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(InvestigateTV) — A women’s professional soccer team is hitting new goals with a stadium built specifically for them. InvestigateTV+ examines how their success is fueling a rise in women’s professional sports and inspiring the next generation. Plus, so-called “ghost students” enroll in college to defraud financial aid. We reveal the con haunting some colleges and one potential solution to ward off the costly crime. Kansas City Current’s stadium success sparks nationwide interest in investment in women’s soccer As the tides are turning, a rising Current in Kansas City is helping to fuel change and investment in women’s sports across the country. In the sports world, Kansas City is synonymous with the Chiefs. However, the Kansas City Current are gaining momentum in town playing another kind of football. The city’s women’s professional soccer team has been sold out for every game since opening their new stadium. “We’ve been sold out since we have opened,” said Raven Jemison, Current president. “Every game.” In 2024, the Kansas City Current became the very first women’s soccer team in the world to get their own stadium built for them. The Current has fierce fandom, with onlookers coming from near and far. “We’ve had folks from Denver, Dallas, Wichita, Topeka,” Jemison said. Jemison said part of what brings these fans here is that there’s nothing like this anywhere else in the country. In fact, there’s nothing like this in the world. ‘Ghost Students’: Why this growing scam is spooking students, educators Scammers are cashing in on college aid more and more with the help of fake identities. The accounts associated with these “ghost students” allow the scammers to steal grants, scholarships, and taxpayer dollars. “We’re seeing a huge uptick in the student aid fraud area,” said Jason WIlliams, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations at the U.S. Department of Education. As the school year approaches, Williams has issued warnings to students, faculty and parents to be on alert for ghost students. “So, ghost students are students that don’t exist,” he explained. He said fraudsters will complete an online application to a college or university using aliases or stolen identities. Then they enroll in classes once accepted. Girls’ volleyball participation surges as basketball numbers decline in high schools Girls’ volleyball is seeing a spike. Data from the National Federation of High School Sports shows a steady increase in participation in high school volleyball programs over the last 15 years, with nearly half a million girls on the courts in 2025. However, in some parts of the country, fewer girls are hitting the hardwood to play basketball. Madeline Andrew, a high school senior in Oregon, is serving success with bump, set and spike. “Volleyball is my top priority,” Andrew said. She’s been playing since she was five and is headed to Michigan State University on a full-ride scholarship. Nationwide, more girls are picking up a volleyball, with 25% more hitting the court in the past two decades. Basketball participation is down by a third. Louisiana rock collector unearths hidden gems from ancient volcanic ash Louisiana may be known for its bayous, but among its acres of petrified trees millions of years old, you’ll find some hidden gems. Rick Schermerhorn can spend hours slicing and shaping pieces of rock. When he’s finished, those rocks turn into shiny gemstones that become jewelry, wine bottle stoppers and even bookmarks. The process starts with a big piece of petrified palm wood. “It will automatically feed a piece of palm wood into that saw blade,” Schermerhorn said. “Thirty minutes, that piece of rock will be cut.” Thirty million years ago, Central Louisiana was a coastal marsh. Volcanoes in New Mexico and West Texas sent a cloud of ash eastward and buried the coastal vegetation. “Palm trees got covered up with this volcanic ash and over millions of years the water keeping through the volcanic ash gives this petrified palm wood all the different colors that you see because volcanic ash is nothing but burnt rock,” Schermerhorn said. When most people think about rock hounding and finding gemstones, Louisiana is probably not at the top of the list of where they’re going to go. Submit story tips to our Investigators Share errors or concerns with our Digital Editors Watch full episodes of InvestigateTV+ Subscribe to the InvestigateTV YouTube Channel
