Westfield K Delaney Makes Parade All-American Football Team

As seen on UltimateRecruit.com

UVA bound Brian Delaney managed to be the lone Virginian on the Parade All-American teams

by Jim McGrath, recruitNoVA

Brian Delaney, Westfield’s first team 6A All-State kicker has earned another distinguished honor – one that truly separates him from every other high school football player in the Old Dominion.

The University of Virginia signee was recently selected as a Parade magazine 2016 All-American, making him the only player from the state to earn a spot (first team or honorable mention) on the squad. The All-American team was displayed in the Parade magazine that was included in many newspapers nationwide last Sunday.

Delaney was instrumental in the Bulldogs’ successful 2016 season, which ended with a 13-2 record and a second consecutive 6A state title. The 5’11” senior, who also doubled as the Bulldog punter, scored 96 points, while converting 12 field goals and 60 extra points, helping Coach Kyle Simmons’ team overcome a rocky 4-2 start to reel off nine straight wins and defend their 2015 championship. Westfield finished the season with an exciting 34-28 double overtime win over Oscar Smith in the 6A final at Armstrong Stadium in Hampton.

Coach Simmons spoke of Delaney’s talent as the key member on kickoffs and punts.

“We rarely had to cover a kickoff during his tenure,” said Simmons. “It is a huge advantage in high school when you know the opposing team will be starting at their own 20 (yard line).” In fact, about 75 percent of Delaney’s kickoffs (59 of 81 in 2015 alone) sailed into the end zone, setting up a touchback situation.

Brian Delaney’s ability to hold punts in the air was another advantage, according to Simmons.

“Brian regularly flips the ball with his punts. He routinely punted the ball above the lights at high school stadiums, and his hang time rarely gave opponents the opportunity to return punts.”

The third advantage of his kicker’s leg strength came from giving the coach more options on offense.

“He allows you the shot at long field goals. (Delaney) hit a 42-yard field goal as time expired against Robinson,” said Simmons, recalling his kicker’s game winner which gave the Bulldogs a narrow 29-28 victory over the Rams in mid-October, as Westfield was struggling to find its bearings as a team.

As a junior, Delaney made 11 field goals and averaged 45 yards per punt, and won first team 6A All-State honors as a kicker and punter. He is a first-team MaxPreps All-American as a punter, an Under Armour All-American, and Delaney played in the 2017 Under Armour All-America game at Camping World Stadium. He is rated a five-star kicker and a five-star punter by Kohl’s Kicking, as well as the No. 1 punter in the country by Kohl’s Kicking. The three-year starter is also rated as a three-star recruit, and the No. 2 kicker by ESPN.com, and No. 5 high school kicker in America by 247Sports.com.

Perhaps no one was more surprised by the Parade selection than Delaney himself.

“I didn’t have any warning,” said Delaney. “My Mom was the first to see it on Sunday when she picked up the newspaper and told me. It was a pretty cool surprise.”

Delaney is excited about both his pending academic and athletic career at U. VA.

Asked about a potential senior slump in his final semester of high school, Delaney was quick to tell a reporter that he has been studying hard and his upcoming grades should remain in the 3.6 GPA range. “Things are going well (academically).”

“I’m fired up and can’t wait to go and help the Cavaliers, It’s a dream come true and I’m looking forward to going,” said Delaney. He had no answer to the question of possibly redshirting with the Wahoos, but his goal is to become both the kicker and punter with Virginia. Asked if he expected to play both positions from Day 1, he echoed one of Coach Bronco Mendenhall’s favorite lines, explaining that every position with the Cavs is “earned, not given.”

Yet, with an All-American honor in his back pocket, and four years of hard work ahead of him, Delaney’s future in Charlottesville could end up becoming very memorable. After a 2-10 season in 2016, it is safe to say that the University of Virginia truly upgraded at one, and possibly two positions heading into 2017.

Stick Power Brings Indoor Field Hockey to the Virginia Peninsula

From the Daily Press, Jan. 15, 2017 and Virginia Peninsula Sports (updated version), Jan. 23, 2017

One of the fastest growing outdoor sports on the Peninsula, field hockey has moved indoors for the winter, and hundreds of young women and men are busy showing off their skills as a new season broke ground earlier this month.

Properly named, the StickPower field hockey operation, headed by owner Carrie Moura, has been in existence for several years, but looks to make a breakthrough in the public eye with this season’s slate of activities. The six-game winter league season, which commenced on January 21, was pushed back for logistical reasons, but remains complimented by two editions of the Christopher Newport Indoor Tournament, which held its first event on December 17 at the Freeman Center. The second tourney took place on January 14, and was won by the Hawks Premier club.

The proceeds from both events will be used to finance the CNU field hockey team’s annual international trip.

Allie Hackbarth-Kerr is a 2015 alumnus of Christopher Newport and the Lady Captains field hockey team, and currently serves as the Director of Operations for StickPower. She is assisted by a coaching staff that includes four current CNU players, one Old Dominion player, and a Warwick High player, Sam Brady, who has competed at the National indoor tournament with a boys’ team. As Kerr reminds a reporter, “outside of the U.S., field hockey is a men’s sport, so we would love more boys to play the game.”

“I’m part coordinator and part recruiter and promoter,” says Kerr to a prospective parent while selling tourney t-shirts at the first event. “(Young ladies) will express interest in the program, and I’ll tell them about CNU – how there are 164 teams in Division III and CNU is consistently in the top 20 or 25. So, you want to come to CNU?”

However, StickPower is much more than a recruiting arm of the Captains program, easily evidenced by its drawing power. The program draws as many as 500 young women each year who are interested in “extra competition and extra training,” according to Kerr.

Although goals are not tallied for the regular season games, the players are encouraged to “up their game,” said Kerr. She added, “Not keeping score is not meant to give off an “everyone wins” vibe. We are here to educate and teach these athletes the intricacies and strategies of the game. Not only will their skill increase, but their mental understanding of the game should increase as well, which will aid them when we get back to outdoor (season).”

Yet, there is more to StickPower than simply playing field hockey.

“It’s about becoming a responsible adult,” says Kerr, who, as a newlywed at 23, has just made the transition herself. “I was in the best shape of my life when I played, but the program is also about developing a grownup mindset.  You are not the person who tells her boss that you can’t come to work today.”

A steady dose of playing time is part of the StickPower success equation. There are 20 teams in the league, but only eight or nine members on each team, of which six needs to be competing at any given time.

“We don’t have too many subs,” says Kerr.

Caroline Moniz and Lydia Ward are two long-time members of StickPower, which plays its games at “The Grove” inside of the St. Luke’s United Methodist Church facility in Yorktown.

Moniz is a member of the U-19 (age) team, and a junior who plays on the Jamestown High varsity squad. “I got started with StickPower after my freshman season ended, and I was looking for a way to play field hockey and improve my skills. What I like best about StickPower is the coaching staff. (They) work with us continually to improve our skills, but we also have a lot of fun.”

“Carrie (Moura) brought me in with my younger sister Chloe and made us feel welcome from the minute I met her,” says Ward, a member of the varsity team at Warwick. “The CNU players treat you like little sisters and really help you with the skills to play the game.”

Indoor field hockey is different from the traditional outdoor model. Aside from the smaller “field” dimensions, each team features five players and a goalie, while the sticks are shorter and thinner than the regulation outdoor models. At the CNU tournaments, three games take place simultaneously on adjacent courts with a single clock counting off the 25-minute game time. Twenty teams took part in the first tourney with the Menchville “Monarchs” (U-19) and “Panthers” from Richmond (U-16) winning the team age-group titles.

More information about the program, which includes year-round camps, clinics, and a summer league session, is located online at www.stickpowerfieldhockey.com.

“We are always accepting applications,” says Kerr.

Coach Shu's Last Stand -- Virginia Duals Feature

As seen in Daily Press - january 15, 2017

HAMPTON – He is known simply and respectfully as “Coach Shu.” For 44 years, Apprentice wrestling coach Bruce Shumaker has made an indelible mark on local wrestling, first as a head coach at Denbigh in 1973-74, and later through a career path which wound through stops at Natural Bridge, Mathews and Lafayette high schools, with a year squeezed in at VMI, before settling in Newport News with his current position in 2007.

On Friday night, Shumaker, who will be retiring after this season, made his last coaching trip to the Virginia Duals. His Builder team had a rocky start in the American College Division, losing to favored Kutztown State 39-6 in their opening match. They battled hard against Liberty University, a Division I team, in the first consolation match before dropping a 24-18 decision.

But the Builders gave their coach a proper Duals sendoff, defeating Central Florida 39-13 in the 7^th place match.

For most of the Central Florida match, Shumaker was in typical form. Seated in the fifth chair, Coach “Shu,” an unmistakable presence, with his bald head and bushy white handlebar moustache, stared downward toward his roster notes, which were balanced on a left leg that crossed over his right. With the team score tied at nine, and Bryson Woody deadlocked in his 157-lb. bout, he remained relatively motionless and suspended in deep thought, even as Woody, and then Chad Simmons (165) and Patrick Foxworth (174) won their bouts to open up a comfortable lead.

As a pair of Knight forfeits sealed the match for Apprentice, Shumaker finally broke his pose, rolling the roster into his hand which was quickly buried under a crossed arm. As the match ended, Shumaker reminded his wrestlers to “shake their hands,” and then went back to the corner of the mat to continue a conversation that had started before the final bout.

Former wrestler?

“No, that was Frank Lapoli (former Bethel coach). He was at Bethel when I was coaching at Denbigh. Back in the 70’s, Peninsula wrestling was something else. We had Bethel (1977, AAA), Tabb (1977, AA), Poquoson (1979-81, AA), and Menchville (1976, AAA), winning state championships.”

Lapoli was followed by a trio of grown men who wanted a picture with Shumaker. One of the men was Williamsburg attorney Tom Turbeville.

Former wrestler?

“No. I wrestled for Bethel when he was coaching at Denbigh.” Turbeville (Class of 1978) went on to describe the summer sessions which were overseen by Shumaker in the late 70’s. “He’s a great man and a great coach who has given a lot to wrestling and to a lot of young men,” a group that included Turbeville’s son at Lafayette.

Shumaker smiled while recalling the summer sessions.

“We had an open wrestling room at Denbigh during the summer. It was an All-Star group of guys – whoever showed up. They came from Menchville, Tabb, Ferguson. We’d instruct a little bit, but it was round-robin. We had a great time.”

It’s the family aspect of wrestling that Shumaker continued to reference while talking about his Duals coaching career.

“All of these people are connected. Nobody’s doing this for the big crowd. You have to be selfish to be a wrestler. That’s why people come back here. It’s where all the wrestlers go.”

As far as his own top Duals memories, the first involved his team, but took place before they had set foot on a Coliseum mat. “I have so much respect for this place. I remember the first year I brought Mathews. We had been invited (in the past), but I just wasn’t sure that we were good enough to be here.” Only Shumaker’s last four Mathews teams (of nine) competed at the Duals.

He was happy the first year that his team did compete. “I got to watch Iowa and Penn State wrestle against each other on Friday night. And then on Saturday, they had to wrestle again in a third-place match. That’s a wrestler’s dream.”

The second memory involved his current team. “My first year here (2008), we tied Millersville, which was a Division I school at the time. But we had more pins, which was the criteria (for tie-breakers), so we won.”

The season is not over for Shumaker. He is “really optimistic” about his current squad. “We have never had so much depth (27 wrestlers), or this much skill.” Upcoming events include the USCAA National Wrestling Invitational at Penn State. Shumaker hopes to recapture some past success at the USCAA tournament.

“We won it the first five years, but haven’t won since.” His final match will take place on March 9-11 at the NCWA (National Collegiate Wrestling Association) Nationals.

Shumaker promises to return to the Coliseum next year, even if it’s as a spectator.

“It’s where you want to be if you’re in wrestling – first class.”