There's a little bit of everything on the plate today

One nice thing about covering high school golf tournaments is that several of the area's coaches also coach other sports. Golf tournaments, thus, give us a chance to catch up with what's gone on over the summer around some other venues.

So it was nice Tuesday to run into Streamwood girls basketball coach George Rosner, the IBCA Hall of Famer who is also the Sabres' boys golf coach, at the Elgin Country Club Invitational.

Inevitably, our conversation came around to how Rosner's hoops team looked over the summer and before long I felt like I'd taken a trip to the emergency room.

First Rosner relayed that sophomore Jessica Cerda, who hit the local scene with a splash in her freshman year, had torn her ACL and had surgery in July. Then, returning point guard Amanda Patterson had to have wrist surgery. And to top that, projected starter Megan McGlone had ankle surgery.

Here's the positive part - they are all expected to be fine come time for basketball season, even Cerda.

"She's ahead of schedule and she will be back," Rosner said. "Her desire is as big a part of it as anything."

Rosner will likely be a little nervous about getting his injured players back 100 percent and he has good reason to be. After winning 14 games last year and taking 26-4 Cary-Grove to overtime in the regional championship, Rosner's squad figures 2010-11 will be one of the Sabres' best teams in recent years.

"We did well over the summer and it was an amazing summer with everything that happened," Rosner said.

With 6-foot-3 Michelle Tomczak and 5-11 Emma Schmidt, both all-area players, returning to anchor the squad, this Streamwood team could give some opponents fits. I, for one, can't wait to see the Sabres challenge District U-46 rivals Bartlett and South Elgin this coming season.

NFHS report: The National Federation of High School Associations released its annual report Thursday on high school sports participation and for the 21st consecutive year, there was an increase in participation. In 2009-10 over 7.6 million athletes participated in high school athletics, which is 55.1 percent of children enrolled in high school nationwide.

Outdoor track and field, soccer and cross country showed the most significant increase. In girls sports, soccer, outdoor track and field and fastpitch softball showed the biggest increase, while in boys sports outdoor track and field, cross country and soccer led the way.

Outdoor track and field continued to be the most popular sport for girls, followed by basketball, volleyball, softball and soccer. For boys, football participation doubled up outdoor track and field, followed by basketball, baseball and soccer.

Illinois ranked fourth among all states for athletic participation with 344,257 participants. Texas, California and New York were 1-2-3.

Fall ball: Fall has become prime time for college softball coaches to recruit. Over the past several years, participation in college exposure tournaments for travel softball teams has become a necessity if your club is going to compete for the best talent. October is the prime month for college coaches to get out and see recruits and potential recruits and again this year three of the major college exposure tournaments in the Midwest will be held at the Elgin Sports Complex. The first weekend of October, the Orland Park Sparks host their annual PumpkinFest for 18U teams. The following weekend the Homer Hawks host a large exposure tournament for 16U and 18U teams and then the weekend after that is the Sparks' 16U exposure tournament. If you can't wait until then for a softball fix, the Northlake Knockouts host a tournament at the complex this weekend with 35 teams in 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U age groups. Several local high school stars will be participating with area teams such as the Fox Valley Renegades, the Northern Illinois Lightning, the Wasco Diamonds, Barrington Hurricanes and others. There are also teams from Indiana and Michigan coming to town for the weekend.

The city of Elgin continues to be fortunate to have a 10-field complex that organizations from other communities can rent to help promote the game.

Judson awards: The Judson University fall athletic teams garnered a host of awards this past week.

Lucas Mullholland was named National Christian College Athletic Association men's golfer of the week after shooting a 75 and taking second at the Clarke College Invitational. Judson, which reinstated golf last year after a hiatus since 1977, also finished second in the event as a team.

In women's tennis, Megan Joyce of St. Charles was named NCCAA National Player of the Week after leading Judson to an 8-1 win over Concordia. Judson last had a women's tennis program in 1988.

And in men's soccer Martin Khoshaba of Elgin was named Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week as he had 3 goals in Judson's first two wins of the season.