Fast Break

Charity

Olson among guests for Classic

Arizona men’s basketball coach Lute Olson, ESPN sportscasters Jay Bilas, Neil Everett and Fran Franschilla and former Gonzaga University players Matt Santangelo, Dan Dickau and Adam Morrison are among the sports celebrities scheduled to be on hand for this weekend’s 2007 Coaches vs. Cancer Golf Classic and BasketBALL Gala, presented by NorthernQuest Casino.

The annual event, which is hosted by Gonzaga coach Mark Few and his wife, Marcy, has raised over $2 million for the American Cancer Society and other local cancer-fighting organizations in the last five years.

Saturday’s Golf Classic, which starts at 9 a.m. at Indian Canyon Golf Course and has been sold out, will be followed by Saturday night’s black-tie BasketBALL Gala at the Davenport Hotel. Bilas will emcee the gala.

Other coaches expected to attend include Texas A&M’s Mark Turgeon, former GU head coach Dan Monson, who is now at Long Beach State, and former Zags’ assistant Bill Grier, who is now the head coach at the University of San Diego.

According to Marcy Few, the Davenport’s Grand Pennington Ballroom has been sold out for Saturday night’s Gala, but approximately 30 seats that sell for $300 per person are still available in the Hall of Doges and can be reserved by calling Debi Gallaugher at (509) 242-8291.

Soccer

U.S. women stars coming to area

Former U.S. Women’s National team soccer players Brandi Chastain, Tiffeny Milbrett and Danielle Fotopoulos, and current player Jenni Branam will be in Spokane from Aug. 28-29 to help coach a youth soccer clinic put on by the River City Soccer Club at Plantes Ferry Park.

Chastain vaulted herself into the national spotlight when she scored the game-winning penalty kick against China in the 1999 Women’s World Cup and then whipped off her jersey in jubilant celebration.

The defender subsequently helped found the now-defunct Women’s United Soccer Association and retired from international soccer in 2004 after a 12-year career.

Milbrett, a forward, is the fourth leading goal scorer in U.S. history.

She was the leading scorer in the 1999 Women’s World Cup, and was also a member of the team that won a gold medal in the 1996 Centennial Olympics.

Fotopoulos, another member of the 1999 World Cup team, also owns the NCAA Division I record for goals (118) – which was formerly held jointly by Milbrett and Mia Hamm.

Branam, the only active player of the group, is a goalkeeper who saw action in the 2006 Four Nations Tournament in China, and was an alternate goalkeeper on 2000 U.S. Olympic team.

The clinic is open to all players between the ages of 6-17. For registration information, contact Dale Silha at 509-710-6605 or go to www.rivercitysc.org.