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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-05-03, Page 14Page 14 Times -Advocate, May 3, 1995 Lawrence Cole runs into a brick wall trying to carry the ball upfield while Jason Hodgson and Phil Ingram rush in for support. Mohawk revival seems very unlikely after poor turnout By Chris Skalkos T -A staff EXETER - It's sink or swim for the Senior "A" Ex- eter Mohawks, and it doesn't look good. Stew Taylor, 1993-94 Mohawk senior hockey club president was ex- pecting well over thirty people to at- tend the Mohawk revival meeting at the Rec Centre Wednesday; how- ever, only seventeen people showed up for the meeting that would decide whether the Mohawks would play hockey again. The Mohawks have been put on hold this past season taking a year off from the senior "A" circuit. A. meeting held last month to decide if there was enough interest in bringing the club back was attended by over thirty people who voiced their ap- proval and said they would return to the next meeting to show their sup- port. "Where arc they now?" asked Taylor. "We sent over 30 people away from that meeting to come back with a friend. It's a long time before hockey season starts and they can't keep their commitments for two weeks," he said. Past executive director, John Pryde sees the prob- lem coming hack to where it started. "It goes back to making commitments. That was the problem when [this club] ended and it's still a prob- lem now," Pryde said. "I don't think we have enough people here tonight to make this a go." Mike Soldan felt the club needed another chance be- fore it threw in the towel. "I was really pleased with the last meeting, we had 31 people here. Maybe some people just forgot about tonight. I think we should try again," he said. Pryde agreed, "That comment holds a lot of truth. Some people need to be asked." Pryde said, how- ever, he was still disappointed at the turnout considering the enthusiasm shown by the number of people who attended the first meeting. "We were counting on a lot of the key faces that were here last time and should have returned, especially if they are going to be key players in the operation of the club." Taylor was at a Toss to explain the dismal turnout. He suspected that perhaps people lost their interest because the season has just come to a close and they might be getting sick of talking about hockey. The organizers have agreed to reschedule one more meeting, tomorrow Thursday May 4, at 8:00 pm in the Rec Centre in a fleeting attempt to regain some of the support they had earlier. "After the last meeting things looked positive but as of tonight, I don't think it looks positive at all," Tay- lor said. "It's a long time before hockey season starts and they can't keep their commitments for two weeks..." Leanne Dietrich honoured WATERLOO - A former South Huron District High School student, Leanne Dietrich, was honoured at an awards ban- quet last month as The Universi- ty of Waterloo's Female Athlete of the Year. Dietrich's outstanding five year career at the university included the OWIAA all-star indoor hock- ey team in 1993. This past season she served as the field hockey team captain and was named most valuable player. Dietrich is also a three-year member of the Ontario Provin- cial Field Hockey Team in both senior and under 21 age groups. In 1990, her graduating year at SHDHS, Dietrich received the Panther Award. Correction Two of the SHDHS senior bad- minton players were improperly identified in last week's issue. They are Chrissy Morgan and Anita Wein. The Times -Advocate regrets the error and would like ;o congrat- ulate these two students for a strong performance at the Huron Perth Badminton Tournament. This Week in Sports... • SHDHS Track 'n' fielders leap into London - page 15 • Bowling comes to a close - page 16 4 Rugby game best in two years Despite losing to Pe- trolia the Panthers demonstrate some of that dramatic change EXETER - The South Huron Dis- trict High School rugby team went head to head with a tough squad from Petrolia Thursday, and even though the Panthers ended up los- ing the game by two points it was their best game in two years. The SHDHS rugby team has been struggling over the last few years. However, this hasn't stopped the students from coming out to play or cheer on the team. The Rugby Pan- thers are never short of players to put out on the field and the team spirit is at an all-time high. This season has witnessed some dramatic changes for the team. A crushing 33-0 defeat by the Walkerton Sacred Heart rugby team last month didn't stop the Pan- thers from cheering and playing hard right to the last minute of the game. A match -up with the Rugby team from Saunders Secondary School in London ended up in a 5-5 tie in an emotional and hard-fought game, and the narrow defeat by Petrolia Thursday are indications that the Panthers are contenders, and a rug- by team that deserves to win. With the junior and senior stu- dents grouped together for the game in a "B" side and "A" side trade-off system, the Panthers played Petrolia's "B" side for 40 minutes and were leading 10-5 at halftime. The Panthers controlled the ball well. They were looking confident in the scrum and it appeared that they might win the game. However, the 40 minute game time against Petrolia's "A" side was a different story as Petrolia came - back toj take the lead in the second half. The Panthers fought hack with another five points but it was too little too late as Petrolia hung on to a two point lead to win the game. Team Captain, Jeremy Hern play- ing the hooker position scored two trys (a try is like a touchdown worth five points) and Brian Jesney play- ing the first 5/8th position scored the other try. Coach Terry O'Rourke feels that rucking has to improve and they need w get more backs involved in moving the ball upfield. "The team has shown some marked improvements from the he - ginning of the season," said O'Rourke who feels it's just a mat- ter of time before the Panthers pull out a few wins this season. The SHDHS rugby team's next home game is on Friday against London Central. Sports - Light is born New column focuses on local sports figures in community By Chris Skalkos T -A staff Hello, I think it's about time I introduced myself. My name is Chris Skalkos and I'm one of the new additions to the Times -Advocate staff. Among other assignments, I'm primarily responsible for the Sports section in our paper. I have already had the op- portunity to speak to many of the people in the community through the course of my work, but there are many of you I'm still looking forward to meeting. Since my arrival in Exeter, I have enjoyed the relaxed at- mosphere, the friendly people and the vibrant sports community. I was fortunate enough to witness the Exeter Peewees sweep their way to a provincial championship only to be followed by two back to back championship victories of Stephen Township's Peewee Rebels and Atom Sonics at the All -Ontario Finals. The ringette teams have just wrapped up their most successful season ever and the soccer and ball teams are gearing up for an- other exciting season. The purpose of this article is to introduce myself, but most im- portantly, to introduce a new col- umn that will be appearing in the sports section. Traditionally, these type of ed- itorial columns are a platform for journalists or editors to share their opinions and be heard on a sub- ject or issue -in this case sports. But, I would rather hear about you. Sports -Lite will be a column featuring the many people, past or present, that have contributed to the very strong sports community in Exeter and the surrounding area. Exeter is blessed with a rich sports tradition. A tradition fea- turing many milestones and un- sung heroes. This is what this col- umn will attempt to highlite. But I need your help. Please don't hesitate to reach me at the Times -Advocate 235-1331 or fax 235-0766, with your ideas, suggestions or criticisms. I appreciate your feedback and I'm looking forward to being a part of the local sports com- munity. Juveniles win exhibition Ted Hoffman makes a head -first dive beating the ball to the Hanover third baseman in Juvenile baseball exhibition action Sunday. Exeter downs Hanover 3-1 EXETER - Gary Hartman, the head coach of the Exeter "Riverview Estates" Juvenile baseball team was smiling on Sunday. Hartman's ball team defeated the Hanover Hur- ricanes 3-1 an exhibition game at the Alvin Willett Field on the weekend, and even though it was just a pre -season warm up, for Hartman it was sweet re- venge. This Hanover team was the same ball club that thumped Exeter in the Midget "D" Provincial Cham- pionship two years ago. And it was the same team that won the All -Ontario Championship in 1993 and 94. Considering that this is the same well -disciplined team that lost to Exeter on Sunday you can't blame Hartman for wearing a face -splitting grin. Starting Exeter pitcher Dwight Gingerich had a good day on the mound striking out three batters, al- lowing no hits while giving up only one walk in four innings. Darren Kints pitched the middle three innings striking two batters out and allowing one hit. Dar- ryl Hartman pitched the last two innings striking out four batters and allowing two singles. Twin Brothers Joe and Jason Maskell each had singles and a stolen base in the bottom of the sixth. Bili Hodge smacked a double scoring the Maskell brothers for the first two Runs of the ball game. Back to hack walks in the seventh to Ted Hoff- man and Darren Kints, along with some good base running brought in Hoffman for the third Exeter run. Hartman realizes the Juveniles arc a talented and well diversified team on defence however batting still seems to need some definite improvement. The Juveniles play the Exeter Express Thursday night in an exhibition game designed to prepare the Juveniles for baseball on the senior's skill level.