The Prescott girls golf team opened the season in impressive style at last weekend’s Reedsburg Invitational. Juniors Layla Salay finished third, Macy Reiter sixth, and Lily Vesperman 12th as the team tied with Waunakee atop the leaderboard. Head Coach Chad Salay and the Cardinals will compete in three tournaments this week culminating with a Wednesday match in New Richmond involving all teams from the Big Rivers Conference. 

Prescott High School Cross Country Coach Tim Phillips and approximately 40 harriers begin practice this week. Coming off an historic 2024 season where the girls team qualified for the state tournament, the Cardinal girls team will enter 2025 with high expectations. Returning will be All Conference junior Kyra Dix who finished 18th in Division 2 at the WIAA State Meet in Wisconsin Rapids. Also returning will be All Conference senior Amber Van Loon and fellow seniors Nora Boles, and Addyson Allsop. Junior Emma Schmitz and sophomore Kyla Gotzinger will give the Cardinals one of the more experienced teams in the Middle Border Conference. For the boys, Nolan Leask is expected to spearhead the group of returning Cardinal harriers. Senior Will Haeg along with juniors Quinn Justen and Shia Parmeter also return for Prescott.  

The Prescott Cardinal football team opens the 2025 season this Friday against Heart of the North Conference favorite Northwestern. Last season, Quarterback Teddy Bernick threw four touchdown passes as the Cardinals pummeled the Tigers by a score of 42-8. Last fall Northwestern finished 10-3 and lost to Wrightstown in the WIAA State Semi-Finals. Prescott enters Friday’s Laney Field opener 100% healthy. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. 

The Prescott Cardinal girls volleyball team led by Head Coach Geoffrey Snyder began practice this week. The Cardinals hope to carry the momentum from last year’s exciting tournament march to the Sectional Finals where they fell to eventual state champion Barron. Prescott opens their season on Aug. 26 in an invitational tournament in Osceola. 

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR urges individuals preparing for the fall hunting seasons to enroll now in a hunter education course. Hunter education plays a vital role in keeping Wisconsin a safe place to hunt. Anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1973, must complete a hunter education course and have a hunter education certificate to purchase a hunting license in Wisconsin. The DNR offers multiple course options and locations, so hunters can choose the best format for how and where they’d like to learn. Anyone under the age of 18 must take a course with an in-person, hands-on component. Go to the DNR website for course offerings. 

From the WIAA: Ellsworth Superintendent Brian Nadaeu is the new President-Elect of the WIAA Board of Control. Among the many items discussed at the August meeting in Stevens Point was exploring ways to retain and recruit new officials.  

Prescott alumnus Reese Ptacek and the 14th ranked Kansas Jayhawk volleyball team open the 2025 season this Saturday in Lincoln, Neb. against Vanderbilt. On Monday, Aug. 25, Kansas will square off with #2 ranked Penn State in Sioux Falls, SD. The game against the Nittany Lions begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised on the Big 10 Network. 

Tickets for the Prescott Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony are available on the Prescott School District website. The 2025 inductees are Dennis Gagnier, Marcia Lindseth, and Lonnie Larson. 

“We hope a lot of people show up to support and congratulate our newest inductees,” says Hall of Fame Chair Jeremy Kerg. “Whether it is through achievement or service, these three people are outstanding additions to the Hall of Fame.” Tickets are $30. 

Headshaker of the Week. For years youth baseball fans have been able to watch the Little League World Series. Even before cable television ABC would air the championship game from Williamsport, Penn. Years ago, many of us can remember rooting for teams from New Jersey or Texas to see if they could knock off the always powerful teams from Taiwan. The network televised one game - the championship. It’s much different today. ESPN “regional games” are televised along with the vast majority of World Series preliminary games. A handful of us can remember iconic sports personality Jim McKay serving as the play-by-play announcer. Although it’s still Little League, it is not the game my generation grew up with. Kids don’t wear blue jeans, hand-me-down uniforms, or use their older brother's gloves. Today the coaches wear mics and even some wear eye black (insert eye roll). Players use $500 bats. Ten-year-olds wear oven mitt sliding gloves. They don elbow, ankle and wrist pads. They sport eye black designs that would impress any tattoo artist. They steal signs from second base. They do bat flips. They taunt opponents. They imitate those they see on television. Like many youth sports of the modern era, this $50 billion Little League industry has been taken over by adults - just like Halloween. And sadly, statistics show that 70% of the kids playing Little League will quit playing competitively once they get to high school because “it’s not fun anymore.” It’s no longer a game. It has become a contest between the players on the diamond and the parents in the stands. The game itself maintains some innocence, but all the bluster, pomp, and circumstance does little to enhance it. It’s a headshaker.