HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-05-10, Page 6Grant Sparling, a Grade 8student at Blyth Public Schooland three other students fromthe Avon Maitland andHuron-Perth Catholic DistrictSchool Boards leave Saturday
for the Canada Wide science
fair.
Four hundred students from
across Canada will converge
on Truro, Nova Scotia for the
eight-day competition, which
includes local tours and
learning opportunities.
Approximately 100 students
will compete in each of four
categories: invention,
biological, environmental or
physical sciences.
Sparling won at his school
level at Blyth, and placed first
in the physical sciences
category at the regional
science fair.
His innovation is a set of six
technologically-advanced,
cost-effective hybrid golf
clubs which will replace a
traditional set of 13 clubs.
“The six hybrid clubs
represent a complete set. I
call the system HG [Hybrid
Golf] and the advantages are
clear: half the clubs, half the
cost, half the weight, and all
the performance,” says
Sparling. “I studied every
major club on the market and
determined that
manufacturers do not build
premium clubs for new
golfers, young golfers, senior
golfers or even average
golfers.”Sparling started playinggolf in earnest last summer,and at his first tournament hewas shocked at how manyclubs people carried, how
little they knew about each
club and how frustrated some
looked about the whole thing.
He referred to a study by the
Golf Channel which indicated
that about 20 million people
start playing golf each year in
the U.S. – and 20 million quit
each year. According to the
study, they quit because they
are frustrated and did not
enjoy the game.
“I posted an on-line survey
at Survey Monkey and over
400 people responded. The
information I gathered from
this helped me determine who
the average golfer is: he or
she is someone who plays 10
rounds of golf each year, or
less. No one is ever going to
be good at golf if they play so
few rounds, so they should at
least have fun and not be
stressing out over club
selection,” says Sparling.
In addition to the survey,
Sparling carved a full-scale
prototype of each club head
from high density foam and
learned Grade 12 physics to
confirm the clubs (based on
weight, loft, standard swing
speed, etc.) would actually
work. “It was a real
challenge, but the numbers
work and the clubs should
perform as well as anythingon the market.”Grant credits his parents,neighbour and woodworkerDick Poore and his mentor,Greg Smith, an Ivey student at
Western for their help. “I
have been working on this
since last September and have
learned a lot. This has been a
great experience,” he says.
Sparling’s innovation is
being evaluated for possible
patents by a Toronto law firm,
and who knows? “Tiger and
Phil won’t use these clubs,”
says Grant. “But HG clubs
are for the rest of us … the
other 6 billion people on the
planet,” he adds laughing.
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2007.
High technology meets
rural Ontario is how the
manager of the Goderich
Business Improvement Area
is describing their latest move
into wireless internet.
Launching May 14, Huron
County’s newest Hot Spot
will offer 24/7 wireless cable
internet access through
Goderich’s downtown core
and all the way down
Hamilton Street to the
Goderich Tourism Centre.
“This is just another
example of a downtown
revitalization initiative,” Jan
Hawley, manager of the
Goderich BIA, said.
“It’s so key these days,
especially with declining
downtown cores and now
here’s a way of bringing
people into town and keeping
them while they’re here.”
Hawley says that while a
few final details are still
being ironed out, this is a
move that has been well over
a year in the making.
There will be several
websites, including the Town
of Goderich site, the BIA site
and Heritage Goderich that
will be accessible all the time,
but if people want to surf the
net as usual, they will have to
purchase time.
Internet access time will be
sold in hourly or monthly
allotments on-line or at
several locations in town. In
coming months, merchants
will be visible by a logo
placed in their window and
signs will be placed in The
Square displaying boundaries
for the wireless network.
“This will comprise the
core area of Goderich. It will
be comprised of all the points
around The Square, around
the courthouse, and then the
safe zone probably extends
about two businesses out
from the core,” Hawley said.
“Hamilton Street is where
it goes all the way down to
the Tourist Information
Centre. A lot of that area is
going to be in the zone.”
While Hawley stressed that
this was a BIA initiative from
the beginning, she says
there’s no way it could have
happened without this
movement’s sponsors. The
prominent sponsor is
Bluewater TV/Cable who
donated roughly $20,000
worth of equipment to this
project.
Hawley says that Paul Safr
of Huronitservices of Blyth
played an integral role in
making this project a reality,
in addition to the work of
Michael Roberts, who came
on as a consultant.
Hawley calls the BIA the
hardest-working group she
has ever worked with, adding
that is especially
extraordinary because they
are all volunteers.
And although Hawley is
thoroughly pleased with how
far this idea has come, she
wants to extend further one
day.
“They’re talking about
expansion, no decisions yet.
The equipment is very
expensive, but we would like
to expand,” Hawley says.
“Maybe it will continue
down West Street to the
beach. Nothing is carved in
stone yet, because there
would have to be the
purchase of the equipment,
which means you would have
to get funding, but we all
know this is the wave of the
future.”
Well done
Blyth student Grant Sparling is off to the Canada-wide science fair in Truro,
Nova Scotia. His project is six hybrid golf clubs, which replace the traditional
13 clubs. The innovation is being evaluated for possible patents by a Toronto
law firm. (Photo submitted)
Local student competes in Nova Scotia
Wireless internet comes
to downtown Goderich
2007 Pre -ElectionReport onOntario’s Finances
For more information about the Pre-Election Report on Ontario’s Finances
please call1-800 -263-7965 or visit www.ontario.ca/pre-electionreport
Paid for by the Government of Ontario
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
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