If, like me, you have spent your life in the Lehigh Valley, or even just within the state of Pennsylvania, you may take for granted that you live in what many would consider the heart of field hockey country. Travel just a few hours outside the state (particularly in the central U.S.) and you’ll likely find people who have never heard of the sport. 

Field hockey has taken off in recent years, but still remains heavily concentrated on the East Coast. In fact, USA Field Hockey divides the country into different regions for membership purposes. According to the 2023 Annual Report, the state of Pennsylvania, which itself makes up the entire Region 5, is home to 5,629 USA Field Hockey members, or nearly 20% of the organization’s 28,407 total members. This is far more than any other single region, nearly all of which are made up of multiple states. The regions that comprise the states from Maryland up through New England make up over half of all registered USA Field Hockey members.

So if, one weekday, you venture out to a high school field on one of those perfect Pennsylvania fall afternoons around 4pm, there’s a chance you may stumble upon one of the nation’s best field hockey players, even right here in the Lehigh Valley. 

Meredith Sholder, a former Emmaus Hornet and UNC Tarheel who is now a member of the U.S. Women’s National field hockey team with over 50 caps (appearances in international competitions), is a prime example. Sholder tallied the only goal in the only U.S. women’s field hockey team’s one victory in the Paris Olympic Games this summer. “It was such a crazy feeling to see the ball go in the back of the net and see my teammates running to me. I’m not someone who normally scores on the team, so that was a very special occasion for me,” told Sholder. 

[Meredith Sholder’s 50th international cap at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games vs. Argentina on 7/27/24. Sholder front row, center, with flowers. Contributed by Sholder.]

[Olympic field hockey players – Sholder at far left – in Paris. Contributed by Sholder.]

Lehigh Valley is also home to the winningest high school field hockey coach in America in Emmaus’s Sue Butz-Stavin. Butz-Stavin, who was named to National Federation of State High School Associations National High School Hall of Fame last year (just the second inductee from the Lehigh Valley in the organization’s 40-year history), is often commended for her efforts developing field hockey players at the youth level. Emmaus’ youth program offers playing opportunities for those as young as three years old. These efforts have helped generate a high school program with 41 conference championships, 39 District XI championships, 15 PIAA State Championships, and countless recruits who went on to have successful careers as members of Division I, II, and III field hockey programs. 

[Emmaus youth field hockey player, Blair Boyer, at Emmaus’ Memorial Field. Contributed by Kristin Boyer.]

What’s more, the U.S. team was captained by a player who played collegiately right here in the Lehigh Valley at Division I Lafayette College, Amanda (Magadan) Golini. 

[U.S. Women’s National Team captain, Amanda (Magadan) Golini, and former Lafayette College teammate Kate Arnold at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Contributed by Kate Arnold.]

[2024 Paris Olympic Games: USA vs. Argentina pregame on 7/27/24. Contributed by Kate Arnold.]

A read through the rosters of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA)’s 2024 Preseason Top Ten Division I field hockey teams finds 54 Pennsylvanians, including 7 from the greater Lehigh Valley area specifically. Notably, none of the top ten teams are even schools located in Pennsylvania. This statistic is even more impressive when you consider that the majority of these rosters are filled with international players, coming from everywhere from England to the Netherlands and beyond.

“Pennsylvania is such a hot spot. It’s nice growing up and playing field hockey as part of your life. You just know all of these girls. I have so many teammates that I grew up playing against,” told Sholder. 

“I think being surrounded by field hockey growing up [in the Lehigh Valley] definitely impacted where I am now. Being where I’m from and surrounded by field hockey, I felt like I knew what I wanted to do at an early age because of it. It was my life growing up. I had so many resources, which was amazing. I was constantly going from one thing to the other and having amazing coaches like Sue Butz and Laree Beans, those people who come back and want to grow the game where they’re from. All of these little tiny products have helped mold me into where I’m at today,” said Sholder. 

While girls’ and women’s field hockey has come a long way in the U.S., we still lag behind other countries, especially many in Europe. The U.S. Women’s National Team, which has a very a young roster (not a single member of this summer’s Olympic team had prior Olympic experience), is ranked #13 in the world. 

“Other opponents [at the Olympics] on other teams were two, three, four-time Olympians with over 200 caps. They have higher retention in other countries because the U.S. doesn’t have an adult club system. Other countries have adult leagues where you can keep paying after school,” explained Sholder.

Despite that, the future is bright for field hockey in the United States, largely thanks to products out of our very own area. The Lehigh Valley is home to multiple players currently playing in the USA Field Hockey developmental programs which funnel players towards the national team roster. 

As a former field hockey goalkeeper out of Southern Lehigh who loved the Lehigh Valley so much that I decided to stay here and play at Lafayette College, I look forward to highlighting the abundant talent and notable stories that come out of the Lehigh Valley field hockey community in this blog. I hope you’ll follow along as we bring recognition to the remarkable field hockey teams and players, like Sholder, that call the Lehigh Valley home. 

Sources:

• USA FIeld Hockey 2023 Annual Report: USA Field Hockey | Corporate Docs 
• Women’s FIH Outdoor World Hockey Rankings: https://www.fih.hockey/outdoor-hockey-rankings   
• NFHCA Coaches Preseason Rankings: https://nfhca.org/polls/division-i/ 

Before we unveil this week’s high school football poll, a look at recent highlights of some of the teams have have features so far this season on the Astound TV Network:

Astound TV Network Sports: Becahi vs. Emmaus (8/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: George Washington vs. Parkland (8/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Northwestern Lehigh vs. Northern Lehigh (8/24)

Coming up this Friday, the top two teams (both 3-0) in the Astound TV Network coverage area square off, as we’ll be broadcasting Freedom and Nazareth live at 7pm, followed by Northampton vs. Liberty airing at 9:30pm.

We will also broadcast our first Lafayette football game of this year on Saturday.

On Thursday at 7pm, we’ll recap the first three weeks of the high school football season and preview this weekend’s games on “ATVN SportsTalk,” broadcasting live on ATVN and also streaming the program for free at: youtube.com/AstoundTVnetwork

Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

As far as which media members have a say?  They will identify themselves on our Thursday “SportsTalk” show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube every Thursday at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast on ATVN.

So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Freedom (9.8)
2. Nazareth (9.2)
3. Parkland (7.2)
4. Emmaus (6.4)
5. Northwestern (6)
6. Liberty (4.2)
7. Easton (3.6)
8. Northampton (2.2)
9. North Schuylkill (0.8)
10. Bethlehem Catholic (.06)

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: Notre Dame-GP, Blue Mountain

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we unveil this week’s high school football poll, a quick word about yet ANOTHER way that Astound TV is bringing you more local sports than ever before.

This week, ATVN will broadcast a NETWORK-RECORD FIVE HS football games!

That’s right…not just one or two or even, three, but FIVE!  (We actually were going to equal this new record NEXT WEEK as well, but we’re now hearing that the Salisbury/Catasauqua game we were scheduled to do on September 12th is now being moved to a different date).

Astound TV is the place to be to watch your favorite teams and we look forward to having you watching our coverage of both the Colonial League and the EPC–with teams from all three divisions, on our station this weekend!

Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

As far as which media members have a say?  They will identify themselves on our Thursday “SportsTalk” show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube every Thursday at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast on ATVN.

So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Freedom (9.6)
2. Nazareth (9.4)
3. Parkland (7.2)
4. Emmaus (6.8)
5. Northwestern (6.4)
6. Northampton (4.4)
7. Notre Dame-GP (2.6)
8. Liberty (2.4)
9. Easton (1.8)
10. Bethlehem Catholic (.04)

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: Stroudsburg 

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Last week, we unveiled the all new “Astounding 10’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

As far as which media members have a say?  They will identify themselves on our Thursday “SportsTalk” show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube every Thursday at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast on ATVN.

For week one (or “week zero” as some across the state refer to it) in which nearly every Lehigh Valley team plays someone from outside the area (and Freedom played a team from California), most teams had decided victories to kick off their seasons.

Two exceptions were Emmaus and Whitehall – both teams slipped up in their season opener and fell in our poll.  Both the Hornets and the Zephyrs have important “week two” matchups – both teams’ games will be featured on our Astound TV Network this Friday night.

So without any further delay, here’s week two of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Parkland (9.6)
2. Nazareth (7.6)
3. Freedom (7.2)
4. Emmaus (6.2)
5. Northampton (5.4)
6. Northwestern (4.8)
7. Becahi (3.2)
8. Notre Dame-Green Pond (2.8)
9. Central Catholic (1.4)
10. Whitehall (.06)

Other teams receiving more than one mention: So. Lehigh, Liberty

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds of our pollsters!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For several years now, I thought that we at Astound TV Sports had generated the most comprehensive high school football poll in our District XI/ATVN coverage area.

Each season, we are blessed to have a rotating panel of very knowledgeable Lehigh Valley football coaches, athletic directors and media members to give their opinion and vote for the top teams in the area.

But this year, we’re upping our game a bit!

For this fall, we unveil the “Astounding 10’ high school football weekly poll!

Our pollsters this fall will be giving their selections for who are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with each team getting 10 points for the top team, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

 As far as which media members have a say?  They will identify themselves on our Thursday “SportsTalk” show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube every Thursday at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast each week on ATVN.

 So without any further delay, here’s the grand unveiling of the new “Astound 10” for our preseason poll….(the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Parkland (9.6)
2. Nazareth (7.8)
3. Emmaus (6.8)
4. Freedom (6.6)
5. Northampton (5.4)
6. Northwestern (4.8)
7. Becahi (3.2)
8. Whitehall (2.8)
9. Central Catholic (1.6)
10. Notre Dame-Green Pond (.8)

Other teams receiving more than one mention: Easton, So. Lehigh

Our preseason polls show that while Parkland received a heavy majority of first place votes, there’s a tight race among many of the teams behind Trojans and should make for some interesting races for this year’s District XI playoffs.

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds of our pollsters!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

I know I keep mentioning that we are breaking new ground in expanding our coverage and increasing the way we serve our customers and viewers but…well, we did it again this summer!

Astound TV broadcast more Blue Mountain League baseball games than in any other year in our network’s history.

And…

ATVN broadcast the final two games of the Blue Mountain League Championship this summer for the first time.

And…

For the first time ever, a BML baseball game was live video streamed on the Astound YouTube channel, allowing friends and family members of many of the participants who live outside the state (some as far away as Seattle, Washington) to watch their favorite baseball players play in the deciding game in this year’s championship, won by the Limeport Bulls.

 A lot went in to all of these new accomplishments and we thank all of the members of the league for working with us in enhancing our coverage this year!

Here are video highlights from most of our BML broadcasts this summer (others game recaps were posted earlier here at “The SportsTalk Shop” … which you’ve already seen if you follow us regularly).

Astound Sports: Blue Mountain League; Egypt Orioles vs. Limeport Bulls (8/24)

Astound Sports: Blue Mountain League; Martin’s Creek Creekers vs. Northern Yankees (7/24)

Astound Sports: Blue Mountain League; Martin’s Creek Creekers vs. Limeport Bulls (7/24)

Astound Sports: Blue Mountain League; Easton Falcons vs. Martin’s Creek Creekers (7/24)

 It was a great season, with many great team and individual accomplishments.  Here are this year’s BML’s “All-League” honors for 2024…

Manager of the Year: A.J. Brosious – Jordan Creek Orioles

Most Valuable Player: Tyler LePage – Avengers

Rookie of the Year: Zach Smith – Limeport Bulls

Iron Man of the League: Brian Robison – Limeport Dodgers

Pitcher: Adam Maini – Limeport Bulls

Catcher: Derek Holmes – Northern Yankees

1st Base: Logan Castellano – Easton Falcons

2nd Base: Trey Hinkle – Jordan Creek Orioles

3rd Base: Dan Orrego – Easton Falcons 

Shortstop: Matt Rosace – Martins Creek Creekers

Outfield ( 3 ) :

                    Dominick Bayo  – Jordan Creek Orioles

                     Ian Csencsits – Jordan Creek Orioles

                     Jon Fleck – Martins Creek Creekers 

Utility Position: Luke Meehan – Avengers

Designated Hitter: Sean Superka – Avengers

Umpire of the Year: Mark Brown 

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

One way or another, it’s going to be a unique fall football season in the Lehigh Valley this year…and Astound TV is proud to broadcast more high school football games than ever before!

A couple years ago, the Colonial League agreed to merge its high school football season, which radically changed the schedule for local teams.  In an effort to make games more competitive, the “co-op” matched up schools/teams of similar sizes, which meant a number of teams in our coverage area would play several teams outside the region – which made it harder to feature our local schools on television broadcasts.

Now, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference has made a major change – adding three ‘non-conference’ games to every team’s schedule, which also forces our local teams to seek opponents outside the area.

The result is that many teams will face (and travel to) schools far beyond the Lehigh Valley’s borders (a few teams are playing teams from different states!)

Complicating things…there continues to be issues with the number of officials and transportation, which means games have continued to be moved to different days of the week as schools try to deal with these shortages while still maintaining a full sports schedule for as many of its fall sports teams as possible.

Despite all these changes the last two years, the Astound TV Network has brought you more games and more schools than ever before in our station’s history – a trend that will continue this fall – while still bringing you the most anticipated matchup of the season.

And even with even more radical adjustments for this year’s season, the Astound TV sports department is committed to continuing this goal of expanding our high school sports coverage once again this fall.

As we get ready to bring you more games than ever before this fall, there are several days in which there are multiple matchups that will be of interest to our viewers.  Like the last two seasons, we will be waiting until we get closer to those dates to determine which teams/games we will be broadcasting.

With that in mind, we already have posted games that we are “locked into” for broadcasting here on our website (see those games on our HS Football page).

ADDITIONALLY, there are many more games listed below that we are considering broadcasting for the fall – most, if not all of these dates will feature doubleheader football games featuring some combinations of the games listed below, on the Astound TV Network (a final determination will be made as we get closer to these games/dates)…

8/23 (Fri.) – Geo. Washington at Parkland & Saucon Valley at Bangor

8/29 (Thurs) – Northwestern at Northern Lehigh

8/30 (Fri ) – Parkland at Freedom; Becahi at Emmaus; Nazareth at Whitehall

9/6 (Fri) – Central at Freedom; Parkland at Northampton; Northwestern at Bangor

9/7 (Sat) No. Lehigh at Pen Argyl and Stroudsburg at Liberty

9/12 (Thur) – Salisbury at Catty

9/13 (Fri) – Freedom at Nazareth; Northampton at Liberty; Becahi at Easton; Saucon Valley at Notre Dame; Salisbury at Catty

9/20 (Fri) – Easton at Emmaus; Northampton at Whitehall; Nazareth at Parkland; Liberty at Dieruff; Notre Dame at Catty

9/27 (Fri) – Catty at Saucon Valley; Pleasant Valley at Nazareth; Dieruff at WHS; Nolehi at Notre Dame

10/4 (Fri) – Whitehall at Emmaus; Nazareth at Liberty;Northampton at Easton

10/11 (Fri) – Easton at Liberty; Freedom at Northampton; Solehi at Bangor; Nolehi at Catty

10/12 (Sat) – Saucon Valley at Pen Argyl or Parkland at Central or Nazareth at Bethlehem Catholic 

10/18 (Fri) – Parkland at Whitehall; Easton at Freedom; Solehi at Saucon Valley; Northampton at Nazareth

10/25 (Fri) – Parkland at Emmaus; Central at Whitehall; Nazareth at Easton; Beca at Northampton; Northwestern at Solehi; Saucon Valley at Nolehi

Again, the above list is IN ADDITION to our combination of games already posted on our broadcast page here on our website – be sure to bookmark and keep checking back to our “HS Football Schedule” page on our website.  That list, AND a combination of the games listed above, will comprise our broadcast schedule this season.

Additionally, we hope to ADD high school soccer to our broadcasting plans for this fall as well!

As always, I would love to hear your feedback and encourage our viewers to share this list with their friends and family members.  I have tried to be very open since I’ve had the opportunity to select games on our network the last two years, and I welcome your thoughts and suggestions to bring the best quality games and high school football broadcast schedule to our viewers.

Feel free to contact me at chris.michael@astound.com

…and bring on the new season!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

With the fall sports season rapidly approaching, we wanted to let you know that the Astound Sports family and our coverage of local sports has expanded … again!

Among our plans for this fall include adding to our broadcast lineup the District XI boys AND girls soccer playoffs coverage.  Furthermore, we will be enhancing our coverage of girls field hockey with regular blog entries and updates on our “ATVN SportsTalk” program!

To help us with our additional and EXPANDED coverage for the fall sports season, we would like to welcome in several new announcers to our team (with more new faces also coming to your ATVN video screens later this fall) and also announce that several broadcasters who joined us later last year will be expanding their roles with us this autumn.

Greg Moore

Originally from New York, Greg became one of the most respected assistant coaches in Eastern Pennsylvania. In addition to his high school program successes, Moore’s two sons have become outstanding Division-I lineman at Virginia Tech University. When not coaching or attending his sons’ games, Greg will share his experiences and football insights on ATVN’s telecasts.

Katelyn Arnold

A recent graduate of Lafayette College, Katelyn will be broadcasting games and also begin a column focusing on girls field hockey for the Astound website starting with the 2024-25 school year.  As a player, she received numerous local and national honors, was named “Player of the Year,” multiple times in both high school and college and continues to be ranked as one of the most efficient goalkeepers of all time in both the  scholastic and collegiate levels.

Ramie Moussa

Ramie is a former student of mine. In spite of that tough start (ahem!), Moussa excelled as a football coach winning a District XI football title in 2021 as head coach of Palisades High School before becoming an assistant coach on the Emmaus High School football staff.  Prior to joining ATVN, he brings football experience working both in the booth and sideline reporting.

Paul Carrerras

Paul just graduated from East Stroudsburg University where he was a big part of their football program and was an outstanding two-way player for Bethlehem Catholic High School.  He will be working the sidelines for several of ATVN’s high school football broadcasts.

Gabrielle DiPaula

Gabrielle made her Astound TV debut with us during our baseball playoffs coverage this summer.  She has a history for announcing various sports at the high school and college levels.

Again, we’ll have more exciting news and additions concerning our local sports coverage coming up over the next few days and weeks, so keep checking back to “The SportsTalk Shop” for more information!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Today here at “The Shop”, we post our final all-star listings and special accomplishments for student-athletes in the Astound TV viewing area for the 2023-24 school year.

First, here are the girls field hockey “All-Eastern Pennsylvania Conference” players….

First Team:

Lexi Causa – Midfield, Easton

Elaina Fragassi – Midfield, Parkland

Aurora Gery – Midfield, Parkland

Morgan Herceg – Forward / Midfield, Nazareth

Raegan Iasiello – Midfield / Defense, Northampton

Eleanor Kirkwood – Midfield, East Stroudsburg South

Alyssa Laubach – Midfield, Freedom

Mackenzie Mann – Goalie, Nazareth

Ruby Miller – Midfield, Liberty

Jocelyn Morgan – Forward, Easton

Riley Tepper – Midfield, Stroudsburg

Melea Weber – Forward / Midfield, Emmaus

2nd Team:

Cameron Alvino – Midfield, Nazareth

Raegan Day – Defense, Easton

Kendall Iasiello – Forward, Northampton

Mena Kazista – Defense, Nazareth

Autum Kernechel – Midfield, Emmaus

Mackenzie Lopez – Defense, Pocono Mountain East

Sydney Moritz – Defense, Stroudsburg

Ava O’Connor – Forward, Stroudsburg

Morgann Orobono – Defense, Emmaus

Molly Sobers – Forward, Pleasant Valley

Ella Steirer – Midfield, Northampton

Dakota Stiff – Midfield / Defense, Pocono Mountain East

Lily Trocki – Goalie, Whitehall

Tiana Weeks – Forward, East Stroudsburg South

Abby Wortmann – Midfield, Nazareth

3rd Team:

Lilla Berces- Goalie, Bethlehem Catholic

Jordan Brunnabend – Defense, Parkland

Jodi Bowen – Midfield, Pocono Mountain West

Emma Cari – Goalie, Emmaus

Ashlee Gensits – Defense, Nazareth

Ava George – Defense, Liberty

Emmy Horner – Forward, Emmaus

Lydia Keppel – Midfield, Whitehall

Aubre Krazer – Midfield, Easton

Haley Kvacky – Forward, Midfield, Emmaus

Aubrey Steiner – Midfield, Whitehall

Julianna Zumas – Forward, Liberty

Next, the following students from Bonner-Prendergast made the first team PCL All-Catholic squad…

Mylachi Willaims – Defensive Line

Kenny Asong – Linebacker

Isaiah Sessions – Defensive Back

Williams was also named PCL defensive player of the year.

We also want to salute Camryn Huff and Zachary Miller – both of Nazareth High School – for being named the EPC girls and boys golf MVPs, respectively.

Next, here are the All-Stars from the Colonial League teams that we received that participated in the merger with the Schuylkill League this past school year…

First Team:

TE — Sr. Bailey Smith, Northern Lehigh

WR — Sr. Ian Juica, Catasauqua; Jr. Jack Robertson, Saucon Valley

QB — Sr. Danny Darno, Notre Dame

RB — Sr. Noah Hillis, Bangor; So. Grady Newhard, Northern Lehigh

FB/Slot/HB — Sr. Jack Tosh, Northern Lehigh

Athlete — Sr. Josh Ludlow, Notre Dame

K — Jr. Seth Kern, Northwestern

2nd Team:

DT — Jr. Gijs Fooij, Southern Lehigh; Sr. Zack Anthony, Palmerton

NG — Sr. Mitchell Andrejko, Southern Lehigh

DE — Sr. Ryan King, Southern Lehigh; Sr. Alex Konze, Palmerton

ILB — Sr. Dainn Vassallo, Notre Dame; Sr. Blaine Snyder, Northwestern

OLB — Sr. Devon Hildebrand, Northwestern; Sr. Ty Sander, Palmerton

DB — Jr. Andrew Olesh, Southern Lehigh; Sr. Jack Inglis, Southern Lehigh; Fr. Chris Frame, Northern Lehigh; Jr. Jack Robertson, Saucon Valley; Sr. Constantine Donahue, Saucon Valley; Sr. AJ Lozano, Notre Dame; Sr. MJ Siu, Bangor

P — Sr. Cade Sawyer, Southern Lehigh

3rd Team: 

C — Sr. Clayton Christman, Palmerton

G — Sr. Brody Dye, Northern Lehigh; Sr. Danny Haubert, Palisades

T — Sr. Chad Beller Jr., Catasauqua; Sr. Parker Sandt, Bangor

TE — Jr. Bryan Tobin, Southern Lehigh

WR — Sr. Jack Inglis, Southern Lehigh; Sr. MJ Siu, Bangor

QB — Jr. Christopher Fritts, Southern Lehigh

RB — Sr. Hunter Reitz, Catasauqua; Sr. Constantine Donahue, Saucon Valley

FB/Slot/HB — Sr. Emilio Gonzalez, Palmerton

Last – and least – I’ll be taking a vacation for a few weeks and a hiatus from blogging to recharge my batteries and get ready for the new school year, which is rapidly approaching.  I’ll be back in time for the Blue Mountain League baseball championship series in August, in which we’re hoping to bring you the deciding game(s) of this year’s finals on Astound TV.

Keep checking back to the ATVN website for information on our BML coverage and the start of the fall sports seasons.

I’ll see you in a few weeks for more local sports coverage, insights and news!  Enjoy the (hopefully) great weather in the meantime!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

 For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on the Astound TV Network with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

Frank Nelson is another character who worked in the entertainment industry from 1926 right up until his death in 1986.  While the name may not ring a bell, it’s hard to imagine the early days of television without his memorable contributions.

Frank Brandon Nelson (he never adopted a “stage name”) on May 6th, 1911 in Colorado Spring, Colorado.

Frank’s signature deep voice came to him at an early age.

At 15, he got a job portraying a “thirtysomething” character on a radio drama on KOA AM in Denver.  By 18 he moved to Hollywood and immediately got jobs portraying leading men in radio drama series.

His first experiences in the genre in which he would work for nearly the rest of his career occurred three years later when he was hired for the serial comedy show, Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel – a vehicle created to showcase Groucho and Chico Marx.

His venerable voice allowed him to portray characters on many of radio’s most popular comedy shows, like Fibber Magee and Molly, as well as dramas, like Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.

Nelson continued to attract various roles on radio throughout the 1930s, but became a frequent “guest star” on The Jack Benny Show, although his characters were never given a name.  He would simply play general characters to help advance that evening’s show’s plot, but his versatility allowed him to play different characters from week to week.

In the early 1940s Frank was portraying a train ticket clerk (another role he would return to throughout the program’s run on radio and TV).  When Benny approached him to buy a ticket, Nelson responded with a loud and ecstatic, “yyyyyeeeeeeeeesssssssss”…and the radio audience went wild with laughter.

Over the next few years, Nelson would garnish some of the biggest laughs ever heard on radio.

Probably his biggest laugh was when Announcer Don Wilson mispronounced a man’s name in the news as “Drear Pewson.”  When Nelson’s character of the day arrived on the scene and ask who he was, Frank improved by saying, “who do you think I am, Drear Pewson,” and the cast and audience erupted.

While Nelson was featured in a few films in the early 1950s, he mostly stayed on the small screen.

One of his most popular television appearances was when he was on a parody of Perry Mason trying a “chicken murder” case against Raymond Burr himself. Nelson “won” the case when he got “Perry” to admit that he was the killer himself!

Nelson’s versatility won the sometimes incredibly high standards of Lucille Ball, who used Nelson in six different characters during the first several seasons of I Love Lucy and asked Frank back frequently for her first solo spinoff, The Lucy Show.

In the early 1960s, McDonald’s hired Nelson as their main character on their commercials and would frequently utilize his trademark, “yyyyeessssssss” to get a laugh.  His legendary voice would lend itself to numerous characters on some of televisions most popular cartoon shows, including The Jetsons and The Flintstones.

Frank continued acting in shows, frequently using his trademark lines and demenours in television shows through the 60s and 70s, with his last guest appearance on the Linda Lavin-centered sitcom, Alice.  While his last on-screen role was in 1986’s Malibu Bikini Shop, which was released a month after he passed away, he was still referred to frequently in more contemporary shows.

When John Stewart hosted The Daily Show, he often used Frank’s trademark “yyyesssss” and other similar traits.

The Simpsons based characters on all of Nelson’s mannerisms and would give a nod to the late actor by crediting those characters names as “the Frank Nelson type” or the “Yes, Sir” guy.  Many other cartoons use characters with many of Nelson’s different quirks on their shows to this day.

Be on the lookout for Frank Nelson’s signature voice and trademark sayings in roles in films like, The Lucy Show, The Jack Benny Program, and other projects seen on the Astound TV Network.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.