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Atchafalaya Football Conference flag football and cheerleader registration begins Aug. 1 at the Morgan City Recreation Department. Deadline to return forms and fees is Sept. 8.
Registration is accepted from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
Coaches are also needed. Anyone interested in coaching should contact Seth Thomas at 985-380-4600.
Flag participants must be age 7 by Sept. 1 of this year and not turn 13 before Sept. 1 of this year. There is no weight limit.
Participants must provide a copy (not an original) of birth certificate and pay a non-refundable fee of $45. Each additional child per family is $35 with the family fee not to exceed $110.
Cheerleader participants must be age 7 by Sept. 1 of this year and not turn 13 before Sept. 1 of this year.
Cheer participants must provide a copy (not an original) of birth certificate and pay a non-refundable fee of $45. Each additional child per family is $35 with the family fee not to exceed $110.
Entry forms will appear periodically in The Daily Review and are available at MCRD located at 915 Everett St.

METAIRIE — Drew Brees had what would have to be an anxious moment for a 38-year-old quarterback entering a contract year.
The New Orleans Saints star nearly became collateral damage when a couple of players got tangled up and tumbled into him during 11-on-11 drills near the end of Thursday’s opening practice of training camp.
Quarterbacks aren’t supposed to be touched during practice, and Brees was grimacing as he rose to his feet. He went back to the huddle, however, and completed a pass to running back Daniel Lasco on the next snap.
“The pile was kind of getting pushed, maybe with pass rushing and that kind of thing,” Brees said while standing in front of his locker in shorts and a T-shirt, showing no evidence of attention from trainers, such as ice or a wrap. “I just kind of went down, but got back up. I’m all good.”
Still, moments like that beg questions whether Brees might want another extension before opposing defenses really are trying to take him down.
“Honestly, my mind has not been there at all,” Brees asserted. “It’s really a non-issue. For me, it’s all about this season and how good can we be this season. That’s really all I’m focused on now.”
On the eve of camp, typically tight-lipped general manager Mickey Loomis declined to answer questions about the possibility of an extension for Brees — or any other player for that matter.
The quarterback said there are not any ongoing contract talks taking place, adding, “I don’t expect them to; I don’t really desire them to.
“That’s not my sense of urgency,” Brees added. “My sense of urgency is in making myself and my team better, and putting ourselves in the best position to go out this year and have success. And I know that that stuff takes care of itself. It takes care of itself when it’s supposed to. It’s just not — that shouldn’t be the priority right now.”
Heading into his 17th NFL season, and having earned about $200 million on playing contracts — never mind endorsements — Brees can afford to put football matters before financial ones.
It certainly sounds like he is.
“I just want to play football,” Brees said. “I want to help this team win.”
Winning hasn’t been easy for the Saints in recent years, even if moving the ball has been. Despite ranking first in the NFL in net yards in 2014 and 2016 (and second in 2015) the Saints have posted three successive 7-9 records.
While it remains to be seen if the Saints can improve a defense that ranked 27th or worse the past three seasons, Brees expects the offense to be strong again. It has been since he and coach Sean Payton first joined forces in 2006.
Brees has yet to show signs of declining performance, and said that as long as he’s in good physical condition, his age could be seen as an advantage.
“There’s knowledge and experience that comes along with that,” Brees said. “I’ve played a lot of football and played a lot of it here, and it’s great having coaches, too, that we’ve all been here together as well.
Payton and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. have been with Brees in New Orleans since 2006.
Quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi and receivers coach Curtis Johnson each had been in New Orleans at least six of the past 11 seasons; both now are in their second stint with the club after a few recent years away.
“There’s just a wealth of this knowledge,” Brees said. “Institutional knowledge.”
Last season, Brees passed for 5,208 yards and 37 touchdowns. But Payton said statistics won’t necessarily be the best measure of what kind of season Brees has.
“The most important thing is for us to win and I think Drew himself would say that,” Payton said. “That’s the stat that we’re playing close attention to.”
NOTES: Rookie Ryan Ramczyk and veteran Khalif Barnes took snaps with the first team as they compete to fill in for injured left tackle Terron Armstead, expected to miss half the season after shoulder surgery. ... The Saints gave third-year linebacker Stephone Anthony an opportunity to take first-team snaps at the weak side spot. Dannell Ellerbe, expected to be released when he comes off the club’s injured reserve list, was the starter at that spot when healthy the past two seasons. ... Cornerback Damian Swan and tight end John Phillips did not participate in the opening practice. Payton said Swan was not able to pass a conditioning test on Wednesday and Phillips was ill.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Adrian Beltre just wanted to work hard, be consistent and earn respect in the game. As a young player, he never even thought about historical numbers like 3,000 hits.
“Never in my mind did I think that I was going to be in the position where I’m at right now,” Beltre said. “If I tell you that, that I was, I’m lying. For me, I just wanted to be a good player. ... When you play for a long time, you accumulate stuff.”
Now 38 and in his 20th major league season, the Texas Rangers third baseman goes into a weekend series at home against Baltimore just four hits shy of 3,000 in his career. Only 30 other players have done that, with Ichiro Suzuki the only current active player in that club.
Next will be the five-time Gold Glove winner who got his first hit as a 19-year-old rookie with the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 24, 1998, four years after they had signed the kid from the Dominican Republic. This is Beltre’s seventh season in Texas, where he finally made it to a World Series, and he is signed through next season.
“Everything you see out there, to maintain that level of intensity, you can tell how much he loves being around his team and the game,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s got to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, doesn’t he? I mean, what else do you have to do?”
On the same weekend that former Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez is in Cooperstown for his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Beltre could get his 3,000th hit.
Beltre has some quirky habits — he checks his own swing to umpires, hates being touched on the head and there are the shuffling feet and swiveling legs in the batter’s box on inside pitches or those in the dirt.
But behind that imposing stare he sometimes shows is a guy who just really loves playing the game. He is a .286 career hitter who has hit for the cycle three times, and been a league leader in hits, doubles and home runs.
“This guy plays with a relaxed intensity that you want your guys to play with. He’s very focused, but he’s very confident and he’s comfortable in the fact that he’s going to prevail in every situation,” Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “And he has an unmistakable joy when on the field.”
Still the same as when Scioscia was still in the Dodgers organization and first saw Beltre as a 15-year-old in the Dominican Republic, and then coming up in the minor leagues.
“You just marvel, I think, at the consistency of his game over a long period of time and you know it takes a lot to be that good that long,” said Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly, an AL MVP and six-time All-Star during his 14 seasons playing for the New York Yankees.
Hall of Famer players George Brett and Wade Boggs are the only primary third basemen in the 3,000-hit club. Beltre just overtook Dave Winfield for 21st all-time with 1,095 extra-base hits. Beltre also passed Cal Ripken Jr. for 15th with his 604 doubles, and he ranks 38th with his 454 homers.
Since missing the first 51 games this season because of calf issues, Beltre is hitting a team-best .307 with nine homers and 34 RBIs in his 48 games.
Beltre was 7 for 10 in three games this week against the Marlins before a bizarre scene in the eighth inning Wednesday night, when he got ejected from the game while waiting on deck to bat again.
Second-base umpire and crew chief Gerry Davis motioned for Beltre to get closer to the on-deck circle. Beltre, already with a homer and two doubles in what became a 22-10 loss, was tossed when he instead dragged the large plastic mat marking the circle closer to him.
“There was no need for him to call me out there. There was no need to throw me out,” a still-baffled Beltre said afterward. “I don’t think I showed him up. I just did what he told me to do. ... He took away an at-bat from me. I don’t think that was necessary.”
The Rangers have six more home games before hitting the road again next week. After Baltimore, there are three games against Seattle, one of Beltre’s former teams. Felix Hernandez, the 2010 AL Cy Young winner and one of Beltre’s close friends, is scheduled to start the series opener Monday night.
His teammates are counting every hit, even if Beltre tries not to keep track. Manager Jeff Banister said nobody leaves the dugout when he is about to go to the plate, all of them crowding on the rail to be as close as possible.
“What he’s been doing for his career and the way he’s done it is just remarkable,” said shortstop Elvis Andrus, nearly a decade younger than Beltre but the longest-tenured Rangers player in his ninth season. “I can’t wait. I think I’m way more excited than he is.”

Morgan City Police Chief James Blair and Lt. John Schaff, public information officer, interacted with the citizens of section seven of the city, Brashear Avenue to Ditch Avenue and Federal Avenue to La. 182, as they activated their Neighborhood Watch program during its first meeting Wednesday at the Morgan City Recreation Department. “It’s good to have community involvement. … We can’t fix everything, but we can try,” Blair said.
The Neighborhood Watch program is a community tool which creates an open line of communication with the community and the police department.
“If you think something is not right, it is your God-given right to call (the police),” Schaff said. Concerns that citizens brought to the meeting were speeding on Ditch Avenue and Eighth Street, panhandling, and fear and distrust of the police department on the part of young people. Councilman Ron Bias said that the new bike patrol is helping to get rid of the distrust in the police department.
“The bike patrol introduced themselves and shook hands, and it’s things like that that help break down the barrier,” Bias said.
“We don’t know these things. You know your neighborhood. Neighborhood Watch is what you make it,” Schaff said. “The concerns of the citizens will be brought to the patrol division and changes will start to happen,” Schaff said.
As citizens brought their concerns, Schaff said that MCPD will always communicate with the public the most up to date information on technology, drug and other criminal trends. One trend that is starting to make its way into Morgan City is the opioid crisis. Schaff said that the MCPD equipped themselves with a five-year supply of Narcan, a drug used to temporarily block the effects of opioids, especially in an overdose, in preparation if the opioid crisis becomes bad in the city. Schaff also said a popular social media trend is the new Map feature on the SnapChat app, which allows users to locate a person and constantly track their location. The Map feature is meant to be used to find popular events but has also opened the door to criminal activity. Schaff said that the dialogue that occurred at the meeting needs to happen consistently within the Neighborhood Watch program and for citizens to encourage more neighbors to join. For more information about Neighborhood Watch and activated communities, contact Schaff at 985-380-4605.