MEDIA

Steve Craig of the Portland Press Herald has been honored as the 2022 Maine Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.

Steve Craig

It’s the second time Craig has won been honored by the association. He was named New Hampshire Sportswriter of the Year in 1995.

Dave Peck was voted 2022 Maine Sportscaster of the Year for his work at WVII-TV in Bangor. Craig and Peck were chosen in voting from Maine members of the association.

Award winners from across the country will be honored in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on June 24-26.

TENNIS

Xander Barber of Falmouth High won a national doubles title last week in the boys’ 18-and-under division at the USTA Winter National Championship in Orlando, Florida.

Barber, who moved to Maine from North Carolina last summer, won the title with his doubles partner, Nicholas Mangiapane of North Carolina. Barber was the only doubles champion from New England in any age division, according to the U.S. Tennis Association of New England. He won the national title in the boys’ 16-and-under division last year.

HOCKEY

ECHL: Maine Mariners forward Alex-Olivier Voyer and goalie Kyle Keyser were recalled to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League, and goalie Francois Brassard was reassigned to the Mariners from Providence.

Forward Nick Jermain has departed the team to play in Slovakia.

SOCCER

NWSL: The National Women’s Soccer League permanently banned four coaches Monday as part of disciplinary action taken against several individuals and teams in response to an investigation into alleged abuse and misconduct in the league.

Former North Carolina coach Paul Riley, former Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames, former Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke and former Racing Louisville coach Christy Holly were all banned from coaching in the league. Also, former Utah Royals coach Craig Harrington and former Gotham general manager Alyse LaHue were suspended from working in the NWSL for two years, until Jan. 9, 2025.

The NWSL and its players association announced results late last month of its investigation, which found “widespread misconduct” directed at players dating back to the beginnings of the league nearly a decade ago.

• Portland Thorns assistant Mike Norris has been promoted to head coach to replace Rhian Wilkinson, who resigned after revealing she had developed feelings for a player that she had never acted on.

Norris was an assistant on Wilkinson’s staff last season. He was also an assistant on Coach Bev Priestman’s staff for the gold medal-winning Canadian women’s team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

RETIREMENT: Gareth Bale announced his retirement from soccer at the age of 33, ending the career of one of Britain’s greatest players after winning five Champions League titles and finally getting to play in a World Cup for Wales.

Bale was once the world’s most expensive player when he joined Real Madrid for $132 million in 2013 and, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, was a devastating forward capable of surging runs and brilliant goals with his powerful left foot.

He was a European champion with Madrid in 2014, ’16, ’17, ’18 and last year, before finishing his club career by helping Los Angeles FC win the Major League Soccer title.

Affected by injuries in recent years, he ended his career saving the best performances for his country, for whom he played a record 111 matches and scored a record 41 times.

Key to qualifying Wales for its first World Cup in 64 years, Bale scored in the group stage in Qatar – a penalty against the United States – and his last match was a 3-0 loss to England on Nov. 29.

• World Cup winner Hugo Lloris retired from playing for France after a record 145 appearances.

Lloris won the 2018 World Cup and was captain of the squad that lost to Argentina in the final in Qatar last month.

The 36-year-old goalkeeper told L’Equipe newspaper he will focus on his Tottenham club career in the English Premier League.

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: The six female match officials who worked at the men’s World Cup in Qatar including history maker Stephanie Frappart were also selected by FIFA for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which will have 13 men in the video review team.

French referee Frappart made World Cup history in December handling Germany’s 4-2 win over Costa Rica in the group stage.

Frappart’s assistants for that game, Karen Diaz of Mexico and Neuza Back of Brazil, also will go on to the women’s tournament being played July 20-Aug. 20 in Australia and New Zealand.

Referees Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan and Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda, plus assistant Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States – who worked one of the lines for England’s 3-0 win over Senegal in the round of 16 – are also on FIFA’s list of selected officials.

The 33 referees and 55 assistants are all women though only six women are among the 19 video match officials chosen for the 64-game tournament. The VAR review system made its Women’s World Cup debut at the 2019 tournament in France.

PORTUGAL: Former Belgium coach Roberto Martinez was hired to lead Portugal’s national team and pledged to respect Cristiano Ronaldo’s history with the squad.

The Spaniard replaces Fernando Santos, who quit in December after Portugal’s elimination against Morocco in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Santos left amid the controversy of benching Ronaldo in the knockout stage of the tournament in Qatar.