Manchester University head men's basketball coach Nate Conley announced the addition of Seth Clark as an assistant coach on Wednesday August 12.

  So this time of year, and again in November and March, we hear the leadership of high school, college and professional sports teams who have not been successful use the catch phrase “change the culture”.   What they mean by that is simple to explain and understand, but much harder to accomplish.   The ‘culture’ being referred to is the underlying work ethic and team chemistry inside the lockeroom. It’s what almost no one else sees or experiences until we see the results of it on the field of play.

The 23rd annual lancer Golf classic was held Thursday at Stonehenge Golf Club. The winning team of (starting second from left) Jerry Clevenger, Andy Butterbaugh, Tom Johnson and Abigail Fishel carded a 17-under par 54. The team is pictured with Stonehenge general manager Denny Hepler (L) and Grace Athletic Director Chad Briscoe

Manchester eSports joins Great Lakes conference

It started Monday. Kids from Evansville to Angola started official practices for their fall sports teams. They were kicking soccer balls, pounding volleyballs across a net and getting fitted for their pads and helmets. There is conditioning occurring this week, although not as much as there used to be because coaches expect you to do that on your own before you show up to that first practice.

Manchester Girls Golf Opens At  Homestead Invitational; Rochester Schools, Athletics Closed Until at least Aug. 24

If the Indiana High School Athletic Association can remain full speed ahead amid the COVID-19 pandemic in offering a full menu of high school sports this fall — an intention that it declared on Wednesday — then it appears game officials won’t be getting in the way, at least not around the Warsaw area. Jimmy Arnett, first-year president of the St. Joseph Valley Officials Association, and Lou Brown, who presides over the Northern Indiana Officials Association, each say there has been minimal opting out for the coming season among their respective memberships.

On Tuesday night, the NAIA Council of Presidents announced the rescheduling of all fall 2020 championships to spring 2021. As part of the NAIA’s decision, each conference retains the autonomy to decide when to play regular season competition. The Crossroads League’s Council of Presidents has made the decision to carry on with a fall season of competition after detailed discussion and planning.

Wednesday’s IHSAA announcement clearing the way for fall high school sports to be played is a critical first step to getting student-athletes on the field. But it’s hardly an iron-clad guarantee, as we found out later Wednesday afternoon when the Marion County Health Department put a stop to such activities until at least Oct. 1. That means no schools calling Indianapolis home will compete much before Oct. 10 unless the IHSAA waives the requirement for a minimum number of practices before a first competition.

With the major sports in America all starting or restarting, we can confirm one thing — fans are essential to sports. I believe we have always thought it was true, but after watching soccer and baseball games along with NBA scrimmages there just is no doubt about it. Sure, little league games and AAU summer tournaments are games, but you cannot compare the atmosphere of the fourth game of the day on Court No. 6 in July in a giant fieldhouse somewhere to what the Tiger Den will be like on the night before Thanksgiving when Warsaw hosts Tippecanoe Valley. The difference: fans.

Heartland Moves Football, Volleyball, Soccer To Spring; GLVC To Start Some Winter Sports Early, Moves FB, VB, Soccer;

A trio of Grace College tennis players added awards for their work in the classroom. Emily Mast and Carrie Copeland of Grace’s women’s tennis team as well as Pavle Popovic from the men’s side were named NCCAA Scholar-Athletes. The NCCAA recognizes juniors and seniors with a GPA of at least 3.40.

In a statement sent to parents before being released publicly Saturday, Manchester Community Schools and its athletic program shut down its off-season conditioning program due to two positive COVID tests. After saying the school corporation has worked closely with the Wabash County Health Department in defining procedures and protocols for returning, the statement said “At this time, we have received a report that one athlete from our football team and one athlete on our boys basketball team have tested positive for COVID-19. We cannot share specific details about the exposure, but in an effort to keep everyone safe we are going to postpone our summer practices of all sports for the remainder of the summer. We have been advised to use ‘an abundance of caution.’ In doing so, we hope to launch fall sports on August 3rd, the first official day of practice.”

The landscape of the Northern Lakes Conference has changed. The unified Elkhart High School will compete in interscholastic competition starting next month, and they will do so as a member of the Northern Indiana Conference. Mishawaka is now officially a member of the NLC.

For the second-straight year, the Crossroads League named Indiana Wesleyan’s, Kyle Mangas, as its Male Student-Athlete of the Year. Mangas is the first repeat winner of the award since it was started in 2011-2012.

Pl;us news from around the Crossroads League - by Seth Mikel

Turning 50 two years ago was a really eye-opening moment for me. The month leading up to that day was stressful and painful. In my mind, I knew what 50-year old people were supposed to be and I wasn’t anywhere near that. 50-year old people were comfortable in their own skin, they had established who they were and they were secure in what they wanted. I was missing that.

The Crossroads League announced on Monday that Josh Neuhart of Grace College had been named its 2019-2020 Sports Information Director of the Year. The award is the second for Neuhart, who recently completed his 10th year as the SID for the Lancers. He also won in 2015-16.

Jeremy Beer grew up with an appreciation for baseball. He played Little League and Pony League in Milford, Ind. (now the Wawasee Summer League). The oldest child of the late Dr. Ken and Lynne Beer, Jeremy graduated from Wawasee High School in 1990 then earned psychology degrees at Indiana University and the University of Texas and read about the game’s past. He considered himself pretty knowledgable about baseball. One day Beer was going through the second edition of the Bill James Historical Abstract and the listing of all-time best players. No. 4 in the James rankings was Oscar Charleston.

Wawasee graduate Zach Leedy (front row, center) signed a letter-of-intent Wednesday to continue his academic and golf careers at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, where he will major in mechanical engineering. Leedy is flanked by his parents, Candy (L) and Mike Leedy. On the back row is Wawasee Athletic Director Cory Schutz and Warrior head golf coach Steve Coverstone.

The calendar has flipped over to July, and it couldn’t have happened soon enough. July 1 is when the 2020-21 high school sports calendar officially begins. This week is a little different than most years. This is where “moratorium week” usually falls. That’s the one week of the year where high school sports shut down — no contact, no team camps and no organized activities.

Longtime Warsaw Tiger assistant football coach Dave Baumgartner (L) was recently presented with the Tom Kelly Memorial Award by the Indiana Football Coaches Association for “his diligent efforts for our association and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.” Baumgartner put together a video history of the hall of fame in Richmond and is currently working on compiling a podcast from every IFCA North vs. South All-Star Game with help from former Tiger football coach Ted Huber.

Grace College’s brand-new esports team is excited to announce two major enhancements to the program. The team has entered into a sponsorship with MSI, who is a leading developer of computer hardware for the esports industry. Grace’s student-athletes will wear custom MSI jerseys and play on powerful MSI gaming computers.

Athletic Director Eric Screeton had a wide-ranging search for a new Manchester Squires boys basketball coach, but got his man from a neighboring school and Three Rivers Conference rival. Screeton presented Whitko boys basketball coach Eli Henson to the Manchester  Community Schools Board of School Trustees. The trustees approved the hiring of Henson at its meeting late Tuesday night.

I am sitting here on the patio of our vacation spot this week, being reflective and contemplating life — much like I have done just about every day since we all started “hunkering down” at the end of March. Today’s contemplation occurs while sitting on the beach, watching and listening to the waves roll in and roll out as the wife and kids greet those waves in person.