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1 cr t w j i -4- s- st byjohncudmore staff writer s et it spike it dig it ldveit for some reason volleyball is not main stream despite growing interest and registration numbers that may not last lon given the rising profile of the court sport it may be only a matter of time before volleyball becomes popular in the same way as basketball and lacrosse remember soccers cur rent popularity was little more than a gleam in purists eyes asrecently as the early 1990s the key is establishing a strong foundation at the youth level and providing potential players an opportu nity to play area volleyball officials have grasped- the notion j were where soccer-was- 10 years ago says keith wasylik acoach for the york region stingrays girls juve- nile and junior teamsthe best kids here were leaving to play in scarborough- since the stingrays came along six- or seven years ago the kids dont have to go south of hwy 7 the big reason were getting more kids is there were no girls dubs up hre the stingrays who offer seven girls and boys compet itive teamsare one of three youthbased organizations drawing playersfrom york region the others are the richmond hill scramblers 5 and aurora storm both for girls i l according to ontario volleyball association execu- tiye director diane wqod volleyball is growing most rapidly at the midget under 16- and juvenile v 18 levels especially among girls she notes for every boys team there are two for girls despite its appeal for both genders volleyball tradition ally has been typecast as a sport with high female involvement or at best a physred class for boys conquering that perception has been difficult although the sport seems to be win ning converts it was not that long ago volleyball wasnt the sport of choice for boys wood explains if you didnt make the basketball or football team maybe youd go out for volleyball it is starting to become a sport of choice overall wood says the number of teams registered with the association has increased roughly 50 per cent in the past three to four years so now approximately 225 clubs are registered wood estimates there are at least another 500 adult teams reg istered with the association adclto that as many as 200 communitybased programs organized through local j recreation departments and you have the development of a subculture in the sport organizers covet but havent fully tapped a wait- ing pool oftalentinelemen- tary schools though many schools offer volleyball as an extra-curricular- activity pro viding handson experience for children getting to the next stage has been difficult its such a technical game and that makes it difficult to bring in kids to thergame says dave muir a- stingrays coach who operates four aces sports camps that pro- vide skill development pro grams for all ages it is a skilled game you cant just go 1 see volleyball page 25 4c x ft feainisi x i i f i v tc ov staff photorob alary volleyball has traditionally been a big hit at the high school level with 65 boys teams currently drilling and spiking myofk k v been there done that put sitlg out i didnt let my instructor know my back was beginning to cramp as i held my awkwardbut balanced position then slowly- transferred my weight from one leg to the other arms outstretched trying to remember to grip the floor with my toes c after all most of my classmates in this weekday morning session were retired 60 and 70 years old if theycould perform these simple and perform them with grace surely icould right r wrong tai chi is a lot more demand- ing than it looks as i learned last week at the markham branch of tiie tai chi society on main street north the ancient chinese exerciset prac tised for centuries in asia is becoming increasingly popular in north america perhaps a result of an aging population fori whoni aerobics and jogging are impractical at best and torture at worst th slow flowing movements exe- cuted with seemingly little effort are aimed at relaxing and strengthening bothbody and mind but they require balance flexibility and an underlying strength that belies the ease of motion my classmates exhibit- i unobtrusively twist myarm behind my back tryingtp rehevejhe stubborn cramp in my right shdulderahd pray ing it doesnt worsen as i watch instruc tor john hqllinger performing the next move ill attempt it occurs tome that if i did taichi fegularlyi wbuldntbe hav ing this problem i hollinger circulates through the see tai page 25