HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-08-03, Page 15Local competitive
soccer team gets
second place in Toronto
area tournament
Justine Alkema
Clinton News Record
A local soccer team has
achieved second place at a
tournament for the highest
league soccer for their age
group. The team, consisting
of youth born in 2003, is a
part of Huron FC, the com-
petitive soccer league for
Huron County. They are
under the umbrella of the
London Athletic Club (LAC),
They played in a large
tournament in Georgetown
on July 22 - 24. The LAC
Spartans made it to the finals
but lost in a close game.
"We were playing
Toronto area teams," said
Huron FC manager Annie
Sparling. "The LAC club has
around 365 players; 65 of
those are from Huron
County. We played clubs
with 500 to 1000 kids and
still came in second, so that
was cool."
Huron FC started two
years ago to provide an
opportunity for higher level
soccer in the county.
"It's pretty exciting for
Huron players to have this
level of soccer available,"
said Sparling. "Our local sys-
tem is good, but it's very cas-
ual; it doesn't allow kids with
gifts for soccer to advance."
This summer, the league
joined the LAC to provide
more opportunity for their
players. This is their first
summer providing outdoor
soccer (they usually do
indoor soccer called futsal,)
so some of their teams
weren't quite big enough;
combining with London
gives them enough players.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016 • Huron Expositor 15
Contributed photo
The LAC Spartans with their trophies for coming second in the highest league soccer for their age
group in Georgetown.
Team members from the
LAC Spartans are half from
Huron County and half from
London.
In London, there are doz-
ens of competitive soccer
clubs. People pay upwards
of $2000 per season to have
their children play with
Review: Anything Goes at Huron Country Playhouse
Joe Belanger
The LondonFree Press
Postmedia Network
Wooing an heiress still
more fun than going to work
in Anything Goes
It's tough to find a place in
today's world where any-
thing goes.
So, if you were wondering
what the world was like before
political correctness, the Inter-
net and social media, drop by
Huron Country Playhouse
where the Broadway classic
Anything Goes is on stage.
Drayton Entertainment's
production of the show, fea-
turing the music and lyrics of
Cole Porter, is like taking a
step back in time to when
silly was funny, romance was
romance and the show was
as much about the dance
moves and catchy tunes as it
was about the story.
Anything Goes is bril-
liantly directed and choreo-
graphed by Michael
Lichtefeld, with musical
direction by Jeannie Wyse.
It tells the story of young
Wall Street broker Billy
Crocker (Patrick Cook) who
is love with an heiress, Hope
Harcourt (Keely Hutton)
sailing on the same ocean
liner as his boss (the wealthy
Eli Whitney played by Keith
Savage) accompanied by her
mother, Evangeline (Karen
K. Edissi) and her fiance
Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Tim
Funnell) whom she plans to
marry in England.
Crocker is supposed to get
off the ship to make a major
business deal for his boss,
but stays on board to pursue
Hope.
He meets up with a friend,
Reno Sweeney (Jayne Arm-
strong), an Evangelist turned
nightclub singer, and fellow
stowaways, gangster Moon -
face Martin (Sheldon Davis)
and his moll, Erma Latour
(Lee -Anne Galloway).
They're all enlisted to help
Crocker get his girl, keep him
out of sight of his boss and
the crew (who are searching
for stowaways and a gang-
ster) and control Lord Oak-
leigh so Crocker can spend
time with Hope.
The story is clear through-
out the show, which features
several outstanding song
and dance routines, espe-
cially the last number of the
first act with the entire com-
pany on stage for the title
song, Anything Goes, fol-
lowed by Blow, Gabriel,
Blow in the second act.
The choreography, of It's
De -lovely, featuring Cook
and Hutton, is wonderful.
However, Cook's vocals are
uneven throughout the song
and show, sometimes gar-
bled and too soft at the lower
end, and verging on shrill at
the high end.
Armstrong, as Reno, is the
star of this show. Her acting,
dancing and singing are
inspiring. She owned the
stage every moment she was
on it, her every move and
word, spoken or sung, natu-
ral, fluid and believable.
Also a delight is Funnell,
in his Drayton debut, as the
slightly dimwitted, shallow,
rakish and fun -loving Lord
Oakleigh, whose attention is
soon drawn to the pretty but
less refined, Reno. Likewise,
Davis is solid as Moonface,
also known as Public Enemy
No. 13 and falling.
The balance of the main
cast give solid, believable
performances that help
make this wonderful 1934
musical feel fresh, although
there's no denying the often
zany, silly humour is dated.
The two-storey set is very
good, sparse enough to leave
room for dancing and other
shenanigans
This is a slick, entertaining
production. While dated, the
7MI1:i tti
catchy, clever Cole Porter
score, backed by tremen-
dous choreography and a
talented cast led by Arm-
strong, make this a perfect,
mid -summer romp that lov-
ers of musicals will enjoy.
jbelanger@postmedia.com
If you go:
What: Anything Goes,
presented by Dray-
ton Entertainment
Where: Huron Coun-
try Playhouse, 70689
B Line, Grand Bend
When: Now in pre-
view with official open-
ing July 24 and con-
tinuing until Aug. 6
Information: For tick-
ets and show times, visit
the box office ordrayto-
nentertainment.com or
call 519-238-6000.
Rating: **'* (out of five)
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great teams and great
coaches. Before Huron FC,
Huron didn't have any com-
petitive clubs, which
shocked coaches from Lon-
don. It was an "untapped
market" at the time. In only
two years, Huron FC already
has 65 kids in the league.
1
Experienced coaches from
London come up twice a
week to train Huron FC
players.
The club will be hosting a
training camp on the Lower
Christian Soccer Field in
Clinton from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
on August 9 -12.
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