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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-09-13, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012.Sports Nichol to train future Olympic volleyball players He was born in the picturesque village of Brussels, went to high school down the highway in Wingham and now Josh Nichol could have a say in developing Canada’s future Olympic volleyball players. Depending on how you look at the task, Nichol – and colleagues across the country – can only improve things – especially at the men’s level where Canada hasn’t had a team at the Summer Olympics in the past 20 years. At the world championship two years ago, Canada finished in 19th place. At the Pan Am Games, a smaller international event, the results were better with bronze medals – but that was in 1979 in San Juan and again in Winnipeg in 1999. Nichol, when he’s not working at the Ontario Volleyball Association, is the head coach of the men’s team at George Brown College. And when Toronto’s downtown post-secondary institution had an opportunity to grab a few dollars from Volleyball Canada via the nationally-funded “Own The Podium” program and establish a Centre for Excellence in the country’s largest city, Nichol got the nod to make some magic. In other words, work with high school-age athletes and develop high performance male and female athletes. “It’s certainly a great opportunity to work on fundamentals and build our future athletes and programs for international competition,” said Nichol, who is also completing his Level Three of the National Coaching Certification Program. “As a country, we have consistently fallen short and our men’s teams have made the Summer Olympics only three times. Now, we have something special at George Brown that could improve things - our goal is to help young athletes (boys and girls) use this as a pathway to the National team.” A left-side hitter when he played high school and club, Nichol was a former two-time Huron-Perth area league all-star, and team MVP in his senior year at F.E. Madill Secondary School. Sometime after that, the focus changed from playing to coaching – something he has done for the past nine years. Nichol, who denied the program was designed to recruit athletes to George Brown College, said Canada has some very talented individual male and female volleyball players, but there was a drastic need for improvement. Volleyball Canada has set up a series of Centres, similar to George Brown, across the country. The University of Waterloo has the only other program in Ontario. Emphasis is put on nutrition, strength, conditioning and fundamentals of the sport. Nichol said open tryouts were held in June and September. Later this month, the 13-week program begins at George Brown with one for those in Grades 8 and 9 while another is aimed for students in Grades 10, 11 and 12. Nichol said the program is not only attracting players from the Greater Toronto Area – but also from Newmarket and Barrie – and at least one student is using it as a school credit. Lacey Hrynyk lives in Barrie, and is in her graduating year at Innisdale Secondary School, and said the one- hour commute to George Brown College – twice a week – is well worth it. “I hope to play for Canada one day and when this kind of coaching is available free – it makes sense to benefit from it,” said the 17-year old, a 5-foot-9 left-side hitter and libero. “I like the strength and conditioning component, but really can’t go wrong with the coaching and in smaller groups. It’s also a school credit for me.” Nichol will coach the men while Matt Harris will deal with the female program. “We have lots of work to do – and the development of great players doesn’t happen overnight,” said Nichol. “One day, we hope to do well at the Olympics and maybe we’ll be able to look back and say we had a say in the development of those athletes.” By David Grossman Special to The Citizen Leading his team Brussels native Josh Nichol, left, has been coaching men’s volleyball for years throughout Volleyball Canada and at George Brown College in Toronto. He began his career in volleyball by playing at F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham before moving on to higher levels of the sport. (Photo submitted Reforestation Assistance Service - Seedlings Roadside and Windbreak Tree Service This service provides assistance to landowners who are reforesting marginal lands or planting field windbreaks. Our staff will assist you in choosing appropriate species and creating a planting plan. Plant your own seedlings or have us do the planting for you. This service offers larger trees for planting along roadsides and in windbreaks. A variety of tree species are available from the MVCA based on a 50 tree minimum order. Call us at 519-335-3557 for information about the application deadlines for these services. PUT DOWN SOME ROOTS! 2013 Tree Planting Services Call us at 519-335-3557 or email maitland@mvca.on.ca for information and application forms. The Wingham Golf and Curling Club enjoyed a good month of August and have a full slate of events scheduled for September. On Saturday, Sept. 1 Don Edgar kicked the month off with a hole in one on the tough par three second hole. Don’s great shot came from a six iron from 195 yards. Tuesday, Sept. 4 the ladies held their competition for the Conron trophy. The gals played throughout the day in and out of rain drops with Gayle Neil taking home the first- place trophy. The Wednesday morning senior men had 31 golfers out on a beautiful morning. Hugh Clugston was the big winner for the day claiming both longest putt prizes as well as low net. Don Bone’s 40 held up as low gross and helped give him second place with Bob Foxton taking third. Ross Peacock was winner of the closest to the pin. The Thursday night men had 65 golfers hit the links. Steve Nixon fired a 38 for low gross for the night. The prize winners were: closest to the pin, Paul Deitz and Brett Martin; longest putt awards, Greg Crawford, Lloyd Erb, Ross Gibson, Doug Long and Harry George; hidden scores, James Elphick, Ben Blackwell and Tom Bohman. Friday night’s wing night was a big hit as Cheryl served up over 800 large tasty wings. Friday, Oct. 5 will be the final wing night for 2012. Saturday the club hosted the Brett Cameron Memorial tournament. This close group of friends played nine holes of golf before joining together sharing memories and laughs in the dining lounge followed by a barbecued steak and chicken buffet. WALTON 519-887-8429 Fresh Hayter’s Turkeys Now taking orders Don’t want a whole turkey? Try Hayter’s turkey products, Norpac beef and Metzger’s pork products. We also have Jerry Rader products, Millbank cheese and ice cream for dessert. for Thanksgiving Otters earn gold at provincial level, silver at national Teeswater Bantam Boys OASA team have had an exceptional season. OASA play began Canada Day weekend when the boys won their elimination tournament in Napanee. Fifteen teams participated and Teeswater came out on top qualifying them for the Eastern Canadian Championship in Nova Scotia. Up next was the provincial championships held in Port Perry Aug. 17-19. Teeswater faced Cobourg (a 3-0 win), Grand Valley (a 6-1 win), Port Perry (a 1-0 loss), and New Hamburg (a 5-3 win). At this point of the tournament Teeswater and Port Perry were the remaining two teams battling for the provincial title. With one loss in the double knockout tournament, Teeswater would have to beat Port Perry twice to claim the pennant. Teeswater and Port Perry did battle for 13 gruelling innings before Teeswater was victorious 4-0. This forced a final and deciding game where the Otter boys found their mojo and took it to the Port Perry Jacks 7-3 and clinched provincial honours. Aug. 23-27 the Otters packed their bags and made their way to St. Croix, Nova Scotia to face the best Bantam fastball teams Eastern Canada had to offer. Three Nova Scotia teams, two Ontario teams, and teams from Newfoundland, Quebec and New Brunswick rounded out the tournament competition. In Teeswater’s first game of round robin play they faced Nova Scotia 1 – East Hants. Teeswater was victorious 4-2. Game two found the Otters taking care of Nova Scotia 2 – Sheet Harbour Rockets 16-1. The score against Newfoundland was 8-3 in Teeswater’s favour. Next up was team Quebec Express which fell to Teeswater 10 -1. The final game of round-robin play found Teeswater squaring off against rival Port Perry Lake Scugog Lumber Jacks. Teeswater took care of business 9-4 over Port Perry. Tournament format dictated top two teams of round robin play met in the quarter finals with the winner advancing to the final game. Once again Otters versus Jacks was on the docket. This would be the ninth time these teams had met in competitive play this season. The Otters had won five of the previous eight meetings. This game didn’t disappoint as both teams had their game face on and the score remained 0-0 after seven innings of play. International rules came into effect as the eighth inning began with runners on second base in scoring position. Teeswater sealed the deal scoring one run in the bottom of the eighth to send the team to the Eastern Canadian Championship Gold medal game. Port Perry played two extra games to make their way back to take on the Otters for Gold. As the deciding game began, it was very clear that Chip and a Putt – By Bruce Skinn Continued on page 8