Pacific University professor and former professional soccer player who has studied the social and economic impacts of several recent Olympics, is not wowed by L.A.'s record so far. 'I thought Los Angeles was going to be in a lot better shape,' Boykoff said. 'I've been taken aback by the problems that exist and how little has been done.' The real goal isn't just to host the Olympics, Boykoff said, but to do so in a way that delivers long-lasting improvements. 'Any smart city' uses the Games 'to get gains for everybody in the city. Athens in 2004 got a subway system,' he said, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 got a transit link, and last year's host, Paris, got a system of bike lanes. L.A. had gold-medal aspirations, and the city has made some transit improvements. It's also got a wealth of signature natural wonders to show off, from the mountains to the sea, just as the Paris Games featured the Eiffel Tower and the magical evening skyline. But three big hurdles now stand in the way of making it to the podium: The budget limitations (which could get worse between now and 2028), the diversion of resources to the Palisades wildfire recovery, and the uncertainty of desperately needed federal financial support from President Trump, who would probably not put Los Angeles on his list of favorite cities. Races are sometimes won by runners making a move from the back of the pack, and L.A. could still find its stride, show some pride, and avoid embarrassing itself. That's what I'm rooting for. But just one year away from the World Cup and three from the Olympics, the clock is ticking, and it's almost too late to be playing catchup.

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