Three-time Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka of Japan has invested in the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) to become a team owner, the U.S. top-flight club said Thursday.

"The women who have invested in me growing up made me who I am today, I don't know where I would be without them," Osaka, the world No. 3, wrote on Twitter.

"Throughout my career I've always received so much love from my fellow female athletes, so that's why I am proud to share that I am now an owner of the NC Courage."

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Osaka, 23, was named Forbes' highest-paid female athlete in May last year when she surpassed her idol Serena Williams, raking in $37.4 million in prize money and endorsements over 12 months.

The Courage won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 after moving to North Carolina.

Stephen Malik, chairman and founder of the club in 2017, said: "I am thrilled to welcome Naomi as an owner of the North Carolina Courage.

"She brings an invaluable viewpoint on topics beyond sports. I cannot think of anyone better to help us as we continue to make a difference in our community and inspire the next generation of women."

Osaka, who won the US Open last year, has used her standing in the sport to fight for racial justice. At every round of the tournament in New York, she wore masks bearing the names of Black Americans who died as a result of racial injustice and police brutality.

The ACC plans to return to its normal eight-conference-game, divisional format -- with Notre Dame as an independent -- when the 2021 football season kicks off in September, the league announced Thursday.

In its release, the league noted that return to play and the schedule as released are contingent on COVID-19 guidelines. This past season, the ACC made changes to its schedule in order to be able to play during the coronavirus pandemic, including Notre Dame as a full-time conference member and playing 10 league games.

With an expected return to a more normal season, Notre Dame returns to its five-game scheduling partnership, and the league decided to play the 2021 season as originally scheduled. As a result, there are several repeat site games from 2019 and 2020.

Clemson, again expected to be the overwhelming favorite to win the ACC, opens the season against Georgia on Sept. 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina, in yet another return to normalcy in a highly anticipated marquee nonconference game with College Football Playoff implications.

Though the ACC did play one nonconference game in 2020, the SEC did not -- and the various SEC vs. ACC matchups throughout the entire schedule will most certainly be welcomed. In addition to the four traditional ACC vs. SEC rivalry games to close the regular season, the schedule also features Miami against Alabama in Atlanta on Sept. 4 and Louisville against Ole Miss in Atlanta on Labor Day night, Sept. 6. Pitt plays at Tennessee in Week 2.

The Tigers open the ACC schedule against Georgia Tech on Sept. 18, and also have a Friday night game at Syracuse on Oct. 15. Their game against Florida State -- which was canceled in 2020 hours before kickoff -- is scheduled for Oct. 30 in Clemson.

Notre Dame opens the season at Florida State on Sunday, Sept. 5. The Irish will also play Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech in 2021 -- and the game against the Tar Heels could provide yet another showdown between two teams with College Football Playoff hopes.

The season opens with five days of ACC football, starting with a Thursday night matchup between NC State and USF. The biggest conference game of opening weekend is North Carolina at Virginia Tech, two teams expected to compete for the Coastal Division title, to be played either Sept. 2 or Sept. 3.

North Carolina and Wake Forest will once again play a nonconference game on Nov. 6, in an arrangement that was made several years ago in order for the two teams to play each other more often.

The Atlantic and Coastal Division winners will play in the ACC championship game in Charlotte on Dec. 4.

HOUSTON -- Quarterback Deshaun Watson has requested a trade from the Houston Texans, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Thursday.

Watson made the request to the team weeks ago, sources told ESPN.

The Texans' new head coaching hire, David Culley, has not and will not alter Watson's thinking, sources told ESPN.

Watson hasn't spoken to new Texans general manager Nick Caserio or executive Jack Easterby, sources told ESPN.

Watson, who signed a four-year, $156 million contract extension in September, is under contract through the 2025 season. He has a no-trade inclusion in his contract, but given the length of his contract and the possibility of franchise-tagging him for three years, the Texans could choose not to trade him and would have control of his rights through the 2028 season.

The trade request comes after Watson was reportedly unhappy with the process used by the team to hire Caserio in early January.

After Watson signed his contract extension last year, he was emotional as he discussed how happy he was to commit to the franchise and the city.

"It's just an amazing moment for me to be able to extend my career in a location, in a place, in a home, I would say, that my family loves, that I love," Watson said in September. "I want to continue to dive into the community most of all and just continue to build my legacy, just build our legacy as a whole and do something that we've never done before."

Watson set career-highs this past season in passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage. He also threw a career-low seven interceptions. His 33 touchdowns and 4,823 passing yards were also single-season franchise records.

The quarterback's best individual season came in a season where the team went 4-12 and fired head coach and general manager Bill O'Brien after an 0-4 start.

Although he has played only four seasons (54 games), Watson's 104 passing touchdowns and 14,539 passing yards rank second in Texans franchise history behind Matt Schaub (124 touchdowns and 23,221 passing yards in 90 games).

Watson is currently the NFL's all-time leader in completion percentage behind New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. In 2020, he became just the 11th player in NFL history to complete at least 70% of his passes in a single season.

Lock Will Rowlands will leave Wasps to join Dragons for the start of the 2021-22 season, ensuring he can continue to be available for Wales.

Wales' rule that players with fewer than 60 caps cannot play for Wales if based outside the country, would have affected Rowlands once his current contract ended.

"It's a new chapter for me," he said.

"I'm very excited by the move. Having only played my rugby at one club, so I'm looking forward to some new experiences and challenging myself in a new environment.

"It's a young group at Dragons with some real potential that has already made good strides forward under Dean [Ryan] and the rest of the coaches."

Dragons director of rugby Ryan said: "Will is a proven force who has produced consistent and impressive performances for Wasps in the English Premiership over a number of years.

"He's an athletic and powerful second row who has also shown his ability to be making the step up to international level with Wales over the last 12 months."

After seven seasons at Wasps, Rowlands has joined fellow Wales forward Tomas Francis in choosing country over an English club.

Francis will leave Exeter at the end of the season to join Ospreys.

He and Rowlands are in the Wales squad for the 2021 Six Nations.

OCALA, Fla. – Rain moving across Central Florida in the late afternoon and evening hours forced the cancellation of the Wednesday night Sunshine Swing Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco opener at Bubba Raceway Park.

The decision was made at 5 p.m. Teams who had purchased Wednesday wristbands must bring them back to the track for admission on Thursday.

The scheduled Locals Night granting Florida residents free admission into the grandstand has been postponed to Thursday night, as well.

The mini-series kicked off Tuesday night with a well-attended Open Practice session at the Ocala three-eighths-mile track with 46 STSS Modifieds and 36 STSS Crate 602 Sportsman checking into the pit area.

Attention now turns to Thursday night, with the STSS Modifieds racing 35 laps for $5,000 to win in the historic 100th series event. STSS Crate 602 Sportsman race 25 laps for $1,700 to win.

Pit bands can be exchanged starting at 2 p.m. The pits will be cleared by 4 p.m. Grandstand gates open at 5 p.m. The drivers’ meeting will take place at 5 p.m. Track run-in begins at 5:30 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled for 6 p.m. and racing gets underway at 7 p.m.

Grandstand admission is $25. Kids 12 and under are free. Florida residents must present ID for free admission. Those unable to attend in person can watch the action live via SPEED SPORT TV affiliate Dirt Track Digest TV.

GIBSONTON, Fla. – Rain arrived during the second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series B Main on Wednesday at East Bay Raceway Park, forcing track and series officials to postpone the remainder of the program.

The remainder of Wednesday’s program will be run following the conclusion of Thursday’s regularly scheduled Winternationals program.

Qualifying, six heat races and one B Main had been completed prior to Mother Nature’s intervention on Wednesday. Mark Whitener set the overall fast time with a 14.263-second lap.

Heat race victories went to Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Wil Herrington, Whitener, Jimmy Owens and Brandon Overton. Tony Jackson Jr. won the first B Main that was completed prior to the storm’s arrival.

LONDON – A month before the 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season opens in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 26-27, Formula E and the FIA have revealed the set of races to follow the night-time doubleheader in the desert.

First up will be a return to the Italian capital of Rome and the EUR district for round three on April 10.

Round four brings a new race location to the calendar with the debut of the Valencia E-Prix at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, where pre-season testing has taken place for the past three seasons. This first competitive Spanish outing will be on April 24 and will use a new circuit configuration designed especially for Formula E.

The Monaco E-Prix will be round five of the 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on May 8, marking the fourth biennial race in the Principality.

For round six, Formula E will return to the backdrop of the Atlas Mountains in Marrakesh on May 22, racing in Africa at the international circuit Moulay El Hassan for a fifth successive season.

The championship then moves to the Americas for the Santiago E-Prix double-header on June 5-6.

The current health and safety considerations make the specific organisation of the Paris E-Prix around Les Invalides too complex this year. Therefore, it has been agreed with the city of Paris to plan instead for next season. Formula E’s races in Sanya and Seoul will not take place in March and May, respectively, as originally envisaged. They have been postponed and a decision on these events will be confirmed with the remainder of the calendar in early spring.

“We are committed to delivering a global calendar that befits our first season as a World Championship,” said Formula E CEO Jamie Reigle. “We are working closely with all our partners across teams, manufacturers, sponsors, broadcasters and host cities to adapt to external circumstances and ensure the health and safety of everyone involved. We will do so while maintaining what fans love most about Formula E: unpredictable racing, iconic locations and the blend of the real and virtual worlds, all underpinned by our race for better futures.”

All calendar updates depend on travel restrictions, as well as local government protocols and are subject to approval of the FIA World Motor Sport Council.

After Charlie McAvoy finished his sophomore finals at Boston University in 2017, he decided to become a professional hockey player. The teenager signed an amateur tryout agreement and drove to Providence, Rhode Island.

"The Bruins were looking to do a model that Zach Werenski did a year before," McAvoy says. "Which is to leave college, go play in the AHL playoffs, get your feet wet there, then the next year try to make the [NHL] team out of camp."

When he showed up to the rink for his fifth minor league game, McAvoy was told not to dress. The Bruins were down two of their top defensemen, Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo, entering a playoff series against the Ottawa Senators. They needed McAvoy, now. He made a pit stop to his dorm room to pick up a suit and his passport, and the next thing he knew he was being introduced to his new teammates. "[Zdeno Chara], [Brad] Marchand, Patrice [Bergeron], Krug, all these guys I grew up watching playing hockey at a level that was so crazy to think that you would ever get there," he says.

The veterans imparted one piece of advice to their newest teammate: "No pressure. Just play. Play hockey, that's it. Nothing changes. Play hockey the same way that got you to this point."

"They tried to play down the scene," McAvoy says. "Which is hard, when your first game was in the Stanley Cup playoffs."

McAvoy was paired with the captain, Chara -- who made his NHL debut in 1997, a month before McAvoy was born. McAvoy played the second-most minutes of any skater in his debut, and finished the series with three assists, nine blocked shots and a whopping 26:12 minutes per game of ice time. Boston lost in six games, but McAvoy got his first experience of why NHL players, coaches and executives often describe the Bruins' culture as so unique.

The Bruins also flew out McAvoy's parents to Ottawa for his NHL debut. And after the game, mother Jen along with father Charlie McAvoy Sr. got the same familial treatment their son received.

"In the family room after the game, Charlie wasn't really sure how to introduce us," McAvoy Sr. says. "But all of the veterans, they'd give him a wink, or come up to us and say hello. Charlie wasn't sure how to handle himself just yet, but it was so clear there were these great leaders he could follow."

That continued after the postseason run was over.

"Bergeron usually has everyone over to his house at the end of the season, to let loose," McAvoy says. "And he invited me, which is cool and made me feel special."

An NHL season is a long and taxing grind. The rookie had battled with his teammates for only a fraction of the journey, but it didn't matter. That McAvoy battled at all meant he was one of them.

"The team also does a little end-of-the-year weekend trip," McAvoy says. "I was going to go back to school, and the guys were like, 'You're absolutely invited, we want you to be there.' That was neat for me, seeing how inclusive they were. Knowing them for a week and a half, I already felt so close to them."

Life in the NHL can come fast, and less than four years later, the 23-year-old McAvoy is now the face of the Bruins' defense. The Bruins let Chara and Krug walk in free agency, hoping to retool the blue line on the fly. That left McAvoy, the No. 14 pick of the 2016 draft, as the team's obvious No. 1 option (through six games, he's averaging five more minutes per game than any teammate.)

At 6 feet, 208 pounds, McAvoy blends the size and physicality of a prototypical shutdown defenseman with the speed and agility of a next-gen blueliner. He's already a decent puck mover but admits his goal for the 2021 season is "to shoot the puck more" and "challenge myself to be a bigger part of the offense."

At next year's Beijing Olympics -- where NHL players are scheduled to return after a hiatus in 2018 -- McAvoy is a leading candidate to make Team USA and could team up with Werenski, Seth Jones, Quinn Hughes and Jaccob Slavin to form one of the most dynamic young blue lines the country has ever seen. "Playing in the Olympics would be something so special," he says. "It's always been a dream of mine, and something I would take incredible pride in."

McAvoy's ascent has been a steady one, and he has been poised for a bigger spotlight for some time. It was becoming apparent toward the end of last season.

"You're seeing a bit of the passing of the torch now right, like Charlie is playing more minutes, playing in all situations, things that Zee did years ago in his prime," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said in August. "So that's an interesting dynamic as well, how they help each other. And there's really no competition in that regard, so maybe like a big brother-little brother kind of thing."

Which is exactly how McAvoy views it.

"Zee kind of played the role of player-coach in a way, because there were so many teaching moments," McAvoy says. "We had three great years of playing together, which I will never, ever take it for granted."

Chara signed a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals. After Washington's first game, McAvoy immediately searched online for the box score.

"I saw he played about 20 minutes, and I was so happy for him, because I know the biggest thing is he's such a competitor," McAvoy says. "Not really sure about the logistics of what went into the decision [to not re-sign Chara], but I know he has a belief he can contribute, and to see him to get an opportunity to do so, I'm just so happy for him. He's so easy to root for. It's going to be so weird seeing him line up on the other side, but I'll be the first one to find him after the game and give him a big hug."

The Bruins will travel to Washington to take on Chara and the Capitals for a two-game set starting Saturday.

McAvoy grew up in Long Beach, New York, the former training site of the New York Rangers. His father co-owns McAvoy Plumbing with his brother.

"My grandfather started the business in the 1920s," McAvoy Sr. says. "And my dad used to work for all the Rangers players and coaches, the old guard, which was pretty neat."

Though Charlie Jr. was born three years after the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup, he would spend hours as a kid mesmerized while rewatching their championship on VHS again and again.

McAvoy Sr. was big on the street hockey scene and used to play daily with John Ferguson Jr., the former Rangers coach and executive who now, coincidentally, is an executive with the Bruins. McAvoy Jr. grew up idolizing his father.

"His blue-collar attitude and the way he approaches life was everything, and I saw how hard he worked every day to give our family everything that we needed," McAvoy Jr. says. "It's something I have an even bigger appreciation for as I gain perspective and grow up."

McAvoy has three sisters, whom he calls "my biggest fans and my best friends." He's proud to report his older sister, Kayla, is getting her masters. His younger sisters, Heather and Holly, are twins and seniors in high school. While Holly is still figuring out her college plans, Heather has committed to play hockey at St. Anselm in New Hampshire.

"It's so cool because it's an hour drive [from Boston] and I can zoom up there on a Friday or a Saturday, if we're not playing, and watch her games," he says. According to his father, McAvoy Jr. was diligent about streaming his sister's games this past season.

McAvoy always had compassion for others. In second grade, one of his classmates witnessed her father kill her mother. The girl was an only child, dealing with unimaginable trauma. The teacher called up the McAvoys and asked if Charlie would look after the girl, and help comfort her through this. "It was amazing," McAvoy Sr. says. "The whole year he sat next to her, and never left her side."

McAvoy was coached by his father beginning at age 5. He played all sports and hung out with all the kids in the neighborhood, but hockey was always his favorite. "I'd come home from work, and his hockey bag would be at the door," McAvoy Sr. says. "He'd be like, 'Dad, dad, we have to get to the rink.'" McAvoy was always a strong skater, and he started to stand out as he grew older.

He started to get noticed, and had dreams of playing for Team USA. But he wasn't invited to the first U.S. National Team Development Program 44-player camp in 2013.

The list came out when the father and son were driving to Canada for a tournament. As McAvoy read through the list of other players who made the cut, he was dejected.

"It was heartbreaking for him," McAvoy Sr. says. "I said, 'Charlie, don't worry. Just keep working hard, and everything will be OK.'"

McAvoy played well in the tournament, with plenty of scouts in attendance. All the while, USNTDP coach Don Granato got a call from one of his friends -- Pat Dapuzzo, a long-time NHL lineman and scout for the Maple Leafs.

"You missed a kid in my area," said the New Jersey-based Dapuzzo. "This kid is phenomenal."

Within 24 hours, Granato got another call from someone who watched McAvoy in Canada. Another ringing endorsement. A week later, a player dropped out and McAvoy was added to the roster.

He has been on a star track ever since.

The Bruins have a storied tradition of No. 1 defensemen, from Eddie Shore (a four-time Hart Trophy winner) to Bobby Orr (the only defenseman in league history to win two scoring titles) to Brad Park and Ray Bourque (both Hall of Famers) to, of course, Chara. That McAvoy is next in line isn't something he takes lightly, and it's quite helpful that he's represented by the Orr agency.

McAvoy met Orr for the first time in 2016 in Florida, ahead of his draft year. "He's larger than life in my eyes, the best defenseman to ever play the game," McAvoy says. "And I couldn't believe what a gentleman he was, and how kind he was."

McAvoy hopes to carry on that tradition of humility, even if his game isn't exactly muted. Take, for example, last year's first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes. With Boston trailing 2-1 in the third period, McAvoy laid a clean -- albeit crushing -- open-ice check on Canes captain Jordan Staal, which shifted the game's energy and helped spark a Bruins comeback.

Boston's second-round exit to the Tampa Bay Lightning, with the last loss coming in double overtime, stung. The team had made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019 and won the Presidents' Trophy for the league's best record last season. But after the results of the 2020 postseason, it was clear that time was ticking for the aging core. Chara and Krug left, and David Krejci's contract expires after this season.

"All I wanted as a kid was to win a Stanley Cup," McAvoy says. "To get that close and not win was incredibly heartbreaking. The experience is something I know I'll rely on. I'm just so motivated to work hard and get back there."

McAvoy is on the second of a three-year bridge deal that pays him $4.9 million annually. He bought a condo in Boston in October 2019, and when the season was paused due to COVID-19 six months later, he felt like he finally had time to finish tasks around his place. He -- like many of us -- also did all of his workouts on a yoga mat in the living room.

"It was kind of easy, looking at it from a different lens, because there was no travel, there was no anything, there was barely leaving the house," McAvoy says. "So from a workout and diet perspective, it was really easy. I was going to the grocery store, planning all my meals, doing all the things I needed to be a good professional. It can be hard when you're on the road and feeling like you're moving around all the time."

And when he returned from the bubble in Toronto, he had time to reflect on how far he has come -- and still would like to go. After all, it seems like just months ago McAvoy was making his debut in Ottawa. McAvoy Sr. will never forget coming to greet his son immediately after the game.

"Dad," his son said, grinning and a bit breathless. "I just played in the NHL."

Rodrigo Alain Cuevas, a striker of Mexican third division club Ciervos Chalco FC, has had his left leg amputated after suffering severe injuries following an accident in his home.

The club said in a statement on Jan. 23 that Cuevas, 27, had suffered third degree burns from a high-voltage electrical discharge.

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Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cuevas was prevented from being treated in Mexico City and was transferred to the Sinaloan town of Culiacan where he was operated three days after the incident.

"When I suffered the accident, none of the hospitals in the [city of] Mexico could admit me because they were full of COVID-19 [cases]," Cuevas wrote on social media. "Thanks to a contact, I was transferred by ambulance to Culiacan, where I was admitted."

Cuevas posted a photograph on Facebook from his hospital bed after the operation giving a thumbs up and wrote: "My left foot was shattered. The surgeon and the doctors, as they should be, were honest and direct with me and my parents.

"What they told us was that my foot had to be amputated because it was too infected and if it was not operated on, it would put my life at risk.

"At first my parents didn't want to, they wanted a second opinion, because they know what soccer means to me but the doctors said there was no time.

"In that moment thousands of things were going through my head, I thought that my football career was over, that it was short, I thought of all the sacrifices that I went through to step on a pitch professionally.

"I made the decision because I am of legal age to have my left foot amputated, and at that moment I had a great life lesson, that although you love doing something so much, practicing a sport, or "X" whatever you do, you should never put it above your life.

"I want to thank all the people that have helped me financially to pay for the medical costs, I will be eternally grateful."

Cuevas has played two league games for Ciervos this season.

Manchester United have branded supporters who racially abused Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe on social media following the 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United on Wednesday as "mindless idiots."

The club issued a statement on Thursday to say they were "disgusted" by the messages received by Martial and Tuanzebe and urged social media companies to take more action to protect users on their platforms.

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Captain Harry Maguire posted a message on Twitter to say the squad "will not tolerate" any form of racism while defender Brandon Williams branded the abuse sent to Martial and Tuanzebe as "disgusting behaviour."

The statement issued by United read: "Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse received by players via social media after last night's game.

"We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also.

"Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our All Red All Equal initiative.

"Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic. We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour."