The Cleveland Heights Sea Serpents Swim Team recently captured second place in the ICSL Championships held at the Wembly Club in Chagrin Falls. Pictured are Coach Andrea Chan, Coach Marco Pardo, Eleanor Pippin, Dylan Forrest, Head Coach Paul Wagner, Nicholas Bislich, Monica Chan, Hannah Kausen, Mitchell Fragassi, Juliana Soreo, Adam Goldfarb, Claire Hall, Maddie Hengst and Luisa Soreo.

When my 17-year-old son asked me if I wanted to go to breakfast with him, I dropped everything and cancelled my workout and lunch plans. Why? Yesterday, he wasn’t even speaking to me. 

Soon however, I figured out just why he wanted to spend time with his mother. The “breakfast” was at the Cedar Lee Pub and Grill, which opened early for World Cup fans. My son, one of 3 senior captains on the Heights High soccer team, puts the "fan" in fanatic. He needed me there to 1) be admitted 2) to drive and 3) to pay.

The Tiger Touchdown Club, an organization that supports Cleveland Heights High School’s football teams is holding its first annual Tiger Touchdown Club Flea Market on Saturday, June 12 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the high school, 13263 Lee Road.

After countless hours driving kids to soccer or cheering from the sidelines, soccer moms in the Heights now have the opportunity to play soccer--thanks to Sean Sullivan.

Sullivan is a teacher at Oxford Elementary, founder of Heights United Soccer Academy and head coach for men's varsity soccer at Heights High. He started the mom’s league to teach foot skills and soccer rules, and to play informal games.

“It’s turned into something so special. They’ve really worked hard,” said Sullivan. Around 18 moms are now on the team and they compete against other local teams. 

On Sunday March 7, in front of a capacity crowd at John Carroll University, the Gesu School varsity boys' basketball team defeated St. Gabriel (Concord Township), 34–19, to win the 2010 CYO Diocesan Championship.

Gesu avenged its only loss of the season, a 30–22 defeat at the hands of the Grizzlies in early December. The Bulldogs fed off the energy from the "Gesu Gold Rush" crowd and took a 20–8 lead at halftime behind the long-range shooting of Johnny Gannon.

St. Gabe's closed the margin to five, midway through the third quarter, before the Bulldogs turned up the pressure to put the game away. Gesu's tenacious defense and rebounding held St. Gabriel to only one point in the fourth quarter.

See a soccer field full of kids in the Heights and chances are you’re watching an East Side Kickers team in action. The gold and black jerseys have been a staple on local fields for nearly 30 years.

Currently, the East Side Kickers travel soccer club is 11 teams and 150 players strong. Part of the statewide soccer organization, Ohio Youth Soccer Association North, or OYSAN, the Kickers have been a Heights institution since 1983.

“Some of our coaches played with the East Side Kickers as kids and they are excited to give back that experience to a new generation of players,” said Sean Sullivan, ESK boys director of coaching.

The Cleveland Heights High School Swim Cadets presents this year’s show, “Swim Cadets Save The Day,” Thursday through Saturday, March 4-6 at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s pool at 13263 Cedar Rd. Tickets are $6.

The girls’ basketball team at Monticello Middle School, affectionately called the Lady Cardinals, are the Jr. Lake Erie League Girls’ Basketball Champions for 2010. The 10:1 Lady Cardinals (13:1 overall) knocked off an undefeated Shaker Raider team to claim the title. 

The victory was sweet as Shaker was the defending Jr. LEL Champion last year, and went undefeated during the regular season this year. The Lady Cardinals' only loss this year was to Shaker. Last year Shaker defeated Monticello in the championship.

Coached by Monticello teachers Angela Kirkland and Jason Jeske, the Lady Cardinals are enjoying their championship victory and were recognized during at the Heights Tigers home game on Feb. 6. 

The Cleveland Heights High School Swim Cadets will present this year’s show, “Swim Cadets Save The Day ,” on March 4, 5 and 6th at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s pool (13263 Cedar Road). Tickets are $6.

Cleveland Heights Tigers Baseball and the City of Cleveland Heights are sponsoring a baseball skills camp for all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys who attend any middle school in the CH-UH school district. The camp takes place on Sunday, Feb. 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Cleveland Heights Community Center, at the corner of Mayfield Road and Monticello Boulevard.

John Carroll University recently hosted the NCAA DIII National Women’s Volleyball Championships at DeCarlo Varsity Center. The last national championship hosted by John Carroll was played in 1989.

This year’s tournament took place Nov. 19 through 21 and welcomed eight teams from across the nation, including Hope College (MI), Tufts University (MA), the University of Redlands (CA), Washington University (MO), Juniata College (PA), Southwestern Texas University, New York University and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

"Make the Right Pitch" Baseball will offer a Fall Baseball League on Sundays (September 13, 20, 27 & October 4) at Gearity Elementary School in University Heights. Player workout and team selection will take place on Sunday, August 23 at 1 p.m. at Gearity Elementary School. The fall Program is for players ages 8-13 and includes skill instruction followed by organized games.

The 2009 running of the 113th Boston Marathon on April 15 massed together 23,163 dedicated runners, each meeting stringent qualifying times by age and gender, for the privilege of running an historic course covering suburban Boston towns each with its own cheering section and personality.

The 2009 race posted an amazing 98.6 percent finish rate, a tribute to the qualifying system. Just to qualify for this prestigious race is the dream of every serious runner. Lisa Robertson and Mark Bellini were among 14 Cleveland Heights residents to qualify for the 26.2 mile race.

Nick Elia, a 10-year-old athlete from University Heights, became the first home-grown skater to represent the Cleveland Heights Speedskating Club (short-track) in a national championship.  

When the Cleveland Indians go to spring training, do thoughts of the hallowed game of baseball still bring fond memories of those pick-up games you played, back when wooden bats were all you had and every kid knew how to screw a broken bat back together and tape it with black electrical tape? Or if you’re from a younger generation and your baseball career consisted of organized teams with metal bats, statistics and playoffs and then suddenly vanished after you graduated from high school, do you ever wish you could re-visit that time of your life, just to play a little baseball?  If you answered yes, you’re not alone. 

Have a child that loves the water, but doesn't want to swim competitively? Do you know someone who loves to dance, and is open to new ideas? Have you considered synchronized swimming? Though not widely known, the Tri-City Synchronized Swimming Team is the only regionally- based synchronized swimming team in the area. The team is into its second year, and last year was a roaring success, culminating with a show at the beginning of May.

Anyone interested in learning martial arts, whether for fitness or for self-defense, can find an excellent training program for adults as well as children at Cleveland Aikikai. Originally founded in 1976 by members of the Oberlin College Aikido Club, the dojo, or school, occupied several locations in and around the Heights area before moving to its present location, 3965 Mayfield Road, in 1993.

Members of the Pavilion Skating Club strutted their stuff at the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championship at the Lake Placid Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York.

The Heights High soccer teams ended their seasons in eerily familiar heartbreaking fashion this year. The ninth-seeded girls lost 2-1 in first round State Tournament play at fifth-seeded Willoughby South in a penalty kick shootout after 80 minutes of regular time and 30 minutes of overtime could not determine a winner. The boys, seeded 12th, appeared headed for overtime as well, tied 1-1 with the Rebels in their tourney match, but a controversial penalty kick with 47 seconds left in regulation gave Willoughby South the 2-1 win.

We pride ourselves on diversity in the Heights - and we have that - but we also need unity. Many times it's our kids who bring us together. And they often do it through their love of sports - like soccer. That's the beauty of our local travel soccer club, the Eastside Kickers, now becoming known as Heights United Soccer.