BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa Community Education program is offering two adult sports programs in the new year: co-ed indoor soccer on Mondays and men’s basketball on Wednesdays. The ten-week sessions begin next week. A $35 fee and pre-registration are required for residents of the district.

Those interested in registering can do so by mail or in-person at the District Office at 70 Malta Ave. 

Additional information regarding the programs is available at www.bscsd.org or by calling 518-884-7195 x 1329. 

GLENS FALLS — The Adirondack Thunder are atop the ECHL North Division for the first time since November of 2019. The last time the team won the division was in 2018.

To kick off the new year, the Thunder had a winning percentage of .672, significantly ahead of the second-place Norfolk Admirals. 

The Thunder sold out their final two games of 2023, earning a pair of victories against the Newfoundland Growlers. The team has two home games this weekend: Friday night against the Maine Mariners, and Sunday afternoon’s Kids Day game against the Trois-Rivières Lions.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —The Saratoga Springs High School wrestling team’s annual Alumni Night will take place on January 10 at 6pm in the high school gymnasium.

All former Blue Streaks wrestlers are invited to attend.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The winners of this year’s annual Hoop Shoot free throw competition have officially been crowned. Of 78 total participants, the following kids won their respective divisions:

• Rocco Colonell (Boys ages 12-13)

• Ava Sullivan (Girls ages 12-13)

• Joe MacArthur (Boys ages 10-11)

• Abby Sheridan (Girls ages 10-11)

• John Ogden (Boys ages 8-9)

These five champions will go on to the District Hoop Shoot competition at the Glens Falls High School on Saturday, Jan. 7.

The Hoop Shoot event was hosted by the Saratoga-Wilton Elks Lodge No. 161.

ROUND LAKE — Guilderland grad and Saratoga resident Dylan Collett played baseball at the high school, college, and professional levels. A few weeks ago, he opened the Collett Baseball training facility in Round Lake so that he can pass on his experience to future generations of ball players.

The 8,000-square-foot, all-turf warehouse features some high tech gadgets. “We have the TrackMan sensor, which is a high-end sensor that MLB uses now,” Collett said. “It gives you a tremendous amount of data on every hit and every pitch.” TrackMan allows Collett to analyze and track the development of every player. 

The facility also houses a pitching lab with Plyo Ball throwing, which improves arm strengthening and conditioning. “The beauty of pitching is you’ve got to know a lot about hitting to be a good pitcher,” Collett said. “So I actually give just as much hitting instruction as pitching.”

The bulk of Collett’s playing experience was on the mound, where the southpaw was a starter in college, before coming out of the bullpen in the pros. After three years at Saint Leo University near Tampa, Florida, Collett transferred to UMass Dartmouth, where he finished with a 4-1 record and 4.30 ERA. 

Collett expected to be drafted, but an injury during his senior year put those plans on hold. He took a year off before playing two years of independent pro ball for the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers outside Detroit, Michigan. As a reliever, Collett pitched 47.2 innings, earning an impressive ERA of 2.45.

“I ended up going to spring training with the Boston Red Sox the first year of COVID,” Collett said. But when he didn’t receive an invitation from the Sox to return, he decided to retire as a player. “I was kind of old for baseball at that point, for the level I was at,” he said.

Nowadays, Collett instructs all levels of players, from five-year-olds to professionals. He also leads group clinics.“Teams will actually give me five or six pitchers at a time, or five or six hitters at a time,” he said.

By his estimate, Collett has coached at least 100 players so far, with more on the horizon.

The Collett Baseball training facility is located at 17 Wood Road in Round Lake. For more information, visit www.collettbaseball.com.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —The Saratoga Springs varsity gymnastics team opened its season with a bang last week in a decisive victory against Guilderland. The Blue Streaks came first in all four events.

“To get a win in your season opener is always a confidence boost for athletes,” said Coach Deborah Smarro. “I’m excited for the season. The girls are looking good. They work hard every day.”

The gymnasts were led by junior Ellie Ott, who won the all around. “She had an amazing day,” Smarro said. “Overall, she’s cleaned up her routines, and she’s looking more confident every single day.” 

Second-year captain Gia DiMaggio placed first on balance beam. “I was really glad to see she went four-for-four that night and was able to put out a very good effort,” Smarro said.

Saratoga defeated Guilderland by an overall score of 163.6 to 147.3.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Last season, the Saratoga varsity wrestling team struggled to overcome Burnt Hills and Ballston Spa. This year, the Blue Streaks have already beaten them both, and are in the conversation for one of the best teams in Section 2. 

The success has come in the midst of a new weight descent plan rule that has altered coaches’ strategies. “The new descent plan thing is really interesting because it kind of ties coaches’ hands on how strategic they can get going into the dual meets,” said Saratoga wrestling coach Jake Zanetti. “Everybody is impacted by that.”

The rule is a bit complicated. “They’re only allowed to lose 1.5% of their body fat each week of the season,” Zanetti explained. “So even if a kid is actually weighing the weight class, if his individual descent plan doesn’t allow him to be eligible for that, even though he’s legitimately weighing it, he can’t wrestle it.”

Despite the curveball, the Blue Streaks have already garnered nearly a dozen victories about a third of the way through the season. One tough matchup that saw Saratoga lose a criteria tiebreaker came against Queensbury earlier this month. The Blue Streaks were tied with Queensbury 30 to 30, but were credited with a loss because their opponents won one more individual match. 

“Queensbury kind of came out of nowhere,” Zanetti said. “They’re looking at the number one seed going into the Section 2 duals.”

The next time the two teams meet, Saratoga may have an ace up its sleeve with the return of standout Taylor Beaury, who has been sidelined with injuries. Beaury met with doctors this week to determine a timeline for his return.

As Zanetti awaits word on Beaury’s health, the Blue Streaks have two challenging tournaments ahead of them. The Windsor Christmas Tournament begins December 28, and the Saratoga Invitational starts January 6.

“January is going to be a long grinder,” Zanetti said. But the Blue Streaks are used to that. They were “grinding all summer long, all offseason,” Zanetti said.