By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Field High School officially announced Lauren Harris as the softball program’s new head coach last Friday.

LAUREN HARRIS

Harris, who is a 1st Grade teacher in the district at Brimfield Elementary, will replace Beth Dyer.

Dyer was the Falcons’ head coach for 20 years and resigned in July after helping guide the team to the Division IV state semifinal and winning 388 wins.

Joe DeLeone will serve as the Falcons’ JV head coach.

THE PORTAGE SPORTS PODCAST

The second episode of The Portage Sports Podcast is now available!

In this episode, we sit down with Waterloo girls soccer standout Koralee Jenior to discuss her career and upcoming season, as well as Chuck Moore for a in-depth conversation in remembering Mogadore’s historic comeback to win the 1996 state championship.

Check it out here.

You can also find the podcast on all of your favorite streaming services.

OHIO RANKS THIRD NATIONALLY FOR PARTICIPATION

The annual National Federation of High School Athletics Participation Survey returned data that placed Ohio with the third-most high school student-athletes in the nation.

The only two states with more athletes were Texas and California.

For the 2025-26 school year, Ohio had 347,994 total student-athletes. Texas had 911,405 and California had 859,022.

Following Ohio were Illinois (326,756), Pennsylvania (315,647), New York (312,563), Florida (311,233) and Michigan (295,634).

“We are very proud that Ohio is among the national leaders in high school sports participation,” said OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute. “This is a tribute to the teams and programs that our member schools have built and the coaches who create those fun and educational opportunities for kids. The tradition of high school sports in Ohio is amazing and so many kids grow up waiting for their turn to play for their school.”

Ohio ranks seventh in the country in total population. There are currently 813 member schools of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

Among boys sports in Ohio, the top sports for participation include football (40,302), track and field (28,964), baseball (20,892), basketball (20,246) and soccer (17,540).

Top sports for Ohio girls participation include competitive spirit/cheerleading (26,635), track and field (23,739), volleyball (19,867), soccer (14,605), softball (13,977) and basketball (12,879).