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22- The Canadian Champlort, Tuesday Septemnber 1, 1998 Backfrom brink with newfound commitment Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Milton Springers' head instructor Janet Campbell prepares for 25th anniversary celebrations, whlch wouldn't have corne without club-saving measures Instituted a few years back. Ace goalie tandem. to stay, says coach By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion The Milton Merchants kicked off preseason play with back-to-back victories - but more importantly, with a good omen. Without the overwhelmingly powerful offence of la st season, the defending provincial champs will undoubtedly find themselves in more tightly contested ganes now. They came up on the wmnning end of two such battles this past weekend, posting 3-2 and 3-0 decisions over the Stouffville Spirit. 'This is a bit of what you're going to see fromn us this year, at least for a while," explained head coach Marty Williamson. "Our defense and goaltending are going to have to play a bigger role in oursuccess." Addressing speculation over the club's net- minding situation, the local bench boss said he has no immediate plans to deal either Daniel Jacques or Jeremy Wenzel in order to acquire a * bonafide scorer. '"he two of themn came to me about a month ago and asked that one of them be traded," recounted Williamson, who heads into the sea- son with two cagers each capable of assuming the starting role. "But since then, they' ve come back and asked that they stay together. "Fact is I've wanted both of them back from the beginning and 'm not going to trade either unless it becomes absolutely necessary. "I'd rather get scorers other ways." Williamson sald he was thoroughly pleased with the defensive unit's initial showing - par- ticularly that of 1 4-year-old Adam Sturgeon, who hasn't shown any of the timid behaviour usually assocîated with such a young Jr. A prospect The youthful defenceman' s cockiness and physical play has so far impressed Milton' s coaching staff. Sinking the eventual game win- ner Friday night, a blueline blast through trafflc early in the third, didn't hurt his cause either. Also showing strongly on defense was 16- year-old Mark Sproul, a New Brunswick native whose brother Jason played for Williamson and Milton president Gregg Carrigan a few years back in Caledon, where he helped anchor the blueline. The Merchants were led up front last week- end - with two-goal efforts - by Kevin O'Flaherty and re-acquired left winger Geof Schomogyi. A couple of years spent with the Jr. B Dutchmen seem to have done wonders for the 19-year-old Kitchener native, who displayed a lot of puck control and notched a couple of pret- ty goals from close range. Milton's final tally Saturday was accidentally kicked in by a Stouffville defenceman. It was credited to 16-year-old left winger Chris Rowan, a highly touted 6'3", 200 lbs. graduate of the MT}IL. "I thought Rowan and fellow 16-year-old Ryan Stewart played quite weil this weekend," said Williamson. "They moved the puck weil and did a good job creating trafflc." Assists over the two games went to O'Flaherty, Schomogyi, Nathan Gillies, Mike Wheelihan and 17-year-old defenceman Ryan Carrigan, who toiled with a Montana junior team last year. Guarding the cage through the second period Friday was former Toronto Marlie Mike Shanab. Milton's veteran goalies were both solid, with Jacques going unheaten over two- and-a-half periods. Merchants notes: Rivaling ex-rearguard Raitis (Razor) Ivanans as the Merchants' most distant import is German forward Stephane Kraft, who's battling for a third or foustb line position ... Joining the coaching staff this year is Kerry Ryan, a former player under Williamson in Caledon who'll help out with the forwards.' By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion It may be sîlver anniversary time for the Milton Springers, but recent efforts to revitalize the gym- nastics club have been as good as gold. At the dawn of of their 25th season, head instructor Janet Campbell recalîs how the local program nearly went belly up just a few short years ago. Enrolment was way down while resources were extremely scarce. The only thing in ample supply was anxiety, much of which was felt by Campbell, who had devoted almost two decades of her life to the Spningers. "At the start of the 1992-93 season, the parents and executive members had a very serious meet- ing about the future of the club," she said. "We had just moved into the Nipissing Road facility and we really didn't know if we'd have the resources to open that season." But with aIl interested parties re-committing themselves to the club - through assertive recruitment and aggressive fundraising - the Milton Springers ived on. Today the club has an enrolment of more than 300 gymnasts - 10 times of when Campbell took over in 1976. And whîle she's quick to credit parent volun- teers with saving local gymnastics, many of them are just as quick to redirect praise back at her. "Without Janet Campbell we wouldn't still be here," said parent volunteer and executive mem- ber Linda Massel. "For her to have stuck around at one club for as long as she has is wonderful. "Her experience and commitment has made such a difference." Campbell - who at 22 years holds the record for the longeat stay by a head instructor at any provincial gymnastics club - said she's been remarkably.pleased with the competitive growth of her Springers lately. She recalled, I wouldn't quite say we were the laughing stock in the region, but when I first came here we were definitely at the bottom. "Now we can certainly hold our own in any competition. Ashley Quinn's provincial gold in vault this past spring shows how far we've come." Since the club's rebirth, Campbell and compa- ny have expanded their programn to cater to a wider variety of athletes.. They've added senior kindergymn and tum- bling/dance classes and established a working relationship with Milton District H-igh School's cheerleading squad. "Milton's population is aging so we needed to add more programs for the older gymnasts," explained Massel, who added that corporate sponsorship is on the upswmng. "We can't wait for the town to grow and get more kids in here." The Milton Springers are in the midst of invit- ing alumni to their 25th anniversary celebrations, which are expected to include an open house competition sometime in the fall. Registration for the fail session will be held this Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Milton Mail.