The Chattanooga Football Club announced Tuesday a new partnership with the VfL Wolfsburg club from Germany’s Bundesliga. Wolfsburg, Germany, is the headquarters of Volkswagen, which of course has a plant in Chattanooga and provides sponsorship for Chattanooga FC. The local club’s general manager, Sean McDaniel, met with VfL representatives in Sarasota, Fla., this past weekend and signed a letter of intent with VfL manager Thomas Rottgermann for joint efforts in youth development, women’s soccer, local social responsibility and more, including the possibility of a “friendly” between the two organizations. “Having a partner like VfL Wolfsburg strengthens the Chattanooga FC brand,” CFC board chairman Tim Kelly said in a release. “They share many of the same important values that we do. We are looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship.” Said Rottgermann: “The American market is very important for us as a club, and also for Volkswagen.”
Basketball
* Hamilton Heights Christian Academy had three basketball players among the 720 McDonald’s All American nominees announced Tuesday: Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as two of the three boys listed from the state of Tennessee and the Lady Hawks’ Amber Hunt. The final rosters of 24 boys and 24 girls for the 2017 All American games on March 29 in Chicago will be announced on ESPNU at 10:30 p.m. Sunday. “We are very pleased with the nomination of three local players,” Art Holekamp, a local McDonald’s owner/operator, said in a release.
* One day after being named the College Sports Madness Mid-Major and Southern Conference women’s basketball player of the week, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Jasmine Joyner got the official conference honor for her dominating performances in two games. The 6-foot-2 Joyner averaged 22 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots in the Mocs’ wins at Samford and Mercer – the preseason second- and third-ranked teams in the league behind UTC. She shot 68 percent from the field, made nine of 10 free throws and totaled five assists. For the season, she’s averaging 12.2 points. 9.5 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game.
* Tennessee Tech guard Akia Harris from Chattanooga was the Ohio Valley Conference women’s basketball freshman of the week after averaging 15.5 points, 10.5 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals in two games, including a triple-double of 19 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds against Murray State. The former GPS and Hamilton Heights standout had 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds against Austin Peay.