Happy Monday, Delco.

There's a story we need to catch you up on — one that involves a Ridley Park kid who spent a decade with the Flyers, moved on to Minnesota, and then ended up on the bench in Milan when Team USA won its first men's hockey gold since the Miracle on Ice. We'll get into it below, and it deserves every word.

Otherwise: it's a gray early-March Monday. Temps are hovering in the low-to-mid 40s, climbing toward 50 by midweek. Spring is close. You can almost smell it.

In today's edition:

— Kevin, From Ridley to Radnor

John Worley grew up in Ridley Park. He went to West Chester University. He then spent a decade as the Philadelphia Flyers' head athletic trainer — working in the same hallways as Bobby Clarke and Paul Holmgren, for an organization he'd loved since childhood. He eventually moved to the Minnesota Wild, becoming their Head Athletic Trainer. And a few weeks ago, when Jack Hughes scored in overtime and Team USA claimed its first men's hockey gold since 1980, Worley was on the bench.

"I just remember the complete excitement," Worley told CBS Philadelphia, "throwing my arms up in the air and jumping up and down."

He served as part of Team USA's hockey operations staff at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, responsible for keeping the roster healthy across a grueling tournament. They stayed healthy all the way through overtime of the gold medal game against Canada. His brother still lives in Ridley Park. His sister lives in Aston.

From watching the Flyers win Cups as a kid, to training their players, to a Team USA gold medal in Italy. That's a Delco career. Read the full story at CBS Philadelphia.

The first round of the PIAA state basketball tournament wrapped up over the weekend, and Delaware County had a lot to cheer for — and a few tough exits. Sixteen Delco squads earned bids across multiple classifications, and the first round played out Friday and Saturday.

The marquee act was Archbishop Carroll's girls (21-5, riding a 16-game win streak), the District 12 champion in Class 6A, hosting Bensalem. Carroll is gunning to return to the state final for the first time since 2023, when they won it all. The Carroll boys — atop the Class 4A bracket at 14-10 — also hosted, welcoming Wyomissing. On the boys' Class 5A side, Radnor (17-8) was the top seed and played at home against Lampeter-Strasburg. Marple Newtown advanced behind a strong performance from senior Milliken. Garnet Valley's boys fell to a hot-shooting Imhotep Charter squad.

Full first-round results and second-round matchups are at delcotimes.com. State championships begin the weekend of March 19–22.

There is a painful irony playing out right now in the William Penn School District. The district — serving students in Darby, Lansdowne, Yeadon, Colwyn, East Lansdowne, and Aldan — was the lead plaintiff in the landmark 2023 case that found Pennsylvania's school funding system unconstitutional. They fought for years. They won.

And now they're staring down a $9.2 million budget deficit. (WHYY)

The problem is timing. Rising charter school tuition, growing special education costs, and salary increases are outpacing the new state dollars coming in. The district is owed $28 million in "adequacy gap" payments — but spread over nine years. To close the gap in the near term, officials have floated cutting arts programs and athletics. (WHYY)

For thousands of students in some of Delco's most underserved communities, that's a brutal place to land after years of legal fighting.

If you've driven past Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square recently, you've noticed things look different. Temporary infrastructure is going up for the 2026 PGA Championship (May 11–17), and members have been locked out since November as construction crews work the property. (Delco.Today)

The event is expected to draw 200,000 spectators and generate approximately $125 million for the regional economy. Pennsylvania has provided $600,000 in tourism grants to support it. And when you stack the PGA on top of FIFA World Cup matches in Philadelphia this summer and the MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park in July, 2026 is shaping up to be the most consequential year for regional sports tourism in a very long time. Aronimink is ready for its moment.