Sports

Bluefish are largely underappreciated, but the tide may be turning as people realize that not only are they one of the toughest fighting fish around but also a treat to eat, especially when smoked.

Twelve men's and seven women's teams, 228 lifeguards in all, contested the Main Beach lifeguard tournament last week. Teams came from as far away as Long Beach and Jones Beach.  

A rapid serve-and-volley crosscourt singles version of doubles tennis was introduced here recently at the Hither Hills Racquet Club.

Austin Allen and Tucker Bock, rising seventh graders at the Springs School, are pursuing their passion for race cars at the Riverhead Raceway and beyond in small cars called Bandoleros that are powered by lawn tractor engines and can reach speeds of 70 miles per hour.

I've had to be towed only in once in my life. It happened about 15 years ago when I broke down about two miles south of Orient Point in Gardiner's Bay.

Meditation, a pond exploration, hiking, and historical walking tours are on the outdoors agenda in the coming weeks.

The teams that contested the finals of the town men's slow-pitch softball league last summer met for the first time this season in Amagansett, with the Clubhouse, the 2020 runner-up, soundly defeating McMahon's, the defending champion.

Maidstone Market's 7-on-7 men's soccer team clinched the top playoff seed by virtue of playing to a 2-2 tie with the East Hampton Soccer Club at East Hampton's Herrick Park last Thursday.

The Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation’s Virtual Swim Challenge to benefit the construction of an aquatics center at the Playhouse will run from Saturday through July 31.

We are getting close to August and it's clear that the fishing scene has shifted into full summer mode. The summer menu of fish includes everything from wahoo to swordfish, codfish to red hake, as well as dozens of other fish in between.

"I'm not sure what I would have done if I were not a fisherman," reflected Capt. Steven Forsberg Sr. of the Viking Fleet in Montauk, the largest privately owned fishing fleet in the Northeast. "I can't see doing anything else. I think I was born with it in my blood." There's probably a good bit of salt water mixed in that blood, too. 

Absent from the summer's sports scene last year, triathlon competition returned to the South Fork last weekend, with one on Saturday at Long Beach in Noyac that benefited Theresa Roden's award-winning I-Tri program for teenage girls and one on Sunday with a dramatic finish at the Montauk Lighthouse.

This week's enriching outdoor excursions include a buck moon hike, a trek to the Truman Capote marker at Crooked Pond, and an exploration of a salt marsh in Northwest.

East Hampton's Little League 9-and-10-year-old softball team routed Eastport-South Manor 17-5 at the Pantigo fields last Thursday evening, becoming the first Bonac softballers to win a District 36 championship since 2013.

Kai Alversa struck out 14 of the 17 batters he faced when East Hampton's 11-12 traveling all-star tream played Southampton in a District 36 playoff game last week. And it might just be the first time that's ever happened in a playoff game here.

East Hampton's 9-10 boys Little League all-star team came close to joining the 9-10 girls in the District 36 winner's circle this past week, but fell short in a championship game played at Riverhead's Stotsky Park Saturday morning.

Last week, I was mugged. Someone pulled my lobster traps, whatever lobsters they may have contained, and three dozen oysters I had placed in the traps and left the rope tangled in knots. "Some people really suck," said my companion, who helps me on deck.

Five equestrians who have competed in the Hampton Classic's Grand Prix -- McLain Ward, Kent Farrington, Laura Kraut, Jessica Springsteen, and Lucy Deslauriers, as an alternate -- have been picked to represent the United States in the coming Tokyo Olympics' team show jumping competition.

After many recent gloomy days, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy what should be nicer weather coming up.

Drew Harvey of Sag Harbor and his friend Payton Dwight cycled 3,400 across the country to raise money to build pull-up and parallel bar fitness stations under the banner of the Dawgpatch Bandits, a group founded in reaction to the 2016 overdose death of a Sag Harbor teacher, coach, lifeguard, and triathlete.

“Soccer, wrestling, football, no matter which of those sports you play, rugby is totally addictive — it’s called the rugby bug,” Kevin Bunce Jr. said.

Striking a positive note in the lengthy process of grassroots fund-raising required before breaking ground on renovations and expansion of the Montauk Skatepark, the Montauk Skatepark Coalition said its mid-June art auction was a big success and that it is continuing its efforts through Labor Day.

Kim Tetrault, the longtime chief oyster guru at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Center in Southold, tends oysters hatched in late March and scallops still too tiny to be seen without a microscope.

Samantha Duane of East Hampton certainly skates through life, and this summer, she's inviting other people to join her for friendly skate gatherings that the ex-roller derby pro hosts Monday nights in the parking lot of the Clubhouse off Daniel's Hole Road.

Opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and bask in the beauty of the East End are plentiful in the upcoming days.

In an athletic awards dinner held recently at the Clubhouse, Matthew McGovern and Bella Tarbet were cited as winners of the Paul Yuska Award, given to the best athletes of East Hampton High School's senior class, and the latest Hall of Fame picks were recognized.

After a concussion ended his high school baseball career, Jake Epstein became Bonac's biggest cheerleader. "I couldn't play sports, but there was nothing stopping me from waving a flag and screaming," said the class of 2021 president.

The Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League's Sag Harbor Whalers are fortunate to have solid catchers on the roster of 27 this season, and one of them, Marika Lyszczyk, has notched a lengthening series of firsts in baseball.

Rarely a week goes by when I don't receive a question from friends or readers about what to look for when buying fish. It's really a rather basic question to answer. Read on . . .

Want to get outside? Here are some upcoming activities that promise to satisfy your thirst for the outdoors. 

On Saturday, the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society invites hikers to explore the numerous trails of Amagansett’s hilly and shaded Stony Hill area, featuring glacial kettles and a mature beech forest. Those interested are to meet on Red Dirt Road (1/4 mile east of Accabonac Road) at 9 a.m. More information is available by calling 212-769-4311.