Briefly In Sports

Laguna’s Bryan wins in Santa Cruz

Even at age 36, South Laguna’s Bill “Beaker” Bryan is still the man when it comes to skimboarding.

Bryan won the Santa Cruz Skim Bash contest over the weekend, helping him make his way up the United Skim Tour standings.

All four people in the final were from Laguna, as Sammy Stinnett finished second, followed by “The Vic” champion Brandon Sears and Morgan Just in fourth.

Beaker, who won the United Skim Tour overall standings a year ago, notched his first win on this year’s tour with the win at Santa Cruz.

Although updated standings haven’t been released, he should move up from his current position of fifth. None of the top three in the standings “” including Newport Beach resident Jamie Lovett at No. 1 and Laguna resident Paolo Prietto at No. 2 “” made the finals at Santa Cruz.

Prior to the Santa Cruz contest, Just sat in fourth, with Sears in sixth and Stinnett in seventh. The standings allow riders to drop their lowest event score.

Bryan, widely acknowledged as the best skimboarder in the history of the sport, has won “The Vic” 14 times. He finished fourth this year.

The final UST event of the season is local, at the Balboa Pier (A Street) in Newport Beach. It’s scheduled to begin Oct. 17.

“” Matt Szabo

Laguna Beach NJB holding tryouts

Tryouts for the upcoming 2009-10 winter NJB basketball season will be held Monday evening in the Thurston Middle School gym.

The tryout schedule is as follows (please arrive at least 15 minutes early for check-in, registration and jersey sizing):

?Boys and girls in Division 4 (second grade) and boys in Division 3 (third and fourth grade): 5-5:45 p.m.

?Girls Division 3 (third and fourth grade), boys Division 2 (fifth and sixth grade) and boys fifth grade All-Net: 6-6:45 p.m.

?Girls Division 2 (fifth and sixth grade) and girls Division 1 (seventh and eighth grade): 7-7:45 p.m.

?Boys seventh grade All-Net and boys Division 1 (seventh and eighth grade): 8-8:45 p.m.

NJB Divisional is a higher level of play, geared toward boys and girls who enjoy competing in the game of basketball and developing their skills for continued participation.

All-Net is an All-Star level field of play that includes the best players from each chapter competing at the highest level. Laguna Beach teams play teams from other cities in Orange County in a fun, exciting and competitive atmosphere.

Games are played on weekends (primarily Saturdays) from December through mid-March.

Team practices begin in mid-October and are generally held once a week in the evening, for 90 minutes in the Thurston Middle School gym.

To be eligible, girls and boys must live within the Laguna Beach Unified School District boundaries, but they may attend public or private schools.

NJB is a non-profit organization which relies on payment for player participation, sponsors and volunteer coaches. The cost for the season will be between $225-250 per player for NJB Divisional play, which covers league fees, gym time, uniforms, awards, referees, scorekeepers, the post-season tournament, pictures, team basketballs and insurance.

For questions or additional information, please contact Mark Lewis, Laguna Beach NJB Chapter Director, at (949) 677-0391 or [email protected].