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DE RANGO PHARMACY INC. w 2501 T905-465-3000 • P• H • C AlwaHelp Pharmacist -Fabio De Rango Drug Store/Pharmacy Interlocking & Concrete Specialists Call Mario 905.842.7171 sunmarlandscape.com ™ La n d s c a p in g 3133 Burnhamthorpe Rd W, Milton, On L9E 0J7 • Pebble Concrete • Stamped Concrete • Interlocking • Flagstone • Walkways • Garage Floors • Patios • Driveways • Curbs (French) Interlocking & Concrete Specialists Communities we serve: Located in Halton region, we work in and around • Milton • Campbellville • Burlington • Aldershot • Hamilton • Oakville • Mississauga • Waterdown • Carlisle celled. With a club this size, you do as much planning as you can, but there's only so much you can do." In previous seasons, per- mits for fields would be in place a year in advance, registration would have started in January. This season, when the club final- ly got the go-ahead to re- turn to play, all administra- tive work normally done over four months -- card- ing players, setting travel schedules, etc. -- had to be completed in just over two weeks. Returning to play has had an extra layer of com- plexity for the Burlington Centaurs. While players have been able to return to the field to train, returning to game action will take a little longer with players having not played a game -- at least the contact version -- in almost two years. COVID-19 has also played havoc with the club's desire to grow the sport at younger age levels. It had started an elementary school program for stu- dents in Grades 4-6. The touch rugby program was a hit after its first year. "It was so popular, we had to do a lottery the next year," said Centaurs presi- dent Nick Manz. But with school sports sidelined for a second year, he fears they may have lost that momentum. "We've had to go back and start from scratch," said Manz, whose club held camps for kids ages 6-12 throughout July. Lacrosse has similar challenges, though it faces the double whammy of be- ing a contact sport played indoors. The move to Step 3 of the provincial reopening plan cleared the way for la- crosse to resume indoors, but with a season that tradi- tionally ended with the pro- vincial championships in mid-August, it didn't leave much time for a season. "We're concentrating on grassroots, attracting new people to the sport, showing them it is a great, safe game," said Blaine McCau- ley, president of the Halton Hills Minor Lacrosse Asso- ciation. The association has been running a Try La- crosse program, offering two free skills sessions and a stick to help attract new players. It has been able to have field lacrosse programs and has even hosted a couple of tournaments, but it has been far from business as usual. "We're more building for next year, when we can run the programs we have in the past," McCauley said. Gymnastics was also de- layed by restrictions on in- door activities. Milton Springers general manager Linda Massel said the club tried to get a jump on its start-up by offering sum- mer camps with outdoor ac- tivities and games on mats. The move to Step 3 al- lowed the Springers to move back indoors with limited capacity to allow for physical distancing. "We're trying to go with a cautious approach that feels comfortable for (ev- eryone)," said Massel. Physical distancing does create a unique challenge, as gymnasts often need spotters. Massel said that with gymnasts off for such an extended period, the ear- ly focus has been on condi- tioning and skills. "Spotting will be mini- mal in the first few weeks," she said. "It is a sport where that safety component is needed so we'll follow all the guidelines, with our coach- es being masked and using hand sanitizer." Indewey said the pause gave the club time to re- evaluate what it offered. "We took a hard look at our programs. Usually, the wheels are always in mo- tion and one season flows into the next. We had this time to restructure, see what works, and what have we done out of habit, rather than need." She said while there are always a lot of new players in the youngest age groups, there was an influx of new players in the under-nine and older groups. The club continued to receive calls about registration even af- ter the season started. Indewey said that's not surprising given that sports give kids an opportunity to socialize. That has created a bit of a balancing act. While still wanting to make the game available to as many as pos- sible, the club has tried not to put too many players on teams. Said Indewey, "The end goal is player experience. You don't want to over-ros- ter teams and have players (who) aren't getting the ac- tivity level or the positive experience you would want." Jason Lopez said he had no reservations about sign- ing up his seven-year-old son Desmond for soccer and baseball. "Minor sports were nec- essary for the summer to feel normal," he said. "You can see it on their faces. They are running around and loving it. You can't re- create this online, being with kids their own age, in- teracting with their peers. This is what they missed out on." STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Minor sports are back, but it certainly hasn't been easy. We wanted to examine the many chal- lenges facing local sports organizations as they re- turn to the field. COMMUNITY Continued from page 1 The pandemic has been a major obtsacle to the Centaurs' efforts to grow the game of rugby at the younger levels. Graham Paine/Metroland SPORTS GROUPS ADAPTING TO VARIOUS RESTRICTIONS SCAN FOR MORE Scan this code for more local news. "The end goal is player experience. You don't want to over-roster teams and have players (who) aren't getting the activity level or the positive experience you would want." - Oakville Soccer Club executive director Katryna Indewey