Brittany Matsinger, a sixth-grade student at Salem Middle School in Cary, and her brother Michael, a fourth-grader at Mills Park Elementary, and three cousins solicited soccer balls from friends and classmates for Kick for Nick.

The effort honors Nick Madaras, a soccer-loving soldier who died in Iraq.

Soccer balls were also collected in Sparta, N.J. and Berlin, N.J. As of Oct. 20, 200 balls had been collected. The family plans to ship the balls to troops overseas next month.

Inline hockey team wins gold

A group of 10 North Carolina boys claimed the gold medal for their division at State Wars V, a national inline hockey tournament held in Cincinnati in early August. The 1998 team was the second gold medal for North Carolina after the 1991 Team won gold the day before. It was the first time in the history of the tournament that North Carolina teams have taken home the gold.

All players for the state team are selected in open tryouts held in early April. The players met weekly at local rinks to practice together.

Most of the players were drawn from local inline hockey teams.

Each of the teams contributed a player to the All-Star teams: Owen Drugan and Graham Rex . Rex was named MVP in the gold medal game as well.