M’s open on road

The Seattle Mariners open their season on the road next year, with their home opener scheduled for Tuesday, April 14 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Pacific Waves

Pacific Waves Synchronized Swim Club is currently offering one FREE synchro lesson to deep water swimmers of all ages interested in trying the Sport that Sparkles. Lesson will be at the Federal Way Community Center Pool on Saturday mornings from 9 - 10 a.m. Call LeeAnn for registration at (253) 476-1172.

Nelson at Pacific

Thomas Jefferson graduate Whitney Nelson is now playing basketball for Pacific University as a 5-foot-4 sophomore.

Field house gets grant

An historic ballfield in Southwest King County, with one of the few remaining wooden grandstands in the state of Washington, will receive an extensive makeover thanks to the annual Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant. The $100,000 grant, which will be formally awarded on Friday, September 26, during a pre-game ceremony, will be used to renovate and upgrade the playing field at Des Moines Field House Park Ballfield #1. A separate project will bring the historic wooden grandstands there up to code.

This is the 24th year the grant has been awarded, thanks to the generosity of The Boeing Company, a longtime Mariners corporate partner, and Mariners Care, the team's non-profit foundation. Over the years, the grant has provided over $2 million to improve youth sports fields in the state.

This year's winner, Des Moines Field House Park Ballfield #1, is one of only four lighted fields that serve the city's population of 29,000. After the field is renovated, it will be the only lighted competition level baseball field in Des Moines with regulation 90-foot baselines.

The Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant will be used to realign home plate and the baselines to remove obstructions and dangerous conditions for base runners, relocate outfield light standards out of the field of play, re-grade sloping hillsides that impeded outfield play, improve drainage and irrigation, update dugouts and warm-up areas, reconfigure the backstop to prevent errant balls from hitting neighboring property, and provide ADA access to the field.

Without the grant, Bob Houston, City of Des Moines Recreation Manager, says this project would take years to complete. "Des Moines has limited resources and we would have to phase in the projects over a 5-10 year period. Now we can get all the projects done at once and end up with an awesome facility without having to wait 10 years."

Work on this phase of the project is set to start this fall with completion scheduled for next spring. When completed, Houston says the historic field will increase play opportunities for the under-served 13-and-older population including the new Mt. Rainier High School freshman team, local Pony League and Legion and South Highline National Little League teams.

Fred Kiga, Boeing vice president of State & Local Government Relations and Global Corporate Citizenship, said that in addition to providing communities with resources everyone can enjoy, the company's investment in improving ballfields also reflects Boeing's continuing interest in encouraging families and children to be more active and incorporate exercise into their daily lives.

"Healthy communities require healthy citizens," Kiga said. "Local baseball and softball programs provide important outlets for people of all ages, but especially for our young people. Through sports they learn about teamwork, develop social skills and become more physically fit. It's sound reasoning to expect that in giving them the support they need we will help them develop into adults who are prepared to contribute to their communities. It's a win all around."

"This annual program is a source of great pride for the Seattle Mariners. We are pleased we can partner with Boeing each year to help address one of the most critical needs in our communities, the shortage of safe, quality sports fields for our children," said Howard Lincoln, Seattle Mariners Chair and CEO.

Des Moines Field House Park is a 5.2 acre King County historic landmark located in the heart of Des Moines. It was built in 1938 by Works Progress Act crews and is a significant example of Depression-era public architecture. It received King County Landmark status in 1984.

Last year's Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant was awarded to West Seattle Little League for improvements at Bar-S Playfield near Admiral. Previous winners have included Sehmel Homestead Park near Gig Harbor, Dahl Playfield in north Seattle, Starfire Sports in Tukwila, the City of Arlington and Arlington Little League, South Kitsap Little League in Port Orchard, and Pacific Little League in Lynnwood.

Masters times offered

The Federal Way Masters swimming team for ages 19 and over is now offering three workout session times at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center located at 650 SW Campus Drive in Federal Way.

Monday through Friday a 5:30-6:45 a.m. and a 7-8 p.m.session are offered, with a 6:50-7:50 a.m. session taking place Tuesdays and Thursdays. A 10:15-11:15 a.m. session is offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Saturdays an 8-9 a.m. session is held at the Kenneth Jones Pool (Federal Way High School).

Members are required to join U.S. Masters Swimming at $30 per year, and the annual team registration fee is $25. Monthly coaching fees are $35 per month for up to twice weekly workouts or $45 per month for unlimited workouts. A 10 percent discount is offered for a prepayment of three months. Also available is a drop-in fee of $5 per workout.

For more information, contact www.fwmasters.com or call coaches Malcolm and Wendy Neely at (253) 838-8408.

Instruction offered

Nadeau Sports Training is enrolling students for private and group instruction for fall and winter sessions. Professional instruction for hitting, fielding and speed and agility is offered. Details: NSTSPORTS.COM or Mike Nadeau (253) 927-4460.

B.A.M. offers lessons

The B.A.M. Club and former University of Washington standouts Bridget Wilcox (pitching) and Becky Simpson (slapping and hitting) are offering girls fastpitch lessons Monday and Wednesday evenings at Washington High School in Parkland. Pitchers can contact Bridget at bridgetwilcox@attbi.com. Slappers and hitters can contact Becky at BeckyS@DOR.WA.GOV.

Hoop school scheduled

Klahanee Community Center in Federal Way is hosting 1 Tough School of Basketball year-round. The school is for boys and girls grades 4-12 and offers two-hour workouts based on ball handling, passing, shooting and details formulated from Division I and II collegiate programs. It will also include guest speakers from the high school, college and professional level, and the coaching staff includes varsity high school head coaches and former Division I and II college standouts at different positions.

The registration fee is $35, with an $80 fee for one month, $150 for two months and $265 for three months.

The Klahanee Community Center is located at 33901-9th Ave. So. in Federal Way.

For more information, call (206) 852-1077 or Email to toughschool2002@yahoo.com.

Pattison's offers skating

Pattison's West in Federal Way offers roller and inline skating, including lessons and the inline speedskating Team Extreme that gave Olympic gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno his start.

Call (253) 838-5788 for more information.

Fastpitch website announced

Those interested in registering any girl between the ages of 6 and 18 to play in the Federal Way fastpitch league, visit its website at www.fwgfa.com or call Kathy Manning at (253) 941-8714 for more information.

Cheer facility opens

NW Elite All-Stars has just opened up a new 6,000 square foot training facility in Kent. The NW Elite Training Facility focuses on training and preparing cheerleaders by offering all-star teams grades K-12 to compete locally and nationally. NW Elite also offers training for college and professional cheerleading, high school and junior high cheerleading, recreational cheerleading, tumbling classes, partner stunting, high school squad choreography and tumbling, private coaching clinics and more. The new facility has two cheerleading floors plus equipment to train beginning to advanced cheerleaders. There are full-size mirrors, a weight room, a student center, a front office with a store, a team room and more.

NW Elite is home of the nationally ranked 2003 Large Coed Team. Over 90 percent of NW Elite's seniors from 2003 have received scholarships for college cheerleading or cheer professionally. NW Elite has alumni cheerleaders on the University of Washington, Washington State University, Oregon State University, University of Oregon, Portland State University, University of Las Vegas and University of Alabama cheer squads. NW Elite has had cheerleaders travel as far as from Marysville to participate in the program.

This season NW Elite is returning to the competition floor stronger than ever. With a new facility it is now able to offer more classes and teams to more people. It is currently starting another coed team, junior pep team and youth team. NW Elite has worked with the Boys & Girls clubs and has held free clinics for young cheerleaders as well. NW Elite sponsored over $10,000 last year for cheerleaders who were financially struggling, but had the desire to make a difference in their lives through cheer.

NW Elite is also working with cheerleading squads from Washington and Oregon like Cascade Christian High School, Prairie High School, Southridge High School and more. NW Elite is making an effort this year to create a bridge between all-star cheerleading and high school cheer squads so that everyone can benefit. With a growing level of cheerleading in Washington, NW Elite wants to provide today's youth with experiences that last a lifetime.

The NW Elite Training Center is located at 22043 So. 68th, Kent, Wa. 98032. For more information, call (253) 872-4676 or see the website at www.NWELITE.com.

Hoop camp returns

Applications are now being evaluated for The Ten Star All Star Summer Basketball Camp. The camp is by invitation only. Boys and girls ages 10 - 19 are eligible to apply. Past participants include: Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, Grant Hill and Antawn Jamison. Players from 50 states and 17 foreign countries attended the 2004 camp. College basketball scholarships are possible for players selected to the All-American Team. Camp locations include: Hickory, N.C., Prescott, Ariz., Belmont, Calif., Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sterling, Colo., Bridgeport, Conn., Babson Park, Fla., Atlanta, Ga., Carlinville, Ill., Macomb, Ill, Greencastle, Ind., Atchison, Kan., Baltimore, Md., Ypsilanti, Minn., Schenectady, N.Y., Bluffton, Ohio, Doylestown, Pa., Lebanon, Tenn., Commerce, Texas, Blacksburg, Va., Lyndonville, Vt., and Beloit, Wis. For a free brochure, call (704) 377-6387 any time.