DENNIS PASSA

AP Sports Writer
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus helps a ball kid catch an insect during her quarterfinal against Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, File)
Strive to survive on court: film shows the pressure ball kids face to earn an Australian Open spot
Formula 1 has done it, so has professional golf, the National Hockey League and the elite tennis tour. Now it’s time for ball boys and ball girls to take center court in a reality-style documentary.
 
Australia assistant coach Adam Caporn talks to players during a men's basketball practice at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, in Saitama, Japan, Thursday, July 22, 2021. (AP Photo/David Goldman,File)
Washington Wizards assistant Caporn hired as Australia’s men’s basketball coach
Washington Wizards assistant Adam Caporn has been hired as head coach of the Australian men’s basketball team after serving as an assistant with the Boomers in recent years to Brian Goorjian.
 
Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a shot during his Brisbane International second round match against Rinky Hijikata of Australia at Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (Jono Searle/AAP Image via AP)
Djokovic has a plan, with the help of new coach Andy Murray, to take on the tennis newcomers
After winning just one tournament in 2024 — a Paris Olympics gold medal — former No. 1 Novak Djokovic says he, and with new coach Andy Murray’s input, has a plan to take on the game’s newcomers.
 
Law Connect sails down the Derwent River to win line honours in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in Hobart, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Salty Dingo via AP)
2 sailor deaths result in muted celebrations on winning yacht in Sydney to Hobart race
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney to Hobart line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital.
 
Crew of Law Connect pose for a photo after winning line honours in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in Hobart, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Salty Dingo via AP)
2 sailors die in the stormy first night of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, organizers say
Two sailors on separate boats have been killed in boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the annual Sydney to Hobart race, adding to the event’s long history of deaths at sea.
 
FILE - Australia's Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun, competes during the Round Robin Battle at the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin, File)
‘Raygun: The Musical’ won’t use the name of the notorious Australian breaker
Australian breaker Rachael “Raygun” Gunn has tried to be a good sport about the jokes and criticism that poured in from around the globe after her controversial performance at the Paris Olympics. But maybe “Raygun: the Musical” was a bridge too far.
 
Australia's Nathan McSweeney plays a shot during the day three of the second cricket test match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
No clear favorite in the 3rd Australia-India test despite home side’s past Gabba successes
Crushing victories by each side in the first two tests and mediocre form by some of the teams’ leading batters means there is no clear favorite in the third match of the five-test Australia-India series beginning Saturday in Brisbane.
 
Australia's Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun, competes during the Round Robin Battle at the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
Australian breaker Raygun says she felt ‘panic’ after public reaction to her Olympic performance
Australian breaker Rachael Gunn came under intense international scrutiny after her polarizing performance at the Paris Olympics. What followed was her panic when she felt like she was being chased through the streets of the French capital.
 
FILE - Ireland's coach Joe Schmidt watches as his players warm up ahead of the Rugby World Cup Pool A game at Kobe Misaki Stadium between Ireland and Russia, in Kobe, Japan, on Oct. 3, 2019. Liam Wright will lead the Wallabies against Wales after Joe Schmidt completely overhauled Australia’s squad on Thursday, July 4, 2024 for his first test in charge. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
Rugby revivals upcoming? Struggling Wales and new-look Wallabies meet at Sydney
Australia and Wales meet Saturday in Sydney at the beginning and nearing the end of their respective seasons. The Wallabies are looking to start afresh after a last year’s disastrous World Cup campaign while Wales just wants to win again.
 
Jason Day, of Australia, tees off on the first hole during the first round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Thursday, June 20, 2024, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Regretful Jason Day set to finally play Olympic golf for Australia at the Paris Games
Jason Day will finally make it to an Olympics while a brother-and-sister combination are two of the other three golfers set to play for Australia at the Paris Games.
 
In this photo provided by photography.JNY, Rachael Gunn poses in one of her signature freezes at the AusBreaking Battle Series 4 event in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 19, 2022. Two Australians set to compete in Paris in the Olympic debut of breaking are on opposite sides of the classroom. (photography.JNY via AP)
Scholar opposites: A university lecturer and a high school student breaking new ground at Olympics
Two Australians set to compete in Paris in the Olympic debut of breaking are on opposite sides of the classroom. One of them is Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, a 36-year-old lecturer in media and creative industries at Sydney’s Macquarie University.
 
Australia's Steve Smith pulls the ball for 4 runs against Pakistan on the second day of their cricket test match in Sydney, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Smith to take his talents to the top and open Australia’s innings in 1st test against West Indies
If the last test against Pakistan was all about David Warner’s pending retirement, the series-opener against West Indies centers around new opener Steve Smith.
 
Australia's David Warner gestures as he walks off after he losing his wicket to Pakistan during the third day of their cricket test match in Melbourne, Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
It’s all about David Warner in his final test at the Sydney Cricket Ground against Pakistan
The leadup to the third test between Australia and Pakistan at David Warner’s home Sydney Cricket Ground was always going to be about the opening batter himself playing his final match in the sport’s traditional format.
 
Australian Rugby's head coach Eddie Jones, right, prepares to speak to media in Sydney, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. Wallabies head coach, Jones, says he is "committed to Australia" amid numerous reports that he is planning to quit and take up the Japan coaching job for a second time. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Rugby Australia begins search to replace Eddie Jones after dreadful Rugby World Cup campaign
Rugby Australia confirms that Eddie Jones has in fact quit as head coach and that the organization will conduct a thorough search for his replacement, “however long it takes.”
 
In this photo provided by the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation, children play with a soccer ball in Majuro, Marshall Islands, on Aug. 3, 2023. The Marshall Islands has no soccer team, and is often referred to as the "last country on Earth" without international representation in the sport. (Chewy Lin/Marshall Islands Soccer Federation via AP)
Coach hired, team still required: Soccer’s status in the Marshall Islands is a work in progress
Lloyd Owers has been given a coaching job in the Marshall Islands on football’s frontier. All he needs now is a national team.
 
FILE - Kids play ball hockey at an NHL Street event, June 17, 2023, in Boston. The National Hockey League is trying to build on its first foray into the Southern Hemisphere — two preseason games between the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyote on the weekend — by expanding its NHL Street Hockey program to Australia. The program is designed for children ages 6 to 16 and will eventually be instituted into some schools in Victoria state. (AP Photo/Jimmy Golen, File)
Taking it to the streets: NHL tries to grow its game with an ‘ice’ hockey push Down Under
The National Hockey League is trying to build on its first foray into the Southern Hemisphere — two preseason games between the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyote this weekend — by expanding its street hockey program to Australia.
 
Afghan women's cricketer Firooza Amiri poses at her parent’s home in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. Forced to flee with her family when the Taliban again took power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, Amiri and her family first traveled to Pakistan and then were evacuated to Australia, where most of her 25 teammates still live. (Firooza Amiri via AP)
Afghanistan’s female cricketers plead with sport’s world governing body: help us play again
Two years ago Firooza Amiri was an 18-year-old batter for the Afghanistan women’s cricket team and ready to take on the world. But just like that, her world and that of millions of others in her country changed.
 
Australia's Jordan Petaia , left, and France's Gabin Villiere challenge for the ball during the International Rugby Union World Cup warm-up match between France and Australia at the Stade de France stadium in Saint Denis, outside Paris, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Eddie Jones says slumping Australia can win the Rugby World Cup. He’s serious.
Never has any team heading into the Rugby World Cup been in such a “good place” after five consecutive losses to start its season, at least in the eyes of Australia coach and Eddie Jones.
 
2021 Australian Open: Smaller crowds, player bio-security
Australian Open organizers have settled on a plan to host the 2021 tournament complete with bio-security and fewer spectators. Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley will be looking at the running of both the U.S.
 
Sunshine State beckons for Aussie sports amid coronavirus
Australia’s so-called Sunshine State continues to be a safe haven for professional sports in the country because of its relatively strong success in dealing with the coronavirus.
 
Sports Down Under seem a long way off due to new coronavirus
Australia is doing no better or worse than other countries deprived of their professional sport due to the new coronavirus. Which is probably surprising in itself.
 
Jason Belmonte’s back Down Under after banner PBA season
Two-handed bowler Jason Belmonte’s return to Australia from another banner season on the PBA Tour in the United States was never going to be easy.
 
Media giant Discovery insured against Olympic disruption
One of the biggest rights holders of the Olympics says it is insured to protect itself from financial loss if the Olympics don’t go ahead as a virus spreads.
 
Patrick Reed hears the hecklers early at the Presidents Cup
It seemed as if Patrick Reed wanted to hear it from the hecklers sooner than later. He was playing in his first match at the Presidents Cup after last week’s sand rules violation in the Bahamas.
 
Australian swimming embarrassed after positive drug test
A positive drug test by one of its swimmers helped end the world championships on an embarrassing and disappointing note for Australia.
 
Rugby Australia to terminate Folau deal after anti-gay post
Rugby Australia says it plans to terminate Israel Folau’s contract with the national team after the fullback made anti-gay comments on social media for the second year in a row.
 
Some good news in Aussie rugby: women leading the way
Led by girls and young women the ruck-and-maul and rougher-than-rough sport of rugby union is looking to regain its relevance in Australia. Rugby has been hit by dwindling attendance and poor performances by its national men’s team.
 
Belgians take big 3rd-round lead at World Cup of Golf
Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry had a mid-round stretch of 5-under-par in four holes for a 9-under 63 to give Belgium a five-stroke lead after three rounds of the World Cup of Golf.
 
Rain, cold, wind combine to make life miserable for golfers
Ducks waded through standing water on fairways and some bunkers flooded. It was the World Cup of Golf at Metropolitan.
 
If it’s October, it must be Australia for Savannah McCaskill
Savannah McCaskill couldn’t have known her first year as a professional soccer player would take her so far afield from her college days at the University of South Carolina.
 
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