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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING 📺

Elite youth, high school and college events streaming this weekend and into the week, plus the pro game worth building a team night around.

THIS WEEKEND

• 🏒USA Hockey's U-18s at Muskegon · Saturday, 6:00 p.m. ET, FloHockey (subscription). The national under-18 team in USHL play, second night of a back-to-back against the Lumberjacks. (Schedule →)

• 🏒College women's hockey, three at 3:00 · Saturday, 3:00 p.m. ET, all on ESPN+ (subscription): defending national champion Wisconsin at St. Lawrence, Quinnipiac at Maine and RIT at Clarkson. The college game your 16U and 19U girls are chasing. (Schedule →)

• ⚽ U-20 Women's World Cup final · Sunday, noon ET: Spain vs. North Korea for the title, on FOX Soccer Plus (subscription). Italy and Colombia play for third on Saturday, also at noon ET. The top of the youth national-team ladder, one step below the senior World Cup. (FOX schedule →)

• 🏃Nike Portland XC, then the Bob Firman Invitational · Saturday on RunnerSpace+ (subscription). Portland's championship races go at 12:45 p.m. ET (girls) and 1:10 p.m. ET (boys) at Blue Lake Park in Oregon; Firman's elite varsity races follow at 2:20 and 2:50 p.m. ET in Spokane Valley, Washington. Two big Northwest high school invitationals, back to back. (Meet info →)

• 🏐Sunday volleyball on ESPN · Texas at Kentucky, 1:00 p.m. ET, then Stanford at Pittsburgh, 8:30 p.m. ET. Two national windows on the same Sunday. (Full lineup →)

• ⚽ Florida State at Louisville women's soccer · Sunday, noon ET, ACC Network. The defending national champion on national TV. (Schedule →)

• 🏀The WNBA playoffs open on ABC · Sunday. First-round Game 1s at 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. ET on ABC, free over the air; USA Network has one at 9:00 p.m. ET and Prime Video the fourth. Best-of-three, and the easiest team night on the list. (Postseason guide →)

• ⚽ NWSL on free TV · Saturday: Kansas City Current vs. Denver Summit FC, 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS; then Washington Spirit vs. Angel City FC at 6:30 p.m. ET and Portland Thorns vs. Houston Dash at 8:45 p.m. ET, both on ION. (TV schedule →)

MONDAY TO FRIDAY

Monday is quiet. Tuesday is the NHL's opening night and the first day of baseball's postseason, and on Thursday we're in New York for Game Changers (more below).

• 🏒NHL opening night · Tuesday on ESPN: Panthers at Hurricanes, 5:00 p.m. ET, with Carolina raising its Stanley Cup banner; Rangers at Bruins, 8:00 p.m. ET; Blackhawks at Golden Knights, 10:30 p.m. ET. Night one of the league's first 84-game season. (ESPN schedule →)

• ⚾ MLB's Wild Card Series · Tuesday to Thursday on NBC, NBCSN and Peacock. Four best-of-three series; game times are set after Sunday's final day of the regular season. (Bracket →)

• 🏐Nebraska at Penn State · Thursday, 7:00 p.m. ET, BTN. Nebraska's first Big Ten road match of the season, in Rec Hall. (Schedule →)

• 🏒Wisconsin's banner night · Thursday, 8:00 p.m. ET, B1G+ (subscription). The women's national champions raise their 2026 banner before hosting Boston University. On Friday, Division I men's hockey opens its regular season. (Schedule →)

• ⛸️ Junior Grand Prix, Ljubljana · Thursday to Saturday, free on the ISU's Skating ISU YouTube channel. The sixth of seven stops on figure skating's junior circuit. (Event page →)

• ⚽ Friday on ACC Network · Notre Dame at North Carolina women's soccer, 6:00 p.m. ET, then Virginia Tech at Virginia men's soccer, 8:00 p.m. ET. (Schedule →)

• 🏑Friday on BTN · Indiana at Michigan State field hockey, 4:00 p.m. ET, one of BTN's seven regular-season field hockey windows; Maryland at Indiana men's soccer follows at 7:00 p.m. ET. (Field hockey → · Soccer →)

ON ASSIGNMENT: SBJ GAME CHANGERS 🎟️

Where The Coach's Board will be on Thursday.

We're credentialed media at Sports Business Journal's 2026 Game Changers Conference, Thursday, October 1, at the New York Marriott Marquis. It's the 14th edition of SBJ's conference dedicated to highlighting women in sports business, and it follows Wednesday night's Game Changers Evening of Celebration for the Class of 2026.

We'll be in the room all day and bring back what matters to the people running youth sports. Look for it in the editions that follow, credited to Sports Business Journal. (See the agenda →)

THE FACEOFF 🤼 + THE PODCAST 🎙️

In case you missed Thursday's episode.

Watch or listen to Episode 1: YouTube · Spotify · Apple Podcasts

Gayle Jones — four Emmys, 25 years producing the NBA, the Olympics and the NFL — on building FuelBoxx and the line item youth sports forgot: “everything but nutrition.” Rather read? The written Q&A →

LOOKING AHEAD ⏭️

Tomorrow on The Coach's Board: THE HIRING HUDDLE 🕵️🕵️‍♂️ open roles across the business of youth sports, Sunday evening. One of its kind custom youth sports job list only for subscribers.

The week on the Board:

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The Coach's Board by Paul Variano
The daily executive roundup for youth sports leaders.