Youth football season in Southwest Washington kicks off this weekend with a pair of jamborees.
Clark County Youth Football — On Saturday, the Clark County Youth Football jamboree will take place at McKenzie Stadium.
Each team will play at least one 20-minute game during the event, which runs 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
In addition to the mini games for players in grades 2-8, a drive to collect food for the Clark County Food Bank will take place. The Clark County Titans Youth Foundation is organizing the food drive for the fifth year. Each team is encouraged to collect at least 1,500 pounds of food.
Union High School junior Nolan Henry is the food drive coordinator. To learn more, to volunteer, or to donate to the drive, contact Henry at by email at nhenry11@gmail.com or call 360-977-2298.
Pop Warner — The Greater Northwest Conference Pop Warner Jamboree will take place on Sunday, with the first games at 9 a.m. at Kiggins Bowl.
Pop Warner teams are divided by players age and weight, with divisions for ages 5-15. The GNWC features five clubs from Southwest Washington, one from Gresham, Ore., and two from Portland.
Admission to the jamboree costs $3, with kids 8 and younger free.
Hood to Coast Relay
The 32nd Hood to Coast Relay takes place Friday and Saturday.
More than 1,000 teams of 12 runners will cover a 198-mile course from Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood to the beach at Seaside, Ore.
The course does not enter Washington, but plenty of runners from Clark County take place in this summer tradition that began in 1982 with eight teams. The first teams depart Timberline at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, with the last teams leaving the mountain at 6:45 p.m. Friday.
The winning team should reach the beach at mid-day on Saturday.
For the 16th year, 50 teams of high school runners will compete in the 132-mile Portland to Coast High School Challenge. Those teams depart the start, near Oaks Park in southeast Portland, starting at 5 p.m.
The Portland to Coast Walk Relay covers the same course and features 400 teams who start walking between 3 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Friday.
MMA at Roseland, Tacoma; Vancouver fighter seeks MMA title
Jake Smith of Vancouver is among the mixed martial arts combatants scheduled to fight on Saturday during Rumble at The Roseland 73 in Portland. Smith will take on Rod Jaques, the current Full Contact Fighting Federation Superfight champion, the FCFF 185-pound title.
The fight card and ticket information for the Portland event is available at www.thefcff.com.
• CageSport XXVI — Anthony Hamilton will attempt to defend his CageSport MMA heavyweight title against Matt Kovacs (8-11) as part of Saturday’s event at the Emerald Queen Casino. No fighters from Southwest Washington are on the Saturday card. Tickets, starting at $35, are available at the Emerald Queen box office or online through Ticketmaster.
Firstenberg closure
The Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Firstenberg Center will be closed for eight days beginning Monday.
During the closure, extensive maintenance will be done. Most of the building will re-open on Sept. 3, the Tuesday following Labor Day. The gymnasium will remain closed until Sept. 13 to allow time for the re-finished floor to properly set.
UPCOMING EVENTS Area sports events are listed each Friday in The Columbian Sports section. Submit items by email to paul.danzer@columbian.com, or call 360-735-4521.
