A Truck Through the Soccer Fields ⚽️🚨

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THE SCOREBOARD 🏆

Everything that moved across youth sports last week, in one line each.

RULES & CONDUCT 🧑‍⚖️

• A pickup truck drove onto a youth soccer field in Wichita on Saturday, killing a 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man and injuring 10 — the driver was released pending toxicology results (Fox News, KSN via NewsNation).

• The crash halted Kansas's first girls flag football state championship on the next field — the KSHSAA says new game times come Monday (USA Today via Yahoo Sports).

• Former youth gymnastics coach Sean Gardner got the maximum 90 years for a hidden camera that recorded at least 10 minors — SafeSport found coaches at his Iowa gym knew of allegations and didn't report them (AP via WAFB, WLOX).

• A former Hawaii girls wrestling coach was federally indicted on 14 counts, including child sex trafficking — the FBI is still looking for victims (Hawaii News Now).

• A former Kansas wrestling coach pleaded guilty to filming 25 boys in locker-room showers — he faces 35 to 40 years (KWCH).

• The Washington transgender-athlete case is fully briefed at the Supreme Court — Justice Kagan had issued no order as of Sunday (Supreme Court docket).

• About half of Camas High's girls cross-country team walked off a league meet to protest a transgender teammate — a follow-up meet was then moved over security concerns (The Columbian, KUOW).

• Monroe, Mich., voted 5-2 to limit girls' teams and locker rooms to biological females — the ACLU says it violates state civil rights law (CBS Detroit).

• Oregon became the 25th state to sanction girls flag football — 57 teams and 1,400-plus girls last spring, first sanctioned season spring 2027 (OSAA).

• One Bend coach says 30 to 40% of his flag players also play another spring sport — whether they still can under sanctioned status is unresolved (The Bulletin via Redmond Spokesman).

• Louisiana suspended Capitol High and Thrive Academy from football for the rest of 2026 after an Oct. 9 brawl — their coaches' cards are revoked for a year (The Advocate).

• New Jersey used game film to disqualify 24 Buena and Lindenwold players — both teams are out of the state tournament (Courier-Post via Yahoo Sports).

• St. Louis Public Schools canceled the rest of a co-op football season over "seriously inappropriate behavior and physical conduct" — police are investigating (STLPR).

• A Philadelphia-area district paused every Penn Wood sport over an alleged incident — it hired an outside investigator and forfeited Friday's game (The Inquirer, William Penn School District).

• Thirteen players were missing from Long Beach Wilson's No. 4-ranked water polo roster — the coach told parents teammates had struck players on a tournament trip (Long Beach Post).

• Halifax County, Va., forfeited Friday's game over "social media activity directed toward members of our football team" — the posts are under review (WDBJ7).

• Mead, Wash., will appeal the $17 million verdict for two players assaulted at a 2023 football camp (The Spokesman-Review).

• Roanoke Rapids, N.C., reinstated its football coach after investigators ruled a player's hand injuries an accident, not hazing — every coach must now take the NCHSAA hazing course (WRAL, WITN).

• A shooting near Ville Platte High's homecoming game in Louisiana killed one and injured at least two — State Police were already on patrol, and the game was called off (The Advocate).

• Eden Prairie, Minn., now plays with metal detectors, no backpacks, no re-entry and no admission after halftime — the rules follow its Oct. 2 homecoming shooting (MPR News).

• An Arkansas youth league permanently banned three coaches after a sixth-grade game ended in a handshake-line brawl (KATV, KARK via Yahoo Sports).

• Polk County, Fla., Sheriff Grady Judd will send undercover detectives to youth football games — adults brawled at an 8U game that witnesses say may have had bets on it (Tampa Bay 28).

MONEY & DEALS 💰

• Capacity Sports Group bought 78 acres at LakePoint Sports outside Atlanta and leased its 170,000-square-foot Champions Center — no price disclosed (PR Newswire).

• Chobani named the 500 youth soccer clubs getting $10,000 each — nominated by coaches, picked by public vote (Sports Insight).

• Carvana extended its front-of-kit deal with Rush Soccer and launched a $200,000 scholarship fund — local clubs award it, starting Jan. 1 (Business Wire).

• Birmingham, Ala., took its Huffman Ballpark renovation to $1.08 million — and gave a Friends group up to $100,000 to run youth sports there (ABC 33/40).

• Colorado Springs is weighing a 25-year, $1-a-year lease for its Southeast YMCA and a $700,000 sale of the Meadows Park center — final vote Oct. 27 (The Gazette).

FIELDS & FACILITIES 🏢

• Springboro, Ohio, broke ground on a $10.6 million, 1,500-seat athletics complex — paid for by a bond voters passed last November with no tax increase (Dayton 24/7 Now).

• Marion County, Fla., put a $140 million parks bond on the Nov. 3 ballot — LED lights for sports complexes and a new athletic facility are on the list (Central Florida Public Media).

• San Marcos, Calif., approved $2.5 million in state-grant money to convert six sports parks to LED — on consent, no discussion (The Coast News).

• Masters Academy International broke ground on a $25 million, two-court pavilion at its new Stow, Mass., campus — due fall 2027 (Worcester Business Journal).

• Clearwater, Fla., voted unanimously to keep negotiating a $180 million sports complex on The Landings golf course — over neighbors' traffic objections (Bay News 9).

• Belleville, Ill.'s sports complex is doubling to 62 acres with outdoor soccer, baseball and softball fields beside hotels — phase two moved up from 2028 to 2026 (Hoodline).

TECH & PARTNERSHIPS 📲

• ESPN launched ESPN JV, a YouTube channel for kids — challenges, trivia and an animated series built with WSC Studios (ESPN Press Room).

• The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation renewed Angel City Sports, L.A.'s free adaptive-sports nonprofit — year two of its Sports Matter Impact League grants (DICK'S Sporting Goods via 3BL).

• Perfect Game extended Turtlebox as its official speaker — adding a 12-episode "Cage Sessions" series and a "Clubhouse Guy" award at the DICK'S All-American Classic (Sports Video Group).

ON THE FIELD 🏟️

• Minnesota Hockey answered USA Hockey's new Development League with four in-state 15U and 17U teams — built to keep top players from leaving the state (Let's Play Hockey).

• Spiro, Okla., ended its football season at 0-6 with four games left — citing mounting injuries (KNWA via Yahoo Sports).

• Bakersfield's Foothill High forfeited its 7-0 start — the CIF Central Section ruled two transfer siblings ineligible (Bakersfield Californian via Yahoo Sports).

• Douglas County, Ga., appealed a GHSA ruling that two starters are ineligible — all three of its wins are on the line (AJC).

• Little League's Girls With Game weekend put three Division I softball exhibitions on Lamade Stadium's field — plus clinics for girls 9 to 12 (Little League).

INTERNATIONAL 🌍

• India put ₹7,386.74 crore, about $880 million, behind its national sports federations through 2030-31 — grassroots development included (ANI).

• Bank of America brought its "Sports with Us" program to the U.K. with the Youth Sport Trust — mentors and life skills, not competition (Bank of America Newsroom).

• U.K. sports parents spend about £1,216 a year on fuel and 3 hours 22 minutes a week driving to training and matches — per a Chery UK survey of 2,000 parents (Chery UK via 72Point).

THE FACEOFF 🤼

This Thursday: THE FACEOFF podcast is back with Episode 4, our first recorded in person, courtside at Brooklyn Bridge Park: James Kelly, the former Brooklyn middle school teacher who co-founded Learnyx and built LitZone, a sports app for kids in third through eighth grade that sneaks daily reading and math practice into kid-friendly sports news and fantasy football. The episode goes up on the podcast platforms Wednesday; the write-up hits your inbox Thursday morning.

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXTUP '26 🎟️

What we brought back from Wednesday at Civic Hall.

We spent Wednesday in the room at LeagueApps' NextUp '26 — 420 people, eight sessions, one day — and published eight pieces plus a special report on Friday. The short version: LeagueApps' Brian Litvack and Jeremy Goldberg argued that the U.S. underinvests in youth sports and that most "sports problems" are business problems. (Read all eight pieces →)

If you only read one, make it the investor panel, where Rocket Youth's Eric Rapps, New York Empire Baseball's Jordan Baltimore and Tyson agreed the entry ticket for investment isn't profit. It's a founder who can explain the business in numbers and wants to keep running it. Baltimore's line to keep: the spring registration money isn't yours until you've delivered the spring season.

Next on assignment: SBJ's Dealmakers in Sports, Nov. 18 in New York. Going to be there too? Hit reply and we'll find you in the room.

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The Coach's Board by Paul Variano
The community building youth sports.