MMA mania

Mixed martial arts comes of age in Springfield

In an unassuming beige garage on the edge of town, two muscular, tattooed young men circle around and around, punching, kicking and grappling with one another with all the intensity of a dogfight. A l

Scrumming in Springfield

The Celts are looking for a few good men

It is easy to imagine the Springfield Celts as third-graders.These are the guys who loved dodgeball, the ones who laughed and screamed “Whoa!” when balls found their mark in particularly v

Golf classic to benefit injured motorcycle riders

Charlie Roberts, 51, of Springfield, knows what it’s like to race a motorcycle at speeds of more than 130 miles per hour around a flat track. He also knows what it’s like to lose control o

Springfield Sliders, a family operation

New team owner aims to bring community together

Some children draw pictures of dogs and cats, but when Shane Martin was a child growing up in the early 1980s, he drew baseball stadiums. Shane, the new owner and CEO of the Springfield Sliders baseba

Talk derby to me

For fun, fitness and self-esteem, be a roller derby queen

“The night that I fell in love with a Roller Derby Queen, Round and round, oh round and round, The meanest hunk of woman that anybody ever seen, Down in the arena …,” – Jim Cr

Everybody plays

Thousands take the field for youth soccer

With the end of summer come the beginning of a new school year, the harvest and the start of an area tradition that draws thousands of children away from their video games and outside onto the mown gr

Swim, bike, run for fitness and fun

Maybe it’s the obesity epidemic that has so many people worried about their waistlines. Or maybe it’s the ongoing recession that has people looking for low-cost extracurriculars. Whatever

‘Ultimate Frisbee’ offers fitness, fun and community

Springfield group needs more women to play

If you’re home from college or just wanting to get fit and have fun in central Illinois this summer, ultimate Frisbee may be for you.A game of “ultimate” is like soccer but is played

School’s out, but there’s plenty for children to do

For at least a few students, the countdown to summer vacation began last August. Others maybe waited until January, by which time the bitter cold and recent memories of semester finals started giving

Not ready for the big time

UIS stumbles into the NCAA

As the University of Illinois Springfield in October 2008 made another move toward full membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, then-Chancellor Richard Ringeisen said the eventual