Fried food, the crack of a bat, and home runs are back. Spring Training kicks off with a full slate Saturday, Feb. 22, in the Valley.

The Scottsdale Aquatic Club has been a breeding ground for college-level swimmers for nearly six decades, sending swimmers across the country to continue their careers in the pool. 

Notre Dame Prep’s football program is preparing to open the 2020 season in style, as the Saints will travel nearly 5,000 miles across the world to Dublin, Ireland. 

Ohio State coach Ryan Day has made the long trek from Columbus to Arizona before. 

It was billed as arguably the biggest game in the history of high school football in Arizona. 

As a preferred walk-on, freshman Ethan Spry knows he has a long way to go to earn a full-ride scholarship from Grand Canyon University, but he is ready to put in the work to get there.

After leading his team to its seventh straight championship appearance, Saguaro head football coach Jason Mohns has been named the Arizona Cardinals High School Coach of the Year.

It was billed as arguably the biggest game in the history of high school football in Arizona.

It’s finally happening. 

Saguaro football has made a habit of playing deep into November and early December each football season, but its final game in 2019 presents a new challenge.

It’s a sport that has rarely ever been seen in Arizona, and one that has never had a team representing the Grand Canyon State. 

Saguaro earned a chance to play for yet-another state championship, as the Sabercats finished a comeback 20-16 win over Hamilton in Saturday’s Open Division football semifinal game.

As a girl, Karina Kimery would walk out of her family’s horse property in the cover of nightfall to recite the names of neighbors’ horses and wish them a good night’s rest. 

Three Scottsdale-area high schools make up the eight football teams that will compete in the inaugural Open Division playoffs for a state championship. 

The Phoenix metropolitan area is one of 13 markets in the country with teams from all four major professional sports leagues.

On a scorching Arizona morning in August 2018, Notre Dame Prep tight end J.D. Roberts was taking part in a pre-season scrimmage with his teammates. 

The Scottsdale Preparatory Academy (SPA) girls’ swim team finished first in their dual meet against Saguaro and Seton Catholic Preparatory high schools on Thursday, at Eldorado Aquatic and Fitness Center.

In a game with Open Division playoff rankings on the line, the Horizon Huskies handed the Notre Dame Prep Saints their first-ever loss on Bemis Field in a thrilling 35-34 double-overtime win. 

Family and recognition are the twin values that Nikita Denisyako, the new Scottsdale Preparatory Academy (SPA) swim and dive coach, has learned to prioritize within the sport he’s been a part of for over a decade.

Scottsdale Preparatory Academy (SPA) swam into third place amongst all Division III opponents at Phoenix Country Day School’s (PCDS) Eagle Invitational on Saturday morning. 

As the lights shone down on the field at Desert Mountain High School, Notre Dame Prep sat in the visitors’ locker room listening to the words of head coach George Prelock.

After a slow start in the first half of the game, Saguaro was able to claw its way back to a 38-24 victory over Chaparral on Friday night.

Every inch matters in football, especially when involved in a heavy-weight bout involving two of the top 50 teams in the nation.

With the first week of the prep football season in the books, Saguaro High School is preparing for a trip to San Diego for the 2019 Honor Bowl. 

Horizon High School baseball coach Jeff Urlaub knew it would take a valiant defensive effort to knock off Nogales in the 5A state championship.

Saguaro High School junior Kelee Ringo sat on a high jump landing pad in the shade to change out of his track shoes and into sneakers as swarms of track and field athletes passed by.

A smile rarely left the face of former Saguaro High standout Byron Murphy during his Arizona Cardinals introductory press conference April 28, but for good reason.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly’s road to the big leagues has been “different,” which, he said, he needed.

Conditions were different – with heavy rain, cold, wind and their first 6A final – but the result was the same for the Chaparral High girls soccer team on Feb. 21 in the state-championship match.

A hidden gem in downtown Mesa is becoming a destination for former Scottsdale high school athletes who might not be NCAA Division I candidates but who are eager to continue playing at the collegiate level close to home.

Every team’s worst nightmare is slipping up in the championship game after working all season to get there.

The Horizon High girls basketball team is winning – again.

Saguaro High football coach Jason Mohns has been named a winner of the inaugural MaxPreps Heart and Soul of the Game award, for coaches who set an example of leadership to his team and in the community.

Notre Dame Prep senior receiver Jake Smith is the 2018-19 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year, becoming the first from Arizona ever to receive the honor. The announcement was made Tuesday.

Notre Dame Prep senior Jake Smith has been named the Gatorade Arizona Football Player of the Year on Thursday, and is now among three finalists for the national award.

It didn’t take long for Dr. John Badolato to become one of the best-known cosmetic dentists in the Valley.

Notre Dame Prep had been here before. A year ago, the Saints cruised through a magnificent season and negotiated the 5A playoff field to the championship game, where Centennial left no doubt that it was the better team.

TUCSON -- Second-seeded Saguaro made it clear early in the second half that it wouldn’t be walking out of Arizona Stadium without the gold football in its hands.

A year ago, George Prelock was a first-year coach joining a Notre Dame Prep program amid controversy involving his predecessor.

If you ask Saguaro coach Jason Mohns, he will say that his defense’s performance on Friday night wasn’t the best he had seen from it this season.

The City of Scottsdale has approved a deal with City of Phoenix to relocate the San Francisco Giants’ player development operations from Indian School Park to Papago Sports Complex, which sits on the Phoenix side of the border between the two cities.

You might think the only vegetation thriving in Arizona is cactus.

Bookie isn’t your average canine.

As one of the world’s top female polo players, Ashley Busch has toured the world, played with Prince Harry and graced the cover of a slew of magazines.

Bright and early on a Saturday morning, north Scottsdale resident Howard Hintz and a handful of other people gathered at Thompson Peak Park.

It was a moment that Notre Dame Preparatory Academy senior Jake Smith didn’t think was possible just four years ago.

Tucked into an alcove of the AZ on the Rocks climbing facility, Lee Cates works on a ring-climb obstacle. He uses two small red rings and the momentum of his body to climb up and down the pegs of a wooden plank.