WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
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‘WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH’
More than 150
teams compete in
Hermiston’s Takin’ It
To The Streets
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
The only thing burning hot-
ter than the sun over downtown
Hermiston over the weekend was
the passion for basketball.
More than 150 teams from
across the Pacific Northwest com-
peted from sunrise to sunset in
90-degrees-and-sunny tempera-
tures in the city’s annual 3-on-3
basketball tournament, known as
Takin’ It to the Streets. This year
marked the 14th year that Herm-
iston’s Main Street has hosted the
competition, where teams com-
pete against one another in 20 dif-
ferent brackets depending on age
and skill level, and winners are
awarded with assorted athletic
gear.
Funds raised over the course
of the weekend are then used to
support Hermiston High School’s
basketball programs.
“We had teams come from all
over the region this year,” said
tournament organizer Juan Rodri-
guez. “Some came from as far
as Portland, Spokane, and even
Boise.”
Rodriguez, also in the midst of
his third year as Hermiston High
School’s varsity girls head coach,
says that basketball is part of the
community.
“We keep this tournament
going because we love the game,”
he said.
And judging by the turn-
out, he’s right. Main Street was
packed day in and day out with
players and their fans, friends and
family.
Ages of the athletes ranged
from adults and all the way down
to the second grade, and even
included players from Hermiston
High, hoping to keep their skills
in tune during the offseason.
Xavier Rambo, a 2017 Herm-
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Trae Garcia, of the TCB team,
concentrates as he takes a free
throw Saturday during Takin’ it to
the Streets. For more photos from
the event, see A15.
CHAMPIONS
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Players battle for the ball Saturday during the Takin’ it to the Streets 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
iston boys basketball alumnus,
has been Takin’ It to the Streets
every summer since he was in
elementary school.
“It’s tradition,” he said. “You
get the same squad together every
year and you get to play basket-
ball with your best friends.”
Rambo’s team, Purosho,
could be spotted sporting cus-
tom grey jerseys with the team’s
logo printed on it. Purosho ended
up taking home the champion-
ship titles for both the 12th Grade
Boys and Men’s 6-feet-and-under
divisions.
“We’ll be back next year,” he
said. “There ain’t no stopping us
now.”
Perhaps the most heated of
games came in the Men’s Open
championship rounds on Sunday.
The division is often com-
prised of former high school and
college athletes, all of whom
bring their burning competitive
spirits to the courts.
The division title was ulti-
mately claimed by Fox Harvest-
ing after an intense 30-minute
game and a close score of 15-13.
“We’ve done this every year
since it started,” said Brad Irwin
of Fox Harvesting.
Irwin, 27, along with team-
mates J.J. Ross and Luis and Alex
Second/Third Grade Boys: 509 Ballerz 3B
Fourth Grade Boys: Hermiston Savage
Fifth Grade Boys: Defenders
Sixth Grade Boys: Hustle Hoops
Seventh Grade Boys: The Nicks
Eighth Grade Boys: Natural Born Ballers
Ninth Grade Boys: Excelerators
10th/11th Grade Boys: $KEETERZ
12th Grade Boys: Purosho
Third/Fourth Grade Girls: Baby Braves
Fifth Grade Girls: Lower Valley Ladies
Sixth Grade Girls: Prosser Elite
Seventh Grade Girls: Fast and Furious
High School Girls: 509 Ballers
Adult Co-Ed: LOB
Men’s 6U Rec #1: Killer 3’s
Men’s 6U Rec #2: Team Loaded
6U Competitive: Purosho
Men’s Rec: ASAP
Men’s Open: Fox Harvesting
Ortiz, met through eighth grade
basketball, and have been playing
together ever since.
Nowadays, Irwin spends a lot
of his time working at Columbia
Auto Body & Paint, but still finds
the time to get his friends together
to shoot some hoops.
“We love this sport, and
we can’t get enough,” he said.
“We’re going to keep going until
we’re 40.”
Program aims to make football safer
By ERIC SINGER
STAFF WRITER
STAFF PHOTO BY DAWN HENDRICKS
Zach Telford, 14, of Idaho poses with the kart he sometimes
races at the Hermiston Raceway.
Week 8 Hermiston
Raceway 7/21/18
Hornets
1st #777 Devin Taylor
2nd #77 David Knowles
3rd #11 Joe Dunn
4th #12 Kris Marlow
5th 09 Travis “Baby Huey”
Durfee
6th #1 Rob “Ricky Bobby”
Cassano
7th #24 Justus Zamudio
8th #21 Owen Berglund
9th #5 Keith Boyd
10th #69 Cody McDonald
11th #7 Tracy “Snoop”
Howell
12th #18 Karin Pitzer
13th #4 Mason Markee
14th #43 Jack Guier
15th #27 Jose Medina
16th 883 John Pittman
Bombers
1st #17 Kedric Preston
2nd #123 Shade Cole
3rd #2 Arlen Calley
4th #55 Justin Gage
5th #N21K Carl Leggett
6th #2/5 Martin Montya
Street Stock
1st #68 Bart Hector Sr.
2nd #46 Terry Osborn
3rd #18 Adam Baker
4th Kaylynn Jeffery
Mini Stock
1st #36 Ken Bonney
2nd #49 Angel Oseguera
3rd #29 Andy Pierce
4th #32 Megan Harley
5th #71 Logan Mullen
6th #23 Ashley Harley
Super Mini
Stock
1st #00 Brad Rhoads
2nd #73 Dan Nelson
3rd #11 Chris Kohler
4th #27 Ron Wilbur
5th #50 Joshua Henne
Legends
1st #24 Jose Zamudio
2nd #3 Neena Kik
3rd #66 Austin Snodgrass
4th #42 Dillon Huffines
5th #68 Greg Corrtaberria
6th #43 Bill Kik
7th #13 Donnie Rabbit
8th #10 Lloyd Biggler
9th #9 Donovan Barr
10th #33 Leonard Maine
11th #01 Brock McDonough
West Coast Late
Models
Fast Time #42 Garrett
Huffines 15.902
1st #39 Jake Klingenberg
2nd #3 Andy Beaman
3rd #12 Rick Girrard
4th #42 Garrett Huffines
5th #14 Rich Peters
6th #02 Todd Connell
7th #72 Brad Tidrick
8th #29 Jr. Minor
9th #21 Bobby Stewart Jr.
Greg Grant felt it was time for a
new perspective.
As a member of the OSAA’s Foot-
ball Ad Hoc Advisory committee,
Grant, the longtime head football
coach at Heppner High School took
part in discussions between the expe-
rienced coaches on the committee
on ways to make the game safer and
more enjoyable at the youth level.
“It became really evident that
there needed to be a better way to
introduce kids to tackle football,”
Grant said recently.
The discussion soon centered
around Rookie Tackle, a new initia-
tive from USA Football that aims
to bridge the gap between flag foot-
ball and 11-person tackle football at
the youth level. The Tualatin Valley
Youth Football League, which cov-
ers the Tualatin Valley and Portland
metro areas and includes more than
6,500 players, were part of the 2017
Pilot Program for Rookie Tackle, and
the feedback was positive.
Grant decided to research it fur-
ther with the possibility of bring-
ing it to Heppner this fall. Unlike
most youth leagues, Heppner has
not started tackle football until fifth
grade, but even then Grant said he
and the youth coaches sometimes
thought it was still too early.
“We always struggled with mak-
ing sure kids didn’t sour early with
tackling,” Grant said. “And when
I saw this (Rookie Tackle), it’s just
like a natural progression. Plus I also
felt like it’s time to look at things a
little bit differently ... because it’s
not all about teaching kids to hit each
other hard.”
Grant pitched Rookie Tackle to
his youth coaches and the group
liked the idea. So starting this fall,
Heppner will keep its flag football
program for grades 3-4, implement
Rookie Tackle for grades 5-6 and
then will implement 11-man tackle
football beginning in seventh grade.
Here is an overview some of the
key components of Rookie Tackle:
● Smaller field: Rather than play-
ing on the regulation-sized 100-
by-55-yard football field, the field is
split into two 40- by-35-yard fields,
with a gap in the middle for the
coaches to watch the action.
● Smaller rosters: Teams will
have six, seven or eight players per
side and all will play multiple posi-
tions during the game. The smaller
rosters and position rotation maxi-
mizes space on the field and allows
for more playing time and skill
development and fewer kids stand-
ing on the sidelines.
● Rule changes: There are no
three-point stances for either offen-
sive or defensive line positions.
Instead, players at those posi-
tions will start in upright, two-point
stances, which will decrease the
chances for blows to the head com-
ing out of the three-point stances.
OSAA Assistant Executive Direc-
tor Brad Garrett, who sits on USA
Football’s Board of Directors, said in
an interview that he believes Rookie
Tackle could be a good way to help
participation in football at the high
school level increase again.
According to the National Fed-
eration of High School Athletics
Association surveys, participation in
11-man football at the high school
level in Oregon has decreased each
of the last four years, from 13,212
players in 2013 to 12,185 in 2016.
Heppner hosts a Rookie Tackle
Jamboree on September 8 with John
Day and Stanfield youth programs
committed to playing, and he said
Boardman is also interested. Pend-
leton Youth Football president Ron
Smith said that he and others have
looked into Rookie Tackle, but it’s
not something that they have dis-
cussed as a board as of yet.
“It’s definitely worth a look,”
Smith said. “We’re noticing a decline
in our numbers over the last few
years, some kids just moving away,
some kids playing other sports and
others because of the concussions
fear. ... It’s definitely on the table,
maybe in the next two years.”
Tovar at 541-371-4153 or columbi-
ariverheat@gmail.com.
runs from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Coaches are looking for players
for all positions. The team will begin
play with the 2018 fall schedule and
continue with various exposure and
national tournaments for the 2019
season.
To register for the tryouts, con-
tact Saul Castro at castro3972@
msn.com, 541-571-3342; Candice
Castro at cccastro1989@gmail.
com, 541-571-5807; or Jim Whal-
ley at jimwhalley@yahoo.com,
541-561-5736.
SPORTS BRIEFS
Columbia River Heat sets
tryouts
Girls who are 14 and under as of
Dec. 31, 2018, are invited to try out
for the Columbia River Heat ASA
softball team.
The event is Saturday at 9 a.m. at
Umatilla High School. The team is a
competitive travel softball club made
up of girls from Boardman, Echo,
Heppner, Hermiston, Ione, Irrigon,
Lexington, Stanfield and Umatilla.
For more information, contact Joe
Columbia Storm announces
tryouts
The Columbia Storm Fastpitch is
holding 16A team tryouts
To be eligible, girls must be 16 or
younger by Jan. 1. The tryouts are
Saturday, Aug. 18 at the Stanfield
Little League softball field. Pitch-
ers and catchers are from 9-10 a.m.;
fielding, hitting, speed and agility