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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports F O R T H E K I D S 23 | Friday, October 9, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" After the Halton District School Board postponed this year's elementary cross-country meets due to supervision issues stemming from the labour dispute between teachers and the provincial government, the staff at West Oak Public School began planning a competition of its own. That meet was held Tuesday afternoon at the Glen Abbey school, with approximately 250 students -- close to half of West Oak's Grade 3-8 population -- participating. In left photo, teacher Judy Rooney cheers on the runners while snapping pictures of the action. In right photo, eight-year-old Rebecca Noonan (foreground) and nine-year-old Lauren Newcombe run the course, which was slightly altered from the route West Oak students have been training on for several weeks. "This is the seventh school I've worked at in my career, and honestly this is far and away the best staff I've worked with," said West Oak principal Sean McCarthy. "It's pretty easy to get caught up in student achievement, the marks on the report card at the end of the semester... but research is pretty clear that student engagement leads to student achievement." McCarthy added that sanctions by the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario have not affected the large number of extra-curricular programs West Oak runs each year. | photo by Nikki Wesley -- Oakville Beaver ­ @Halton_Photo Red Devils hungry to erase memories of last year's early playoff exit by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff Before she even arrived at Oakville Trafalgar High School, Lauren Waldbillig was well aware of the reputation of the girls' field hockey program. "My mom knew it was a big sport at the school," she said. "Because I'd been a hockey player for 14 years, she thought I might be good at it. And I wanted to try something different." So the summer before she arrived at OT, Waldbillig signed up to play with the Halton Field Hockey Club and learned the skills that would help her make an immediate contribution to continuing that tradition. But last year the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils found themselves in unfamiliar territory. After winning four straight Halton titles and playing in the regional championship game 12 of the previous 14 years, OT's season came to an abrupt end after just one playoff game. Finishing third with a 7-2 record, the Red Devils had to play a quarter- final game, a round they almost always bypassed because they typically had one of the league's best records. Playing its longtime rival, Notre Dame, OT was edged 1-0 in penalty strokes. "That season is always in the back of our brains," said Waldbillig. "We don't want to ever do that again and it has made us work harder." So far, the Red Devils are well on their way to making sure they have a clearer path to the final. In league play, OT is 5-0-1 and opened the season with a 4-1 win over last year's Halton finalist, the Loyola Hawks. "I think there's a little more drive this year," said OT coach Jim Groen. While the Loyola win certainly boosted the team's confidence, it was a pre-season tournament at McMaster that really opened the team's eyes. OT didn't allow a single goal in winning the championship. "I think that's when we got the idea that, `Wow, we can go far,'" said Waldbillig. "The team has meshed really well this year and the Grade 11 girls that have come in have fit see Tougher on p.24 Oakville Trafalgar's Tanis Sanders (left) looks to gain control of the ball while fending off Loyola's Taylor Tabry-Dorzek in Halton senior girls' field hockey action. After having their four-year championship run ended last season, the Red Devils are looking to regain their spot atop Halton. OT is 5-0-1 and has allowed only a single goal. | photo by Herb Garbutt -- Oakville Beaver