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The Citizen, 1999-09-22, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1999. S ports 1 Erom the sidelines Character covers fundamentals By Hugh Nichol The August Open Ice Summit held in Toronto was supposed to be an examination of our hockey structure, a symposium to discuss ideas on how Canada can regain its domination of world hockey. What it turned into was a series of finger-pointing accusations of the grassroots level. After three days of debate a panel of experts concluded minor hockey coaches are failing in their attempts to teach fundamental hockey skills. It appears to me that the Canadian Hockey Association has lost sight of the fine line between winning and development. The 1990s was an excellent decade in regards to Canadian teams and international competition. Yet because of recent setbacks our seven World Junior Championships, two World Hockey titles and the 1991 Canada Cup are not enough. Based on what I read in the papers I must admit as a minor hockey coach 1 was a complete neanderthal. You see I failed to realize my job as coach was to develop elite players. I was confused in my understanding that hockey was intended for recreation. It was supposed to be fun. While I am not in a position to argue the findings I do have concerns over the lack of time many of the speakers have spent at the minor hockey level. When I think of Scotty Bowman, Ken Dryden and Wayne Gretzky I think of private suites, chauffeured limousines, and million dollar athletes. When was the last time any of the above arose early for a Saturday morning practice, or drove through a winter storm enroute to their child’s game, or stood shivering in a small town arena? Yet because we as Canadians idolize our hockey heroes we believe. One of the more pivotal recommendations was that the Walton Girls take WOAA title Sept. 16 the final game of the PeeWee Tri-County girls consolation round took place between Brussels and Walton in Brussels. Each team had one game in their favour, with the last played Aug. 24. At the end of the first inning Walton had Mandy Mitchel, Michelle Cook and Sarah McDonald cross the plate for a total of three runs. Brussels tallied one in their bats. In the second inning, Walton had Jen McClure and Mitchell cross the plate for two more runs. Brussels got a rally going and scored seven runs to go ahead 8-5. In the third inning Melissa Beuermann, Missy Sou ch, McClure, Mitchell, Cook and Kristen Shortreed scoring. Brussels scored four runs with Brittney practice to game ratio should be such that the number of games does not exceed the number of practices. Parents accept the fact they give up a social life to pay for their child’s hockey knowing that in return the games will provide entertainment. Practice time has no value to Mom and Dad and by removing the parental benefits we remove the parental spending. Limiting the number of games played to the number of practices will never happen until government subsidies become available to pay for the ice time. The reason European hockey federations can afford a three- practice for every game ratio is that any compensation from NHL signings is funnelled directly into youth hockey unlike in Canada where the fees go directly to the individual team. To me the key recommendation of the I 1 listed was number seven: examine the raising of draft ages. The NHL draft age is 18, therefore to succeed you must be playing Major “A” by 17, Junior “B” by 16 and either Junior “C” or “D” by 15. Are we saying that if by the age of 14 the player is not physically or mentally prepared to compete against 20-year-olds he is a failure? This probably explains why in Ontario only one in 2,500 makes it and why minor hockey registrations are declining steadily in the Bantam, Midget and Juvenile age categories. Anatoli Tarasov, the man responsible for building the Soviet Union into a world hockey power listed six ingredients that make up a winning recipe: natural ability, skill development, physical conditioning, practice techniques, game tactics, and heart and desire. Upon his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame he made the statement, “In Soviet hockey we are better than Canadians in the first five but in heart and desire we cannot match them.” I would think a minor hockey coach’s ability to teach character more than covers the fundamentals. Kellington hitting a homerun making it 12-11 for Brussels. The fourth inning Cook hit a homerun which scored McClure. Brussels got one run on overthrows making it a tie ball game at the end of the fourth. The fifth inning Walton had a rally going. Cook hit her second homerun scoring Mitchell also. McDonald, Shortreed and Jessica Lubbers later crossed the plate. Walton girls managed to hold Brussels to one run winning the ball game 18-14. Both teams were evenly matched and made it an exciting ball game. McDonald and Cook shared Walton pitching duties and did a great job with six strikeouts between them. Walton coaches were Jim and Linda McDonald. Way to go! The championship three-on-three team, back row, from left: Manager Barry Austin, Scott Austin, Marc Fischer, Matt Dinning, Craig Marks, Darryl Houston, Matt Anderson, Coach Bruce Fischer. Front: Cole Stewart, goalie James Needham, Matt MacPhee, Derek Cook. B-Boys win 3-on-3 tournament In a recent three-on-three international hockey tournament held in Lucan, the championship title was won by the B-Boys. This is a group of 10 hockey players from Blyth, Brussels, Wingham and Goderich. The team has entered several tournaments over the past months and although made it to the finals, have always been the “bridesmaid” and never the “bride” until this tourney. The B-Boys advanced to the final game with three wins and a tie tucked firmly under their belts, to meet the London Investors team who were soundly defeated by a score of 9 - 5 by this determined squad. Three-on-three hockey focuses on skating and stick handling skills. It is a unique opportunity for these Oldtimers win tourney The Blyth Oldtimers won their year-end tournament this past weekend in Holmesville. It was the third consecutive title for the team. Blyth opened the tournament with a 25-6 win over Londesboro. Blyth downed Winthrop 4-1 in their second game. In the semi-final game, Blyth scored six runs in their last at-bat to edge Mamoch 19-16. In the championship game Blyth scored seven runs in the first inning and coasted to an 11-2 win over Auburn. Members of the team include Steve Howson, Kevin Ritchie, Bruce Howson, Phil Black, Dale Whitfield, Jeff Peters, Kevin Falconer, John Blok, Bruce Mason, Wayne McDougall, Warren Moore, Barney Stewart, Rob Shaddick, Gerald Kerr, John Watson, Dave Cook and Coach John Stewart. z ONTARIO >“<-JUNIOR CITIZEN - OF'THE YEAR VAWARDS Deadline - Oct. 31st, 1999 Contact this community newspaper for details. boys, who play on opposing teams during regular hockey season, to develop skills and have a lot of fun. Coach Bruce Fischer was excited over the win and would like to invite teams to enter the first Brussels three-on-three tournament to be held Dec. 27 - 29. FORM 9 SALE OF LAND BY PUBLIC AUCTION The Corporation of the County of Huron Take Notice that the land(s) described below will be offered for sale by public auction at 10:00 o'clock in the fore noon on the 5th day of October, 1999 at Huron County Court House, 1 Court House Square, Goderich, ON N7A 1M2 Description of Land(s) • 1. Part of Lot 111 and Lot 112, Plan 192 As per Instrument Number 220185 Village of Brussels County of Huron, Province of Ontario 2. Lot 52, Plan 192 As per Instrument Number 203103 Village of Brussels County of Huron, Province of Ontario Minimum Bid $ (set out the cancellation price as of the first day of advertising) $7,535.45 $2,931.71 3. Part Park Lot 6, Plan 136 $3,189.87 Being Part 10, 22R-1660 West London Rd. As per Instrument Number 251459 Township of Ashfield County of Huron, Province of Ontario 4. Parts of Lot 10, West of Lakeshore Rd. Cone. $2,354.33 As per Instrument Number 311916 Township of Stanley County of Huron, Province of Ontario 5. Part Lot 20, Lake Road West Concession As per Instrument Number 303303 Township of Stanley County of Huron, Province of Ontario 6. Lot. 5, Concession 2 As per Instrument Number 276987 Township of Turnberry County of Huron, Province of Ontario $8,261.75 $18,125.80 All amounts payable by the successful purchaser shall be payable in full at the time of the sale by cash or money order or by a bank draft or cheque certified by a bank, trust corporation or Province of Ontario Savings Office. The municipality or board makes no representation regarding the title to or any other matters relating to the land to be sold. Responsibility for ascertaining these matters rests with the potential purchasers. This sale is governed by the Municipal Tax Sales Act and the Municipal Tax Sales Rules. The successful purchaser will be required to pay the amount bid plus accumulated taxes and the relevant land transfer tax. For further information regarding this sale, contact: Treasurer, Corporation of the County of Huron 1 Court House Square, Goderich, Ontario N7A 1M2 Personal information contained on this form, collected pursuant to the Municipal Tax Sales Act will be used for the purposes of that Act. Questions should be directed to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Coordinator at the institution responsible for the procedures under that Act.