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D2 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, November 3, 1999 ^ ^ ^ ^ n o th e re x c itin g ^ s e ^ s o n for Hornets hkdse*league This year, the OakvilleHomets Girls Hockey Association is bigger and bet ter than ever. | The grown to almost 450 players, an Incifase of 27 per cent over la s t f i^ B . There fW W wotal of 22 house league teams with over 300 girls playing hockey, many for the first time. There are more than 120 new players in the house league; a number have played elsewhere previously, but most are playing hockey for the first time this year. Unlike boys' hockey, the girls play in two or three year age groups. This year, the Oakville Hornets have four tyke teams (ages 7 and under), five novice teams (ages 8 and 9), five atom teams (ages 10 and 11), four peewee teams (ages 12 and 13), two bantam teams (ages 14 and 15), and two midget/intermediate teams (ages 16 and over). For the first time, the younger divisions are playing an interlocking sched ule with the Burlington Girls Hockey Association. The older teams continue to play in the Halton House League, playing against teams from Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Flamborough as well as Burlington. The Hornets play their home games at Ice Sports throughout the day on Saturdays on Rink 1 and Sunday nights at Maplegrove. The key to girls' house league hockey is fun. The coaches, trainers and managers are dedicated volunteers working hard to ensure that the girls have fun, play fair, play safe, and develop as hockey players. The girls play a 16-game schedule followed by playoffs and a champi onship in March. Each team practices throughout the year providing the players with plen ty of ice time to develop their skills and friendships that will last for years. If you have any questions, call the Oakville Hornets at 847-1400. A number of divisions still have spaces available for the 1999/2000 season. Photo Feature by Peter C. McCusker [ TOP PHOTO: Maria Amantea patiently awaits her shift. BOTTOM LEFT PHOTO: Coach Andy Waller talks to Natalie Bull, Samantha Cook and Elizabeth McLeod. BOTTOM RIGHT PHOTO: a couple of Oakville Hornets house league teams in action. Teddy Howaid (foreground) and fellow Special Olympic bowlers (from left) Jane Eakins, Jason M cLaughlin, Jim M orkin and Lou Balough w ere on hand at Hopedale Bowling for a recent Wednesday practice.' Special Olympic movement keeps growing in Oakville By Norm Nelson BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Excitement is growing for the Olympics, both internationally and locally. On the international front, the summer Olympics are coming up again in 2000 in Sydney, Australia and Oakville's Donovan Bailey will try to defend his 100 metre title. On the local front, Oakville Special Olympics is embarking on a special push to provide more sports to more special athletes. And that means they are putting out the call to all special Olympic athletes to come on out and join in the fun, and to all inter ested volunteers to consider helping out. "W ithout volunteers, we don't have Special Olympics," said Iris Page, volunteer co-ordinator for Ontario Special Olympics in Oakville. "They're the whole backbone of the organization." The Special Olym pics m ovem ent in Oakville has traditionally been strong in all aspects. Organizationally, Oakville has more than 60 volunteers. Last year, they helped pull off a successful Ontario summer games along with Burlington. And quite a few Special Olympic athletes have excelled. The Oakville floor hockey team, called the Oakville Cougars, for instance, are provincial champions and they will be heading to the national champi- File Photo by Peter J. Thompson Sheridan College's Shane Bascoe enjoys a quiet moment after the Bruins won their second consecutive provincial championship earlier this year `Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. ' ·A th le te s' O a th onships in Ottawa, January 25-30. And the swimming program, just to list another example, typically produces medal ists at the provincial and national levels. The above accomplishments, however, are perhaps not even the best examples to be bandying about. As most people are aware, the Special Olympics movement is much more than medals and podium placings. More than anything else, it's about achieving full potential, and having fun and making friends through the wonderful world of sports. The athlete's oath is ... `Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.' For a volunteer, working with a Special Olympian and getting to know them can be extremely rewarding, said Page. By the same token, this does make it especially important for volunteers to follow through on their commitment. The range of the athletes in the Special Olympic movement is immense. And that makes it easy for volunteers to find an area suited to them. As Linda Hickson, the head coach of the swimming program relates, there are swim r ! : mers that would leave most people in their wakes. And there are some Special Olympians that just need a lot of one-on-one support. It's an exciting time now because Ontario Special Olympics are trying to expand the number of sports it offers, and the Oakville group is certainly supporting this push. Sports that are already offered include swimming, bowling, floor hockey, golf, bas ketball, softball, T-ball, soccer (including indoor soccer, this winter) and powerlifting. One sport they would like to add this winter is an indoor track and field program which would lead to a full outdoor program in the spring. Another sport is rhythmic gymnastics. Flexibility is the key. If there's not quite enough Special Olympians to form a dedi cated club, for instance, than maybe an existing club could accommodate them. This would open up a real spectrum of opportunities such as figure skating, speed skating and curling, for instance. To find out about volunteering, phone Iris Page at 844-3881. Special Olympians (and their families) interested in getting involved, as well as any individual or corporation interested in spon soring these athletes and teams, should phone Linda Hickson at 827-5359. Hickson is the head coach of the swim team and is the community co-ordinator. D efending cham ps gear up for season The Sheridan College basketball team will have a big bullseye on their back heading into the 1999-2000 season. Having won the Ontario provincial championship the past two seasons means that every team will be gunning for the Sheridan Bruins as they begin their quest for three in a row. While the team lost three starters to graduation, it still has the talent to make some noise in the OCAA landscape. Two-time all-Canadian guard Shane Bascoe (see photo above) returns to lead another quick Bruin team. Last year's Canadian player of the year runner-up, who received a prestigious invite to the national team tryouts, looks faster than ever and is determined to finish off his col lege career in style. Chris Williams, Chris Bennett, Erue White, Kris Ceelen, Hugh Bent, Elvis Dennis and Damien Paratore are also returning and the coaches will be looking for them to step up and contribute to the quest for another provincial title. Sheridan's pre-season record stands at 5-3 which includes a 4th place finish at the Dawson tournament in Montreal. The Bruins host their annual Bruins Bash Tournament this weekend at JM Porter Gym in Oakville. They open up Friday at 2 p.m. against Edward Monpetit and take on Loyalist at 8 p.m. They close out the round-robin format at noon on Saturday against Champlain. The tournament final goes Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The Bruins have once again been invited to the 32nd Naismith Tournament in Waterloo. They will be the only col lege team to participate. Sheridan won the consolation final last year. The tournament runs from Nov. 12th to 14th. *· .