Former state champion Derek Nesland will be featured speaker at The Columbian All-Region Sports Awards ceremony on Wednesday

Sports is a language that unites the world.

Across the globe, humans play in pursuit of fitness, camaraderie and excellence.

That's of course true here in Southwest Washington. At every high school, teenagers from different backgrounds, beliefs and economic tier break down those barriers through their sports.

After all, how often does a young person's first true encounter with someone from a different community happen because they were teammates?

Sports as a unifying force is the theme of The Columbian's third annual All-Region Awards Ceremony, which will be held Wednesday, June 17 at the Skyview High School auditorium.

This event honors not only the excellence of Southwest Washington's best athletes. It celebrates how, through sports, the people who don their team's jersey represent that school's larger community in all its nuance.

And who better to give voice to how sports can unite the world than our featured speaker Derek Nesland.

Before he played professional basketball in 14 different countries, Nesland was a standout high school athlete from Southwest Washington.

Though we didn't call it All-Region back then, Nesland was part of The Columbian's Super Five basketball team. He led Evergreen's undefeated state championship team in 1995 and earned all-state honors in 1996.

After four years of what would be a Hall of Fame career at Portland State, Derek embarked on an international pro basketball career. In that time, he learned how sports bridge cultural divides and highlight our common humanity.

In 2006, Derek and his wife, Selene, founded Courts For Kids. The non-profit's premise is simple yet profound - that a simple concrete sports court can serve a vital purpose for the people living in communities big and small.

Since then, thousands of student volunteers have partnered with more than 260 communities in 33 countries to build courts that become places of gathering and recreation.

Those American students work hand-in-hand with locals in the community. They share the labor, from hauling gravel and water to pouring concrete. They share the food, which is deliciously and generously prepared by local families. And after the court is finished, they share in games from basketball, to volleyball to soccer.

And when the students return home, they do so with the knowledge that something as simple as a hoop, a ball or a goal can break down barriers between people from all corners of the world.

The 2025-26 school year has seen plenty of excellence from the nearly 250 athletes who earned All- Region status in their sports. From the fall through spring, 20 teams returned from state tournaments with hardware to make their school's trophy cases a little more crowded.

The season concluded with six All-Region athletes winning championships and two setting meet records at the state track and field meet.

But the sports journey doesn't end with the high school season. In a way, it's just beginning. For these All-Region athletes, the lessons of discipline, resilience and teamwork that will guide their future, no matter where in the world they go.

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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 7:20 AM.