Ocean Lakes’ sportsmanship stands out amid delay
Amid the occasional bench-clearing incidents and posturing you might see on TV — not to mention political polarization — excellent sportsmanship is alive and well.
At The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, we credit Cox assistant softball coach Ephraim Minsky for emailing us this week to “share a wonderful thing that the Ocean Lakes players and coaches did at our game.”
Minsky said that with play suspended in the middle of the third inning because of lightning, players began to pack their belongings to leave the field. The Cox players were told to get the tarpaulin out, and “when Ocean Lakes saw us putting our tarp on the field, they all came running back from the parking lot to help us tarp in the rain. All players and coaches from Ocean Lakes did this without being asked or told. They run a wonderful program and this act of kindness shouldn’t go unrecognized. When we finished, they insisted we didn’t need to thank them. It was an awesome thing to be a part of.”
There’s a great lesson for everybody.
WNBA connections: Beginning her first season with the Washington Mystics, Virginia Beach native Elizabeth Williams is the only player from Hampton Roads currently on a roster in the WNBA, whose season began this weekend. She hopes to fare well alongside a hopefully healthy Elena Delle Donne.
Former Virginia player Jocelyn Willoughby of the New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces rookie Aisha Sheppard from Virginia Tech, former Boo Williams AAU player Megan Walker of the Atlanta Dream and Indiana Fever coach Marianne Stanley, who practically began her multi-Hall of Fame career with Old Dominion, are some of the league’s other connections.
Beskin, Griffin earn bronze: Longtime Virginia Beach players Roy Beskin and John Griffin earned bronze medals in this week’s International Tennis Federation 70-and-over men’s doubles tournament in Boca Raton, Florida. The event includes top players for more than 20 countries.
Cape Henry Racquet Club co-owner Darryl Cummings noted that Beskin and Griffin, two of his two members, beat players from Uruguay, Chile and Argentina along the way.
Big PTPA tourney coming soon: One of the best traditions in area tennis is the Peninsula Tennis Patrons Association Memorial Day Classic at Newport News’ Huntington Park, where there are hard courts almost everywhere you can look. Before the pandemic, it annually was one of the area’s most popular tournaments under Ned Haines’ steady direction.
Various divisions of singles, doubles and mixed doubles are scheduled to start May 27, and information is available at pentennis.org.
TGAT points races: The Tidewater Golfweek Amateur Tour is back in action this weekend with the Andi and Zoe Photographers Classic at Albemarle Plantation in Hertford, North Carolina. It will resume next weekend in the Williamsburg area with a sold-out event at Kiskiack.
The season points leaders entering the weekend were: Chris Lamb in the Championship flight (3.9 or better handicap), Jason Hall in the A flight (4.0-8.9), Scott Katwinkel in the B flight (9.0-13.9), Dan Pierce in the C flight (14.0-18.9) and Roger Claytor in the D flight (19 and up).