Month: April 2019

strong>LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As a result of her outstanding play over the past week, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has selected freshman Jordan Weese of Burns Flat-Dill City High School in Burns Flat, Okla., as the MaxPreps/NFCA National High School Player of the Week.

 

Weese allowed three runs (none earned) on five hits, while walking one and striking out 28 over 17 innings in the circle for the (13-5) Eagles. She went the distance in all three of her team’s games in a 3-0 week, including two shutouts.

Meanwhile, in limited action at the plate, Weese excelled, going 3-for-5 (.600) with a double, triple, three stolen bases and four runs batted in.

MaxPreps.com, the official high school statistical provider of the NFCA, provides all statistics for the NFCA High School Player of the Week award. To nominate a player for the award, the coach must enter his or her athlete’s game stats into MaxPreps.com by Sunday evening to be eligible that week.

The MaxPreps/NFCA High School Players of the Week are announced on NFCA.org every Monday during the spring season, with one representative chosen from each of five separate high school regions. During the fall campaign, just a single player is selected representing all participating regions.

MaxPreps is a free stat tool that is available to high school coaches across the country and is one of the most recognized and respected high school athletics websites on the internet. Coaches who enter their team’s stats on Max Preps will not only be nominating their players for this award, but they will be getting their team’s information out to thousands of high school sports fans and college coaches across the country.

To obtain a coach’s login, please contact [email protected] or call 1-800-329-7324 x1. To enter a team’s stats on the MaxPreps website, please click here.

TORONTO — The parent company of retailer Gap says it will close some stores in Canada as part of a global plan to shutter almost half of the brand’s locations over the next two years.

Gap Inc. is refusing to tell The Canadian Press exactly how many of the 230 stores it is closing will be in Canada, but says the majority of international network closures will be in North America.

Watch: Why are so many stores closing in Canada lately? Story continues below.

The company says in an email that the move was part of the brand’s commitment to “thoughtfully and decisively” address stores that are underperforming.

The company is expecting the closures to deliver an annualized sales loss of about US$635 million, but says the move should bring about $90 million in annual pre-tax savings.

Gap says it hopes the closures and moves it is making to modernize its marketing will help it develop future growth in its stores, outlets and online offerings.

The company also announced plans to split its brands into two publicly traded companies with Old Navy falling into one business and Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta, Intermix and Hill City making up another.

The Toronto Public Library’s drag queen storytime is angering Christians on the influential pro-life website LifeSiteNews.

The program brings drag queens to libraries across Toronto to read to children, and foster acceptance and diversity. Afterwards, the kids and queens dance and sing together, according to the Globe and Mail.

LifeSiteNews blogger and communications director for the pro-life Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform Jonathon Van Maren isn’t happy about that.

“Drag queens at public libraries: the new strategy to indoctrinate kids and sideline Christians,” reads the title of a blog by Van Maren.

Similar programs in many cities

Van Maren also calls out similar programs in other Canadian and American cities, declaring that libraries are no longer safe.

“LGBT activists are determined to teach their ideology to children, and have focused their efforts on infiltrating the public school system, influencing the sex education curriculum, and ensuring that the concepts such as gender fluidity are taught from the earliest possible age.”

He wraps up with: “Drag queens and children’s stories about transgenderism are in—and so, again, at yet another venue—Christian parents must be out.”

His viewpoint is not isolated.

“They are trying to break down children’s natural (God given) repulsion of unnatural acts. This is the very definition of grooming,” one person commented.

This type of backlash is fairly common for organizers of such storytime programs to hear.

“Unfortunately, this type of reaction doesn’t surprise me, however, it is completely overshadowed by the amount of love, and respect that these programs receive, not only in Toronto, but all over the world,” EastToronto Drag Queen Storytime co-founder Dani Stover told BlogTO.

“I am consistently in awe of how respectful, thoughtful and interested these kids are in learning about gender expression, and acceptance.”

“We chose to go because it was clearly entertaining for kids,” said Ian Wineberg, who attended Fay And Fluffy’s Storytime, a different drag queen kids’ event in Toronto whose hosts have also led Toronto Public Library readings.

Wineberg went to the reading with his five-year-old son, and two other families with straight parents.

“The kids loved it. Danced, laughed, smiled and … had a riot,” he recalled.

“Don’t like it? Don’t go. Intolerance is taught the same way that tolerance is. Kids are inert and couldn’t care less about these things.”

The drag queen storytimes have proven to be very popular with full houses at different branches of the Toronto Public Library, according to the Globe and Mail.

“When I was young, this wasn’t as cool; it wasn’t as accepted and I didn’t have these role models,” Erin Brockobić, one of the storytime drag queens told the newspaper. “So in a way, I get to be the role model that I never got.”

Drag Queen Storytime is aimed at pre-school and school-aged children. Everyone is welcome, and no registration is needed, the Toronto library website states.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Unbeaten two-time defending national champion Tufts University stays put as the unanimous choice atop the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Top 25 softball rankings following a 10-0 week.

 

Tufts (14-0) had its first extra-inning game of the season last Thursday against Washington & Jefferson, winning 4-1 in eight innings on the strength of Allyson Fournier’s one-hit, 19-strikeout gem. Fournier then recorded 11 strikeouts in a three-hitter against Wisconsin-River Falls, a 2-1 triumph.

The Jumbos have received all eight first-place votes in the first six polls this season and last nine polls overall going back to last April and have been ranked No. 1 in 10 of the last 13 polls and 15 of the last 19.

Division III runner-up Salisbury (12-1), won four more games — including a home sweep Sunday of previously-ranked DePauw — to extend its win streak to nine games and regain sole possession of the No. 2 spot in the rankings.

Fifth-place NCAA finisher East Texas Baptist (8-0), stayed perfect with a pair of wins at LeTourneau last Tuesday to return to the No. 3 spot it had held securely until last week, while Texas-Tyler (17-0) run-ruled Wisconsin-Eau Clare twice on Monday to maintain its grip on the No. 4 spot, winning 11-2 in five innings and 9-1 in six.

Luther (20-0) continues its surge up the rankings, two more spots this week to fifth, after doubling its win total over the last week. Illinois Wesleyan (12-1) had a 4-0 week to stay sixth, while Rowan (18-0), which was ranked 21st just two weeks ago, gained two more places this week to reach the No. 7 position.

George Fox (18-4) moved into the Top 25 after receiving votes last week, while Hope (10-2) used an eight-game win streak and an 8-2 victory over nationally-ranked Anderson to garner recognition for the first time this season from voters, with the most points among teams not making the first 25.

Wisconsin-Whitewater (6-2) tumbled nine places to 14th after finally opening its season in Florida, while six teams — DePauw, Fontbonne, Lake Forest, Texas Lutheran, Williams and Worcester Polytechnic Institute — fell out of the rankings entirely.

The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Current records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.

For the complete poll, click here

The federal government’s system of tax benefits and deductions reinforces and even worsens gender inequality, with men taking 62 cents of every dollar the government spends on tax breaks, a new study argues.

But the study shows that much of the inequity is a reflection of the broader gender inequities in society — the reality, for instance, that men continue to dominate the highest-paying jobs, or that women live longer.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looked at “tax expenditures” — the various deductions that reduce payers’ tax burdens and the benefits the government pays out to some tax-filers. There are 64 of these tax expenditures, and 45 of them had sufficient data to carry out a gender analysis, the CCPA report found.

Of those 45 expenditures, only nine of them paid out more to women than men.

The analysis even found that the popular retirement vehicles known as RRSPs may actually be a much worse deal for many women than men.

Watch: How long will it take to close the gender wage gap? Story continues below.

CCPA chief economist David Macdonald ran a gender-based analysis on Canada’s system of tax expenditures — something he said the governing Liberals largely haven’t done, despite a vow to look at policy through a gender lens.

“The tax system doesn’t get nearly the attention that program spending does,” Macdonald told HuffPost Canada.

In many cases, the disparity comes from the fact that men earn more than women, and — as earlier research from the CCPA showed — Canada’s tax breaks disproportionately benefit higher earners.

For instance, the government forgoes $755 million in revenue for the employee stock option deduction, and 77 per cent of that goes to men. Stock options are most commonly paid to upper management, so this deduction particularly helps “executives of big companies who are … dramatically more likely to be men,” Macdonald said.

Among the 100 most influential companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange, only one was headed by a woman in 2018, according to a survey from Bloomberg.

Macdonald said Canada’s tax system would “likely” be more equitable to women if it wasn’t so skewed towards tax relief for higher earners.

A raw deal on retirement plans?

Some of the ways in which the system disadvantages women may be surprising. For instance, Macdonald’s research found that registered retirements savings plans (RRSPs) may not be saving women much money on their taxes.

Men get $2.6 billion more in savings from RRSP contributions than they pay in taxes on RRSP withdrawals every year, the study found. But women pay $315 million more in taxes on RRSP withdrawals than they receive in savings from RRSP contributions.

Macdonald says there are two things going on here. One is that lower-earning women may find themselves earning a higher income in retirement, meaning the taxes on their RRSP withdrawals would be larger than the tax savings on the original contributions. The same would be true for lower-earning men.

But in some cases it’s women — who earned less than their male partners — drawing from a spousal RRSP. As women live longer than men, they will often end up paying taxes on income their male partner earned.

Macdonald found that only one tax break is explicitly targeted towards one gender: The Canada Child Benefit, which is paid out to the mother, or to just one person in a same-sex couple. Because of that — and because women are much more likely than men to be single parents — 97 per cent of the $22.6-billion child benefit is paid out to women.

The CCPA report doesn’t lay out any particular policy proposals. Macdonald described the work as a springboard for further gender-based research on Canadian taxes, and a guidepost for policymakers looking to make the tax system more equitable.

“Women tend to live longer, they work more in part-time jobs than men, they tend to be caregivers. You have tax breaks that overlap, or not, on those issues. There’s a gender dimension to it.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky.- No. 1 through No. 9 remains unchanged from last week’s poll. The Cougars of Alexander Central (Taylorsville, N.C.) need one more victory to break the North Carolina state record for consecutive wins that currently stands at 83.

 

No. 3 St. Amant (La.) had its final two regular season games rained out and will take on Chalmette (La.) in the first round of postseason play.

The USA Today Sports/NFCA High School Super 25 will be released every Thursday through June 11.

State rankings submitted by NFCA member coaches are used to help compile the USA Today Sports/NFCA High School Super 25. Records for this week’s poll include all games played through April 20.

RK TEAM Record Last Week RK 1 Mission Viejo (Calif.) 19-0 1 2 Alexander Central (Taylorsville, N.C.) 17-0 2 3 St. Amant (La.) 24-0 3 4 Aledo (Texas) 19-0 4 5 Pioneer (San Jose, Calif.) 19-0 5 6 La Grange (Texas) 25-0 6 7 Reed (Sparks, Nev.) 24-0 7 8 Bishop Carroll (Wichita, Kan.) 10-0 8 9 Crown Point (Ind.) 10-0 9 10 Cape Fear (Fayetteville, N.C.) 13-0 12 11 Yucaipa (Calif.) 18-3 14 12 Rockwall (Texas) 16-0-1 15 13 Santiago (Corona, Calif.) 16-2 16 14 Canyon (New Braunfels, Texas) 21-3 NR 15 Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) 14-0 17 16 Lebanon (Ohio) 12-0 18 17 American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) 21-1-1 20 18 Atascocita (Humble, Texas) 21-3 10 19 Bridgewater-Raynham (Bridgewater, Mass.) 5-0 21 20 Gainsville (Fla.) 24-1 22 21 Immaculate Heart Academy (Washington, N.J.) 9-0 NR 22 Mount Carmel Academy (New Orleans, La.) 20-3 NR 23 Curry (Jasper, Ala.) 31-3 23 24 Mount St. Dominic (Caldwell, N.J.) 13-1 NR 25 Spain Park (Hoover, Ala.) 29-7-2 NR

Dropped Out: North Canton Hoover (Ohio), Medina Valley (Castorville, Texas), Hazleton Area (Pa.), Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.), Indian Hills (Oakland, N.J.)

 

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – (Box Score) No. 2-seed Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) came back to win the ‘if necessary’ game to earn its second-straight World Series championship tonight against No. 3 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.). The Warhawks hoist the red banner after a 10-0, run-rule victory in six innings. Tonight’s contest concluded the 35th Annual NAIA Softball World Series, presented by Security National Bank and Morningside College.

The Warhawks become the third different NAIA program to win two-consecutive NAIA World Series championships joining Oklahoma City (2000-02; 1994-97) and former member Emporia State (Kan.) (1983-84).

““I give all the credit to the girls,” said Auburn Montgomery first-year head coach Eric Newell. “This is a talented, special group of girls. They had to get used to me, and everything I stand for. There were times where we had some tough moments throughout the season, but these girls are so special. But, it was like destiny for them to do it again.”

After giving up three runs on four hits in the first championship game today – an Auburn Montgomery loss – senior pitcher Cassie Jones rebounded with a five-hit shutout. She added 10 strikeouts to finish her five World Series games with dominance. In 31.0 innings in Sioux City, Jones allowed four earned runs and struck out 52 batters. She compiled a 0.90 ERA.

The Warhawks got all the offense it needed in a two-run first inning thanks to some power. With one out, Katie Spain and Lauren Shaw went yard in back-to-back fashion. It was Spain’s second homer of the World Series and Shaw’s first. At that point, Auburn Montgomery led 2-0.

After two more runs in the third and one in the fourth, Auburn Montgomery made it a blow-out with five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Shaw was in the middle of the scoring again, as she singled home two runs to make it 7-0.

Shaw came around to score, along with Spain, on a three-run roundtripper from Kayla Hale. Hale’s bomb was the team’s seventh of the World Series.

Spain finished 4-for-4 to lead the 14-hit attack for the Warhawks. For the event, Spain went 10-for-17 (.588) with seven runs scored and six RBIs. Shaw collected three hits, which included a double and home run. Hale and Hayden Henderson each tallied a pair of hits.

Lindsey Wilson batters mustered just five singles on the day.

With 411 season strikeouts, Jones now has surpassed 1,000 career whiffs becoming just the fourth NAIA pitcher to accomplish feat. She moved to 35-5 on the year.

Lindsey Wilson starter Jordan Hood fell to 21-3 on the year. She allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits in 3.0 innings.

Lindsey Wilson, appearing in it’s first-ever title game, ends the year at 53-8 overall. The Blue Raiders went 5-2 in the 2015 World Series.

The double-elimination event is being played out at the Elizabeth & Irving Jensen Softball Complex. The City of Sioux City and Morningside College serve as official hosts for the first time. For more information on the 2015 NAIA Softball World Series, click here.

At the conclusion of the World Series, the following individuals were named to the 2015 NAIA Softball All-World Series Team.

2015 NAIA Softball All-World Series Team
Sorted by school
Cassie Jones, Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), P
Katie Spain, Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), 3B
Laci Driggers, Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), OF
Markie Smith, Campbellsville (Ky.), C
Michele Rupard, Central Methodist (Mo.), C
Meghan Luebbert, Concordia (Ore.), OF
Mariah Jimenez, Concordia (Ore.), 1B
Alex Vargas, Dickinson State (N.D.), INF
Jordan Hood, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), P
Amanda Trampe, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), INF
Travatia Bowden, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), OF
Julinn Torres, LSU Alexandria (La.), RF/Utility
Taylor Clinkenbeard, Mobile (Ala.), OF
Tara Moates, Oregon Tech, INF
Katie Virtue, Oregon Tech, OF
Kimberly Gilbert, William Carey (Miss.), INF

World Series Most Valuable Player: Cassie Jones, Auburn Montgomery (Ala.)

Post-game Notes:
• The 10-0 victory is the largest margin for a shutout in the championship since 1997, when Oklahoma City took down former member Athens State (Ala.) by a 12-0 count. That margin is also the largest margin of victory overall.
• The 10 runs scored is tied for the second-most accomplished in World Series title game history.
• In five World Series games, the Warhawks held a 31-4 scoring margin.
• Overall, this is the ninth shutout in 35 years of the World Series event.
• Auburn Montgomery becomes the fifth different team to win at least two-plus banners.
• The Warhawks have now won 25 NAIA national championships overall, with 23 previous NAIA national titles in men’s and women’s tennis. It is also the third NAIA Softball National Championship for the state of Alabama. The University of Mobile claimed the NAIA Softball World Series championship in 2006.

— Courtesy of Chad Waller, NAIA Director of Communications & Sports Information
— Pictures courtesy of Rick Dominowski