Neighbor Sports

Baseball, softball

Hammerheads tryouts: The 14U Arlington Hammerheads, a team that has played in the MSBL for five seasons, will hold individual tryouts for the 2008 baseball season. Players must be born after April 30, 1993. Games start early in April and run through July with some weekend tournaments. Team practice will start in January. Interested players should call Tony Ferrante at (847) 226-4386 for a tryout date.

Fastpitch tryout: Northern ICE Fastpitch will hold an additional tryout from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Cook Park, 600 N. Main St., Wauconda. The 10U, 12U and 14U teams are all looking for several players. For more information, call Rick Eklund at (847) 650-7910.

Basketball

3-on-3 tourney: Prospect High School Athletic Boosters will sponsor its annual preseason 3-on-3 basketball tournament Oct. 14 at Prospect High School, 801 W. Kensington Road, Mount Prospect.

The tournament is open to boys and girls in fourth through 12th grade. There will be separate brackets for each age group, except for high school juniors and seniors who will be combined. Different competition levels may also be added based on registrations.

The entry fee of $100 per team guarantees each team a minimum of three games. All proceeds benefit Prospect Athletic Boosters. For more information or to obtain a registration form, contact Lori Frasco at (847) 670-7811, Bill Reed at (847) 272-6010 or visit the group's Web site at www.prospectknights.com.

Corsairs tryouts: The Junior Corsairs Basketball Program offers an opportunity for sixth- to eighth-grade boys to compete against various teams from Lake and Cook counties. Tryout dates and times for all levels are 7:15 to 9:15 p.m. Nov. 8, noon to 3 p.m. Nov. 11 and 7:15 to 9:15 p.m. Nov. 15. Practices and home games will be held at Carmel High School.

The teams will be highly competitive and play about 40 games between November and March. Anyone interested can call Jon Baffico at (847) 388-3402 or e-mail jbaffico@carmelhs.org.

Holiday tourney: The Art Jones Basketball Academy Sports, Inc. will hold its 18th Annual Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament at the Mount Prospect Lions Center, 411 S. Maple, Mount Prospect. The fifth- and sixth-grade boys brackets will run from Nov. 16 to 18, and the seventh- and eighth-grade boys brackets run from Nov. 23 to 25.

Park districts, YMCAs, traveling basketball clubs, AAU teams, recreational agencies, boys clubs and school teams are welcome. For more information, contact Art Jones at (847) 494-1166.

Teams forming: Next Level Basketball Academy, located in the Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates area, is now forming fall and winter basketball teams for boys in fifth to 10th grade. The fall season begins in September and the winter season starts the second week in November. For details, call (847) 508-2721 or e-mail nlba1@yahoo.com.

Soccer

High school tryouts: Real Chicago FC will hold its 2007-08 High School U15 to U18 tryouts from 9 to 11 a.m. Oct. 21 at Maine West High School, 1755 S. Wolf Road, Des Plaines. The fields are located behind the football stadium. Players should arrive one-half hour early to register and bring birth certificate, wallet size photo, completed IYSA waiver, shin guards, ball and water bottle.

All players will go through a normal training session with the coaching staff, which includes technical drills, conditioning exercises and tactical games. Indoor training begins November, and the spring season in the NISL runs through June 2008.

Registration forms may be downloaded off the Real Chicago FC Web site at www.realchicagofc.com. For more information call (847) 392-4209.

Swimming

Alligator registration: The Arlington Alligators Swim team is currently taking mail- in registration for the teams that practice and swim at St. Viator High School, 1213 E. Oakton St., Arlington Heights. The Alligators are a member of USA Swimming with athletes from all over the Northwest suburbs. The team is open to swimmers ages 5 and up, who can efficiently swim 25 yards of freestyle and backstroke.

Through a progressive program, all swimmers whether novice or advanced receive coaching and training necessary to guide them to their full potential. The coaches are USA Swimming and ASCA certified with years of coaching and competitive swimming experience. The Alligators have a history of competitive success under the direction of Head Coach Mary Ruffin. During the 2005-06 season over one-third of the swimmers qualified for local, state and national championship meets.

For information, call (847) 749-4900 or visit the Web site, www.arlingtonalligators.org.

Volleyball

Tryouts: Side Out Volleyball Association, an area Junior Olympic Volleyball Program, will hold tryouts for boys and girls at DuPage Training Academy, 115 Alexandra Way, Carol Stream, on the following days. Boys and girls 10 to 14 and under tryouts will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 2 and 8, and Girls 15, 16, 17, 18 and under from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 21 and 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 26. A waiver must be signed by parent or guardian before the tryout.

For more information or a flier on this Elite Junior Olympic Club, call (630) 736-8391 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; leave a message after 5 p.m. Anyone who wants to try out but unable to make the tryouts, please call.

Fall camps: Sky High Volleyball will hold "Volleykids," a fall camp for Juniors in fourth to eighth grade Sunday evenings from Oct. 7 to Dec. 16 at the following locations.

• Grades six to eight: 7 to 8:30 p.m., Libertyville, and 6 to 7:30 p.m., Prairie Stone

• Grades four to eight: 6 to 7:30 p.m., Crystal Lake.

The cost is $120 per athlete for the 10-week sessions, which includes 15 hours of instruction. Athletes are split into separate groups based on ability and receive a complimentary T-shirt. Sky High provides all the coaches. Each week athletes receive one hour of on-court instruction and 30 minutes of game-like situations.

Sky High Athletic Center is located at 220 Exchange Drive, Suite F, Crystal Lake; Libertyville Sports Complex, 1950 N. Route 45, Libertyville; and Prairie Stone Sports & Wellness Center, 5050 Sedge Blvd., Hoffman Estates.

To register, call Sky High at (815) 356-0006 or register online on the Web site at www.skyhighvolleyball.org.