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i ii m m m li i i j econombtrsun stouffville tribune thursday decl71998 i rr economist zr-r- s i i 3v vv siiii- stouffville tribune 1 r v -fr- rus ka v r k v- j on andycherkas tries to instil confidence in his players bybrucestapley correspondent- andy cherkas minor hockeycbach- irig career began like so niany others he was told that if he didnt volunteer for the job there would be no coach for his sons atom house league team six years later the stouffville district secondary school science teacher is glad he signed on to coach a sport he had pre cious little experi- ence playing and while teams he has coached have had- limited success in terms of champi onship victories chances are that any one who has played on a cherkas- coached squad feels a little better about himself because of the experience the father of three hockeyplaying sons feels a coachs most important job is to build up his players confidence so they can fulfill whatever potential they may have youve got to let know what theyve done that is good even if the team gets drubbed says cherkas who knowswhat its like to coach a last place team the most important thing is that you have to instill a positive attitude into them cherkas also refuses to allow any one player to be singled out for a loss you cant let the players pick on one player as a scapegoat thats no fun for him cherkas chuckles when he recalls his first year behind the bench as a co- coach for son dannys whitchurch- stouffville minor hockey association atom house league team when he was the first to show up with his son for the initial practice he got the coachs job by default a 11 we showed up early that was a mistake he laughed i was told if i didnt coach there would be no coach he said l cherkas also ended up coaching son chriss peewee house league team he would hold the dual coaching role for f two seasons chris and his teammates captured thieieague house league title in cherkass second year as coach rep- resehtinghirsolelchampionsriip as a coachorv- y f i icherkas credits his earliest co- coaches in helping him learn the ropes wasnt a hockey player of a coach but i got a lot of help from rick johnson v my first year and ken wood mjrsecond year rick was an excellent coach who g career ice knows the game hescooland calm and ken has coached at the rep and house league levels v- he was left to find kis own assistant in year three i got terry weatherill to help me he was another excellent coach cherkas whose bantammidgetjuvenile house league team went as far as the league finals last year is looking after the td bank squad in the same division this season he has also served as a wsmha convener working towards parity among teams so that everyone has a chance to win one of the things we try to do is have it competitive so you dont know the outcome of a game until its played while cherkas had no prior experi- ence coaching hockey he has been a boys basketball coach at sdss since coming to the school 10 years ago he applies the same strategies to coaching both sports hockey- is a different game but the same principles apply such as fair play he said there are similarities and dif ferences in the sports in basketball you have the half court press and in hockey its the neu tral zone trap but a slap shot and a lay up are two different things attending numerous coaching clin ics and workshops in basketball arid hockey over the past decade cherkasl maintains his philosophy that coach- ing is ah extension of teaching he said its important to remember that despite the fixation with winning at the pro sport level most coaches are not there to win at all costs in pro sport its a coachs job to- win but the majority of people coach- ing are not pros he feels any- sport that encourages even the youngest players to become fixated with making it to the pros lis in a sorry state especially at the house league level the idea is to have fun its recre- ationalthewinning is secondary the proof of this he says is in the fact that at the bantammidgetjuve- nile house league level the hockey played is fast paced and clean he saysstouffvilles abundance of good hockey coaches is evident there are some excellent knowl- edgeable people in this town thats one of the things that makes it fun for the players r he suggests that same high quality of coaching has contributed to the suc cess of many stoufiviuepjayers who l have v through the ranks to play upper level hockey but of town the talent is there theres a very positive coaching attitude here hl phi- vvvyvutvv staff photosteve somerwue collision course tim hortoris defenceman kevin smart left tries to prevent bridlewood heatings cameron macmurty from advancing the puck to a teammate during saturdays whitchurchstouffville minor hockey association hockey school division game at the rec centre may days in vancouyer are looking positive brad may is still adjusting to life in lptusland the w 27yearold stouffiallelvlarkham 1 minor hockey product who was trad- ed to the vancpuyef canucks last february after six arid a half seasons with the buffalo sabres is enduring the never ending travel and rain that goes with being based in vancouver he just got back from a threeweek road trip and he said it seemed a lot longer than that i said brads lipother liriell curr of markham in a recent conver sation and its been raining where they are for a month hes sick of it 1 but the one liriell really feels sorry for is her daughter in law brads wife brigette at least brad gets to travel brigettes there all the time the mays whose son tyler s- xl- v bruce stapley will be three next months are expecting their second child in early may linnell reports shes taking full advantage of the phone companys offer of unlimited long distance outside business hours for 20 a rnonthv 1 we used to spend that on a- few calls to biiffalovshe chuck led as for the plight of thesome what sorry canucks who are in third place in the national hockey leagues less than impressive northeast division may is finding it somewhat diffir cult to spread his wings and fly on a team that has been plagued by injuries and yvhining super stars spelled pavel bure he had been on a line with- mark messier and alexander mogilny but mogilnys injury has led to his being shuttled about a bit consequently his goal pro duction is off a bit so far this sea son as the left winger had scored just once through his first 19 games but his seven assists put him on course to exceed last years total of 10 set ups hehad 13 goals lastyear- hes in jhis usual drought that he always seems to get into this tiriie of year linell suggest- edr l r star 2 z v v j minor neewees ir i zi i stquiryille natives thomaridshaw mgme richmond hill stwfrilriorpeewee aaas thoriiaiayearold rdefericeiriariraddedtw6 accumidatelitstplacerecb sgjzljffi 5 5 gibsbn12 handles netrriindirig chores and ijombaro has tauied seven goals and two assists in has played well througout the year i i