House of Speed/MKU has five-day academy

November 30, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

youngstown

The House of Speed Youngstown has joined with MKU Athletics to introduce the inaugural House of Speed/MKU Football Academy.

The program will be held at the Mayor Ralph Infante Niles Wellness Center beginning Dec. 23.

The Elite Academy for athletes in grades 3-8 will run from 10 a.m. until noon.

Brazilian babies to get World Cup soccer balls

SAO PAULO

Now here’s a baby gift: All babies born in Brazil on Tuesday will get a soccer ball.

That’s the day Adidas unveils the ball that will be used at next year’s World Cup. The company says the giveaway is part of a marketing campaign based on the notion that every Brazilian is born with a soccer ball “by its feet.”

The World Cup ball is called Brazuca, an informal word often used to describe national pride in the South American nation.

Adidas said Friday that parents of every baby born on the designated day will be entitled to redeem a ball Dec. 6 and 7 at sites in all 12 host cities.

Two fencing events slashed for Rio Games

PARIS

The men’s saber team event and the women’s foil team event have been dropped for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The International Fencing Federation made the decision Friday at its congress in Paris.

The federation has been rotating two team events out of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games. The team events in men’s epee and women’s saber were left out of the 2012 London Olympics.

In Rio, men and women will still be able to compete individually in the epee, foil and saber. The team events will be men’s epee and foil and women’s epee and saber.

Fencing will have a quota of 212 athletes in Rio.

Will Take Charge wins Clark Handicap race

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

Will Take Charge bounced back from his loss in the Breeders’ Cup to win the Grade 1 $550,700 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs Friday.

Just 27 days ago, the horse trained by D. Wayne Lukas lost by a nose in the Classic to Mucho Macho Man on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita. This time, it was jockey Luis Saez and the 3-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song — the second betting choice — who scored the narrow victory, winning by a head over favorite Game on Dude and jockey Mike Smith.

Will Take Charge paid $6.80, 3.00 and 2.60. Game on Dude paid $3.40 and 2.60 and Easter Gift, with Joel Rosario aboard, paid $5.20.

Police to talk to crane operator at stadium

SAO PAULO

Brazilian police say they will talk to the operator of the crane that collapsed Wednesday at the stadium set to host the 2014 World Cup opener.

A police inspector told The Associated Press the crane operator is not yet suspected of any wrongdoing but is considered a key witness to the accident at the Arena Corinthians. Police say they’ll try to pinpoint the cause of the accident that killed two workers and raised more doubts about Brazil’s preparedness to host soccer’s showcase event.

Pikus-Pace DQ’ed from win in WCup opener

CALGARY, Alberta

Noelle Pikus-Pace of the United States was disqualified from the season-opening women’s World Cup skeleton event on Friday, after her sled failed a post-race inspection.

Pikus-Pace had finished in first place and was announced as the winner. She told The Associated Press that the U.S. is now appealing the disqualification, but does not expect to hear anything for several days.

A protest was filed by the British over a piece of tape on Pikus-Pace’s sled, which had been cleared earlier in the week by international sliding officials.

Vindicator staff/wire reports