Temple men’s soccer released their schedule for the 2014 fall season on Saturday.

The Owls will begin their season August 19 against Lafayette College at Ambler Sports Complex, a team they did not face last season.

-Steve Bohnel

Following an NCAA rule change, student-athletes were permitted to participate in university-affiliated camps for the first time this summer. When asked what the biggest contribution the player coaches were responsible for at their youth football camp on June 22, starting quarterback P.J. Walker made it plain and simple.

“Juice.”

“We call it the juice, we bring the energy to the camp. We’ve got guys jumping around like it’s an intense scrimmage. We had guys talking trash at lunch and had a great one-on-one drill because of it,” Walker said.

With a turnout of roughly 200 kids, the camp presented a bevy of players, from 11 year-old Bryant Rhule to heavily recruited upperclassmen.

With camps being held on the same day by numerous local schools including the University of Pittsburgh, Rutgers University and Penn State, getting quantity as well as quality can be a competition.

“There are a lot of one-day camps now, you have to really have a good camp the kids want to come to,” Head Coach Matt Rhule said.

The competition among the players was much greater than the fight for attendance however, most notably when the camp converged into one-on-one drills.

With a dozen player coaches giving pointers and loudly cheering on their respective positions, wide receivers ran routes against defensive backs, as the camp’s quarterbacks alongside Walker tried to find the openings.

The effort in the drill was attributed to the intensity of the player coaches by linebacker Tyler Matakevich.

“We just brought the energy, we tried to get on the guys a little bit,” Matakevich said. “Everyone is here trying to showcase their talent.”

Cornerback Anthony Robey, who attended a Temple football camp during his high school years, got to attend this camp as a redshirt senior player alongside a few of his hometown coaches.

“It was one of the most memorable, fun camps I had been to at the time.” Robey said, “it was really something to be here with some of my old coaches. It’s a nice feeling seeing them come back and acknowledging you. Now, just as they tried to help me get better in high school, I’m trying to help these kids get better as well.”

E.J. Smith can be reached at esmith@temple.edu or on Twitter @ejsmitty17

Shortly after being closed by the School Reform Commission, the former William Penn High School was sold to Temple University for the SRC’s asking price of $15 million. Part of the property, located on N. Broad Street, will be demolished and converted partly into an athletic facility and recreation space.

According to a university statement, the field space will be designated for the soccer and lacrosse teams, a welcome change for the soccer team, which currently travels to the Ambler campus for home games. The remaining space will be used for university intramural and club sports.

The school building itself will remain and be changed into a job-training academy organized by laborer’s union and buying partners the Laborer’s District Council Education and Training/Apprenticeship Fund.

The 4-1 SRC approval of the sale closed any community hope that William Penn would be reopened after being “temporarily” closed in 2009. At the time of closing, then superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman told community members the school would reinvent itself into a career and technical academy for William Penn students in the time of five years.

-E.J. Smith

The American Athletic Conference has announced the beginning of the conferences’ television start times and which channel certain games will be aired on during the 2014 season.

The Owls’ game against Houston on October 7 is slated to start at 9 p.m. and aired on ESPNU. Additionally, Temple’s November 7 home game against Memphis will be aired at 7:30 p.m., also on ESPNU.

Against Memphis, the Owls will look to have a similar performance to last year, where they notched their lone conference win in a 41-21 blowout on the road.

The Owls will also play Delaware State on September 20, which will be aired on ESPN3.

In addition to Temple’s televised games, the American boasts six games set to be aired on ABC and/or ESPN including Central Florida’s matchup against conference foe Houston on ESPN and Connecticut’s early September game against non-conference opponent Boise State.

-E.J. Smith

Temple field hockey coach Amanda Janney reflected on last year’s inaugural Harrow Cup as a “great weekend of hockey.”

The 2014 version featured more of the same in what turned out to be a comfortable, sunny weekend at Geasey Field that attracted numerous alumni.

The Mambas, featuring several Temple names, won the post-collegiate tournament and the $10,000 prize to go with it.

Assistant coach and Old Dominion alum Kelly Driscoll captained the Mambas and played in goal, with the team also including Janney, a Wake Forest alum, graduate assistant coach and Ohio State alum Danica Deckard, Alli Lokey (‘08) and newly-dubbed alumni Molly Doyle and Mandi Shearer (‘14).

Other Temple alumni in the tournament included Haley Dervinis for the Titans (’04), Bridget Settles for the Tembos (’12) and Caryn Lambright for the Tomahawks (’12), along with current athletic advisor and University of Iowa alum Sarah Pergine for the Vipers.

Temple hosted the event for the second straight year, with Driscoll and the Mambas posting a repeat performance.

The mission of the Harrow Cup is to promote post-collegiate field hockey and offer an opportunity for alumni to keep playing.

It’s not official if Temple will continue hosting the tournament, but Janney said she certainly hopes so.

-Nick Tricome

After a 2013-14 season that showcased four first-round NFL draft picks, the American Athletic Conference looks to follow their inaugural year with more improvements.

Among these improvements will be the two-division format announced Friday by the conference. The new East-West format will comprise of six teams in each division. The winners of their respective division will face off in the first conference championship game for The American.

The change, which was unanimously approved by conference’s chief executive officers, pitted Temple in the East division alongside Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina and South Florida.

In addition to conference play, the American has many formidable non-conference games, including the Owls’ season opener against Vanderbilt. In addition, The American will also face South Eastern Conference teams South Carolina and Texas A&M as well as Big 12 schools Missouri, Oklahoma and Baylor.

Temple, which finished the season tied with Memphis at a conference-worst 1-7 American record, will return top offensive performers including dual-threat sophomore quarterback P.J. Walker and senior running back Kenneth Harper.

In addition to the division alignment announcement, Aresco also announced that next year will implement an eighth referee for conference games and a new tiebreak procedure. The tiebreak procedure allows co-champions and rewarding the co-champion ranked highest by the College Football Playoff Committee with the automatic bowl bid for the American.

DANIELLE NELSON | TTN

From wrestling to “Cear Bare” costumes, the women’s rowing team recently celebrated its second annual Champ Week.

The team of close to 60 women was separated into groups throughout the week for intersquad competitions, but before the competition started, each group wore matching costumes.

“When we were explaining to them we said bonus points for costumes, half jokingly expecting one day they would all wear matching red shirts, something simply, but they took it to the complete extreme and it was awesome,” coach Rebecca Grzybowski said.

There were unicorns, “Temple Maids,” and a team of Steve ‘Erg’- el all prancing around the erg room this past week to culminate a month of brutal indoor training. The team looks to get on the water this week as their season is less than three weeks away.

Champ Week was started a year ago by an assistant graduate. More photos can be seen here.