By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

One day before the New Zealand women’s national soccer team was set to play its Olympic opener in Saint-Etienne against defending gold medalist Canada, head coach Michael Mayne announced that he would be withdrawing team captain and left back Ali Riley from the roster because of medical reasons.

Riley grew up on Kagawa in the Alphabet Streets, regularly ran in the Palisades Will Rogers on the Fourth of July with her parents John and Bev, and was a multi-sport standout at St. Matthew’s before embarking on a standout high school soccer career at Harvard-Westlake and later Stanford University (leading rhe Cardinal to the NCAA semifinals twice and the finals once) before turning pro in 2009 with her hometown Pali Blues. Now a member of Angel City FC, the NWSL’s Los Angeles-based franchise, she was hoping to compete in her fifth Olympics, having served as the Football Ferns’ captain since the Cyprus Cup in 2017.

Still performing at the highest level on the pitch at age 36, Riley has 162 caps to her credit for New Zealand and has also played in five FIFA Women’s World Cups. She made her Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008, playing every minute for the Ferns. She played for FC Gold Pride and Western New York Flash of the WPS before playing seven years with Rosengard in Sweden, followed by Chelsea in England (2018-19) and Bayern Munich in Germany (2019-20).    

Ever positive, Riley posted the following statement on Instagram: “My Olympic Games are over. For the past seven months I’ve been struggling with a nerve injury. It’s been frustrating, confusing, and excruciatingly painful in a way that’s hard to describe. The Ferns and ACFC medical and performance staff did everything possible to get me healthy for this Olympics (rehab, injections, strength, conditioning, treatment, medication, more injections) and I am so grateful to all of them. Getting selected for the team and leading the girls out for our final prep match gave me hope that I would have the honor of representing New Zealand at the Olympic Games once more but during this camp there have been bad days along with the good and due to the unpredictable nature of this injury my coach decided that it would be best for the team to withdraw me completely from the squad. There have been a lot of tears and I’m still struggling to wrap my head around it all, but what I do know is that while my Olympic journey has ended, my Olympic dream—the Football Ferns making history at Paris 2024—is just beginning. Now I will take time to heal, cheer on my teammates and embrace the unwavering support I’ve been receiving from people near and far.”

Without their inspirational leader in the lineup the Ferns lost to Canada (2-1), Colombia (2-0) and France (2-1) to finish last in their group. Only once in the five occasions New Zealand has qualified for the Olympics have the Ferns made it out of pool play, falling to the United States 2-0 in the quarterfinal round in 2012 in the United Kingdom.

Although Ali was born here in the United States, her dad is a Kiwi, so she has dual citizenship. Riley first represented New Zealand at the 2006 Women’s U-20 World Cup finals in Russia and played her first game with the senior squad the following February. Since switching from forward to fullback her junior year in college, Riley has scored 16 goals—one her senior year at Stanford, five with Rosengard, three with Angel City, five in only 11 games with the Ferns’ U-20 team and two more with the senior side—the first in an 11-0 victory over Papua New Guinea in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup final in 2010 and the second in a 2-1 win versus Philippines in a friendly two years ago at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium.   

In addition to 2008 and 2012, Riley played every minute for New Zealand in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (postponed until 2021 due to COVID). Last July she led the Ferns to their first-ever World Cup win, a 1-0 victory over Norway in their opener at Eden Park in Auckland.

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Palisades High football player Augie Evans can certainly attest to that. After transferring to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for his sophomore year the 6-5, 200-pound tight end is happy to back in Dolphins blue this fall and should see plenty of passes thrown his way.

“It was an excellent opportunity and  I got a lot of good coaching,” Evans said about his experience at Notre Dame, where he primarily  played defense for the Knights. “I wouldn’t take it back but I didn’t fit in as well there. Over the spring I thought about it and I decided I belong here. Pali is my home.”

Evans learned on the job in his freshman year with the Dolphins, being thrust into a varsity starting role after senior tight Cameron Kohan got injured in the season opener. In three games his place, Evans had four catches for 15 yards and two touchdowns. He also contributed on defense, assisting on three tackles and a sack and recovering a fumble.    

Situations change fast in the world of high school football these days.

Two years ago, Palisades had a different head coach (Chris Hyduke) and a different starting quarterback (Roman La Scala, who graduated in June). In fact, the last time Evans strapped on the pads at Stadium by the Sea, current coach Dylen Smith was still an assistant at Brentwood.

“I really like him and I’m getting to know him more,” Evans said of Smith, who piloted the Dolphins to the Western League title and an Open Division playoff berth in his first season. “It’s more of an adjustment for me in that everyone else has been with him a year already.”

Making the transition easier has been the presence of quarterback Jack Thomas who, like his fellow Palisadian and friend, transferred to his neighborhood school for his junior season. Thomas played his first two years at Loyola and is splitting reps in practice with Brett Federman, La Scala’s backup last fall.

“I’ve been working on my route running with Jack every week since March,” said Evans, who showcased his multi-faceted skills in camps at the University of San Diego, USC, UCLA and Redlands in June. In the last 24 months he has learned how to lead and now that he’s an upperclassman he hopes his tireless work ethic rubs off: “I have confidence in our team. I want to motivate other guys. Mostly I want to win. If I don’t play a single snap I’ll still be happy as long as we’re winning.”

Ever since he captured gold at the United States Bocce Federation National Championships last June near Chicago, Memo Macalpin has longed to establish a tournament that would put Veterans Gardens center stage. Now he has, and he hopes the inaugural Hollywood Cup Bocce Ball Invitational on Saturday lures more players from outside the local community to see what the fun is all about at the state-of-the-art facility  at the Palisades Recreation Center.   

“Come on out August 10 for the event I’m hosting at the Palisades Bocce Courts,” said Macalpin, a Palisades Bocce Club member since it was founded in the spring of 2021 by proud Palisadian Jimmy Dunne.

“We’ll have a great time, most of the players participate in our local league and I’ve even sprinkled in some celebrities. Flour Pizzeria in the Palisades will be serving free lunches at noon to all players, staff and volunteers and the YMCA will have a water and First Aid station present. Jimmy [Dunne] will present the championship cup and gold medals to the winners.”

The format is as follows: 12 teams (each consisting of four players) will be divided into two pools of six in a round robin-style with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the knockout rounds. Play begins at 9:40 a.m. sharp and should wap up by 5 p.m.

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Having helped the United States men’s fencing team win the bronze medal in the foil at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo three years ago, Nick Itkin arrived in Paris for the 2024 Games determined to add an individual medal to his resume.

The 2017 Palisades Charter High School graduate accomplished that goal Monday, July 29, by winning the bronze medal in the individual foil—becoming the first American male in that event to stand on the podium since 2016.

Competing inside the historic glass-domed Grand Palais, the second-seeded Itkin first beat Alex Tofalides from Cyprus 15-10 in the round of 32, then outdueled Abdelrahman Hussein Tolba from Egypt 15-8 in the round of 16 before edging Guillaume Bianchi of Italy 15-14 in overtime in the Elite Eight.

In the semifinals, Itkin lost 15-11 to 11th-seeded Italian Filippo Macchi, setting up a third-place bout against No. 9-seeded Kazuki Iimura of Japan. Itkin used his quickness and counter striking to surge ahead, and he prevailed 15-12 in the first period, after which he embraced his coach and father Michael, a former elite fencer in the Ukraine.

The 24-year-old Itkin had placed 12th in the individual foil in Tokyo, but he was much more confident in his second Olympic appearance after earning bronze at the 2022 Senior World Championships in Cairo and silver at the 2023 World Championships in Milan. He hopes to add yet another medal in Paris in the team foil event, which starts August 4.

Itkin captured back-to-back individual national championships (2018 and 2019) while at the University of Notre Dame. He honed his skills at the LA International Fencing Center, which his father founded, and rose to No. 6 in the U.S. during his senior year at Palisades. He now lives two blocks from UCLA and is already looking forward to representing his country at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Itkin joins Charles Tatum (1904 bronze), Albertson Van Zo Post (1904 silver), Joseph Levis (1932 silver), Albie Axelrod (1960 bronze) and Alexander Massialas (2016 silver) as the only U.S. men in Olympic history to medal in the individual foil.

In the women’s foil competition on Sunday, July 28, Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs won the gold and silver, so this is the first time ever that U.S. men and women have won individual medals at the same Olympics.