Tryouts

There are many obstacles along the path to becoming a ninja warrior. One must dash up the steps, slanted at 50 degrees, to reach the platform above, or perhaps run along the 14-foot curved wall - all without falling into the pool of water below. "If your foot skims the water, you're done," said 30-year-old Tony Torres. Torres, will be one of hundreds trying to land a spot on the TV show "American Ninja Warrior," which holds tryouts Friday and Saturday at Rash Field in the Inner Harbor.

Seven local girls basketball players will try out for the U16 national team this weekend at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. First-team All Metro players Stephanie Jones, Aberdeen; Danielle Edwards, McDonogh; Taylor Murray, Annapolis Area Christian; and Dionna White, Milford Mill, as well as second-team selections Qalea Ismail, Patterson Mill; and Dajah Logan, McDonogh, will head to Colorado for the tryouts that begin Thursday. McDonogh's Jameira Johnson also will try out. Jones, a freshman forward-guard who led the Eagles to the state Class 3A championship, was among an original pool of 33 players invited to the tryouts while the others earned their spots via open application.

The Savage U-9 travel baseball team will hold tryouts for the fall/spring team on Saturday, Aug. 6, Sunday, Aug. 7 and Sunday, Aug. 14. All tryouts begin at 4 p.m. and will be held at Savage Park field 3. For information, contact Larry Dawes at carriedawes@comcast.net .

Tryouts for the Maryland team in the second annual Big 26 Baseball Classic against Pennsylvania will be held at two locations in the state later this month. The first tryout is scheduled for May 18 at the Northern Worcester Athletic Complex in Berlin for players on the Eastern Shore, while the second tryout is set for May 19 at Joe Cannon Stadium in Hanover for local players. The top 26 players from Maryland will be selected to take on the Pennsylvania team in a three-game series at Metro Bank Park in Harrisburg, Pa., from July 26 to 28. Maryland won the first Big 26 Baseball Classic last year.

Savage U-13 travel baseball team will be playing several local teams and a tournament this fall along with a full schedule and six tournaments in the spring. Tryouts will be at Savage Park Field 5 on the following dates: Thursday, Aug. 11 at 6 p.m.; Sunday, Aug. 14 at 6 p.m.; Thursday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. For more information, contact Tim Smith at timkaths@verizon.net .

The Marissa Coleman Dream AAU basketball program will hold tryouts for fall/winter teams for girls in fourth- to eighth-grade on Sunday, Aug. 28 at Laurel High School, 8000 Cherry Lane. Experienced coaches are also needed for all age groups. Players and coaches interested in joining should contact dpowell@mc4dream.com . For more information, go to http://www.mc4dream.com .

Submitting sports notices The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. Monday. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). Questions? Call 410-332-6605. Baseball The 10-U Columbia Sun Devils travel team has two roster spots left. This is an elite travel team that will play a full fall and spring league season, Ripken tournaments and a number of other local tournaments. We are looking for two well-rounded baseball players who cannot not have turned 11 prior to May 1, 2013.

The Chesapeake Charge, which will start its third season in the Women's Premier Soccer League in May, is conducting final tryouts on March 24-25 at Athletic Performance Inc. in Gambrills. The tryouts will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 24 and noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday March 25.  Any high school, college, post-college, former professional and international players are invited. The season runs from May through August with home games played at Archbishop Spalding in Severn.  Albert Oni, currently an assistant women's coach at Towson University, is the Charge's head coach.  For more information, call 410-276-4640.

Submitting sports notices The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. Monday. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). Questions? Call 410-332-6605. Soccer Thunder Cruzeiro (rising U-13 girls, born on or after Aug. 1, 1999) are looking for two or three hard-working players to add to the roster. Supplemental tryouts will be held the rest of the summer. Cruzeiro will play in WAGS Division 2 this fall. The team trains and plays its home games in Columbia/Western Howard County.

The tryout dates for the 2013 Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic underclass tournament have been set, Under Armour, Inc., and Corrigan Sports Enterprises, Inc., announced Wednesday. Players who will graduate in 2014, 2015 or 2016 are eligible to participate in the open tryouts, which will be held around the country in May and June. The Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic underclass tournament is scheduled for July 5-7 at Towson University, with boys and girls teams from 10 different regions -- Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Long Island, upstate New York, Midwest, New England, New Jersey, Philadelphia, South, and West.

There are many obstacles along the path to becoming a ninja warrior. One must dash up the steps, slanted at 50 degrees, to reach the platform above, or perhaps run along the 14-foot curved wall - all without falling into the pool of water below. "If your foot skims the water, you're done," said 30-year-old Tony Torres. Torres, will be one of hundreds trying to land a spot on the TV show "American Ninja Warrior," which holds tryouts Friday and Saturday at Rash Field in the Inner Harbor.

Alyssa Jones felt numb Saturday as she gathered with dozens of other girls on the basketball court of the Downtown Athletic Club. Dressed in teeny shorts and bedazzled bra tops, the 220 ladies, and some guys as well, were all there pursuing the same dream: to become a Ravens cheerleader.   Tryout weekend is an annual event that is as important to some women as getting into college or becoming mothers. It is something they have worked toward for years. Competition is fierce for just 50 to 60 spots on the team, either on the stunt team or the dance team.

While trying to assemble the best team possible to renew the Big 33 Football Classic rivalry with Pennsylvania this summer, the Maryland Big 33 coaches have run into a few more challenges than anticipated. Enough skill position players turned out, but not enough linemen, when Big 33 officials invited 139 players to a tryout combine at the Ravens' Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills on Feb. 9. Gilman coach Biff Poggi, who will coach Maryland in the Big 33, and his assistants hope to remedy that by having more linemen attend the final tryout on March 9 in Crofton.

In a barn-like practice field at the Ravens training facility, 121 women pranced, pirouetted and kicked their way through Saturday morning under the watchful eye of the cheerleaders whose ranks they hope to join. For the past 10 years or so, the cheerleading team has been running clinics before the formal tryouts to help aspirants hone their skills and know what to expect. Director Tina Galdieri said there has been more interest than usual this year on the back of the Ravens' Super Bowl win. Amber Lloyd, 25, a student at Stevenson University and an army veteran, said it was her second year trying out. She expects the competition to be tough, she said, because this year there are "a lot prettier girls.

Et cetera Bays Dynasty soccer ranked No. 1 in nation The under-12 Bays Dynasty boys soccer team has been ranked No. 1 nationally, according to gotsoccer.com. The squad earned the ranking by winning four of the largest fall tournaments in the Northeast, posting a clean 16-0 tournament record, while remaining undefeated in league play. "With gotsoccer.com currently ranking thousands of teams throughout the United States, this achievement is something in which this team can take great pride.

The Chesapeake Bayhawks and Denver Outlaws will conduct a joint open tryout Saturday, March 9 in Gambrills to fill out their training camp rosters. All players must be registered in the Major League Lacrosse Player Pool in order to try out. The nonrefundable registration fee is $125. Space is limited, so early registration is encouraged. Players can register here . At least one player each season has been invited to training camp. The tryout will consists of a brief combine testing each player's height, weight, 40-yard dash time and vertical jump. Players will then run through competitive drills and gamelike situations led by coaches and staff.