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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-02-13, Page 15Times -Advocate, February 13, 1991 ti Page 15 Girls of winter - These girls represent just some of the coaches who keep Exeter's figure skating program alive. Back row: Mikala MacDougall (left), Rochelle Geoffrey, Lori McNutt, Jennifer McNeilly and Julie Darling. Front: Mita Wein (left), Rianne Laye, Jen Smale and Melissa Brock. Area skaters working to give something back By Ray Lewis EXETER - In 1977 men, women, and children of this community joined together to furnish the arca with a new are- na, and since that time the building has become a holding tank for some of the community's finest sporting memo- ries. Unfortunately, many have remained cold in the shadows while hockey frolicked in the limelight. In most sports, there are groups of tireless volunteers content to take a back seat in order that others may benefit from their experience. In no sport is this more true than in figure skating. Melissa Brock began skating nine years ago and is currently with the Exeter Entertainers Precision Team. From 4-9:30 every Monday, she acts as a sen- ior coach for the Exeter Figure Skating Club, sharing what she has learned with younger skaters. "I love to skate," says Melissa. "And it's nice to give something back." Beginning at age 11, skaters are permitted to act as shadow coaches, where they assist qualified instruc- tors. Basically, this helps them to understand the role of a coach. At age 12 they are then eligible to be- come junior coaches after successfully completing a CanSkate clinic. The clinic is presented every fall by a different club much the same as a referee clinic. The applicants are required to take part in a seven hour instructional course and demonstrate their prowess both on and off the ice. Upon passing a written exam, the students are then issued their junior certificate. "It wasn't that bad," says Jennifer McNeilly of the course. "A lot of it you had already learned through experience." At age thirteen, provided they have demonstrated success at the junior level, the skaters are recom- mended for senior coaching. "I'll probably be a senior coach," concludes Rianne Laye. "I really love kids." Ur.like coaches of other sports, the young girls who teach figure skating seem to be under constant scruti- ny. In most sports, parents are content to drop their kids off for practice and pick them up later. In figure skating, it's not uncommon for forty or fifty adults to stay and watch. That's scary for anyone, regardless of age. "At first it makes you feel kind of nervous," says Rochelle Geoffrey. "It takes a while to get used to." What's even more remarkable are the schedules that some of these girls keep. Mondays and Thurs- days are spent teaching youngsters but by no means does it end there. On top of planning lessons the girls are at the arena some mornings at 6:30 a.m. for their own practices. Combine that with a full day at school and then five hours of coaching afterwards and you get an idea of what they go through. The expectations placed upon these coaches is defi- nitely high. No matter how hard they try it seems that the young instructors are expected to teach more and kids are expected to develop faster. The club currently operates under the supervision of club pro Deb Naujokaitis with the help of free lance coaches Marg Carey, John Bowman, and Grand Bend's Barb Lawson. "The girl's really do work very hard," says Naujok- aitus. "They really don't get the recognition they de- serve." When it comes right down to it, however, maybe it's best to ask the kids who learn from these coaches what they think of their mentors. After all, they par- ticipate for no other reason than to have fun; they just love to skate. Seven year old Lindsay Dawe is probably one of the most dedicated students. She is at the rink every week and -gives probably the best answer. "I like to skate and I really like my coach," says Lindsay. "She's nice." Mohawks hang on to early lead By Fred Groves EXETER - Ahead 5-0 at the end of the second period, the Exeter Mohawks hung on to edge the vis- iting Point Edward Champs 6-5 in Senior A hockey action Sunday night. It was a very successful week- end for the Mohawks as they han- dled the Dunnville Mudcats 5-3 on Friday. Last night they hosted the Dor- chester Dolphins, and conclude the regular season with a game Saturday in Dunnville and Sunday host the Aylmer Hornets. Bill Glover and Gord Brooks led Exeter with two goals and a pair of assists each against the Champs. The win saw the Mo- hawks, the best team in the South- ern League defeat the premiere team in the Seaway -Cyclone loop. It was all Exeter in the opening period as Brooksicked up a loose puck and fined it from the right cir- cle. It was almost 2-0 when Rob Moore clanged one off the cross bar. Jeff McCienaghan zig-zagged past a Point Edward defenceman, slipped the puck over to Greg Snyder and Exeter led by two. Throughout the first 40 minutes of Sunday's game, the Exeter de- fence, led by Kris Bedard, did not let the Champs get near goalie Bill Dark. A good play by Bedard eventu- ally set up the third Mohawks goal. The veteran blueliner was holding back Al Mara and the Point Edward forward tripped Bed- ard. That gave the home team a pow- erplay and their third goal of the game as Brooks let go with a weak shoi That saw Champs' goalie Roger Becdon head to the bench and was replaced by Jeff Simpson. But it wasn't long before Tim Fritz fired one from high in the slot to make it5-0. Big comeback: Point Edward quickly mounted an offensive of their own in the final period as Rob Purdy connected to start the come - beck at 2:22. Then former NHL'er Mike Dark walked in alone and got one past Dark. 1 think theie guys dug down af- ter standing around for two peri- ods," said Champs' coach 'Terry d' Tomley. "I'm glad we came back, it gave them momentum for the next game." Point Edward was playing with- out several key players including their leading scorer Mark Dottori. Glover got his second of the game on what started out as a 2 -on - 1 with Brooks before the visitors scored three more. Ken Vanden - burg, Gary Cater and Mark Hillier answered for the Champs. "We won 40 minutes of the game, I wouldn't say it was a lucky one," said Exeter coach Dave Rev- ington of the win. It was only the third loss of the season for the Champs as Walpole Island has beaten them twice. "We played like we figured the game was over. But they're the best, Senior A team in the province," added Revington. Playoffs closer: Exeter will con- clude its regular season this week and it looks as though they will be in a close fight with the Aylmer Homets for first place. After Sunday's game Revington said he needs more commitment B. oth junior teams win Undefeated streak continues By Fred Groves BELMONT - Up against an un- friendly crowd and a controversial referee, the Lucan Irish tied the host Belmont Pests 2-2 Saturday night. The deadlock keeps the Irish un- defeated streak in tack as they are 7-0-2 in their last nine games and have a commanding first place lead in the Western Ontario Junior 'D' hockey league west division. The Irish have been stressing de- fence as they have allowed just five goals in their last five games. In Belmont, both teams showed their displeasure in referee Larry Cooke and speculated they would be writing letters of protest to the Ontario Hockey Association. Lucan scored first when defece- man Kevin Leitch knocked the puck down and blasted one into the top right corner. The game became physical as Jason Wilson was decked by Pests' Brent Stock. In the second period the Irish went up by a pair as Jamie Pearce blooped one over Chris Ungar's shoulder. Later in the period Lu - can's Tim Hayter stack his leg out and sent Rob Langille to the ice. When the Belmont trainer came out he was more interested in chew- ing out Cooke than taking care of the injured player. Late in the second period Todd Hayter took offence to what he heard in the stands and climbed out of the penalty box. He was ejected and in the physical game the Irish were left with only one enforcer in Pearce. Lucan went into a lapse and the Pests came back to tie the score. "If we wouldn't have gone into that defensive shell we would have been alright," said Lucan coach Ken Needham. In the third period Belmont's Tim Coombs scored from the slot less than six minutes into the final frame and 10 minutes later Mark Voughan tied it up. "They (Irish) backed off and just tried to hang on," said Needham. "We usually don't do drat." Lucan added two more players to the lineup and both left the game early with injuries. Defenceman Brad Bowers suffered a cut on the forehead and rightwinger Brandon Telfer might have broken his ankle. Duplicate Bridge They join forward Jon McEach- ern, who has a broken collar bone, on the injury list. McEachern had been playing very well prior to his accident. Needham usually doesn't yell at the referees but he gave Cooke an ear full on Saturday. "He was terrible, t hope we don't see a guy like this in the playoffs." Cooke's worse call of the game came in the third period in front of . the Irish bench. Belmont's Steve Jackson buried his stick in Greg DePrest's stomach and Pearce knocked Jackson to the ice. Pearce, Jackson and DePrest went to the box. It was the second time DePrest had been called for an unnecessary penalty. Belmont has had their troubles off the ice as Ron Tales has re- placed all-star coach Brian Muscat. Beat Bulldogs: The Irish explod-. ed for nine goals in the third period on Wednesday to hammer the visit- ing Bulldogs 11-1. Lucan only held a 2-1 lead at the end of 40 minutes but exploded in the final frame. Steve Mathews led the offence with two goals and a pair of assists. Also scoring were Jeremy Jemec, Todd Hayter, Paul O'Shea, Greg Muir, Ed VanKerkoerle, Brian Schuyler, DePrest and Jack Legg. Better effort: Friday night in Seaforth the Exeter Hawks only had 13 skaters but avenged an earli- er loss to the Centennaires. Suspensions and injuries didn't hamper the Hawks as they bounced back from trailing 2-0 at the end of the first period. They quickly turned the scoreboard around and led 5-3 after 40 minutes. Andrew Barton had his best game sitEr4 4 qioN ,; 4, of the season as he teamed with Doug Clark and J.P. Cousineau to lead Exeter. Balton had 'six points, as he fig- ured in on all the Hawks goals with a goal and five assists. Clark notched a hat trick, Cousineau scored once with defenceman Da- vid Dalrymple also connecting. Future games: As the Junior D regular season winds to a close, the Hawks play four games in five nights. Friday they travel to Mitch • - ell, host Lambeth on Saturday, are in Lambeth the next night and Tuesday arg in Lucan. The Irish were in Alvinston last night, host Seaforth tonight,- and are in Port Stanley Saturday. *0E00 ednesday night scores . and Mrs. Bob Davis 2n Jadwiga and Alex 3rd Carole and Dennis Hockey 4th Mr. and Mrs. Drummond Wednesday nights, 7:30 p.m. Exeter Legion Hall Exciting Hockey Action Exeter Mohawks VS, , I Aylmer Hornets Sun., February 17 at 7:30 p.m. At South Huron Rec Centre out of his players. He has recently added goalie Rick Pikul and forward Tan Shields to the lineup who will be welcome additions in post -season. "If I had 20 guys that were at practice all winter I wouldn't need any more," said Revington. Friday night the Mohawks jumped into a 2-0 first period lead and went on to defeat the Dunnville Mudcats 5-3. Joe Scherer led the locals with a pair with singles by Paul Barton, Shields and Bedard scored into the empty net. Answering for the Mudcats were Dale Booker with a pair and Brian Murray. The last time the two teams met in Dunnville there were a lot of heated tempers and the game is be- ing investigated. Mohawks moments: There were no penalties in either the first or third periods Sunday night...Point Edward's Brian Verbeek is the brother of NHL'er Pat Ver- beek...Times-Advocate three stars from Sunday: 1. Bill Glover 2. Mike Dark (Pt. Edward) 3. Kris Bedard. Here's a sporty family sedan that sometimes thinks it's a great station wagon, too. pAZDA S 626 LX TOURING SEDAN: Sprawling save - Exeter Mohawks' goalie 8111 Dark had his glove ex- tended and was ready to make the save on this play against Point Edward during Sundayntht's game. STR TFORD CITY AM 580 HURON ST. W., STRATFORI) 171-7520 A