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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-06-28, Page 14Page 14 Times -Advocate, June 28, 1995 The Battle for Exeter Showdown at Canners - the Centennials meet the Fury Chris Skalkos T -A staff EXETER - The Exeter Centennials and the Exeter Fury will go head to head Thursday in a game that will decide the better team. The two hometown soccer teams will square off at Canners Field at 7:00 tomorrow night in what has been dubbed "the battle for Exeter." Both senior mens teams play in the Western On- tario Soccer League, however, the Fury play in the East division and the Centennials play in the central division so they do not get the opportunity to play each other during the regular season. The Centennials recent win over the Clear- water team from Sarnia gave them a berth in the Second Division Cup Tournament. The Fury are also contenders in the same tourna- ment setting the stage for the showdown on Thurs- day. The game doesn't count in regular league stand- ings and the winner will only advance within the next round of this isolated tournament; however, the game has more to do with pride than with points. Both teams are winning in their divisions and it is hard to tell which is the better. Tomorrow's game will decide who gets hometown bragging rights. The Centennials have existed as a soccer club since 1972, but Exeter found it necessary to create another senior mensteam to accommodate the num- her of people who wanted to play. Thus, the Exeter Fury were formed three years ago giving Exeter its dual soccer club status. The two teams played each other last year in an exhibition game with the Fury taking a decisive 4-1 victory over their hometown rivals. Last year's game was more like a grudge match than the friend- ly exhibition game it was meant to be. According to Fury coach Jason McFalls many of the Fury players were turned away from the Cen- tennials sine? league rules state that a team can only dress 16 players. "A lot of guys were really anxious to play them, they were really looking forward to proving some- thing and we were all over them," said McFalls add- ing they were up by three goals at the end of the first half. Jeff Playfoot, coach for the Centennials re- members the game vividly. "The came really hyped up and we were just flat. But I think this time everybody on the team is going to be ready," said Playfoot. "It's going to be a matter of who has the best players that night," he said. Although both teams are from Exeter, you can't help but notice the differences between the two when you stack them together. The Fury is by far the younger team with most of their players under the age of 25; they are fast and are cable of scoring a lot of goals. So far the team has combined for a total of 30 goals in league play. "We're like vultures. We get a two goal lead and then we go for more," said McFalls. "When it's a close tight game we're cautious but once we get a break and have a little bit of breathing room then we go for the net a lot more," he said. The Centennials on the other hand favor a more straight forward strategy for winning. "We're generally not a high scoring team. We rely on our defense to hold us in the game and we try to score on every chance we get," said Playfoot. "We don't have a really tough team in the sense of tack- ling from behind. We like to play our own brand of in -your -face -soccer and keep it pretty clean," he added. McFalls feels that this years match -up will be a lot different from the last time these two teams met predicting a closer game this time around. "The first goal could be very important...if the Centennials score first we could become rattled but' if we can control the midfield and get to the loose balls first than I think we have a good shot at win- ning," he said. Playfoot also predicts a close game tomorrow. "We are two pretty good teams. I think it will come down to what team will have 16 players ready to win," he said. Ausable..Anglers club hold Parkhill bass and carp classii PARKHILL - It isn't everyday that you win a prize for catching a carp but July 8 is just that day. The Ausable Anglers Club is sponsor- ing the Parkhill Family Bass and Carp Classic at the Parkhill Con- servation Area. Prizes for the biggest bass will also be awarded. The derby gets underway at 8 a.m. and you can register at thc concession booth at the beach area anytime between 8:00 a.m. and noon. The derby closes at 2:00 p.m. with the presentation of priz- es at 2:15 p.m. Registration fees are $2.00/adult, $I.00/child or $5.00/family plus the conservation arca entry fee. The concession booth will be open to sell food and beverages. As well, a new boat launch ramp Sports- Lite on the north side of the reservoir will be available for anglers. (Gas powered boats are not allowed on the reservoir.) Anglers using the ramp are reminded to register for the derby at the concession booth. There arc three grand prizes: a draw prize from all entrants, biggest carp and biggest bass. Oth- er prizes include the biggest bass or carp caught by an angler 10 and under as well as an angler 1 1 to 16 years old. The youngest and older successful anglers will also receive prizes and a number of draw prizes will also be given away. This event promises to be a very enjoyable family outing and coin- cides with the Ontario Free Family fishing Weekend. For the week- end, thc Ministry of Natural Re- sources has waived the require- ment for an angling license for all Canadian residents. Government and non-government organizations are taking part in and sponsoring thc weekend. Introducing children to the sport of fishing is an important part of the Angler's Club activities along with stream rehabilitation and hab- itat improvement. For more infor- mation, please call John Schwindt at the Ausable-Bayfield Conserva- tion Authority at 519-235-2610. Got a sports tip? Call the Times - Advocate 4- 23 4 This Week in Sports... • Exeter Hawks add to coaching staff - page 15 • Womens soccer team win again - page 16 Juveniles beat Byron 6-2 EXETER - The Exeter Riverview Estates Juvenile Baseball team rode on the coattails of Darryl Hartman to win a hard fought battle against the visiting team from Byron on Thursday. Exeter won the game 6-2 with left handed pitcher Darryl Hartman leading the way on the mound. Hartman pitched the entire game recording nine strikeouts, three walked batters while allowing only seven hits. Lead off batter James Rolph led the team offensively starting the game off with a triple. He also had a single later in the game. Joe Maskell chalked up a double and well placed singles were con- tributed by Jeremy Stone, Dale Hopf, Gavin Snell, Dwight Ginge- rich and Darryl Hartman. Garry Hartman, head coach and general manager said the Juvenile pitching staff are doing well with their starters going six or seven in- nings before being relieved. Start- ing pitcher Dwight Gingerich has returned after some time off with shoulder complications and Denis McCann is back after suffering OFPBA announces new national tournament Ron Dann ZURICH - The Canadian Five Pin Bowlers' Association (OFPBA) has created a new nationwide tour- nament available to all Ontario Five Pin Bowlers' Association (OFPBA) members with a 220 and under league average. The an- nouncement was made by the OFP- BA at its recent 29th convention in Muskoka. The OFPBA stated the new tour- namelnt will be called the Triple Play Championships and each local Association, such as the Goderich, Listowel, Molesworth and Zurich Associations, will advance their winning team directly to the OFP- BA Provincial finals. Three game house rounds, with 105 percent handicap added, will be held between October 1 and Jan- uary 14. The three bowler teams may choose their own team mem- bers and can enter as many times as rolloffs are available. Entries will he available at local bowling cen- tres in September at a cost of $3 per individual entry, plus lineage. OFPBA Hall of Fame The 22nd OFPBA Annual Awards Dinner for Inductees will he held Saturday, November 4 in Toronto at which time Wood - stock's Ken Rohrer will be induct- ed into the Players' Division of the Ontario Hall of Fame. some health problems earlier in the season. However, the Juveniles will miss team speedster James Rolph for a couple of weeks as he is out of ac- tion with an ankle injury. Hartman said his batters are just starting to adjust to the consistently strong pitching they have faced since their entrance into the new league. "We're getting better at place ball hitting," said Hartman. "A lot of these guys are just starting to re- alize they've got to go for more sin- gles instead of getting that one crushing hit," he said. Hartman says a lot more of his bat- ters are sharing the smaller hits re- lieving some' of the pressure the Juveniles have been feeling when stepping up to the plate. "We're one win away from being a 500 ball team," he said. Half way through the league schedule, the Juveniles are now sit- ting at a six wins seven loss overall team record. They travel to London to play the undefeated Eager Bea- vers and host St Marys at home on Thursday. South paw Darryl Hartman pitched the entire game ing Exeter's 6-2 win over Byron on Thursday. dur- Karate a learning experience Chris Skalkos T -A staff Jane McPherson doesn't live an average lifestyle. During the day, Jane McPherson crunches numbers and balances fi- nancial statements at her job with the Stephen Township Office. After hours, she plays the role of wife and mother of two. But three times a week McPherson ties a black belt around her waist and goes by the rank of shodan. McPherson has recently earned her black belt from Brian Decker's South Huron School of Martial Arts. Shodan is the Japanese name for one who has reached the level of a first degree black belt in the martial art of karate. Despite holding down a full-time job and raising a family, it only took McPherson four years to obtain her black belt. An amazing feat considering it takes the average student eight to ten years. "I guess we were a little fanatical about it, we came to class as often as we could," says McPherson who enrolled in Decker's Karate school along with her two daughters, Rachael and Anne. McPherson first sampled the martial arts in high school were she took judo in physed class. She enjoyed it as : form of exercise and decided to take up karate but she put it off for a few years until her children were old enough to participate. "I didn't want to leave the kids with baby sitters all the time, I wanted to do this as a family," she says. McPherson says she has noticed a change in her daughter Anne soon after they began their first lesson. She says Anne was by nature a quiet and timid girl and at first she wanted to quit karate. But after three months McPherson says she started to enjoy it and became more con- fident in and outside the classroom. "She's really come out of her shell, it's been a total change for her," she says adding that her other daughter took to it right away. McPherson and her daughters have even set up a punching bag at home were they practice together. "When we're in class I'm not a mother anymore, I'm just another stu- dent, an equal to everybody else in the class. When I'm working with the girls we get frustrated together and we appreciate each other's ac- complishments," says McPherson. "Working out as a family really helps, it strengthens our family bonds." McPherson admits she had some second thoughts when she first enrolled. "I looked around the room and it was full of kids and I thought to myself I'm really out of place here. I'm over the 30 mark maybe I'm too old for this," she says. But it didn't take long for McPherson to develop a desire to learn more as she quickly passed through the various belt levels to reach her current status. Her final test for her black belt was a two and a half hour grading consisting of 32 self-defence drills, 15 open hand katas and 5 weapon katas. Kata is the Japanese term for a series of moves where one imagines they arc fighting multiple op- ponents. "The katas we learn have been passed down for years from the original karate masters," McPherson says. During the test she had to describe the moves she was exercising in Japanese and McPherson says that was almost as difficult as learning technique. Before it was over, McPherson had to step in the ring with three other black belts for a thirty minute sparring sessi6n. "I was emotionally and physically exhausted and I could barely move," she says about the grading. "But 1 knew 1 did pretty good." McPherson was presented with her black belt and sword in a tradi- tional Japanese ceremony, and then celebrated with classmates and family afterwards. "It will be something I will always remember," she says about the ex- perience. Achieving her black belt, however, is not the end of her martial arts training. For McPherson it is just the beginning. "Reaching your black belt means you're just starting over again. There is no limit to the martial arts, you can always go on and learn more hut you have to be a black belt to even start," she says. McPherson is working on her "nidan", second de- gree black belt and she is currently studying Toide, a martial art that utilizes a grappling style with more throws and joint locks. Last April McPherson also re- ceived her associate degree in the Philosophy of Asian Martial Arts, a course that strictly concentrated on theory rather than physical conditioning. "The farther you go the more you want to learn and the more you realize how much more there is to learn," says McPherson adding that she attends karate seminars periodically. McPherson says her main motivation behind taking karate goes beyond the idea that she may need it to defend herself some day. "I've never needed it on the street thank goodness and I hope I never do," she says. McPherson is more intrigued by the endless opportunity to learn more about the martial arts and to share her knowledge with others. "You have to have a hunger for knowledge and the desire to share this knowledge because that's what studying martial arts is all about."