Huron Expositor, 2007-02-14, Page 14Page 14 February 14, 2007 • The Huron Expositor
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Area futsal league still going strong
Jeff Heuchert
When George McEwan first creat-
ed a futsal team based in South
Huron to play in London, he never
imagined it would spark an interest
from players around several coun-
ties and transform into its very
own league.
Now, nine years and several teams
later, the South Huron futsal league
is still going strong.
Today, the league consists of eight
teams, featuring players young and
old.
Teams from Dublin, St. Columban,
Grand Bend and five teams from
Exeter, all gather in the gymnasium
at South Huron District High
School each Wednesday from
December through April, for a night
of futsal.
"The people involved (today), for
the most part, are the (same) teams
and people that were involved right
from the get go," says McEwan.
"The support has continued. I've
never had to go begging."
While they share some common
rules, futsal is actually quite differ-
ent than outdoor soccer.
In futsal, there is only one goalie
and four players on the field at a
time for each team. The ball itself is
smaller than a regular soccer ball to
allow for less bounce. And the actu-
Jeff Heuchert photo
John Johnson, of the Dublin Shamrocks futsal team plays keep away with two players from the HC Black Lightning, dur-
ing action at Mitchell District High School Feb 12. Dublin won the game 12-5.
al playing surface, since it is played
on a gym floor, is much smaller.
While futsal has grown in popu-
larity in the area is recent years, it's
in South American where the sport
has taken off to the point where
McEwan says, some athletes only
play futsal, rather than soccer.
"Professional futsal players are
not soccer players; (futsal) is all
they do," he says. "But here, we
tend to use it as a league between
seasons."
See DUBLIN, Page 23
Assassins bring home provincial bronze
Jeff Heuchert
For most of Seaforth's junior
broomball teams, this past week-
end's provincial championships near
Barrie fell short of the high expecta-
tions many of the teams had head-
ing in.
But that wasn't the case for the
Assassins juvenile girls' team,
which brought home a bronze
medal after reaching its goal of fin-
ishing third overall.
The Assassins also set out to
defeat the Ottawa -based Flames,
who had handed the Seaforth girls
two losses at November's national
qualifying tournament.
And they did just that, not once,
but twice.
The Assassins defeated the
Flames in their first game 1-0 and
then during their third game 2-1 in
overtime.
It was during the Assassins' sec-
ond and fourth games where they
struggled to score - first in a 3-0 loss
to the Red Devils and then 2-0
against the Thunder.
"We fared very well," said coach
Georgina Reynolds. "We had out-
standing goaltending from Jenny
Lou Squibb."
Champions at the 2005 provincial
championships, the Hitmen A start-
ed this year's competition with a
pair of wins, first 1-0 over the.
Windsor Riot and then 4-0 over the
Kilsyth Flyers.
Yet after their fast start, the
Hitmen A dropped their next two,
first to the Windsor Devils 2-1 and
then 2-0 in a rematch with the Riot
- being eliminated from the champi-
onships.
However, coach Rob Hunking says
there is something his players can
take away from the tournament.
"I guess it's an indication of how
evenly matched every juvenile team
is in the province," he says.
"And it's (also) an indication that
we're not where we need to be head-
ing to the nationals (in March),"
Hunking adds.
As for the Hitmen B, their ineffec-
tiveness to put the ball in the net
proved to be their worst enemy.
The Hitmen B dropped both of
their games, first to the Ottawa Ice
Dogs 6-0, and then to the Windsor
Riot 3-0.
Seaforth's midget girls, coached
by Tanya Costello, finished the
provincials with one win and two
losses.
"They played really well. All the
games were close - they could have
gone either way," says Costello.
The midget girls lost their opener
to the Windsor Riot, won their sec-
ond game against another Windsor
team and lost their third game to
Palmerston.
See PEEWEES, Page 15