The Compton community was dealt a heartbreaking blow after news that Compton High grad Aava Lilomaiava was shot and killed on Wednesday night. Lilomaiva was leader on and off the field for the Tarbabes football team that reached the CIF-SS Division 12 championship game in 2022. “He was dedicated, and a competitor,” Compton coach Calvin […]
Janisa Johnson: 9/22/1991 – 5/25/2024 Wilson and Long Beach State volleyball player Janisa Johnson passed away in late May of cancer at the age of 32. The Long Beach volleyball community was joined in its mourning by the wider volleyball world this week as Johnson’s family announced her passing on her Instagram page. “In loving […]
The Long Beach baseball world and the Long Beach Little League community are in shock and mourning after the sudden passing of local legend Sean Burroughs last night at Stearns Champions Park. Burroughs was a Little League World Series champ, Olympic gold medalist, Wilson Bruin, and MLB player, who passed away at the age of […]
Long Beach Poly and Millikan’s school communities are both mourning the unexpected passing of longtime high school counselor Ryan Temple, who passed in November at the age of 46. An LBUSD counselor for more than 20 years, Temple was known as a bright presence at both schools–after a long stint at Poly, he had recently […]
The Long Beach football community lost a pair of legends last month with the passing of Long Beach Poly alum Dave Levy and St. Anthony alum BI Mais. Both lived long, full lives that were enriched by decades-long association with the sports they loved, and both will leave a hole in the local sports community […]
The Long Beach volleyball world was shocked and is mourning the recent sudden passing of longtime coach Keli Pula. Pula passed away last Friday due to complications from a heart attack. A longtime assistant coach at Poly, Pula was the current girls’ volleyball head coach at St. Anthony, and was well-known and loved by those […]
Everybody was there. I was there with my family–meaning my wife and kids but also JJ and Tyler–and it seemed like just about the rest of the Long Beach sports world was there too, packed into the Wilson High auditorium on a chilly Saturday morning. We weren’t there for a recital or an assembly or […]
The Lakewood football team and the Lancers community are mourning the loss of 17 year-old Khalil Saleem, who was killed Saturday while playing basketball with friends at Silverado Park. Saleem and two men were shot Saturday afternoon during a gunfight between a gunman in a car and another at the courts, according to the Long […]
Keith Hansen: 12/26/1948 – 12/2/2022 Every community is like a tapestry, with many individual threads woven together into a whole. The Long Beach community lost a vital piece of its tapestry last weekend with the unexpected and sudden passing of Keith Hansen, a longtime school administrator, volunteer, and encourager. Hansen was 73 years old, and […]
His accolades were longer than a Langston Hughes poem. If there was a competitive sporting event in Long Beach in the 1960’s, chances are John Rambo was the star. Rambo, who attended Long Beach Poly, Long Beach City College, and Long Beach State, had a passion for basketball and high jumping was a hobby. That […]