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Xavier soccer coach Andy Fleming’s team has five exhibitions this spring, including a home friendly against new professional franchise FC Cincinnati. (Photo: Enquirer file) Xavier’s men’s soccer team starts its four-game spring exhibition home schedule by hosting new professional soccer franchise FC Cincinnati. FC Cincinnati, competing in its first season in United Soccer League, visits XU Soccer Complex March 18 at 7 p.m. Andy Fleming’s Musketeers also host Saint Louis, Cedarville and Michigan State. The spring…

Ian McMahon looked out over a convention room full of coaches last week and, with one pithy comment, showed why heading has become a major issue in US youth soccer. “I’ve gotta be careful there are no lawyers in the room,” said the AYSO executive director, who learned the game in England and played professionally for Oldham and Rochdale. The coaches and fellow panelists at the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches…

• Curtis Turner: Called by some the “Babe Ruth of stock car racing,” Curtis Turner was among the fastest and most colorful competitors in the early years of NASCAR premier series racing. He posted his first of 17 career victories in only his fourth start on Sept. 11, 1949. Although many of Turner’s victories came on short tracks and dirt ovals — much of his career pre-dated NASCAR’s superspeedway era…

Tony Stewart at a NASCAR race in September 2015.(Photo: Jasen Vinlove, USA TODAY Sports) CHARLOTTE — Tony Stewart called on NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France to take a more active role at the racetrack during a blunt interview with Sirius/XM Radio on Thursday. Stewart told host Dave Moody that drivers “never see Brian France” and don’t feel he’s hearing their concerns about various issues facing the sport. “I want to see…

National Women’s Hockey League player Ashley Johnston of the New York Riveters celebrates her goal with her teammates in a game against the Connecticut Whale in October. The game was part of a breast cancer awareness event, and the Riveters wore pink jerseys instead of their normal white. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Bruce Bennett/Getty Images Featuring teams in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut and New York City, the National…

National Women’s Hockey League player Ashley Johnston of the New York Riveters celebrates her goal with her teammates in a game against the Connecticut Whale in October. The game was part of a breast cancer awareness event, and the Riveters wore pink jerseys instead of their normal white. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Bruce Bennett/Getty Images Featuring teams in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut and New York City, the National…

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RELATED: See the changes for the 2016 CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ty Dillon is set to expand his Sprint Cup Series horizons, signing on to the newly-merged Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing team in 2016 for an undetermined number of races. Richard Childress Racing, owned by Dillon’s grandfather and organizational namesake, and Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing have agreed to form a technical alliance in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, beginning with the 2016 season with drivers Dillon and Michael McDowell. The partnership includes…

Another victory celebration. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) Athletes protect the past. Those of us in the instant-reaction business too willingly spray “best” and “greatest” language onto events happening in front of us. Retired players serve as our foils, reminding us of previous teams that were better, and greater. So before labeling this Caps team the best of the Alex Ovechkin era, let’s check in with some leaders of the 2009-10 outfit, which won Washington’s…

National Women’s Hockey League player Ashley Johnston of the New York Riveters celebrates her goal with her teammates in a game against the Connecticut Whale in October. The game was part of a breast cancer awareness event, and the Riveters wore pink jerseys instead of their normal white. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Bruce Bennett/Getty Images Featuring teams in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut and New York City, the National…

RELATED: Best quotes from Charlotte Media Tour   CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Team Penske kicked off its 50th season Wednesday night with a private function in the Crown Ballroom of the Charlotte Convention Center.   Forty-two drivers, all Penske people at one time or another, from the open-wheel, stock car and road racing ranks were among the 1,000 or so expected to be on hand to help team owner Roger Penske celebrate the…

As far as legends go, Perpetua Nkwocha is as big as they come in female soccer in Africa. Now 40, Nkwocha enjoyed a stellar career, winning multiple titles and individual awards as she represented Nigeria’s women’s team, the Super Falcons. Now in the twilight of her career with Clemensnas IF, a club in Skelleftea, Sweden, Nkwocha is set to retire soon but with the regular club season not starting till…

ENLARGE Ironman, the biggest player in endurance athletics, is invading the market for bike races. Ironman on Thursday will announce the acquisition of a European-based operator of about 20 endurance-athletics events, including six cycling races. The triathlon operator has never before run strictly cycling races. The purchase of Hamburg-based Lagardère Sports from Paris-based Lagardère Sports and Entertainment will represent the largest acquisition ever for Ironman, based in Tampa, Fla. Ironman…

National Women’s Hockey League player Ashley Johnston of the New York Riveters celebrates her goal with her teammates in a game against the Connecticut Whale in October. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Bruce Bennett/Getty Images Featuring teams in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut and New York City, the National Women’s Hockey League has become home to some of the best players in the world. Meghan Duggan, for example, who was…

Orlando City Soccer Club has agreed to pay the city about $18 million for the land on which the team’s $155 million stadium will be built, enough to match or surpass what taxpayers have spent to ready the site. But the contracts released by the city Wednesday only ensure that Major League Soccer matches would be played in the new venue for 10 years, less than half of the Orlando…

Six years ago this week, then-NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton boldly ushered in the “Boys, have at it” era in which NASCAR promised to allow drivers more room to self-police and show their true personalities without risk of penalty. But when the sanctioning body hit 2003 Sprint Cup champion Matt Kenseth with a two-race suspension late last year for deliberately wrecking Joey Logano at Martinsville Speedway, some observers…