Preposterous

I am the sports and internet reporter for the South Charlotte News weekly section of the Charlotte Observer. Below, you can see clips from my writing since I started at the Observer in August. You can see all of my work on the South Charlotte News website.

"Curling in Charlotte? Harder than it looks" -- South Charlotte News, June 30, 2010.

"I could be an Olympian."

That's the thought that ran through my head over and over as I sprawled on my couch watching curling at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Last week, I took my first step toward Olympic stardom when I joined the Charlotte Centre Curling Club for its weekly league at the Pineville Ice House.

"Charlotte Catholic rugby grabs national stature" -- South Charlotte News, June 16, 2010.

After dominating its competition on the way to a perfect regular season and winning all three games at the USA Rugby South High School Championship at Furman University, Charlotte Catholic won its first game of the USA Rugby Boys' High School Championship and finished the season fourth in the nation.

"Cougars' current field is home away from home" -- South Charlotte News, May 19, 2010. Republished in the Charlotte Observer, May 20, 2010. 

On a muggy, cloudy day last week, the Charlotte Catholic team was on its "home" field, preparing for its first-round playoff game. The atmosphere was easy, with players joking around and laughing as they tried to stay loose on the field they call "The Dell."

After the Pineville baseball field closed this year, Catholic, which has no on-campus field, was forced to find another place to play. When practices started, the team had to use a small field at Montclaire Elementary School. The Cougars didn't have a place to play games before Principal Lisa Bowen and Athletic Director Philip Williams of E.E. Waddell High School (where the field's nickname comes from) allowed them to use their baseball field for home games.

"Hoop dreams are not such a long shot for her," -- South Charlotte News, June 9, 2010. 

Caitlin McDermott started playing basketball eight years ago when she moved to Charlotte from Winston-Salem. She also competed in track and field, but her focus now is on basketball year-round.

Before she came to Charlotte, she'd never even heard of wheelchair sports. That inspired McDermott, a rising senior at Ardrey Kell High, to base her high school senior project on the lack of opportunity and awareness of wheelchair sports in college and high school.

"From playing on a whim to 'darn near perfect,'" -- South Charlotte News, May 19, 2010. 

Andrew Klasing picked up golf on a whim.

Just four years later, Klasing, now a sophomore at Ardrey Kell High, shot an 8-under-par 64 at Skybrook Golf Club in Huntersville to win the 4A Western Regional on May 4, five strokes ahead of the second-place golfer. His previous lowest score was a 67.

"Teams scrapping for state's 1st lacrosse title" -- South Charlotte News, May 12, 2010. 

When Bo Turner started the Charlotte Catholic boys' lacrosse team seven years ago, his team was made up of 12 boys and one girl. This spring, 32 lacrosse teams are competing in the first North Carolina High School Athletic Association-sanctioned tournament, which concludes May 15. 

"Sportsmanship should extend to the fans in the stands," Opinion -- Lake Norman News, February 17, 2010.

After a foul call that went against the visiting team at a recent I-Meck game, the visiting student section started a chant that was clearly heard throughout the gym: “R-E-T, A-R-D, retard, retard referee!” And it repeated.

I looked at the police officers, security guards and school administration around me and no one moved. The student section is located directly behind the visiting team’s bench. The coach acted like he never heard it. 

"'I'm here to compete and ready to win': Northwest Cabarrus junior Jill Moore is a multisport athlete that's breaking down barriers for wheelchair sports" -- Cabarrus News, March 31, 2010. 

"(Sports) taught me that I'm not just this breakable piece of creation," said Moore. "I'm an athlete, and I'm here to compete and ready to win. It's something that you can't just receive, you have to go out there and get it."

"Doctors aren't going to find a cure in time," she added. "If someone's in a chair, you got to go out and find your own cure. You've got to make yourself happy."

"Riding shotgun in a dirt track car? 'Priceless'" -- Cabarrus News, March 24, 2010.

When asked about her new dirt track ride-along program, Sue Roberson, general manager of SMP Motorsports responds with one word: "Priceless."

"Hickory Ridge's Yeager brings spirit to her team" -- Cabarrus News, January 27, 2010. 

Hickory Ridge's Ally Yeager jumped up, snagged an offensive rebound and put the ball back up against the backboard for two points in the second quarter of the Ragin' Bulls loss to Concord last week.

When she's playing, it's easy to forget that she only has one hand.