Times Advocate, 1995-09-27, Page 15Past. 14 Times -Advocate, September 27, 1995
This Week in Sports...
• Exeter racers drag in Indianapolis - page 15
• Fury end regular season - page 16
•
Girls try ringette before registering
Exeter and Area Ringette President Julie Ritchie shows Ashley Ingram the proper
way to shoot a ring.
NHRA Drag
Racing Results
Grand Bend Motorplex
Sunday, September 24
Super Pro: Bill Wilson, Ingersoll. 10.53 at 127.11 defeated Roy St.
Denis, Bacl Axe. MI. 8.68 at 153.08 MPH
Pro: Brad Atkinson, Wyoming, 11.67 at 115.68 defeated Jim Moore,
Petroiia, 11.90 at 114.21 MPH
Street: Mark Brand, Exeter, 15.08 at 83.33 defeated Kris Kunes, St.
Clair Shores. MI, 14.87 at 90.36 MPH
Bike: Ralph Hildebrandt, Waterloo, 9.54 at 128.56 defeated Calvin
Bright. Sarnia, 9.49 at 134.73 MPH
Jr. Dragster: Jimmy Dunton. London
Harley: Norma McLaughlin, Dorchester. 12.535 at 105.14 defeated
Bill Watson, Sarnia, 12.012 at 110.29 MPH
Exeter and Area Ringette Association offers free try out
Chris Skalkos T -A staff fun," she said.
HENSALL - It happens all too The one hour ice time is used to
often. practice skating and passing drills,
Parents spend hundreds of dollars the two most important skills
on equipment and registration fees players need to master in ringette.
to enroll their child in an ice sport Because the ring is easier to con
only to see the equipment trot than a puck, pf: ycrs
collect dust for the rest ties don't have to keep look -
of the season after the linportaiit t0 ing down, they can keep
child loses interest. their heads up more and
To prevent this from have fun and are always looking
happening the Exeter and and we really ahead. Ritchie said this
District Ringette Associa- try to helps strengthen their
tion holds a free pro- stress that" skating skills very quick
-
motion days program of -
"Ifs
fering young girls the "It's a good learning to
opportunity to try the skate program. By
game of ringette before investing in Christmas you can really see an
equipment. improvement in their skating," she
"'We want to give the girls a said.
chance to see if they like ringette Another marked difference be -
before their parents go out and pur- tween hockey and ringette is the
chase equipment just to find out passing. There are no off -side calls
they don't want to play,'' said in ringette and players must pass
coach Michele Hodgert. on the blue line. This forces the
The association offered a five day players to pass more and encour-
try out at the Hensall arena with the ages them to alt work together as a
last one scheduled to take place to- team rather than relying on one or
morrow. Hodgert estimates 45 girls two end-to-end players.
between the age of three to fourteen "No one player dominates in this
came out to meet the coaches and sport. The kids get to know what
try their hand at the sport. it's like to be on a team working as
This is the association's third an-
nual promo day invitation and Hod-
gert said the number of girls par-
ticipating increases every year with
98 percent deciding to register af-
ter its over.
Association president Julie Ritch-
ie said ringette is populaf among
parents who wish to keep their chil-
dren active during the winter.
"It gives the kids a chance to get
involved even if they're not se-
riously into it. Some don't register
right away but they know what it's
like if they consider it next year."
Ritchie said one of the reason
girls come out to try ringette is the
curiosity their gender counter parts
raise playing hockey.
"They see boys playing hockey
and they want to have that kind of
Centennials end with win
EXETER - The Exeter Centennials played their last game of the season
defeating the Nairn Cardinals 5-2 Sunday.
Exeter dominated the game with strong passing and play -making. Joe
Martens started the scoring early, kicking home his own rebound in the
goal mouth. Moments later, chuck Walker curled a perfect cross over the
keeper's reach and George McEwan headed it in for a two goal lead.
Rudy Veldhuizen made it 3-0 when he one -timed the ball into the net.
Walker's hustle paid off later when he jumped on a loose ball in the goal
mouth and buried it to make the score 4-0 late in the first half.
Nairn got one hack when a bouncing ball eluded the Centennial defense
and keeper Craig Winbow who had no chance on the play.
Peter Hakvoort scored his first goal of the season early in the second
half on a pass from Bryan Brand.
The victory leaves the Centennials out of the playoffs by one point.
They finish the regular season in fifth place with a 9-8-3 win, loss, tie
record.
a team, not as individuals," said
Hodgert.
Eleven year-old Mary Gregus
was at the arena trying ringette for
the first time.
"I've never played a winter sport
before so I wanted to try this. I like
skating hard and 1'm getting better
at it," said Gregus adding that she
will register this season.
Hodgert said there will be nine
teams gearing up,for the upcoming
season scheduled to begin in the
third week of October. Last year
the Tween (age 12-13) and the
Belle teams (16-18) won a gold
inedal in the Western Region
Championship and the Petite(10-
11) team won a bronze medal.
Despite the growing success of
the Exeter Ringette Association
Ritchie said winning doesn't take a
higher priority over building a
player's confidence and having fun
on the ice.
"It's important to have fun and we
really try to stress that. Ringette al-
lows them to build up their self-
esteem. 'm always patting thein on
the back no matter what they do out
there," said Ritchie.
From left to right, ringette players Shannon Baer, 9, Laur-
en Taylor, 6, and Rita Kemp, 8, all of Exeter, take a break
from practice at the Hensall Arena Saturday afternoon.
Sports-
Lite
Szabo, a goal scoring machine
Chris Skalkos T -A stiff
EXETER - Nick Szabo loves to score goals. And that's exactly what
he has done for the Exeter Centennials during their 1995 soccer sea -
500.
The Centennials wrapped up their season over the weekend with a 9-
8-3 win Toss record in the Central division of the Western Ontario Soc-
cer League. Since Szabo joined the team last June he has been one of
their top goal getters scoring 17 goals in 14 games.
"I love scoring goals and 1 love winning games." said Szabo.
After playing four games with the London Marconi. Szabo left the
club citing a lack of team spirit among the players. Living and working
on his father's farm outside of Kirkton, Szabo turned toward Exeter
and its two senior men's soccer teams to pick up where he lea off.
He first approached the Fury coached by Jason McFalls because he
went to school with some of the players but McFalls turned him away
because he already had too many players.
However. Jeff Playfoot coach of the Centennials recognized his po-
tential and signed him despite having a full roster.
"Playfoot said 1 would have to prove myself because he already had
a lot of guys on the team," recalled Szabo.
Szabo didn't waste any time earning his keep. During his first game
with the Centennials he scored an unprecedented four goals against
Maltese.
"1 was really psyched up. •I definitely wanted to prove I was good
enough to play for them," he said.
. Szabo, however, didn't stop there. He continued to consistently score
goals leading his team into a seven game winning streak in July.
The most memorable game for Szabo over the season was the match
up between the Centennials and the Fury. Both Exeter teams play in
the Western Ontario Soccer League. The Fury play in the East division
and the Centennials play in the Central division so the two teams do
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fJ
not get the opportunity to play each other during the regular season.
However. both teams earned a berth in a Second Division Cup Tour-
nament pitting them against each other in a hometown showdown
dubbed "the battle for Exeter."
The game didn't count toward the regular sea-
son standings liut a victory had to do more with
pride than with points as the winning team
claimed hometown bragging rights.
F;,r Szabo it was a chance to prove to the Fury
they made a mistake by not signing him. He led
the Centennials to a one sided 4-1 victory scoring
two goals against the hometown rivals.
"They were sweet goals. 1 really wanted to
score just to rub it in," admits Szabo.
Soccer is a team sport and Szabo doesn't hes-
itate to credit his team for his stellar performance
over the season. He points toward the strong
playing of midfielders Ruban Chelladurai and
Rudy Veldhuizen who take turns assisting Szabo
on goals.
"They are both excellent playmakers. They
work hard to win the ball and set me up with per-
fect passes," he said.
Being a prolific scorer certainly has its down-
falls. Szabo explained once the opposing teams
single you out as a scoring threat they tend to key
in on you limiting your chances and frustrating
your game plan.
"Once they get to know you they get players to
shadow you, but that doesn't stop me it just makes me want to play
harder," Szabo said.
Szabo was first introduced to soccer at a young age when he fol-
lowed his father Ernie to his soccer games.
"I remember watching my dad score goals and I said to myself 'I
want to score goals too."
Ernie Szabo was one of the top goal scorers for
the London Marconi winning their Most Valuable
Player Award ten out of twelve years. He also
played for the Ontario All stars in the 1967 Canada
Cup.
"My father was a tremendous influence on me.
He taught me how to think when you get the hall,"
said Szabo. "He taught me to always go hard when
playing. He said if you're going all-out at 100 per-
cent you'll never get hurt and he was right."
Szabo said his father is both his mentor and his
critic when it comes to the sport of soccer.
"I look at my dad as a role model. He taught me
everything I know and he's the only reason I'm
playing soccer today," he added.
Despite his father's influence, Szabo said ,..e se-
cret to his scoring capabilities lies strictly in hard
work and pure determination.
He feels an athlete's physical condition is much
more important than skill.
"A well conditioned player can easily outplay an-
other player of the same skill level if he's not as
conditioned. You can be really skilled but if
you're not in shape a better conditioned player will
always beat you." said Szabo who jogs every morn-
ing including a 90 minute run during the off sea -
1
son.
"Conditioning is the most important aspect of the sport. If you want
to he a soccer player you have to be conditioned," he said.
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