Latest news with #BrianEllis
CBC
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Toronto's Rogers Stadium welcomes Coldplay with crowd control 'adjustments'
Thousands of fans are flooding through the gates of Rogers Stadium for the first of four shows by British rock band Coldplay, as organizers say they are "making adjustments" to improve crowd control at Toronto's newest outdoor music venue. Transit and venue staff were directing fans getting off the subway at nearby Downsview Park station, as long lines formed in front of the stadium gates where a busker performed Coldplay's hits. After the venue's inaugural concert last Sunday, some attendees said it took up to two hours to exit the stadium as the site and transit services seemed ill-equipped to handle the large crowds. Live Nation Canada, which operates Rogers Stadium in the city's north end, has said it would add more signage, lighting, staff and water stations to improve the fan experience. Barb Lucas, who arrived from Oshawa, Ont., for the Coldplay show, says she is "terrified" after hearing about the long lines for bathrooms, limited water and swaying grandstands at the stadium's first concert. Once the Coldplay concert is over, she says she's planning on staying in her seat until the crowds file out to avoid congestion. "I thought this was at Rogers Centre," she said, referring to the similarly named stadium in downtown Toronto. "Had I known it was here, we wouldn't have been going." Fan report long walks, large crowds Brian Ellis, who drove four hours from Detroit, said he booked his accommodations right beside the Rogers Centre, thinking the concert was at the downtown venue. Instead of being steps away from the venue as planned, Ellis drove about 25 kilometres to the Sheppard West transit station parking lot and then walked for half an hour to get to the Rogers Stadium gates. "It's interesting how far you have to walk to get in this place," he said. But fans such as Emilio DeAngelis, who travelled from Quebec City, said he's embracing the large crowds as part of the experience. "It's Coldplay. It's normal that there's a lot of people," he said. Live Nation Canada has said that the stadium's exit routes will be reconfigured to disperse crowds to all three nearby subway stations in order to mitigate crowding at the Downsview Park station, which also serves GO train passengers. The Toronto Transit Commission has said it will be adding more staff to its Downsview Park and Wilson stations on concert nights, while Metrolinx only said it would "closely monitor" GO train ridership levels for events at the stadium. Meanwhile, Ticketmaster has sent an email to Coldplay ticket holders advising them that cellular reception at Rogers Stadium gates "will be limited as this is a large-capacity venue."
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Second school votes to leave Mid-Penn Conference for York-Adams league
The York-Adams athletic league could grow within the next week. Big Spring's school board voted unanimously on May 5 to leave the Mid-Penn Conference to play in the YAIAA. Now it's up to the league's athletic directors and principals to determine if the league will grow to 25. Advertisement League president Brian Ellis, principal at York Suburban High School, said in an email that there is a four-step process to joining the league. Because Big Spring put the presentation and vote on their school board agenda, the executive committee was able to proactively approve the request to apply and notify member schools of the vote. The remaining two steps, discussion and vote, will take place in the coming days in virtual meetings. 'We do not have any scheduled league meetings until the middle of June,' Ellis said, 'and it is in both Big Spring's interest and our league interest to make a determination well before that so that everyone can engage in planning for the next scheduling cycle.' The plan is to have the discussion meeting on May 8 and take the vote on May 12. Advertisement If Big Spring's request goes through, the Bulldogs will join James Buchanan and Shalom Christian as new league members in the 2026-27 school year. YAIAA high school spring scoreboard: Scores, schedules for May 5-10 Eastern York defeated Big Spring in 2024 to win their first District 3 boys basketball title. Who are the Big Spring Bulldogs? Nestled in rural Cumberland County midway between Carlisle and Shippensburg, Big Spring High School sits just outside the town of Newville. The Bulldogs have 19 high school teams, including unified bocce. With a total enrollment of 551 (256 female and 295 male) in the 2024-25 classification season, they participate in Class 4A in sports divided into six classes and 2A or 3A in the rest, except for field hockey, which is Class A. Advertisement Their enrollment would put the Bulldogs in the middle third of the league. The Bulldogs should be familiar to boys basketball fans, especially followers of Eastern York. The Golden Knights defeated Big Spring in the 2024 District 3 final and again in the 2025 semifinals. Big Spring teams have made district tournament appearances in eight sports, not including sports that offer individual competition. Cross country runners and swimmers and divers should be well acquainted with the Bulldogs. The district cross country meet is held at the school, and district diving has been held at their natatorium. Big Spring offers one of the most challenging high school cross country courses in central Pa. Mid-Penn Conference to YAIAA: Why make the move? In a presentation to the school board, Big Spring athletic director Scott Penner said the idea of changing leagues did not come lightly. It was brought up in 2016 when the Bulldogs contemplated joining the Tri-Valley League. Advertisement That idea fell through because of increased travel time, lack of support for sports not supported by that league and a more difficult route to District 3 tournaments because of playing much smaller schools. Travel time was also factored in with this move. Penner provided a detailed spreadsheet that broke down this year's travel times with times to potential YAIAA opponents, and in many instances, the new times were shorter. Trips to Susquehannock and Kennard-Dale would be the longest at around 80 minutes. Games at many Adams County locations would average about an hour roundtrip. But the decision really came down to alignment. Advertisement Active participants in the decision-making process, from student-athletes to parents to administrators and coaches, feel Big Spring is better aligned with the YAIAA than the Mid-Penn. They like the league's emphasis on academics, character and sportsmanship. 'We already play many YAIAA schools in our nonconference games and generally speaking, those contests have demonstrated YAIAA and Big Spring's philosophies,' the presentation said. They specifically pointed out the league championships held in every sport except football, recognition of academic all-stars and a newly approved realignment process that will take into consideration geography, competitiveness of programs and enrollment size. Advertisement 'This would allow struggling programs to rebuild, and those highly competitive programs the ability to compete at higher levels,' the presentation said. Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ or on X, formerly Twitter, @ShelStallsmith. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: YAIAA: Cumberland County school Big Spring votes to join league
