By Rubin E. Grant Amanda Wood is ready to embark on the next phase of her volleyball coaching career, although the beginning was somewhat bumpy. Wood was hired as Hoover’s new coach in February after spending the past 10 years at James Clemens in Madison, but it took her a few months to find a place to live near her new school. “I am not going to lie to you, from … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Mountain Brook senior Reagan Riley has served notice that she’s the one to beat when the 2022 high school cross-country season commences in the fall. Last week, Riley blew away the competition during the Alabama High School Athletic Association All-Star Sports Week North-South cross-country competition.  In the girls 5,000-meter race at … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Ryan Pugh has been playing competitive golf for only three years, but he can already check one thing off his lists of pursuits. The 13-year-old youngster sank a hole-in-one on the Par 4 16th hole on June 13 at the RTJ Grand National Lake Course in Auburn during the first round of the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour Grand National Junior Classic. Pugh … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Todd Russell didn’t win it, but he still considered the first United States Croquet Association-sanctioned tournament hosted by the Mountain Brook Croquet Club a total triumph. The Mountain Brook Croquet Club hosted its inaugural Golf Croquet event June 10-12. Arthur Bagby, the Alabama director of the U.S. Croquet Association, created the club, which … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Cousins John Stephens and Matthew Rainer are so close it would take something like a photo-finish to separate them. And that’s exactly what happened earlier this year during the Alabama High School Athletic Association state indoor track and field meet at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The two just-graduated Vestavia Hills track athletes competed against … [Read more...]