Sports organizations appreciate your holiday help, too

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What's happening in your sport?

Post your own team photo at share.triangle.com/play

The free online edition of Play! permits you to share accomplishments; to announce tryouts, camps, tournaments and other events; to show off team or action photos; and to find help or to share your knowledge. Register first at share.triangle.com , then go to share.triangle.com/play to post photos and news. You'll also find a guide to the Triangle's recreational sports scene. Below are highlights that were posted first on the online Play! page.

THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

From Taking Stock

Retail reporter and coupon queen Sue Stock offers news, deals and advice on her blog, Taking Stock. We run excerpts of her best stuff here. For her full report, or to share a tip, visit takingstock.newsobserver.com.

Track your savings

Last year about this time, I shared with readers of Taking Stock a simple spreadsheet for tracking your savings using coupons and buying on sale. My totals are on the left-hand side of my blog, all combined more than $4,600. For those of you who wish to try this, I've posted the blank Excel spreadsheet that I used to track my savings on my blog. The first "tab" is the actual spreadsheet, and the second tab is the directions on how to use it. (To change tabs, look toward the bottom of the page and click on the tab you want.)

Triathlon icon will visit Raleigh

Whether you compete in or just follow triathlon, you will have the opportunity to hear one of the sport's all-time greats in Raleigh on Sunday.

Six-time Ironman world champion Dave Scott will speak at the North Carolina Triathlon Series awards banquet at the Hilton North Raleigh hotel.

"Dave is an inspiration to all of the athletes in our sport, including over 14,000 registered Triathletes from North Carolina, and his presence will make this year's Awards Banquet particularly memorable for all who attend," said Bill Scott, president of Set Up Events and the series director.

HAVE YOU CHOSEN A SUMMER CAMP YET?

Recreational athletes in the Triangle can learn more about their favorite sports or about sports new to them by participating in a summer camp. You'll find dozens of listings in the Calendar on this page or in the expanded calendar at share.triangle.com/playcal .

This week's highlights

Baseball: The 10U Rolesville Rockets won all four of their games and the championship at the April 18-19 Top Gun Spring State Championship in Durham. The Rockets defeated the Fury of Wake Forest 8-4 in the title game.

Lacrosse has loyal following

Like soccer before it, another nontraditional sport is exploding in schools across the Triangle: the fast-paced Native American game of lacrosse.

On Saturday, as hockey fans watched the Carolina Hurricanes compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs, hundreds of boys and several girls crossed sticks and hurled balls across the grassy fields of Cary's SAS Stadium, a soccer mecca where high school lacrosse championships followed a day of all-star exhibition games of middle-schoolers.

"I gave up soccer, baseball and basketball," said Graham Kawula, 14, of Chapel Hill, a goalie on the Durham Blues all-star team. "I focus all my attention on lacrosse now. It's the thrill of it."