Sports Sidelines - Vilas County News-Review
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  • Spring sports teams back on field, track

    Last year at this time, I was writing about a strange spring without high school sports or youth activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    It was pretty weird. There were no indoor track and field meets at the impressive Northland Pines field house, no softball or baseball games at Don Burnside Park in Three Lakes and
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  • Over 2,500 state athletes compete in target league

    More than 2,500 student athletes representing 101 high school teams across the state are participating in the Wisconsin State High School Clay Target League (WISHSCTL) this spring. 
    The WISHSCTL is a part of the USA Clay Target League (USACTL), which offers
    read the full story

  • Brewers have the pieces for 4th straight playoffs

    With spring arriving early in the North Woods, it’s pretty easy to think about baseball and the Milwaukee Brewers.  
    The Brewers, after finishing the COVID-19 shortened season in 2020 with a record of 29-31 and sneaking into the playoffs, have high expectations for a successful
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  • Hall of fame seeking athlete nominations

    The Eagle River/Northland Pines High School Athletic Hall of Fame is seeking nominations for future inductees, the committee has announced.
    The Hall of Fame, established in 2003, recognizes persons who have contributed or excelled in high school, college and/or professional sports, and includes athletes, coaches and
    read the full story

  • WIAA sets tournaments for alternate fall season

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) is planning culminating championships and tournaments for an alternate fall season created by the WIAA Board of Control last August as a COVID-19 accommodation for member schools opting to not conduct interscholastic athletics last fall.

    The WIAA is planning those tournaments for
    read the full story
  • Decker back on track at Charlotte Roval

    Decker back on track at Charlotte Roval

    Eagle River native Natalie Decker, highest finishing female in a NASCAR Truck Series race, will pilot the Red Street Records/N29 Capital Partners Audi R8 with Ave Motorsports at the famous Charlotte Motorspeedway Roval this weekend. 
    “We are excited to continue our sponsorship of Natalie Decker in Charlotte, N.C.,” said
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  • Bill to protect officials gains renewed support

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) is expressing its support of a reintroduced bill in the legislature that would make it a Class A misdemeanor to harass or intimidate a sports official in response to action taken or with intent to influence a referee, umpire, judge or
    read the full story

  • Lady Jays make most of post-season run

    High school basketball teams get energized at the start of the WIAA?post-season tournament each February and March as it is considered a new season for every team across the state.
    It doesn’t matter what your record was during the regular season or 
    read the full story

  • Girls State Tourney features new format

    The 2021 WIAA Girls Basketball State Tournament will be held at two sites this Thursday, Feb. 25, through Saturday, Feb. 27, and will include the Three Lakes Bluejays in the Division 5 field. 

    The games will be played at
    read the full story

  • Boys, girls hockey to lead tourney action

    For high school sports fans, it doesn’t get much better than post-season play for winter sports.
    While the tournament schedule got watered down this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic — as some teams did not participate in post-season activity —  there is still plenty of action in boys and girls hockey and
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  • WIAA selects sites for State basketball

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) has named the Menominee Nation Arena in Oshkosh, as the second venue to host the 2021 State Girls and Boys Basketball Tournaments with games scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26-27 and March 5-6, respectively.
    “We are thrilled to be partnering with
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  • WIAA advances plan for tournament series

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Board of Control addressed the pending winter tournament series at its meeting last week.
    The board approved hosting and attendance policies due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as requiring appropriately worn masks by participants and spectators, except for
    read the full story

  • Packers come up short in NFC title game, again

    I’m sure Green Bay Packers fans across the state had a sick feeling in their stomach after watching the Packers lose the NFC Championship Game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-26 at Lambeau Field Sunday.

    A horrible sequence of plays at the end of the first half and
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  • Packers just one win away from Super Bowl

    While snowmobile race fans were cheering on their favorite drivers at the 58th annual World Championship Snowmobile Derby Saturday afternoon, many other sports enthusiasts were watching the Green Bay Packers defeat the Los Angeles Rams  32-18 at Lambeau Field. 
    The Derby photography crew from the Vilas County News-Review and The Three Lakes News was able to sneak away from the track just in time to catch
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  • WIAA continues football realignment

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Conference Realignment Task Force Committee reviewed plans on Jan. 6 for football-only conferences that were initially advanced for further consideration and to conduct appeals of realignment requests that were denied last month.
    The 11-player realignment proposals that were advanced for further review will
    read the full story

  • Badgers, Packers battle to big wins

    It was a good week for Badger State football fans as the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers each got big victories.
    Graham Mertz accounted for three touchdowns and Wisconsin turned four second-half interceptions into 21 points to beat Wake Forest 42-28 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl last
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  • Pines boys hockey, Bluejays volleyball lead sports in 2020

    While the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on high school sports in the spring and summer, there still were many exciting local sports stories for high school teams and individual athletes during 2020. The following were some of the highlights of the past year:
    1. The Northland Pines boys hockey team, under
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  • WIAA continues quarantine period

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) board of control has reviewed and reaffirmed the winter sports guidance recommendation requiring a 14-day quarantine period before student-athletes return to participation following close contact with anyone tested positive for COVID-19.
    The board’s decision requires
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  • WIAA continues work on football conferences

    The Conference Realignment Task Force for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) recently reviewed 17 football-only requests in the first meeting of the membership’s 2022-’23 realignment review process.
    Ten plans involving
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  • WIAA board asks athletes to mask up

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Board of Control reviewed and approved several pandemic-related topics, effective immediately at its recent meeting.
    The board issued a statement to address individuals and
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  • Clay target shooting growing at schools

    The Wisconsin State High School Clay Target League completed its 2020 fall season in late November, a sport that is growing across the Badger State.

    This fall, more than 700 athletes from 40 teams registered to compete in the annual fall program.

    “The league congratulates the top student athletes this season, and
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  • It’s a new season for area teams, fans

    The changing of the season from fall to winter also means a new season for high school sports, with hockey, basketball and wrestling getting underway for players and coaches.
    There were some
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  • Badgers, Packers get big victories

    It was a good weekend for Wisconsin sports fans as the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers both got victories.

    No. 13 Wisconsin was ready in its first game in three weeks against Michigan, while the Packers played a lackluster game but
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  • Nominations sought for Pines Hall of Fame

    The Eagle River/Northland Pines High School Athletic Hall of Fame is seeking nominations for future inductees, the committee has announced.
    The Hall of Fame, established in 2003, recognizes persons who have contributed or excelled in high school, college and/or professional sports, and includes athletes, coaches and
    read the full story

  • Pond hockey event returning in 2021

    USA Hockey will return to Eagle River to host the 16th annual Labatt Blue/USA Hockey Pond Hockey National Championships, with some adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The four-on-four pond hockey event is set for
    read the full story

  • Pro sports teams join stop COVID coalition

    All three of Wisconsin’s major professional sports teams are getting involved in a new coalition effort to help stop the spread of COVID-19. 
    The “Stop the COVID Spread!” coalition released its second public education announcement on broadcast TV and digital platforms statewide, featuring three players from the Green Bay Packers. The Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks are also joining the “Stop the COVID Spread!” coalition as
    read the full story

  • Badgers, Big Ten to start this Friday

    It’s been a long fall without Big Ten football, but that will all change starting this Friday, Oct. 23, as the Wisconsin Badgers will be opening their 2020 football schedule. 
    The Badgers will host Illinois at
    read the full story

  • WIAA approves attendance policy

    With the fall sports tournament season ready to start next week in volleyball and the following week in boys soccer, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA)?Board of Control ratified last week a culminating event attendance policy.

    The policy was shared with
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  • It’s good to watch local sports again

    It sure was a good feeling to walk on the sidelines of the Northland Pines soccer and football fields the last couple of weeks to take photos of high school teams back in action.
    The last time I had been around high school sports was the
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  • Time to lace ’em up at Noontime Hockey

    It’s time to lace them up at the Eagle River Sports Arena as the 17th annual Noontime Hockey League kicked off this week, according to Michael Eder, the coordinator of Noontime Hockey.
    “We started Noontime Hockey more than 15 years ago and
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  • WIAA adjusts rules to navigate pandemic

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Board of Control approved several modifications of the membership’s rules to allow more opportunities for athletes in addressing the ongoing challenges of navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic.
    The board approved a number of pandemic-associated rule alterations for this school year only. It
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  • Fall WIAA tourneys won’t be in Madison

    With the uncertainty of conducting culminating events and tournaments and given the challenging situation with COVID-19 restrictions in Dane County, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) and UW-Madison announced WIAA tournaments will not be conducted at UW facilities this fall.
    The WIAA has
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  • Majority of schools opt for fall sports

    The 513 schools in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) declared by the Sept. 1 deadline for either the traditional fall season or the alternate fall season to be held in the spring of 2021.
    In July, the WIAA Board of Control voted to
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  • Northland Pines gets Award of Excellence

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) has recognized 46 schools, including Northland Pines, that met the criteria to be named recipients of the Award of Excellence in 2019-’20.

    The award recognizes the
    read the full story

  • Another pandemic hit, no fans at Lambeau

    It’s going to be a very different football season for fans this fall on the high school, college and pro levels, especially for those enthusiastic spectators at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
    As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact communities around the country and throughout Wisconsin, the
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  • Hope high school sports can return

    It could be an interesting year for high school sports in Wisconsin

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) approved several details of a one-year alternative season in the spring for fall sports and reduced the number of weeks for sports during the 2020-’21 winter and spring seasons at its
    read the full story

  • College football up in air this fall

    It looks like the fall sports season may take another hit. The Big Ten conference presidents met over the weekend to discuss whether to have a football season this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a story in USA Today. 

    A 
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  • WIAA starts campaign to aid fall sports return

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) is initiating a statewide social media campaign, #TeamUpToBeatCOVID, in an effort to enhance the likelihood of returning to school and school activities by following safe practices to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

    The WIAA is encouraging all Wisconsinites to
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  • Brewers finally start bizarre 2020 season

    The 2020 Major League Baseball season is underway. It took awhile in coming due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Milwaukee Brewers are back in action.

    The shortened 60-game schedule got underway last weekend, though the Brewers
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  • WIAA makes changes in hockey, basketball

    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Board of Control acted on coaches committee recommendations impacting hockey and basketball, and several issues in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at its recent June virtual meeting.
    In hockey, the board approved
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  • Golf tournaments support YMCA, Trees

    While the COVID-19 pandemic has canceled or postponed sporting events for much of the spring and summer, two nonprofit organizations are still planning golf tournaments as fundraisers this summer. 

    The YMCA of the Northwoods will host its
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  • Pines Hall to induct four athletes, coaches

    The Eagle River-Northland Pines High School ­Athletic Hall of Fame Committee announced it is scheduled to induct two standout athletes, an athlete who returned to coach at Pines, and a student who went on to be a prominent coach, Friday, Aug. 21, though the induction ceremony could be postponed due to 
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  • Trees center changes golf tournament date