Charlotte, N.C. (June 8, 2023) – Benfica S.L. announced today the signing of Joshua Wynder, U.S. Youth National and Louisville City FC defender. The deal between the two clubs is the largest transfer fee ever paid for a player in the USL Championship. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Benfica, one of the top clubs not only in Portugal’s top division, but also in European football, is also known for developing young talent. The historic club just won the Primera Liga title for the 38^th time and is only second to Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League appearances. 

“I’m very grateful to Louisville City for everything the club has done for me,” Wynder said. “It’s a dream come true to sign with Benfica, and I can’t wait to get started there. Although my career’s taking me overseas, I’ll always be proud of where I’m from and represent Louisville to the best of my ability.”

Wynder has just returned from Argentina where he started four of five games at the FIFA U-20 World Cup and while there, was named to the U.S. Men’s Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary roster. 

“We are really proud of Josh and how much he has developed over the last few years,” said Mike Gartlan, Wynder’s agent and partner at ProSport Management. “The priority for Josh’s next step was always to find a club that would help him to continue to develop as a person and player. It was a pleasure working with a like-minded club in Louisville to find a good fit for his next move. Benfica came with a great plan and their experience in developing young talent is second to none. Josh’s future is bright, and we are excited to see where he goes from here.”

A native of the Louisville area, Wynder came up through the Louisville City academy, along with his brother Elijah. He signed his first professional contract with the club at 16 and made his debut in July of 2021. In 2022, Josh became a regular starter for the club, received his first call-up to the U.S. Youth National Team and was a finalist for the U.S. Soccer Young Player of the Year, all before he turned 18 years old.

“This is a proud moment for Louisville City, our youth academy and our community,” said coach Danny Cruz. “We are going to miss seeing Josh in the locker room each day, but I could not be more proud of the path that he is on in his career. The type of person he is continues to stand out to me, and we look forward to watching him reach new heights to also become the best player he can be.”

For more details, contact Katie Bratland @kb@prosportmanagement.com or +1 612 270 1455.

TIMBERS SIGN BRAZILIAN INTERNATIONAL EVANDER AS DESIGNATED PLAYER

Portland acquires 24-year-old midfielder for club record transfer fee

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers have acquired Brazilian midfielder Evander in a full transfer from Denmark’s top-tier league Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland, the club announced today. Under contract through 2026 with a club option in 2027, Evander will occupy a Designated Player spot and an international spot on the roster, pending a physical and a receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and P-1 visa. The team acquired Evander for a club-record transfer fee.

Evander, 24, joins the Timbers after spending five seasons (2018-2022) at FC Midtjylland in Denmark, where he registered 50 goals and 38 assists in 167 appearances across all competitions. With Midtjylland, the Brazilian midfielder featured in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, making 27 appearances across both competitions, logging 1,993 minutes, and registering five goals and seven assists. In 2022, Evander notched five assists to lead the Europa League.

Evander began his professional career in 2016 with Brazil’s top-tier side Vasco da Gama, making his debut at age 18 on March 5, 2016, against Bonsucesso. The midfielder scored his first professional goal on Nov. 8, 2017, against Santos. Notably, Evander became the youngest Vasco da Gama player to score twice in a Copa Libertadores match on Jan. 31, 2018, against Universidad de Concepcion. Evander scored two goals in eight appearances in Copa Libertadores play.

Internationally, Evander has played for Brazil’s U-16 and U-17 men’s national teams. At age 15, Evander made his youth-national team debut with the U-16 national team on Dec. 11, 2013. He went on to make 11 appearances for the U-17 national team, scoring seven goals. With the U-17 national team, Evander helped Brazil win the U-17 South American Championship, scoring three goals, while also making two appearances in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup and reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament.

There’s an unofficial mold a PGA player is expected to fit. He’s supposed to be reserved and polished in his bespoke golf slacks and polo shirt spotted with sponsorship logos. He keeps his expressions subdued, both on the course and in media interviews—speaking in the accepted go-to cliches of “one hole at a time, one shot at a time.”

Bubba Watson did not tumble out of that mold, and he never showed a moment’s interest in sticking to its rules. A player with a big personality, he’s known for showing an equally big sense of humor and unreserved emotion on the golf course and in front of the cameras. While other champions hide behind their stoic demeanors, Mr. Watson is never above trading a joke or two with the gallery or shedding a tear or two when he takes home a trophy.

The two-time Masters champion adds those Major Tournament wins to 10 other tour victories. He’s easy to spot at any PGA event, standing 6-feet 3-inches and always wearing his signature visor.  One of the longest hitters on the tour for years, he’s known for taking risks on the course that a more sensible but less entertaining player would never attempt. As he continues his 18th year of professional golf, the 41-year-old Watson never makes fans guess as to what he’s thinking or feeling on the links.

Mr. Watson and his fellow pros spent unexpected months at home when the PGA Tour went on its Covid-19 hiatus. That meant bonus time with his wife, Angie, and children (Caleb and Dakota), so his heart is still back home in Pensacola, Florida, even when he’s on the course. It’s no surprise his five favorite things all involve his family.

The Watson Kitchen Table

In a normal year, the global PGA season runs almost year round – though virus restrictions cancelled spring and early summer events in 2020. As the tour got rolling again in June, Mr. Watson might find himself home a couple days per week with Thursday to Sunday tournaments, practice rounds and pro-ams filling up the rest of the week. When he does make it home, the family dines together.

“I think about Angie’s cooking while I’m on the road,” Mr. Watson told Mansion Global. “We sit at the kitchen table every night and have dinner together. I really miss Taco Tuesday and cheeseburger night during the season. Sure, I can get any of that from a hotel or restaurant, but it’s not the same.”

His Kids’ Bedside

“When I’m home, Angie and I make sure to put the kids to bed together every night,” Mr. Watson said. “We say a prayer with each of them separately. During the extra time home with the shutdown, it was really a special time to be able to tuck them in and have that time together to pray with them.”

Mr. Watson and his wife extend their love of children beyond their own kids, involving themselves with multiple PGA Junior Golf charities and acting as ambassadors for the Studer Family Children’s Hospital in Pensacola. In addition, the Watsons donate time and money to Birdies for the Brave, a national military outreach initiative with the PGA dedicated to honoring the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.

His Children’s Bibles

“Caleb and Dakota each have their own kids bible, and I love reading a bedtime story to the kids at nighttime before they go to bed. We all pick a different bible story every night,” he said.

His Nautique Wakesurfing Boat

The PGA Tour might take the boy out of Florida, but there’s no way of taking the Gator out of this lifelong native. When his schedule allows him to find his way home, it doesn’t take Mr. Watson long to get back to his Nautique Wakesurfing Boat.

A sport unique to the ocean bays and lakes of the Sunshine State, wakesurfing allows a rider standing atop a wakeboard to trail behind a specially designed tow boat to ride the water churned up by the vessel’s propellers. During his extended off-season stay at home, Mr. Watson and his family spent lots of time on the water.

His ‘Uno Attack’ Game

Many families have that one go-to card or board game to pass their quality time. For the Watsons, that’s Uno Attack. A variation of the well-known, four-color card game with its familiar mix of “Draw Two, Skip, Reverse” twists and turns, the Attack version adds an electronic “card shoe” that fires a barrage of Uno cards to the unlucky recipient. The resulting chaos and laughter is a far cry from the quiet of the golf course, and Mr. Watson likes it that way.

“If I’m home, we will play Uno Attack every single day at some point. I look forward to those games a lot when I’m out here. In fact—my family, the games, the fun, the bedtimes–I really look forward to all of it when I’m out here.”

In front of a horde of NASCAR fans, many of whom were wearing “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts, Bubba Wallace said “the sport is changing” after an emotional race Monday at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama.

Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black full-time driver, was joined by all 39 other drivers and their crews in a march down pit road as they pushed his No. 43 to the front of the line in the moments before the race. The gesture came one day after a noose was found in Wallace’s garage stall. When the group reached the front line Monday, Wallace climbed out of his car and wept.

If not for a shortage of fuel, Wallace might have had a chance to race for the win. A late stop for gas led to a 14th-place finish, but Monday still felt like a win for Wallace. He went to the fence and, through the wiring, slapped hands with a group of fans as they cheered.

He apologized for not wearing a mandatory mask but said he didn’t put it on because “I wanted to show whoever it was: You are not going to take away my smile.”

“This sport is changing,” he said. “The prerace deal was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to witness in my life. From all the supporters, from drivers to crew members, everybody here, the badass fan base, thank you guys for coming out. This is truly incredible, and I’m glad to be a part of this sport.”

Ryan Blaney, who won Monday’s race in a photo finish, said Wallace has been one of his best friends for 15 years, and he called the prerace show of support a special moment.

“And it showed how you’re not gonna scare [Wallace]. You’re not gonna scare him,” Blaney told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. “He’s really strong. He’s gonna rise above it and fight this.

“So we just wanted to show our support. I wanted to show my support for my best friend. He’s just been someone I’ve really, really loved for a long time, and I’m gonna support him 100 percent along the way for many years to come. I hope a lot of people will look at that and learn from everyone coming together and supporting each other. That’s what it’s gonna take to make things better.”

The idea for the gesture came up Monday. Jimmie Johnson said in a drivers chat that he would stand with Wallace during the national anthem. Then Kevin Harvick shared the idea that the drivers should push Wallace’s car to the front.

“I’m happy to play a role in it. I want to. I know I need to,” Johnson said after his 13th-place finish. “And I feel like to see the garage area stand up as they have as well in the last few weeks, and then again today, is sending a very strong message, and I’m very proud of our sport.”

Standing alongside Wallace for the national anthem was Richard Petty, the 82-year-old Hall of Fame driver known as “The King.” Wallace drives the No. 43 Chevrolet for Petty, who issued a scathing rebuke after the noose was found, calling for the “sick person” to be expelled from NASCAR forever, a move that NASCAR president Steve Phelps insisted will happen when the person is caught.

Sources told ESPN’s Marty Smith that Petty decided to travel to Talladega after the noose was found and that he said the “most important thing for me right now is hugging my driver.” This marked the first race Petty had attended since the sport was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Workers painted “#IStandWithBubbaWallace” on the infield grass before Monday’s race, which was postponed from Sunday because of inclement weather.

Two weeks ago, Wallace successfully pushed NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its venues, though the sanctioning body has not outlined how it will enforce the restriction. Disgruntled fans with Confederate flags drove past the main entrance to the Alabama race track prior to Sunday’s race, and a plane flew above the track pulling a banner of the flag that read “Defund NASCAR.”

Hours after the race was postponed by rain, NASCAR said the noose had been found. The sanctioning body vowed to do everything possible to find who was responsible and “eliminate them from the sport.” Wallace said in a statement Sunday that he was “incredibly saddened” by the act.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said she was “shocked and appalled” by the “vile act” against Wallace, an Alabama native.

“There is no place for this disgusting display of hatred in our state,” Ivey said. “Bubba Wallace is one of us. He is a native of Mobile, and on behalf of all Alabamians, I apologize to Bubba Wallace as well as to his family and friends for the hurt this has caused and regret the mark this leaves on our state.”

Talladega County Sheriff Jimmy Kilgore said NASCAR contacted the FBI, which is handling the investigation. The FBI field office in Birmingham, Alabama, did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press.

Officials at Sonoma Raceway in California said Monday that they are looking into what could be a similar incident after “a piece of twine tied in what appeared to be a noose” was found “hanging from a tree on raceway property” on Saturday. The track’s president said the incident is under investigation by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.

After Monday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, Aric Almirola, who finished third, said he was speechless when he found out that a noose had been found in Wallace’s garage stall.

“So you see people lash out and show signs of evil and darkness, and it just comes from a bad place,” Almirola said. “And I think the most important thing you can respond with that is light and love. And showing how to stand up and how to show positivity and have a heart. And I feel like, as an industry, that’s what we did today.”

Former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. took to Twitter to offer his support for Wallace in the wake of Sunday’s incident.

Lewis Hamilton, Formula One’s only Black driver and its reigning champion, also offered his support via Instagram.

“It’s disgusting that this is happening, stay safe and alert out there bro,” Hamilton wrote. “Supporting you from afar, proud of you.”

After the race Monday, Wallace said he is going to “keep on truckin'” and looks forward to racing next weekend at Pocono Raceway.

“Hey, I’m still smiling,” he said. “Long week ahead of me — probably a couple weeks, probably a couple months. … So I’ll be ready for Pocono.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

There are usually some perks to being on the winning bag at a PGA Tour event – a little something extra for the effort, as Carl Spackler once elegantly put it – but a car?

That’s what happened at last year’s Charles Schwab Challenge, where the tournament winner was awarded a glacier-blue 1973 Dodge Challenger that had been fully restored by Steve Strope, who is renowned for his custom work on American muscle cars from the 1960s and ’70s.

Kevin Na pocketed the $1.314 million paycheck and donned the tartan winner’s coat, but the keys to the car went to longtime caddie Kenny Harms. It has to go down as one of the coolest gestures to celebrate a victory.

“I don’t know of a better one,” said Harms, who has caddied for the likes of Hall of Famers Hale Irwin, Raymond Floyd and Hubert Green since 1991 and worked for Na for more than a decade.

Harms’ wheels have been making the rounds at some car shows, including SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) in Las Vegas, and so Harms says he’s only put about 400 miles on his prized possession.

The car buff already owns a 1998 black Porsche 911 Carrera convertible and a 2006 Porsche Cayenne, but he had his eye on the Dodge Challenger as soon as he spotted it on Tuesday of tournament week sitting along the 10th hole at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

“It was kind of silent before everyone teed off and I said, ‘Hey, Kevin, when we win, I’ll look a lot better than you in that car with my baby blue eyes. When we win it, you’re going to give me the car, right?’ ” Harms recalls. “He kind of looks over at the car, looks at me, looks back at the car a second time and says, ‘Yeah, if we win.’ I said, ‘No, when we win.’ He said, ‘All right, I’ll give you the car if I win.’ For some reason, I kept saying, when we win. I had the weirdest feeling we were going to win that week.”

Colonial has been Na’s personal ATM for several years, but victory had eluded him until now. He cruised to a four-stroke victory and flipped the keys to Harms.

“It doesn’t drive like a typical ’73 Dodge Challenger,” said Harms, who once ponied up $200 to buy a ’73 rusty green Camaro, his first car. “The only thing that is original is the shell of the car. Everything else has been replaced. I’m told it was bought for $20,700, stripped it down to the metal and they put $180,000 in parts and $200,000 in labor into it. It’s a piece of art to me.”

Kenny Harms

Among the many disappointments of the suspension of current MLS season and the seasons of leagues throughout the world is that it is halting the progress of many young players making important steps in their development. In MLS, the 2019 season was one of the most promising in league history in terms of the success of young American players. It remains to be seen how 2020 will go, but there were promising signs from the first two weeks.

Tanner Tessmann, 18, was one of the players off to a strong start before the season was halted. The midfielder signed for FC Dallas just days before the team’s season opener. With injuries plaguing Dallas during the preseason, Tessmann got the start for the first game against a strong Philadelphia Union team. He ended up going the distance and assisted on Paxton Pomykal’s goal to close out a 2-0 win.

“There were lots of emotions but all good emotions,” Tessmann recalled. “Signing was a great experience. My family got to be there. I debuted and played the full game. We got the win. So, it was a perfect week. Those emotions were super high and I stayed level headed.”

Playing in his preferred No. 8, box-to-box central midfield role, Tessmann’s numbers against Philadelphia were very good both offensively and defensively over the full 90 minutes.

• 90 minutes
• 60 touches
• 2 key passes
• 71% pass completion
• 1 successful dribble
• 3 aerials won
• 1x fouled
• 7 tackles
• 1 interception
• 4/8 accurate long balls

In the second game, Tessmann remained in the starting lineup and played 61 minutes in 2-2 tie with Montreal. While he played more of a defensive role in the midfield, his passing was still exceptional. He completed 95.6% of his passes including four of five accurate long balls.

“Honestly, I thought I would get more tired and I was going to have bad touches and get shut down quicker. But it was a really good game,” Tessmann said after the Philadelphia game. “It was a tough game to play in. I did feel like I belong. This was a huge achievement for me just to kind of know that I could play at that level. A month ago, I was playing with the U-19s in Mexico. To come and play with the MLS team, it was a real achievement. The ball moved a lot faster and the players were fast. But I felt like I belonged.”

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama area, Tessmann moved to Dallas to join the FC Dallas academy in 2016. He was in the club with midfielders such as Weston McKennie, Paxton Pomykal, Brandon Servania and Thomas Roberts – who all have extensive experience with either the U.S. national team of the youth national teams. Now he will hope to follow in their footsteps and be part of the team’s impressive developmental pipeline.

Last year, Tessmann began to show signs of breaking through. He won the Development Academy’s U-18/U19 Golden Ball for 2018-2019 season after leading FC Dallas to the U-18/U19 Academy championship. He also began playing for the club’s USL League One team, North Texas SC, which won the title with a win over Greenville in a final where Tessmann played the final 19 minutes plus stoppage time.

Following 2019, Tessmann emerged as one of the best 2001-born American prospects based domestically. He clearly had options as to where to begin his career but the pipeline that FC Dallas had built was too hard to pass up with a high likelihood of earning quality first-team minutes this season. It’s the first step of many which he hopes also includes winning silverware with Dallas and eventually being sold to the higher levels of Europe.

“We have a great pipeline of players that come through and then you see them on the national team, you see him going overseas like Weston McKennie,” Tessmann explained. “So, it really just helps all the players at FC Dallas that move here to really believe in themselves a little bit more and know those dreams that you have are right there in front of you for the taking. I just think that FC Dallas is the best place in America for sure to grow as a player and get opportunities that I don’t think a lot of other clubs can give you with Bayern Munich and the FC Dallas academy.”

“They want what’s best for the players,” he added about FC Dallas. “When you reach the pinnacle of MLS they want you to keep getting better. … They want you to reach your highest potential and overseas where you can do that. They aren’t scared to sell their players and see where that path can take them. They believe in their players that they can play at the next level. I love that about FC Dallas that they aren’t scared to take those risks and push their players beyond the FC Dallas first team.”

One of the more interesting and well publicized facts about the 6-foot-2 Tessmann is that he also had the option of heading to Clemson University to play both soccer and football. A gifted kicker even though he didn’t play high school football, Tessmann had a scholarship offer from Clemson’s powerhouse football team and was recruited by head coach “Dabo” Swinney, who is also a family friend of the Tessmanns.

While it appeared as if he was going to head that route, he came to terms with Dallas and insisted that his priority has always been soccer. The opportunity to join FC Dallas was the quickest opportunity to put him on his desired career path.

“It would have been a great experience at Clemson to do that but I’ve been a soccer player since I was little, and that’s been my dream to play overseas in Europe and for the national team,” Tessmann said. “I’ve never had dreams to be a football star in the NFL as a kicker. I’ve been focusing on soccer, I continue to focus on soccer. … And I dedicate all my time to soccer — just becoming a student of the game and working hard every day to make my dreams come true.”

As for his other soccer dream, the national team, that remains very much alive at this point. He is eligible for the current U-20 team which, if everything returns to normal quickly, will attempt to qualify for the 2021 U-20 World Cup in Indonesia this June. He was part of the team’s first camp of the cycle last September under then coach Tab Ramos but was not part of the roster for new coach Anthony Hudson’s first camp in January. Tessmann says, however, that he has spoken with Hudson about being part of the team.

Competition will be tough to make the U-20 team and Tessmann is among several quality players in contention for the No. 8 and No. 6 defensive midfield roles for the team. The others being Colorado’s Cole Bassett, Internacional’s Johnny Cardoso, Bayern Munich U-23’s Taylor Booth. But with his size at 6′ 2″, his athleticism, and his skill on the ball, Tessmann could potentially offer something different to the group.

“With the U-20 World Cup, a bunch of players have blossomed there,” Tessmann said. “You saw Brandon Servania last year — he wasn’t really playing with FC Dallas, went to the U-20 World Cup, really did well with the team, and then came back and started pretty much every game. Same with Paxton Pomykal. And we have a great team. I really enjoyed being with those guys when I go to camp. And we love each other and we fight for each other even though we’re from different clubs and we get along really well. It would just be an honor to go and represent my country in a World Cup.”

Denny Hamlin is the latest athlete to join the ALL IN Challenge, which has pegged itself as the largest digital fundraiser ever.

Fanatics’ ALL IN challenges athletes across all sports to help raise $100 million for COVID-19 crisis relief. The money will provide food to those in need, specifically kids, elderly and frontline workers. The official statement says, “We challenge every athlete, sports owner, team, league, celebrity and artist to go ALL IN and donate one of their most prized possessions or create a once-in-a-lifetime fan experience.”

Hamlin chose the latter as his effort to raise the funds after being nominated by former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver and three-time Daytona 500 winner announced Tuesday he’s offering up the opportunity to play Michael Jordan’s new exclusive golf club in Florida alongside himself and PGA Tour’s Bubba Watson. That’s not all. In addition to the round of golf, the package will feature a private flight and VIP access to the 2021 Daytona 500.

How it works: Fans bid on prizes and experiences of their choice through an auction. Those bids then double as the fundraiser’s donations.

Many big sports names have accepted the challenged. Hamlin, Peyton and Eli Manning, Magic Johnson, Aaron Rodgers, Alex Rodriguez and Joel Embiid are just a few of the athletes. Leagues and teams also are involved.

All of the money raised will benefit the following organizations: Meals on Wheels, No Kid Hungry, America’s Food Fund, Feeding America and World Central Kitchen.

It was an epic battle between Atlanta United and Minnesota United FC, in what would become a historic night for the U.S. Open Cup. Watch here to find out why it was so much more than just a match and see what ProSport Management clients Justin Meram/Atlanta United and Miguel Ibarra/Minnesota United FC, had to say about their part in it.

Monday, May 26, 2019 | Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Na always believed he could win at Colonial, so he paused to visualize his name on the Wall of Champions at the first tee before making another run at it.

The South Korean-born American will get to read his name on that wall next year.

Na birdied four of the first eight holes and shot a 4-under 66 for a four-shot victory over Tony Finau on Sunday on the cozy course made famous by Ben Hogan, securing his third career PGA TOUR win and second in 10 months.

“On the first tee, I saw that wall, looked at the names, right below Justin Rose,” Na said, referring to the defending champion. “And in my head, I engraved my name on it. I was just trying to visualize success before I teed off.”

Read more…

Associated Press | By Steve Reed

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — The idea of having even a slim chance to race his way into the NASCAR All-Star race this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway seems surreal for Daniel Hemric.

After all, this is the track where it all started for the 28-year-old rookie Cup Series driver.

He grew up a few miles down the road in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and raced go-karts at CMS when he was 7 years old. He watched Jimmie Johnson win the All-Star race here from the grandstand. And this is where he ultimately put himself on the auto racing map by winning the Legends Million in 2010, collecting a $250,000 first place prize — the largest paycheck at the time in Legends car racing.

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