The Fall season of the Clark Park Youth Soccer League (CPYSL) begins on Saturday, Oct. 3, and the popular volunteer-run program is still looking for coaches. You don’t need serious soccer skills or coaching experience in order to apply. The Fall season continues until November 23. It takes place on Saturdays at Clark Park (45th and Chester), with age groups 5-6 and 6-7 playing from 10:30 a.m. to Noon, and age groups 7-8 and 9-11 playing from Noon to 1:30 p.m. Volunteer coaches are asked to commit to being there most of the Saturdays through the season, but the program will try to have three or four coaches assigned to each team so that you will always have backup. Everyone who likes to play soccer and enjoys running around and having fun with kids is welcome to apply.  Continue Reading

You probably know the feeling. Sitting on a bus or in your car during rush hour, you gaze out the window and say to yourself, “I could probably walk home quicker.”

Well, an intrepid group of runners are going to test that theory tomorrow. Only they will be running, not walking. Yep, at 5 p.m. tomorrow runners will meet at the Philadelphia Runner store near 37th and Walnut to race a car and a SEPTA bus, which will traverse rush-hour traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway, to the Wissahickon Transportation Center between Manayunk and East Falls – some 6.6 miles. First person there – whether driver or runner – wins. UPDATE: Indego, Philadelphia’s bike share program, has also announced its participation in the event.

West Philly Runners (Facebook page), the group that meets at 45th and Locust for weekly runs every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., came up with the idea and got SEPTA onboard. You may remember a similar event last November when a group of runners “Beat the Bus.” West Philly Runners was behind that one too.

This is super short notice, but if you are a runner, there are still some spots open. Go here to register. SEPTA is supplying tokens to get runners back to West Philly and Philadelphia Runner will haul your stuff to the Wissahickon station. We also hear that there will be a special deal on Yards beer afterward at City Tap House.

If you are not up for the run, you can cheer the runners on as they head out by stopping by the 3700 block of Walnut St.at 5 p.m.. Runners can pick their own route, though the two suggested routes go near the zoo and along Martin Luther King Drive (shorter, but harder) or the Schuylkill River Trail (longer but a little easier).

Our money is on the runners, unless of course the car is a taxi.

Photo courtesy of 8 Limbs Academy.

UPDATE (3/11/2015): 8 Limbs Academy opened on March 3, 2015. Here’s a short update from Coach Kate:

“We are scheduling FREE intros but are booked all through March, and we are starting to fill April. We are offering early morning ALL female kickboxing at 6 a.m. and evening classes starting at 6 p.m. The children’s classes start at 4:15 p.m., and there is an after school program for them starting at 3:00 p.m. Here is a link to our schedule: www.8limbsacademy.com/8-limbs-current-schedule.”

Here’s some exciting news for local martial arts and fitness fans. Partners and coaches Charlie Cottone and Kate Allen are opening a Muay Thai Kickboxing school, 8 Limbs Academy, on Baltimore Avenue in March. For those who are not very familiar with kickboxing, Muay Thai or Thai boxing is a national sport of Thailand. It is a physical and mental discipline also known as “the art of eight limbs,” because eight points of contact are used in the combat: fists, elbows, knees, and shins.

Eight Limbs Academy is expected to open in the first week of March, and coaches Charlie and Kate have already started preregistering folks, kids and adults alike, for their programs, which include All Female Kickboxing, Adult Muay Thai, and Kids Muay Thai programs. They will also offer an after-school program for kids who can come and spend time in the gym after school, including doing their homework, before their Muay Thai lesson. In addition to that, the owners hope to work closely and be involved with the West Philadelphia community. Continue Reading

West Philly kids are doing great in sports and are in the spotlight of some current and upcoming sporting events.

The Taney Dragons. (Photo from Taneybaseball.com)

• The Taney Dragons, Philly’s youth baseball team that made it this year to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., keeps winning! In their second game, on Sunday, they defeated the team from Texas. We learned that there are at least three West Philly kids on the team. According to neighborhood sources, these kids are: Eli Simon, No. 4, a student at Penn Alexander School (43rd and Locust), Tai Shanahan, No. 7 (who had the game-winning hit on Sunday), goes to St. Francis de Sales (47th and Windsor), and Carter Davis, No. 9, lives on 49th St.

We’re very excited about the success of these and other young stars on the team (their amazing pitcher, Mo’ne Davis, is on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated!). Taney’s 3rd game is tonight, at 7:30 p.m., when they will take on a team from Las Vegas, Nev. You can watch it on ESPN. Also, there’s a free Taney Dragons Pep Rally and Watch Party tonight, 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., in the City Hall Courtyard (Broad and Market Sts). Go Taney!

• It’s not every day when you get a chance to practice with tennis stars like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, but a West Philly kid will be at this year’s U.S. Open. Eleven-year-old Tauheed Browning, a student at Legacy Youth Tennis and Education Center, is heading to Flushing Meadows, New York, to participate in Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day on Saturday, Aug 23, as part of the 2014 U.S. Open Tennis Championship. Tauheed will get to warm up with tennis professionals and another Legacy student, Brandon Caban of Drexel Hill, will compete against the pros in a target-hitting contest in the hopes of bringing back $15,000 to provide tennis and life skills education to more than 4,500 young people from the greater Philadelphia area, many of who come from low-income and under-resourced communities.

Tauheed is a student at PA Leadership Charter School, and is from Overbrook. He is one of the youngest Legacy student-athletes with very high potential, according to a spokeperson at the center.

Tauheed Browning. (Photo courtesy of Legacy Youth Tennis and Education)

The Taney Dragons following their 8-0 win over Newark , Del. to win the Mid-Atlantic Championship on Sunday. (Photo from Taneybaseball.com)

So have you caught Taney Dragon fever yet? Whether you are a baseball fan or not it’s hard not to root for that group of 12- and 13-year-old Philly Little Leaguers led by fireballer Mo’Ne Davis (a girl in case you hadn’t heard), who will begin play at the Little League World Series on Friday.

Taney kicks off double-elimination group play in the World Series on Friday at 3 p.m. against the team from Nashville, Tenn.. That game will be on ESPN. If they win, they play again on Sunday at 7 p.m. If they lose, they are still alive and will play Saturday at 6 p.m.

The team, which is made up of kids from around the city including one who attends Penn Alexander school, was featured on ABC news last night. We’re talking “World News,” not Channel 6.  Here’s a story on Davis and the team in The Washington Post. She will be just the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series since they began allowing girls in 1974 and the first American girl since 2004.

Taney secured the Mid-Atlantic Championship on Sunday behind a Davis’ six strikeouts to shutout the team from Newark, Del. 8-0 That win earned them a coveted spot in Williamsport, the first team from Philadelphia ever to make it.

Also, if you want to throw a few bucks their way to help defray costs of getting the team and their families to Williamsport, go here.

We’ll leave it there for now and keep our fingers crossed. Go Dragons!

Café Renata co-owner Yasser Aiq raises the flag of Brazil for the World Cup, which starts Thursday. Café Renata, which is BYOB, is one of a few venues around the neighborhoods that is welcoming World Cup revelers with open arms. (Photo by Mike Lyons / West Philly Local)

The 2014 World Cup starts Thursday in Brazil and many local watering holes and cafés are getting ready. We have a few places listed below that have said they will have their TVs tuned in for the duration of the tournament (June 12 – July 13) and will be welcoming neighborhood soccer fans. By the way, the tournament kicks off at 4 p.m. on Thursday with a Group A game – Brazil vs. Croatia. Let us know if you know of any other spots where shouting, cheering and maybe even a vuvuzela or two are encouraged.

• Cafe Renata, 4305 Locust St (Facebook page). The opening game party starts at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 12 (a complimentary Lager will be served with any lunch order).

• City Tap House, 3925 Walnut St (Facebook page).

• Drinker’s West, 39th and Chestnut (Facebook page). All the World Cup games will be shown at all three Drinker’s Philly locations, including Drinker’s West. You can stop by for drinks, tacos, hot dogs and soccer.

• Harvest Seasonal Bar & Grill, 40th and Walnut (Facebook page).

• Pasqually’s Pizza, 200 S. 43rd St. (Facebook page).

• Saint Declan’s Well Irish American Pub, 3131 Walnut St (Facebook page). Food and drink specials and giveaways will be offered during the games.