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tv v fisi y9i ivii p18weepnder saturday september 20 1997 st the tribune rts leisure got a score call our hotline at 6402100 crunch time couchiching terriers aaron kowalsky left gets taken into the boards by spirit of stouffville centreman ed kerncy right during first period action in thursdays ontario hockey asso ciation provincial junior a hockey league regular season opener at the rec centre the spirit of stouf fville prevailed 94 photo by sjoerd witteveen spirit tame terriers in regular season opener bruce stapley correspondent the mist from the dry ice machine used for the pregame player introductions hadnt even settled when the spirit of stouffville proyedthey were up to the challenge of their first test of the new season darcy kings goal just 12 seconds into thursdays provincial junior a hockey league opener with the couchiching terriers set the frisky spirit soaring on their way to a 94 victory the score actually flattered the visitors who didnt get their second goal until just past the midway point of the third period when spirit coach dan larmer finally reined in his front liners and gave the reserves a chance to stretch their legs the spirit simply outplayed out hit and out fought their bewildered opponents running up a 40 first- period lead then extending the margin to 8- 1 after 40 minutes at one point in the second the stouffville squad played two men short for a minute and 40 sec onds without the terriers getting one good scoring chance goalkeeper cory lloyd played a big part in keep ing the terriers off the board for the first 50 minutes of thursdays game making several dazzlingsaves when called upon the stouffville totals included four power play goals two scored within seconds of the infraction being called as it became a matter of when not if they would capitalize with the man advantage king led the way with two goals and three assists linemate kevin edgar was close behind with a pair of markers and two setups while geoff keillor the third member of the potent line chipped in with a goal and two helpers other scorers were ed kear ney scott martin dave zelasko and mark brus king who said his pacesetting goal from the opening face off fulfilled his desire to score the teams first goal of the season downplayed his part in the victory i guess i was in the right place at the right time he said it was a nice pass from edgar for his first goal we got some good bounces they made some mistakes and we took advantage of them spirit head coach dan larmer said the result shows that can happen when a team plays the major ity of a game in the other teams end our plan was to shoot the puck into their end and then go banging to get it he said as long as the puck is deep in their end they cant hurt us larmer said while he doesnt expect his team to score nine goals every time out he will stick to the same plan all season long thats the style we plan to play all year some nights well score nine goals other nights well only get three so if we can keep our goals against down we can win larmer wasnt about to let his players get overcon fident as a result of the initial win suggesting his team will encounter stiffer resistance in future games weve still got a lot of work to do its a 51 game season and the next game starts with a 00 score spiritually speaking the spirit play the peter- boro bees today as part of the annual oha provin cial junior a hockey league prospects weekend at the mississauga ice complex they host the new market 87s hurricane next thursday in their second game of the season the spirit unveiled their new state of the art red black and white uniforms for thursdays game mayor wayne emmerson was on hand to drop the ceremonial first puck are there no good sports at sdss sports notes bruce stapley you dont know what youve got until you lose it that best sums up the situation as the slash and burn approach to educa tion as we once knew it has made the stouffville secondary school sdss athletic program its latest victim the kids will probably return to the courts and the cross country trails as all hands contribute to resolve the maelstrom brought about by the school boards elimination of the 75- minute administration period former ly enjoyed by sdss phys ed heads dave connell and sheila coleman the crisis will somehow be averted this time but this is the second serious dis ruption to the sdss athletic program in three years undoubtedly it wont be the last as the old order gives way to the new with its insistence upon fis cal accountability tuesday nights parentteacher liai son meeting at the school was marked by a mix of confusion disbelief and anger as everyone tried to figure out what to do next student after student and parent after parent rose to tell how essential the schools wellrounded extra curric- ular program was to them zora chacinski whose daughter alex was named sdss outstanding junior female athlete of the year last spring was looking for answers my daughter simply isnt going to excel in academics if she cant play sports at school she lamented tell me what to do community help needed track and field coach fred robbins who will become the model of parental volunteerism as sdss takes the load off its teachercoaches by inviting more and more community assistance expressed the frustration of parents and students alike theres no convener for track and field for york region for 1998 railed robbins hes refused to do it there will be no cross country season this year its over in four weeks and it hasnt even started yet robbins lamented how his own daughter brenda who was named sdss athletic council cochair for 199798 attended an ontario student leadership camp this past summer in preparation for her duties for what fred asked in frustra tion phys ed sports at schools is going to disappear he warned saying how governments and school boards were whittling away at the little things while still expecting the same programs as in the past our job as parents here tonight is to go out and educate the public he offered they dont know whats going on here the divisions in our society in gen eral were evident at the meeting while some parents were totally supportive of the teachers decision to pull the plug on the schools athletic program as a means of showing their frustration others vented their disap proval suggesting the teachers should consider it one of their most basic duties to run extracurricular sports programs some saw parent volunteers as the answer while others insisted the teachers were the only ones equipped to run a successful school athletic pro gram three issues at stake meanwhile for coleman and con nell long respected for their unflag ging commitment to the sdss athlet ic program it all comes down to three issues first that smaller schools like sdss always get the shaft when the board allocates funding for things like ath letic programs by granting schools money based strictly on student head count sdss is unable to keep up as it tries to field teams in all sports just like the big schools do consequently youll find the two phys ed heads counting coins from a special fundraising pop machine before school starts each morning heading up fruit drives and coordi nating hot dog sales at track meets at the stouffville track second the boards cutting of sup ply teachers leaves a smaller staff like that at sdss hard pressed to cover when coaches leave the school to take their teams to games and thirdly the cutting of the 75- minute administration period once again victimizing small schools only coming as it does on the heels of the first two issues it is the final straw causing the two heads along with their supportive fellow teachercoach es to pull out altogether from the extracurricular sports program as the year 2000 approaches one thing is sure the coming of the new millenniumwill surely mark the pas sage of an age where sports at the local high school were as much a sure thing as drab fare at the cafeteria