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p 16 weekender saturday july 19 1997 st oaju rfitness aerobics centre 190 bullock drive 9054717371 the tribune rts got a score call our hotline at 6402100 york equestrian centre is alive and doing well sports notes marissa stapley for an aspiring young equestrienne horseback riding at the eglinton equestrian centre in cedar valley was the stuff of dreams with its opulent facilities and show rings which each summer housed rid ing greats such as beth underhill and monopoly jay hayes and the bucking zucarlos and ian miller and his stellar mount big ben young horse enthusi asts could ask for no more as a preadolescent i was nothing short of horse crazy my bewildered parents often wondered how it was that i would refuse to clean my own room but had no qualms about grabbing a shovel and mucking out stalls for an entire afternoon my folks kindly offered to drive me to my weekly lesson and were soon conned into chauffeuring me to week ly prince philip games practices vari ous daylong horse shows and to the stable any other time i had the urge for quadruped companionship good times at eglinton my best friend amanda mclnin- inchs mother happened to be michele leroux general manager of the riding club at the time and most weekends i took advantage of her familys gener ous hospitality her house was right next door to eglinton however and her parents only glimpses of the two of us occurred when we stopped by the house to raid the cupboards for sugar cubes and carrots together amanda and i ate slept and breathed horses we would work ourselves into hysterical states the evening before horse shows and be at the barn by four in the morning clean ing our tack and grooming our mounts again the two of us would ride anything with a mane and tail including a rather corpulent pony called clyde who had been raised in a cattle field and res cued by the eglinton pony club just in time for a lifcsaving crash diet every day we would walk through the dressage barn which was home to horses owned by former olympic dressage team members mother and daughter eva maria and martina rracht dreaming of one day becoming world class riders it seemed that the ghost of hans pracht who was one of the founders of the club still wandered those illustri ous aisles when eglinton was forced to close its doors in december 1992 we were heartbroken economic times were tough and a riding club of such size and stature inevitably racked up bills it simply could not foot for a few years the club sat practi cally empty housing only the toronto polo club and the governor generals horse guards amanda and i sought other alterna tives and were fortunate enough to find people who would allow us to ride their horses at no charge in exchange for some basic training however it just wasnt the same for us anymore eglinton had closed taking with it a little of the glitter and a lot of our dreams now the york equestrian centre has decided to try its hand where the eglinton equestrian club failed centre is revitalized speaking with suzanne philip who now runs the centre jointly with her husband kim it seemed abundantly clear that the centre is flourishing and experiencing none of the financial problems of days gone by the riding school is run by john skee who leases about 50 stalls from the philips skee has established an impressive school reminiscent of and even sur passing eglinton s success opening a summer day camp which has attracted 175 students the facility has hosted several dres sage clinics and horse shows this sum mer including three trillium shows several a shows and a number of dressage meets just recently york played host to the kedora summer classic dressage show and this fall will be looking ahead to yet another trillium show and the fall classic a show suzanne said the centre has experi enced a tremendous rejuvenation the facility has been pulled out of the ashes she said the entire facility including three arenas one of which is one of the largest in canada outdoor dressage and showjumping rings and two club houses plus acres of picturesque land are being put to good use once again its a fabulous facility said suzanne everyone is really enthusi astic about it the philips currently board 42 hors es housing a predominant dressage community the boarding facility is filled to capacity and has a waiting list to someone who has always held a certain equestrian centre on davis drive close to her heart it is a pleasure to sec it filled once again with life and vitality collision at first base betz pools second baseman brett boyd centre and a new zealand baserunner collide after a throw to first base went astray during action in wednesdays exhibition fast ball game at the town park diamond the touring new zealand team won the contest 114 plmio by lori emmerson new zealands best down betz midgets bruce stapley correspondent black soxed the new zealand black sox under19 mens fastball team headed off to newfoundland and a date with stouffville left handed pitcher paul koert after putting on a clinic at memorial park on wednesday the new zcalanders who will be out to reclaim their title from canada at the world junior fast ball championships beginning this weekend in st johns closed out a nineday southern ontario training tour by posting convinc ing victories over the betz pools midgets and the uxbridge ban dits mens team even 26yearold premier pitch er scott evans couldnt prevent the visitors from handing the betz crew an 1 1 4 defeat in the opener the uxbridge outfit was downed 74 in the night cap theyre a good team theyve got some good hitters who are at their prime at the age of 19 con ceded evans who was bothered by cramps in his legs throughout the game bandits playercoach barry fer guson agreed they watch the ball well theyre patient hitters he said and as soon as they hit the ball theyre gone they dont stop for anything they do the basics so well defensively they just snapped up some hard shots the betz team took an early 1- 0 lead when scott assinck belted a sunassisted home run to left field in the first inning dan tardellas rbi single in the sec ond frame evened the score at 22 after the visitors had taken a 21 lead in the top of the inning black sox rally the black sox broke loose for nine runs the rest of the way to run off with the game mike mccauley had an rbi single for betz in the fifth with evans scor ing on an infield hit after stroking a lead off triple in the sixth byron baranieski held the black sox to three runs in four innings as he started on the rubber for the bandits chris burkholder belted a two run home run for the bandits to even the game at 22 in the third inning lefthander mark goreski gave up four runs in his threeinning stint for uxbridge the bandits rallied for two runs in the seventh on solo homers by goreski and rob rcesor the black sox preceded each game by chanting the haka an aboriginal tradition issuing a friendly challenge to opposing teams in sporting events new zealand assistant coach rick earley said he was pleased with how his team which is made up of players from various squads throughout the country has come together the tour was planned as a train ing camp for the players who havent played since the conclu sion of their season in february im happy with the improve ment said earley its surprising considering were out of season earley said his teams impres sive doubleheader victory in stouffville was a matter of mas tering the fundamentals we did the basics right advancing the runner etc it was the first time weve done it since beginning the tour the new zealand team won three and lost two in an exhibition series in port perry last weekend they defeated the betz team while losing to the claremont rebels and port perry juniors it wasnt the first time earley had encountered evans the coach was involved with the new zealand team which defeated the canadian outfit which included evans in the gold medal game at the 1989 world junior champi onships we were very pleased to do so well against scott said earley we had heard a lot about him and we respected him dave kay the port perry resi dent and oasa executive mem ber who organized the new zealand teams tour was also impressed with how the team had jelled in such a short time the first couple of days they were just a bunch of guys from a couple of different teams said kay now theyre a unit theyre definitely better