West Philly kids are doing great in sports and are in the spotlight of some current and upcoming sporting events.

The Taney Dragons. (Photo from Taneybaseball.com)

• The Taney Dragons, Philly’s youth baseball team that made it this year to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., keeps winning! In their second game, on Sunday, they defeated the team from Texas. We learned that there are at least three West Philly kids on the team. According to neighborhood sources, these kids are: Eli Simon, No. 4, a student at Penn Alexander School (43rd and Locust), Tai Shanahan, No. 7 (who had the game-winning hit on Sunday), goes to St. Francis de Sales (47th and Windsor), and Carter Davis, No. 9, lives on 49th St.

We’re very excited about the success of these and other young stars on the team (their amazing pitcher, Mo’ne Davis, is on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated!). Taney’s 3rd game is tonight, at 7:30 p.m., when they will take on a team from Las Vegas, Nev. You can watch it on ESPN. Also, there’s a free Taney Dragons Pep Rally and Watch Party tonight, 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., in the City Hall Courtyard (Broad and Market Sts). Go Taney!

• It’s not every day when you get a chance to practice with tennis stars like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, but a West Philly kid will be at this year’s U.S. Open. Eleven-year-old Tauheed Browning, a student at Legacy Youth Tennis and Education Center, is heading to Flushing Meadows, New York, to participate in Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day on Saturday, Aug 23, as part of the 2014 U.S. Open Tennis Championship. Tauheed will get to warm up with tennis professionals and another Legacy student, Brandon Caban of Drexel Hill, will compete against the pros in a target-hitting contest in the hopes of bringing back $15,000 to provide tennis and life skills education to more than 4,500 young people from the greater Philadelphia area, many of who come from low-income and under-resourced communities.

Tauheed is a student at PA Leadership Charter School, and is from Overbrook. He is one of the youngest Legacy student-athletes with very high potential, according to a spokeperson at the center.

Tauheed Browning. (Photo courtesy of Legacy Youth Tennis and Education)

Folks who’ve strolled through Clark Park’s north circle on Sunday are probably wondering why people were whipping and rolling around shiny orbs. Well, we have your answer: they’re playing pétanque.

Every Sunday, players from West Philly to as far as Harrisburg gather to try their hand at the French sport of “boules” (or “balls”) as members of the new Philadelphia Pétanque Meetup group, the first of its kind in the city. Originated in 1900s, pétanque (pronounced ‘pay-tonk’) is a teamed game in which players toss metal globes in hopes of landing it as close to the “cochonnet”—a smaller wooden ball—as possible. According to Bill Craig, one of the Meetup’s organizers, pétanque is a “growing phenomenon” at the park, with the group sometimes drawing nearly 20-30 athletes a game.

“Pétanque is a game that appeals to men and women, old and young, all races and ethnic backgrounds, [and] professional backgrounds,” said the 43-year-old architect who launched the Meetup with West Philly residents Delphine Dahan and Matt Pagett in December. “The game is a bridge of sorts that links a very wide variety of people who would otherwise probably not interact with each other.”

Photos by Annamarya Scaccia/West Philly Local

When West Philly Local stopped by Clark Park on May 26 to check out the game, we found a diverse clutch of 12 pétanque players sectioned into three games laughing and engaging in light-hearted repartee while focused keenly on their next move. The social banter—meets—competitive spirit is due in large part to the sport’s pace and close proximity, said Craig, allowing a “nice sense of friendship and community” to form.

“I haven’t really been able to pinpoint why, but pétanque has a beguiling ability to relieve stress and allow one to relax,” he said. “It seems to be the perfect combination of cerebral and physical, not excessively taxing in either way but sufficiently engaging and demanding to be consistently stimulating and enjoyable.”

According to Craig, the organizers hope to establish an official Philadelphia pétanque club in the near future, joining other large metropolises like New York, Austin and Portland—all of which have clubs listed as members of Federation of Pétanque U.S.A, the game’s official governing body. There are also plans in the works to host a weekend-long local pétanque tournament in the fall, said Craig.

Philadelphia Pétanque meets every Sunday at 11 a.m. in Clark Park’s north circle, and every Wednesday or Thursday evening at 6 p.m. on University of Pennsylvania’s campus at 40^th and Walnut Streets. To join or RSVP for a game, visit https://www.philadelphiapetanque.com/.

– Annamarya Scaccia

Here’s a piece from the CBS Evening News last night on brothers Kareem and Daymar Rosser and their friend Brandon Reese from the Cowtown/Work to Ride polo team, which won the 42nd annual USPA National Interscholastic Championship tournament last month.

The three young men, all West Philly natives, were the first African American team ever to win the title.

This week’s weather will try to convince us that spring is right around the corner. OK, we’ll take the bait, and remind folks that registration for youth sports leagues is upon us. Here’s a quick rundown of a few popular ones:

• Clark Park Youth Soccer

The registration deadline is March 1. The season runs March 19 through May 21. The cost of registration is $42 for one child, which includes membership in the Friends of Clark Park. Additional kiddos in the same family are cheaper. All the forms you need to make it happen are here.

Each 90-minute Saturday session includes instruction and a game. The league is open to kids 5-11.

• Fairmount Sports Association baseball and softball

Many kids from neighborhood play softball and baseball across the river in the Fairmount Sports Association youth leagues off Ben Franklin Parkway. T-Ball typically involves age groups (boys and girls) starting at 4-6 years old. Girls softball begins at the rookie level with league play for ages 6-10 years of age. There is also a junior–senior level league for ages 11-16 years of age.

Boy’s baseball begins at the Rookie level (7-9), Junior or Pony League (10-12) and Senior league (13-16). Travel teams will be made up upon coaches and players availability.

You’ve already missed the early bird registration for this one, so it will cost you an extra $10 to register now. Online registration is available here. Walk-in registration is also available at the FSA building near the fields every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon and Tuesday/Thursday 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Taney Youth baseball and softball

This league headquartered in South Philadelphia is also a popular one for neighborhood kids. The league plays its games on a number of fields in Center City. Opening day is April 9. Early bird registration is closed for this one too. But be quick because there is a cap on the number of players that will be allowed to register. The league is trying to get everyone to register online here. The registration fee is $90 for the first child and $80 for each additional child. The league is open to kids ages 3-15.