HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-04-20, Page 21—_SPORTS_ Times -Advocate, April 20, 1994 Page 21
Balancing athletics and schoo
By Fred Groves
T -A staff
HENSALL - There are few 15
year-olds who have the athletic tal-
ent like Hensall's Cara Gardner
does.
Ringette, field hockey, volley -
hall, soccer and softball are all
sports in which she not only plays,
but excels.
Cara recently returned from the
Canadian Ringette Championships
in Saskatoon where she helped an
Ontario -based team win the silver
medal.
Juggling school, in which she
maintains nearly an 85 percent av-
erage, travelling across the prov-
ince on a regular basis, and just
keeping from being totally exhaust-
ed is a full-time job.
"A lot of people tell me I'm going
to be burnt out by the time I'm 20
but I don't think so," said Cara.
Anyone who knows this young
lady will agree she probably can be
described as an energizer bunny
that keeps going and going.
When asked if she is beginning to
feel fatigued especially with just
completing a rigorous ringette sea-
son, she said, "I don't notice it, I
just like playing."
Parental influence: There are
three kinds of sporting parents -
those who simply don't care, those
who push way to hard and those
who encourage as much as the
child needs it.
Cara's parents Kay and Skip fall
into the last category. Cara is con-
stantly on the go and for those who
live in a house full of sports, bal-
ancing lives is often very difficult.
"Sometime we like to push her in
the opposite direction, not to do
things," said Kay.
When Cara recently returned
from the championships in Saska-
toon she was tired but she immedi-
ately got back into her daily grind.
"She was really tired but she
came back and wrote her exams
and went to soccer practice," said
Kay.
Many high calibre athletes seem
to do well in school. They are able
to balance a heavy commitment to
several areas and according to
Cara, "you have to be smart to play
a lot of the sports."
When she goes on her ringette
tournaments across Ontario with
the provincial team, or all the way
to Saskatoon, it is very important to
find time to spend some time on
school.
Duplicate
Bridge
First
Dorothy Linton,
Marshal Dearing
Second
Robert Drumond, Gil Northey
Third
Carole and Dennis Hockey
Wednesday nights, 7:30 p.m.
Exeter Legion Hall
"They give us a lot of time on our
tournaments to do homework. My
room was the homework room,
mom arranged that," said Cara.
Favourite sport: Although she is
a standout in every sport she puts
her hand to, Cara admits to having
a favourite.
"Ringette, then field hockey, it's
almost a tie. Right now it's ringette
because I've gone so far with it and
I've put a lot into it."
That is the sport she does best as
indicated by a new helmet she
brought home from the Canadian
championships for being named to
the first-line tournament team.
Being a high calibre, well -
travelled athlete does not court'
cheap. While Thompson's, the Le-
gion, Kinettes and Kinsmen have
all contributed to her success, price
tag for the flight to Saskatoon for
example was $450 of which mom
and dad and Cara have to pay tor.
There has always been criticism
about females not having the op-
portunities in sports that males
have.
"There's just not the opportunities
in female sports. You can't get paid
for these sports, you can't go to the
NHL. I think it's harder for boys to
go far because there are so many
more of them in sports, they have
to be extremely good to go far."
1u NLICK1 V f
AM1 t0Ny. >'y
Above, Cara
Gardner amongst
her trophies, sticks,
bats, pictures, etc.
At left, Cara Gardner
during soccer
practice.
is no problem
Cara has played on boys teams,
she did it when she was younger in
ice hockey and unfortunately it
looks as though she won't be re-
turning.
"1 really didn't like being with the
boys, I was so excluded."
She skated with the boys high
school hockey team for a while but
did not return.
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SII F
Do we appreciate our coaches?
I'm a little upset about what happened - or rath-
er, what didn't happen - last week.
The Exeter Times -Advocate Coaches Recogni-
tion Awards nomination was supposed to he in on
Friday. I extended the deadline but it still didn't
receive any attention.
In all, I had one application and while the one
individual who was nominated is , certainly a
worthwhile recipient, I've decided against handing
me, I'm going to make up my own list here and
give special congratulations to those coaches who
went above and beyond the call of duty.
Perhaps I will start with Jim Workman, the
coach of the back -to -hack girls field hockey cham-
pions. He not only runs a great team but a fantastic
program. To coach the best team in the province
and host the Ontario championships is a major ac-
complishment.
How about a pat on the back to
George McEwan at South Huron
District High School? While we of-
ten criticize teachers for what they
don't do, this is a gentleman who puts
hundreds of hours into coaching not
only at the high school but he helps
set up such things as indoor soccer
tournaments.
At the Exeter Figure Skating Club,
John Bauman was instrumental in
keeping that club running smoothly.
Although a club pro is a paid person,
unlike many other coaches, his efforts were greatl-
ty appreciated.
Zurich's peewees headed by Dave Hethering-
ton, and Stephen's bantams, led by Bob Parsons,
should have a little something to hang behind their
bar telling them they are special.
Still on hockey, how about Exeter's Bob Clay
and the rest of the staff with the Bantam Lincolns.
A Cinderella team that went all the way to the pro-
vincial finals. There is Dan Overholt and the
Atom Broncos, and the list goes on if we all just
look around.
1 know the selection committee was looking for-
ward to going through the nominations and so was
1, even though 1 was not on the nomination com-
mittee, just an organizer.
out the award.
For Gary Hartman and Martin DeBruyn who
were the first and it seems the only winners, I
apologize.
This award was going to be the cornerstone of a
program in which to let our coaches and other
sporting volunteers know how we feel about their
commitment and dedication.
Over the past winter we have had two local
teams win Ontario Minor Hockey Association
championships - the Zurich Peewee Storm and the
Stephen bantams.
No one nominated them - parents, friends, take
a close look at yourself and ask why not?
For those of you who did not take the minute or
two and fill out a nomination form and get it to
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