May has been the month of miracles. This was the way our highly devout Prime Minister described his election victory, which arrived on the back of three years of dysfunctional government and a campaign devoid of policies. It was also the way Tony Costa responded to his victory in this year’s Archibald Prize, for a portrait of artist, Lindy Lee. “Miraculous,” he said.

The word, in both instances, seems well-chosen. I won’t wade into the shallows of politics, but Costa’s win seems one of the least predictable in decades. Because I was overseas during the announcement I didn’t have to take my usual punt, but I wouldn’t have seen this one coming.

I’m pleased for Tony Costa, an underrated artist who is overdue for some attention, but many would probably agree that he is more of a landscapist than a portraitist. As a picture of a person meditating it’s understandable Lee should have her eyes closed, but this is a major drawback in any portrait. To say the eyes are the windows of the soul is a cliche, but close them and the life drains out of a work, the human connection fails and a person becomes an object. It’s as much of a no-no as showing the subject’s teeth, a feature that turns any painting into a happy snap.

In Milan, while the Archibald was being announced, I was looking at the incredible portraits of Antonello da Messina (1430-79), who had the ability to convey a sitter’s entire personality in the curve of a lip or an eyebrow, or the gleam in a pupil. To return to Sydney and be confronted with this year’s Archibald selections was to feel that whatever has been happening in art for the past 400 years, it couldn’t be called "progress".

Advertisement

Costa’s portrait is also disappointingly schematic, being nothing more than a figure deposited on a ground. Once again I can understand the idea of depicting a meditating figure in the silhouette of a mountain, but it doesn’t make for a challenging composition.

Were there better candidates for the Prize? Yes, but not many, because this is one of the poorest Archibalds in living memory. As has been the practice over the past few years the show is too large, with more than 50 works on display. The idea, presumably, is that profusion adds variety. The reality is that it diffuses interest, as most entries have no hope of winning, while the preponderance of mediocre pictures drags down one’s overall impression of the event.

There are too many teensy-weensy pictures, even though some of the small works, notably Keith Burt’s Benjamin Law: Happy Sad and Angus McDonald’s Mariam Veiszadeh, are accomplished examples of the portraitist’s art. There is a large dose of that nit-picking photorealism that appeals to the public in the most banal way, and irritates the purists who believe a portrait should not be over-dependent on the camera. Exhibit A is Tessa MacKay’s giant-sized portrait of David Wenham which won this year’s Packing Room Prize – a monument to patience and perseverence, but aesthetically inert.

There are ugly, shapeless concoctions by Shane Bowden, Paul Ryan and Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran (who is so much more effective as a ceramic sculptor). Imants Tillers’ All hail Greg Inglis resembles a pin-board rather than a painting. As for David Griggs’ portrait of Alexie Glass-Kantor, it would make a great cover for a psychedelic rock album, but it could be a '‘portrait'’ of almost anyone, or anything. And what was Anh Do thinking when he added bits of meaningless collage to his ragged portrait of George Gittoes “to represent the beauty of art”? Perhaps it was to compensate for the resounding lack of beauty in the bits he painted himself.

Some works are just plain dull. Jordan Richardson’s Annabel Crabb is more like Annabel Drab. When someone works so hard to be a "personality" it seems perverse to pare away all the trimmings. Crabb looks so dazed she may as well be holding a marijuana leaf.

The majority of works in the show inspired nothing more than indifference, for which I’m almost thankful. In a more predictable universe the Prize would have gone to Jude Rae for Sarah Peirse as Miss Docker in Patrick White’s ‘A cheery soul’. It’s not an especially original idea to portray an actor in character (Nick Harding’s winning entry of 2001 showed John Bell as King Lear), but it’s a solid work in which a backdrop of basic black, broken by a thin, reflective shimmer at foot level, feels like a view of the stage from the stalls.

Click Here: Sports Water Bottle Accessories

Clara Adolphs’ double portrait of Rosemary Laing and Geoff Kleem (in their garden) owes an obvious debt to photography, but the artist’s unfussy way with the brush lends both energy and intimacy to the scene. John Beard’s portrait of the late, lamented Edmund Capon betrays a similar debt, but here the paint is applied in minute cross-hatchings that seem like a penance for the Pop simplicity of the image itself. Vanessa Stockard’s romantic, Van Gogh-like portrait of McLean Edwards, is a more flattering likeness than the picture that won Tim Storrier the 2017 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize.

White shells, black heart, Blak Douglas’ portrait of shell artist, Esme Timbery is a large, vividly coloured depiction of a head floating in space. It may not be the ideal thing for the lounge room wall but it’s a skilful, formally inventive work in which the artist has combined several different methods of painting in an image of almost outlandish directness.

Natasha Walsh has also shown imagination in a self-portrait on copper, in which she seems to be sitting in an imaginary chair in the midst of a field. It’s odd to the point of surreality, but far better a controlled experiment than a stroll down the straight-and-narrow, or another blast of vomitous expressionism.

Finally, I’d give the thumbs up to Michael Vale’s Kid Congo on the island of the pink monkey birds – a suitably fantastic tribute to a cult guitarist. It’s an exercise in B-movie gothic that remembers a few points other artists have apparently forgotten. For instance, Vale has taken the time to capture a likeness. He has given us a composition, however bizarre, and he conveys a strong impression of the theatrical nature of a Kid Congo performance. Allowing for the ghouls and pink monkey birds it’s a rather old-fashoned portrait, and all the better for it.

The 2019 Archibald Prize is at the Art Gallery of NSW until September 8.

The daughter of a multi-millionaire Sydney businesswoman says she is "ashamed" of her role in helping her Mexican lover import kilograms of ice into Australia but says she was drawn into it because of love.

Rose Thomas has admitted to aiding and abetting her girlfriend, Norma Zuniga Frias, in importing 15.9 kilograms of pure methamphetamine valued at $14 million in March 2018.

Thomas helped Frias by purchasing backpacks and scales to divide up the drug shipment, which had been concealed inside speaker boxes and stashed at an Airbnb apartment under fake names.

Frias was to be paid $15,000 to receive the packages from a contact in Mexico before the pair were arrested by police in their Marrickville share house.

Advertisement

At a sentencing hearing in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Friday, Thomas – the daughter of online publisher Jackie Maxted – said that as soon as she arrived at the rented apartments in Rozelle and saw the speaker boxes, she was overwhelmed and did not want to be there.

She told the court she had no idea about the quantity or type of drugs being imported and originally thought it was cocaine.

"As soon as I stepped in there, I wanted to leave," she told the sentencing hearing. "I was preparing to tell Norma I didn't want to be there anymore."

Thomas, 26, has been convicted of aiding and abetting an attempt to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported, border-controlled drug. She has been on $100,000 bail awaiting sentencing and living with her mother at her Bondi home.

Frias, who has pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, has been in custody since their March 2018 arrest.

"I feel ashamed of having had anything to do with it," Thomas told the court. "I see anything in the drug trade as a completely greedy act.

"It's something that millions or thousands of people lose their lives to every year. It's been horrible on my family and friends and everyone around me."

Ms Maxted told the court her daughter and Frias had been "very happy and in love" at the time of the offence. She said when her daughter came out of prison on bail she was "frail and scared".

"She said that she's extremely disappointed in herself, and bewildered as to why she didn't stop it," Ms Maxted said.

"She wants to get her life back on track, to make amends for the mistakes she's made and live a normal life."

Thomas' lawyer, Phillip Boulten SC, said his client had been drawn into it through love and that "she could barely have done less".

Judge Richard Weinstein said that "in the haze of young love, things are often done which seem absurd after reflection".

Crown prosecutor Robert McCaw said that while he accepted that Ms Thomas' actions were at the "lower end" of this type of crime, a prison sentence with a non-parole period was needed to send a message to the community.

Frias' lawyer, Malcolm Ramage QC, said his client had "lost the lot" and her conviction had already limited "her life dramatically".

She faces deportation to Mexico after she is released.

The pair had become romantically involved after Frias arrived in Sydney in early 2017 on a student visa. She had spent holidays in Tasmania with Thomas and her family over Christmas.

They were "extremely close", Thomas told the court.

"We were inseparable I'd say … I was deeply in love with her. It was my world at that time," she said.

They did not speak during proceedings on Friday.

The hearing is expected to resume on July 12.

Click Here: Sports Water Bottle Accessories

Washington: An altered video of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, slowed down to the point that some social media users think she seems drunk, is spreading online.

A three-minute video from Pelosi's Wednesday remarks at the Centre for American Progress Ideas Conference, where she accused President Donald Trump of a cover-up and indicated that it may be an impeachable offence, was manipulated so her words sounded slurred and garbled. The video, which has 2.1 million views on Facebook and has been shared 45,000 times on that platform,was posted by a group called Politics WatchDog. The video has also made its way onto Twitter and was on Youtube, but has since been removed from that site.

The video has been slowed to about 75 per cent of its original speed, according to the Washington Post, which first reported on the distorted video. The pitch has also been altered after it was slowed down to make it sound more like Pelosi's actual voice.

LoadingAdvertisement

Hany Farid, a computer-science professor and digital-forensics expert at University of California, Berkeley, told the Post that there was "no question" the video had been altered and that "it's striking that such a simple manipulation can be so effective and believable to some."

Pelosi and Trump have traded barbs over the past several days after infrastructure funding talks fell apart once the president conditioned further negotiations with Congress on the ending all congressional probes into him, his administration and his finances.

The House speaker has accused the president of being engaged in a "cover-up," adding that he threw a "temper tantrum" at the infrastructure meeting. She has since expressed concern for Trump's and nation's "well-being", Trump on Thursday, US time, called Pelosi a "mess". The President also derided her as "crazy" and said she is "disintegrating."

Click Here: Sports Water Bottles

Trump late Thursday, US time, also tweeted a separate video of a Pelosi press conference that splices together the times she stuttered or stumbled over words.

"PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE," the President tweeted along with the video clip.

The video was featured on Fox Business' Lou Dobbs show, where political analyst Ed Rollins said he thought the House speaker was getting "worn down."

USA Today

Greg Inglis has entered rehabilitation as the Rabbitohs legend struggles to adapt to his life in retirement.

South Sydney issued a short statement on Friday confirming Inglis, who hung up his boots earlier this season with more than 18 months left on his Rabbitohs deal, has entered a clinic.

"Rabbitohs and Souths Cares ambassador Greg Inglis has entered a facility to undergo treatment to assist with and support his mental health," a South Sydney statement said.

"On behalf of Greg and his family, we ask the media and the public to respect their privacy. No further comment will be made by the Rabbitohs, Greg, his management or his family at this time."

AdvertisementLoading

It’s understood the 32-year-old's stint in the rehabilitation facility could be months-long rather than days or weeks.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Friday the game would continue to support Inglis, who was handed a role with the Rabbitohs’ charity arm Souths Cares and as a development coach and Indigenous mentor upon his retirement.

"The short answer is we can always do more," Greenberg said.

"I've been in constant contact with Greg and his club. In fact, I am pleased he has taken that step, it's an important step for him. Clearly he has had some difficulties, and I am glad he is getting the specialist support he needs.

"Mental health is an issue, not just for rugby league but for the broader community. We run a number of very important programs, and we have done over a long period of time.

"The most important thing we can continue to do is reduce the stigma, to take away the stigma. When someone puts their hand up and asks for help, that's a good thing.

"What Greg is doing at the moment is reaching out and asking for professional help. Let's remove the stigma and say that's a good thing. He has been open about some of his challenges with mental health.

"I have got to know Greg over a long period of time, it takes real bravery to admit some of your own failures. He'll get the help he needs.

"As a community and as a country, when talking about mental health, it's OK to put your hand up and ask for help. It's actually a sign of great strength."

The NRL made a determination last week on how the $1.5 million Inglis was owed for the rest of his contract would sit on the Rabbitohs’ salary cap, but it's been the least of concerns for the South Sydney hierarchy.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett said Inglis was the happiest he'd seen since arriving at the club when he addressed the media after South Sydney’s thumping win over the Broncos earlier this month.

The match doubled as a tribute to Inglis and his former teammates celebrated with his trademark 'goanna' after each try.

But Inglis' struggles have accelerated in recent weeks to the point where he will enter rehabilitation having first been admitted for mental health issues in 2017.

"The best thing about Greg is that he's getting the support that he needs, OK," Bennett said on Friday.

"So that's as much as I want to talk about it. I don't want to elaborate on it. But that's the situation."

Inglis played 265 NRL matches for both the Storm and Rabbitohs as well as 39 Tests for Australia and 32 games for Queensland in the State of Origin arena.

Loading

Replay

Replay video

Lifeline 13 11 14

Mens Line 1300 78 99 78

Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Click Here: Sports Water Bottles

Do you tend to berate yourself when you make a mistake? Angrily lament your lack of willpower if you finish a packet of Maltesers? If your inner critic seethes when you feel you've done something wrong, you're far from alone.

Chances are you'd never talk to a friend the way your inner voice talks to you. We're wonderful at showing compassion towards others, but stumble when it comes to extending the same inward.

Psychologist Paul Gilbert came across the need for compassion as a therapeutic modality in England in the 1980s. After quizzing patients, he was shocked to hear just how many adopted harsh, scathing tones when engaging in self-talk.

He encouraged them to embrace a kinder tone. Some patients flatly refused, telling him they had never been nice to themselves and couldn't imagine starting now. Those who persevered faced another hurdle.

Advertisement

"They began to realise how lonely they'd felt for so long, because they'd had this hostile relationship with themselves for so long," he said.

Professor Gilbert could see these patients were crying out for self-compassion. Through the 1990s, he developed what's now known as Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).

CFT has since spread to our shores, says Dr James Kirby, a clinical psychologist at the University of Queensland and director of the Compassionate Mind Research Group. He cites the "recent surge" in people embracing mindfulness for creating our demand for compassion-based therapies.

Professor Gilbert is keen to note compassion is a sensitivity to suffering (either in yourself or others) along with a commitment to trying to alleviate and prevent such pain.

"Compassion involves, firstly, finding the courage to engage with things that are hard, frightening or upsetting … and secondly … the wisdom to find out how best to help one's self and others." These principles guide CFT's motto, which is "to be helpful, not harmful, to myself and others".

Click Here: Sports Water BottlesLoading

That harsh, negative self-talk is harmful to our health, Gilbert says. He says being verbally attacked by someone stimulates our stress system. "But equally, we can do it ourselves [by being self-critical]."

He cites studies that used brain scanners to support this notion. "When we're being self-critical, we're stimulating stress processes in your body, whereas when we're being compassionate, we don't."

The main problem to generating self-compassion, Gilbert says, is understanding that it's about becoming aware of your suffering, while nurturing a desire to alleviate it. Once people grasp this, he says, it's "fairly straightforward".

Start by becoming mindful of your inner voice. Gilbert says most people tend to "slip" into it, so pay attention. When you have the time, try to slow the process down. Imagine you can physically take the self-critic out of your head and just let it speak to you.

"When people do that, they suddenly realise this self-criticism can be much more vicious than they thought. It can say things like, 'You're no good, you're a waste of space.' The emotion in those words can be quite angry," he says.

Loading

Once you've let the self-critic rant, consider why it's so angry or afraid, but don't fight with it. Make a decision to treat yourself – and your critic – with the kind of "wise compassion" you'd afford a good friend, offering helpful suggestions, in a kind tone.

We don't have to believe what we're telling ourselves. Your critical mind will try to jump in and attack, Gilbert warns, but try not to let that deter you. He recommends deepening your breathing, aiming for around five breaths a minute. Doing that takes us from the frantic "fight or flight" sympathetic system into the calming, parasympathetic system.

The benefits? We become more courageous, better able to cope with life's difficulties, and improve the way we relate to others. And there's no upside to letting our inner critic run rampant, Gilbert says: "It just makes everything much harder."

This article appears in Sunday Life magazine within the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on sale May 26.

A NSW Police weapons instructor who wrote the agency's Taser policy has told an inquest that frontline police are expected to carry one Taser between two officers, but that did not happen on the evening a man was fatally shot at Central Station.

Danukul Mokmool, 30, was shot dead on July 26, 2017 after he ran at police outside a florist while holding a pair of scissors in each hand. Mr Mokmool, who had a history of psychosis, was likely experiencing a psychotic episode at the time, the NSW Coroner's Court heard.

Click Here: Sports Water Bottles

On Friday, weapons and defensive tactics instructor Sergeant Justin Waters said frontline police wearing uniforms are expected to have one Taser between two officers. Previously, an officer giving evidence seemed to believe wearing the weapon was a matter of individual choice.

Counsel assisting, Adrian Williams, asked if that expectation of wearing the Taser had been made clear to officers.

Advertisement

"If it hasn't been, it will be after this particular matter," Sergeant Waters said.

The weapons instructor previously said that even if there had been a Taser at the scene, using it would have been futile because it is a single-shot device that needs to be armed with a switch on the side, and if both probes do not hit a target they remain an active threat.

He said if a Taser was used on Mr Mokmool, a firearm would likely have been used "at exactly the same time" by another officer nearby.

Mr Mokmool was fatally shot about 21 seconds after police arrived at the florist, responding to an urgent call that a man was holding a knife to a shopkeeper's throat.

Sergeant Waters said the two officers who shot at Mr Mokmool identified an "immediate risk" to their lives and responded according to their training. Senior Constable Frederick Tse fired three rounds, while Senior Constable Jakob Harrison fired one round.

"The threat from a bladed weapon cannot be understated," Sergeant Waters said.

"I don't believe there's anywhere in there that those officers could have done anything different."

Giving evidence on Friday, forensic pharmacologist John Farrar said when an autopsy was done on Mr Mokmool he was found to have a concentration of methadone in his blood of 0.98mg/litre.

Dr Farrar said Mr Mokmool took one dose of methadone a day, a drug usually given to people to wean them off opiates, and would have been at or near "peak blood concentration" of the substance at the time of the shooting.

He said if a person is consuming methadone on a regular basis, nothing in its effects would cause Mr Mokmool's behaviour on July 26.

Mr Mokmool's mother Supaporn Chomphoo and brother Charlie Huynh were among his relatives to attend the inquest on Friday.

Speaking at the time of his brother's death, Mr Huynh said it was "pretty heartbreaking" and described Mr Mokmool as a lovely person and an "innocent young bloke".

The inquest will resume in June.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –Sixteen student-athletes have been named to the NFCA’s Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) All-America team. Additionally, Mt. Hood Community College’s Sarah Stanfill and Edmonds Community College’s Prestyne Kaimi-Montira were named recipients of the New Balance / NFCA Golden Shoe and Diamond Sports / NFCA Catcher of the Year awards.

Leading the way with three overall selections is Bellevue College and Centralia College. North Idaho College, Mt. Hood, Big Bend Community College, Edmonds Community College each had two honorees. 

2019 NFCA NWAC All-Americans

Keying No. 1 Bellevue are pitcher Rhaney Harris, infielder Tatum Dow and outfielder Tori McDowell. The trio has guided the Bulldogs to a 40-5 overall record, 29-3 in league play to earn the top seed heading into this weekend’s NWAC Softball Championship. Harris is 19-1 with 127 strikeouts in 128.1 innings of work, holding her opposition to a .225 batting average. Dow ranks fifth overall with a .526 batting average, while topping the league with 81 hits and 75 runs scored. Additionally, she ranks in the top ten with 194 total bases (3^rd), 20 doubles (5^th), 75 RBI (7^th), a .574 on-base percentage (8^th) and .968 slugging percentage (9^th). McDowall has driven in 80 runs (2^nd), while batting .461 with 17 home runs (7^th) and a .965 slugging percentage.

The fifth-ranked Trailblazers’ trio is comprised of infielder Olivia Dean, outfielder Britzy Hockett and utility player Dakota Brooks. Dean is in the running for the batting title, heading into the weekend with a .548 average, two points off the top spot, while her teammate Hockett is fourth with a .533 average. Dean also ranks third in hits (80), third in on-base percentage (.605), fourth in runs scored (71) and fourth in slugging (1.027). Hockett leads the NWAC with 81 hits and is seventh with a .574 on-base percentage. Brooks does it at the plate as well as helping out in the circle. She owns the third-best slugging percentage (1.058) as well as the third-most doubles (21), while also recording 18 homers (6^th) and 80 RBI (2^nd). Brooks is 20-6 with 136 strikeouts.

No. 2 North Idaho’s duo of hurler Madi Mott and outfielder Bailey Cavanaugh have led the Cardinals to a 33-9 mark, 27-5 in league play. Mott, the only returning All-American, tops the NWAC with a 1.71 ERA and 10.63 punchouts per game. At 20-2, she is tied for third in victories and is second with 199 strikeouts to just 21 walks. Additionally, she has launched a league-best 25 long balls with a .500 batting average, 74 runs scored and 68 RBI. Cavanaugh hits .469 with 12 doubles, 12 homers, 63 RBI and 51 runs scored.

Mt. Hood is led by pitcher McKenzie Pierce and infielder Kennedy Jantzi. Pierce has picked up 31 wins on the season, eight more than the next competitor. She is 31-5 with 121 strikeouts. Offensively, she’s batting .438 with 10 doubles, 13 home runs, 49 RBI and 60 runs scored. Jantzi has driven in a NWAC-best 85 runs, owns the second-best slugging percentage at 1.203, third-best batting average at .539 and is also third with 23 dingers. 

Edmonds’ two All-Americans are Kaimi-Montira and infielder Ciena Kauhi. The Diamond Catcher of the Year ranks fourth with 22 round trippers and fifth with 78 RBI. She is also fifth with a 1.007 slugging percentage and seventh with 142 total bases. Defensively, she sports a .989 fielding percentage, committing one miscue in 88 chances. Kauhi tops the Tritons with a .477 average, five triples and 74 hits, while adding 10 doubles, 35 RBI and 65 runs scored.

Big Bend’s catcher Aubrey Barney and infielder Lynsey Valverde garnered All-America status for the third-seeded Vikings. Barney has a .400 average with 13 doubles, 14 home runs, 56 RBI and 59 runs scored, while Valverde (.460) leads the squad with 74 hits, 17 long balls, 21 stolen bases and 71 RBI.

Rounding out the 2019 All-Americans are Everett Community College’s Megan Parsley and Ashley Bonham of Southwestern Oregon Community College. Parsley, an outfielder, leads the Trojans with a .472 batting average, 60 hits, 21 doubles, 12 home runs, 52 RBI and 42 runs scored. Bonham, a designated player, is the Lakers’ top offensive threat with a .466 average, 68 hits, 15 doubles, 13 homers, 46 RBI and 52 runs, all team highs.

The Golden Shoe recipient Stanfill is tied atop the league with 34 stolen bases. The speedy outfielder was caught just twice all season, while also batting .391 with six doubles, six home runs, 35 RBI and 49 runs scored.

Click Here: watford fc shirt

OKLAHOMA CITY – USA Softball, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, is proud to announce long-time Women’s National Team (WNT) leaderKenEriksen as the head coach for the Tokyo 2020 U.S. Olympic Softball Team. Selected by members of the USA Softball Women’s National Team Selection Committee (WNTSC),Eriksenwill lead the Red, White and Blue in their return to the Olympic Games as Team USA looks to reclaim the Gold Medal from host country Japan.

“Ken Eriksen has a proven track record in not only leading our Women’s National Team program to the top of the podium, but also maintaining that success and developing world-class athletes,” said USA Softball Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Craig Cress. “His accolades speak volumes and in the 11 years that softball has been off the Olympic program, he has been a constant for our Women’s National Team. He has built upon the legacy established before him, and we are confident that he will guide the team to the Gold in 2020.”

Eriksen’s journey to Olympic Head Coach began in the 1987 as men’s fastpitch player before transitioning into coaching within the USA Softball WNT program in 2002. Currently the head coach at the University of South Florida, Eriksen has previous Olympic experience, having served as an assistant coach for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Softball Team.

“First of all, I am humbled by the fact that I am able to follow in the footsteps of two of my mentors in fastpitch softball, Ralph Raymond and Mike Candrea, the last two coaches to lead Team USA in the Olympics,” said Eriksen. “Coach Raymond and I had shared a few dinners and talked the game many times over the last 25 years. I will miss him tremendously. Coach Candrea’s philosophy has been one for the ages. He always puts the ‘game’ above everything. It’s all about the ‘game’ and how you approach it with people that fit your approach as a coach. His simplicity and his athlete-centered approach has lent itself well to Team USA even after he retired from the National Team.”

Eriksenis establishing himself as one of the winningest coaches in USA Softball WNT history and currently sits second in wins for the program behind fellow Hall of Fame coach Ralph Raymond. Compiling a 52-4 record at the helm of Team USA in major international competitions (Olympic Games, World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Championship and Pan American Games),Eriksenwill look to lead Team USA in its quest to claim the Gold Medal in Tokyo.

Since taking over the WNT program in 2011, Eriksen ushered in a new era of USA Softball with a roster comprised of international rookies. 

“To be handed the keys to this program back in 2011 after all the great players retired from Team USA was a challenge and an honor,” Eriksen continued.

While continuing the legacy established before him,Eriksenhas provided a steady constant for the program during the years softball was not a part of the Olympic Games platform.  Fostering an “us” environment,Eriksen’s dedication and commitment to the USA Softball WNT program culminated with a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games berth which was earned at the 2018 WBSC World Championship last August in Chiba, Japan.   

“Winning the World Championship and the Olympic bid in 2018, it was an affirmation of how Team USA has approached and prepared for the biggest stages since our first National Team Program was put on the field.”

As a player,Eriksenbegan playing USA Softball when he joined the Clearwater Bombers, playing from 1987-1992 while batting .347 in 1992 and .456 in the Men’s Major Fast Pitch Nationals.Eriksenwas a part of the Miller-Toyota team and Tampa Smokers up until 1997 when he won the Men’s Major Fast Pitch National Championship with his fellow teammates.Eriksenracked up additional honors on the international scene, earning a silver medal at the Pan American Games (1991) and was a three-time Olympic Festival participant (1993, 1994 and 1995), where he took home an additional silver medal at the 1995 Olympic Festival. Eriksenalso played for the USA Select Team in 1988, which was the first American athletic team to compete in Cuba in over 30 years.

After hanging up his cleats as a player, his first head coach role with the USA Softball National Team program came in 1997 when he led the USA Softball Junior Men’s National Team (JMNT) at the WBSC Junior Men’s World Championship in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Five years later, he joined the WNT as an assistant coach in 2002 – the same year the team captured a Gold Medal at the WBSC World Championship. A highlight of his Team USA coaching resume includes being an assistant coach in the 2003 Pan American Games where the team won Gold and going on to coach at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens where the U.S. Olympic Softball Team would put on one of the most dominant performances in Olympic history.Eriksentacked on another Gold Medal as an assistant coach at the 2010 WBSC Championship in Caracas, Venezuela before his Head Coach appointment in 2011.

With softball off the Olympic program following the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Eriksen was instrumental in continuing the gold standard set by his predecessors – often times with rosters comprised of rookies and veterans of the international stage. In his tenure as Head Coach, Eriksen has guided the U.S. to two WBSC World Championship Gold Medals (2016, 2018) and two Silver Medals (2012, 2014), a Pan American Games Gold Medal (2011) and Silver Medal (2015). Through it all, Eriksen credits the athletes within the program.

“The players that kept the dream alive for every girl that has played this game deserve all the credit,” said Eriksen. “There have been so many who’s names will not be on the roster in Tokyo that have helped us maintain a gold level standard. I will never forget what they did for this program and for the United States.”

Collegiately, Eriksen has been at the helm of the University of South Florida softball program since 1996.  Since Eriksen’s first year, the Bulls have made 14 NCAA postseason appearances, two NCAA Super Regionals and a College World Series. They have won seven conference titles (in three conferences: SASA, BIG EAST, and The American), produced 975 wins and his players have recieved numerous amount of NFCA All-America, CoSIDA Academic All-America, All-Conference, and NFCA All-Region honors.

“I am proud to be selected as the next head coach to lead Team USA to its re-entry into the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. It goes without saying that if you don’t have people and an organization that believes in you none of this is possible. I’ve been fortunate to have had a tremendous amount of support from family, the National Governing Body, the NFCA, USF, assistant coaches with our Team USA program, and lastly many USA alums from both the men’s and women’s programs. Thank you to the USA Softball National Team Selection Committee and Board of Directors. We hope to continue to represent the Red, White, and Blue in the class manner that we have. Go Eagles.”

— Courtesy of USA Softball

Click Here: toulon rugby shop melbourne

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –Minnesota’s Natalie DenHartog, Alabama’s Montana Fouts and Northwestern’s Danielle Williams are the three finalists for the 2019 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award. The winner will be announced on the evening of May 28 at the 2019 NCAA Women’s College World Series banquet in Oklahoma City.

Fouts is the seventh top-three finalist to represent the Southeastern Conference and the second from Alabama. DenHartog is the second Golden Gopher, while Williams is the first to don a Wildcat jersey as the duo doubled the Big Ten’s number of finalists to four.

An NFCA All-Great Lakes First Teamer, DenHartog leads the Big Ten with 59 RBI, which is ranked 11^thin the NCAA. She is batting .392 with 15 doubles two triples and 16 home runs through 56 games and is one of the keys to Minnesota’s second Super Regional appearance in program history. The Gopher cleanup hitter has a team-leading .830 slugging percentage and 127 total bases. Three of the Hopkins, Minn. native’s 16 long balls have been grand slams. She earned unanimous All-Big Ten First Team and All-Freshman Team honors.

Fouts, the SEC Freshman of the Year and first-team all-conference selection, is 14-3 this season with a 1.20 ERA, which is second lowest in the SEC and ranks 14^thnationally. She has struck out 164 batters over 146 innings, twirled five shutouts, picked up five saves and is holding her opposition to a .167 batting average. Named to the NFCA’s All-South Region First Team. The rookie hurler has picked up victories over nationally-ranked opponents, Arizona, Georgia, Florida and two against Minnesota. Fouts, a native of Grayson, Ky., earned five weekly honors from the SEC, including a program-record four Freshman of the Week accolades.

Williams led the Big Ten this season with 31 wins and 13 shutouts, ranking tied for third and fourth in the nation, respectively, It is the most victories and shutouts for a Northwestern pitcher in her rookie season since 1984. Williams, the first Big Ten Freshman of the Year since 2004, is also ranked among the top 10 in the nation with 310 strikeouts (6^th) and 9.7 strikeouts per seven innings (9^th), while posting a 1.38 ERA with just 39 walks and a .161 batting average against. The rookie southpaw has played a pivotal role in Northwestern’s first Super Regional appearance since 2008. Williams, a native of Pleasanton, Calif., earned first team NFCA All-Great Lakes Region accolades. 

All three finalists will be competing in Super Regionals this weekend as DenHartog’s Gophers host LSU, Fouts’ Crimson Tide hosts Texas and Williams’ Wildcats travel to Oklahoma.

In its sixth year, the Schutt Sports / NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award was created to honor outstanding athletic achievement among Division I freshmen softball student-athletes. The top three and the winner are voted on by the NFCA’s Division I All-American Committee, consisting of one head coach from each of the Association’s 10 regions.

Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year

2018 – Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma

2017 – Rachel Garcia, UCLA

2016 – Amanda Lorenz, Florida

2015 – Paige Parker, Oklahoma

2014 – Annie Aldrete, Tennessee & Kasey Cooper, Auburn 

Click Here: toulon rugby shop melbourne

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has announced that 392 student-athletes from 163 programs have received 2019 NFCA Division I All-Region accolades.  

The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second and third-team selections. NFCA member coaches from each respective region voted on the teams, and all the honorees now become eligible for the 2019 NFCA Division I All-America squads. 

2019 DI All-Region Teams

Click Here: toulon rugby shop melbourne

Florida State (Southeast), James Madison (Northeast), Oklahoma (Central) and Washington (Pacific) led the charge with all eight of their nominations receiving All-Region recognition. Arizona (West), UCLA (West) and Virginia Tech (Mid-Atlantic) took home seven honors apiece. Alabama (South), Michigan (Great Lakes) and Texas Tech (Central) garnered six each.

Seven Sooners were recognized with first-team plaudits, while six Hokies and six Wildcats were named to the first team. The Huskies earned five first-team honors with four first teamers coming from LSU (South), the Dukes and the Seminoles.

Southern Illinois and Louisiana Tech topped the Mideast Region with five honors, while Ohio State led the Midwest with five as well. All three of those programs had three first teamers. UIC and the Wolverines each captured three first-team plaudits in the Great Lakes Region.  

The Southeastern Conference paced all leagues with 40 honorees, while the Pac-12 and Big 10 were right on its heels with 38 and 37, respectively. 

Conference players and pitchers of the year from member institutions are added to the third team if they were not already voted to an All-Region squad. In some instances, limited regional nominations prevent a position from being filled.

The 2019 NFCA Division I All-America teams will be announced at approximately 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 29, via NFCA.org.