Free basketball training

South Sound Athletics will be offering free basketball training. All of the classes are open to boys and girls with offerings for grades 4-8. The classes begin Friday.

They run from 6-7 p.m. for grades 4-6 and from 7-8 p.m. for grades 7-8 at the South Sound Athletics gymnasium at 2450 So.. 142nd Street, SeaTac, WA 98168.

The times and grades will remain the same for Nov. 17, Dec. 1 and Dec. 8.

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.

Softball umpires needed

Seattle Metro Softball Umpires Association (SMSUA) and the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of King County are recruiting people to become fastpitch and/or slowpitch umpires. Games are played days, evenings and weekends -- and umpires pick the schedule and locations that work for them. Umpires are paid $22 per game. Free rules classes, umpire mechanics clinics and on-field umpire training are provided. Umpires are needed for youth, junior and senior high school, college and men's and women's games as well as championships.

Call (206)817-2207 for more information.

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, NC, Prescott, AZ, Belmont, CA, Thousand Oaks, CA, Sterling, CO, Bridgeport, CT, Babson Park, FL, Atlanta, GA, Carlinville, IL, Macomb, IL, Greencastle, IN, Atchison, KS, Baltimore, MD, Ypsilanti, MI, Schenectady, NY, Bluffton, OH, Doylestown, PA, Lebanon, TN, Commerce, TX, Blacksburg, VA, Lyndonville, VT, and Beloit, WI. For a free brochure, call (704) 377-6387 any time.

Fastpitch signups on

The Federal Way Girls Fastpitch League is signing up players ages 6-14. For more details, call Jody at (206) 661-7983 or visit www.fwgfa.com

-E-mail scores, sports announcements and story ideas to sports@robinsonnews.com or fax (253) 838-7443.