With her freshman year of high school at a Pennsylvania boarding school completed, 14-year-old Hazel Pratts is looking forward to demonstrating her equestrian skills this summer. 

At age 4, the Brooklyn native revealed to her parents a desire to learn how to ride a horse, which proved more than a simple childhood wish. She has since immersed herself in equestrian competitions, winning major events for her age group. 

The lessons of riding competitively have been significant to her social and academic development—she ended the school year with a 3.7 GPA. The high achiever transfers her love of being a rising equestrian scholar-athlete to her classmates and teammates.  

“I actually really do like watching my friends ride, and cheering them on is my favorite thing,” said Pratts. “Also, recording them—I love getting good videos and talking about them after the horse shows. I really do enjoy winning and (take away) from losing because it’s all about the improvement.”

Pratts explained that she has a visceral connection to the horses she rides and feels their energy and spirit. “Mine is very energetic, very friendly, and very emotional,” she said. “It’s really cool being around so many horses. You can see the different types of emotions and back stories just by looking at them.”

Hazel’s mother, Hasoni Pratts, a member of the New York State  Board of Regents, told the AmNews that her daughter has been committed to riding ever since she was first introduced to colts. 

“Hazel truly knew what she wanted to do,” said Pratts. “Her father (Michael Pratts) and I thought maybe when she had to clean stalls, that would change her mind, but it didn’t deter her at all. She soaked up every experience of being around stables.” 

The young Pratts found it challenging to fulfill her desire to become an accomplished equestrian within the five boroughs, so the family decided that she would attend an equestrian boarding school. There, Pratts was assigned a horse and she said they clicked instantly. The school is also academically demanding, which she appreciates, and the opportunity to ride during the school day is gratifying. 

“I couldn’t ask for more,” she said. 

Pratts competes year-round. The school arranges for the students to attend shows, to which she and fellow students travel as a team. Pratts said she was fortunate to ride in multiple shows. She also participates in individual competitions, in two divisions. One is equitation, a discipline in which  judges focus on how the rider controls the horse and executes movements. 

“Showing is the best thing,” Pratts said. “No matter what, riding is amazing, but showing is incredible. I’m very competitive.”

Her immediate goal is to jump higher and then move to a higher level of competition. Her career goal is to become a veterinarian. She doesn’t anticipate riding during college, but will resume afterward. 

“I always want to be a part of the equestrian world,” Pratts said.

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This weekend on Governors Island, roughly  half a mile from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan and a quarter mile from Brooklyn, NYC Footy will welcome approximately 1,200 players and 100 teams to compete in its annual co-ed Governors Cup, which began in 2019. 

NYC Footy was launched in 2010 to bring better organization to recreational soccer. 

“As a player in numerous rec (recreation) leagues prior to starting NYC Footy, I  was seeking a more professional experience at the rec level,” NYC Footy CEO and Co-Founder Tarek told the AmNews. “Rec leagues are notorious for being one small step above organized pickup, and it was evident that to experience something more polished and professional, we’d need to create it ourselves. What we didn’t anticipate was just how much our vision for recreational soccer was almost universally shared by the soccer community here in New York City.”

The Governors Cup will feature seven-on-seven soccer teams composed of both men and women, as opposed to the 11-on-11 format of professional games.

Pertew said the unprecedented success of the Governors Cup is the byproduct of bottling the appealing attributes of rec soccer into one jam-packed day. 

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“It offers the best elements of physical and mental wellness—friendly competition, camaraderie, social interaction, and outdoor play—and puts it into overdrive for a full day of soccer stimulation,” he said. “It’s become such a can’t-miss event that players will schedule major summer plans, including weddings, around the Governors Cup. Some folks request a delayed start to their internship, others return from a summer overseas.”

The event offers plenty of entertainment for spectators.

“As a soccer-loving spectator, there is probably no better place to be on June 1 or 2 than the Governors Cup,” Pertew said. “Our sponsors have become more numerous and the off-field activities have become more entertaining. We have fun sport-related activities from the likes of BetterPlayer, NYCFC, and Gotham FC, and product activations from Waterloo, Modelo, BodyArmour, and VAE Labs. Plus, this year, we are streaming the Champions League Final in our Beer Garden.”

Emily Li of No Hands FC reflected that “our team’s first year competing at (the) Governors Cup (in 2022) was right after our very first season competing as a team, including our first championship win. We were so excited to keep up the momentum, and the Governors Cup was the perfect opportunity to do so in-between seasons.”For more information about the Governors Cup, visit nycfooty.com or govcup.org.

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The 20 members of the U.S. Olympic fencing team met with the media at the New York Athletic Club to share details of their training, preparation and goals for the Paris Olympics this summer. The team includes fencers with New York City roots, high academic achievers and some future physicians.

Miles Chamley-Watson is headed to his third Olympics—having captured a bronze medal in the men’s foil team event in 2016. At 34, Chamley-Watson said that despite also finding success in the fashion/modeling world, he has found a new love for the sport. He acknowledged being a Black man in a predominantly white sport comes with unique pressure, but he sees that as a privilege.

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“I’m dealing with the celebrity world—the last couple of years my life has taken a turn for the best and I’m very grateful—and juggling all that is pretty exciting,” he said. “I’ve won everything in the sport (Chamley-Watson has two World Championship gold medals)—Grand Prixs, World Cups—winning an Olympic gold medal would be a dream come true.”

Among the youngest members of the team is Queens native Lauren Scruggs, who comes from a fencing family. She began fencing at a club in Brooklyn and as she progressed found her way to The Fencers Club in Manhattan. The Harvard University student-athlete is an alumna of the famed Peter Westbrook Foundation, a six-time world champion and 2023 NCAA women’s foil champion.

“The style I developed in fencing is, I think, quite unique for a woman’s foil,” said the 21-year-old Scruggs. “I like competing, I like winning, I think it’s fun. … I think I bring a youthful energy to the squad. I’m a little silly, while some of the older fencers might be more serious, which is needed, obviously. It’s fun to compete with them.”

Another New Yorker is Anne Cebula, epee, a 2020 graduate of Barnard College/Columbia Athletics. She has spent the past four years training while also working to support herself, including some modeling. With no pro fencing circuit, Cebula sees this Olympic opportunity as the pinnacle of the sport.

“Because you can’t go pro, you learn from a very young age that you can’t just be a fencer; we want to excel in school,” said Cebula. “This past year, I put everything on pause and trained. I told myself either I was going to make the Olympics or not, but I’m going to retire after this.”

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Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown was overlooked by voters, composed of writers and broadcasters, for this season’s three All-NBA teams, 15 players in total, and the league’s first and second All-Defensive teams, made up of 10 players.

“We’re two games from the Finals,” said Brown of his omission following a 40-point outing in the Celtics’ 126-110 victory over the Indiana Pacers last Thursday in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup. “Honestly, I don’t have time to give a f—k.”

But after a stellar showing in the best-of-seven series, in which Brown proved to be one of the game’s best two-way practitioners in averaging 29.8 points as the Celtics produced a 4-0 sweep over the Pacers, he walked away with a more meaningful—at least in the moment—honor.

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Subsequent to scoring 29 points, grabbing six rebounds, and affirming his defensive bona fides with a critical block with 65 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to help cement the Celtics’ 105-102 Game 4 win, Brown was presented with the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference Finals MVP by team radio announcer Cedric Maxwell, the 1981 NBA Finals MVP with the Celtics. It was fitting and ironic that the award is named after one of the greatest players in the history of both the franchise and the sport. 

“I wasn’t expecting it at all. I never win sh—t,” Brown caustically expressed. His teammate, Jrue Holiday, amplified Brown’s sentiments. 

“It felt great…It’s even better because he didn’t expect it. That really means, it didn’t matter to him. It’s about winning, whatever it took, however long it took, that’s what was important to him. I think when you have that mentality and mindset you see great people get rewarded for the things that they do. 

“It just brings joy so I’m super excited for him. He’s been first team all NBA for the entire season and I wish he would have got that but to see him get this award is big time.” 
The NBA Finals begin next Thursday in Boston. 

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