Next year is now for scholastic sports 2022-23

Cool runnings - Ricky Brokaw, 24, a Cape kid, won his age group and finished eighth overall at the Dave Reynolds Biathlon. His dad Rick Brokaw, 61, who finished 27th overall, also won his age group. Ricky’s 5K was 21:37, while Rick's time was 24:48. Rick is the school psychologist at Cape. 

Five generations - Cape track at Legends Stadium in 2015, Christian Partlow was running the 400 meters. Christian was under the Consortium umbrella as a student and is the only Cape trackster to run varsity in sixth grade. He could run sub-55 seconds. One time when he was running, I said to a disinterested person nearby, “I not only coached Christian’s grandfather Jeff, but I knew his grandfather’s grandmother, Miss Mabel Dunning.” That is five generations. Christian’s grandmother Debbie Rodgers, whose dad was the first Afro American to work at Rehoboth Country Club, called me a couple of times to pick Christian up from the high school and deliver him to her place of work. That is the village at its finest.     

Few bumps above - Realistically, I think the Phillies at best are a few notches above .500 and will hopefully stay there through the second half of the season. But you can’t lose home games to the Nationals, who are at best a Triple-A team this year. And if there are players in the minor league system who are untouchables, I ask, “Who is your general manager, Eliot Ness?” 

But what about next year? - Cape is a place where a field hockey conversation can break out along the fence at a Friday night football game. Last fall, before the state championship game versus Smyrna at Dover, two retired coaches asked me, “But what is Cape going to do next year?” I was thinking about the next game, like for a state title, not next year. Cape loses 10 seniors, including Sommer Dorman, Ella Rishko, Reagan Ciabattoni, Emma Duffield, Casey Schnupp, Sam Connors, Molly Mendes, Sierra Manifold, Noelle Sabbagh and Kelly Bragg. There are 14 players on that 24-person roster who are coming back, including a half-dozen starters. The numbers for Tuesday night open fields have been encouraging, with lots of talented freshmen. “Great Cape kids. As coaches, we have our work cut out for us,” said assistant coach Debbie Windett. “But we’ll be all right.” “But what about next year, coach?” 

Snippets - Ryan Howard is the Phillies’ record holder for home runs in a single season with 58. Howard did that in his second season with the Phillies. Kyle Schwarber, playing left field and batting leadoff for the Phillies, has 28 home runs and is a serious threat to hit 60. The U.S. Lifesaving Association Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships are Wednesday, July 13, in Rehoboth Beach. The USLA National Championships are Aug. 10-13 in Hermosa Beach, Calif. The divisions are open men and women, and masters age groups starting at 30 and progressing in five-year intervals to 65-plus. Cape varsity boys’ soccer was 9-5-1 last season, losing to Caesar Rodney in the first round of  the state tournament 5-0. The JV team, under coach Tyler Nichols, was 13-1-1 with the loss coming to CR 1-0 and a scoreless tie with Sussex Academy.  Basically, without getting into the quirks and quarks, a student-athlete can always return to the mothership (public school district of residence) without penalty or interruption in eligibility. Don’t bother looking on middle school websites4sports to see who is coaching what sport this fall, as it is only 50% accurate. There were 28 rostered players – varsity and JV – for last year's Cape softball teams, and they are all coming back. The 12 varsity players included eight freshmen and four sophomores. Some of these athletes are playing a full schedule of summer ball. There are five accomplished coaches: head coach Shannon Timmons and assistants Mike Tkach, Sydney Ostroski, Sean Brennan and Allison Sullivan. The Eagles signed Oregon track star Devon Allen to a three-year contract even though the former wide receiver hasn't played football since 2016. In 1962, the Eagles signed the 100-yard world record holder (9.2 seconds) to a contract, but Frank Budd’s football career just never worked out. Budd, a Villanova graduate, died in 2014 at the age of 74 from multiple medical problems. Bullet Bob Hayes, the 9.1-second 100-yard-dash world record holder, made it big with the Dallas Cowboys. Hayes is the only athlete to win both Olympic gold and a Super Bowl ring. Hayes died in 2002 of kidney failure at the age of 59. Go on now, git!