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26 economist suntribune sports thursday june 27 2002 new stouffville minor hockey president concerned with cost of our game give the kids a break the parents too this twopronged message has been delivered to town politicians by joe cornacchia newlyelected president of the whitchurchstouffville minor hockey association cornacchia claims ever- increasing ice costs at the stouffville arena passed on to parents through everincreas ing registration fees are hurt ing some of the 800 boys and girls who want to play the game cornacchia says many of the same people who contributed financially to the construction of ice pad 2 are now being penalized in an effort to pay down the debenture a 250anhour raise in rates may not seem like much but its the straw thats breaking the camels back he warns ice rental costs in stouffville are the second highest in all of york region he states when two or three kids from one family are involved the cost becomes prohibitive he says cornacchia is certain some boys and girls are being deprived an opportunity to play because the sport of hockey is becoming too expensive and this shouldnt be he claims hockeys our national game its a passion with most canadians he says kids shouldnt be deprived of this right cornacchia says residents of whitchurch- stouffville pay whats expected of them in taxes with little or no complaint in doing so hockey moms and dads deserve consideration thats fair and equitable he states all were looking for is a good quality of life for our children families are our future he con tends cornacchia says its unfair for the town to invest 8 million in a pool library and fitness complex yet it cant afford to pay off an arena debenture without penalizing users ours is a league operated entirely by volun teers he said all we want to do is make a differ ence better he says for boys and girls to be playing hockey than hanging out in malls and on street corners people keep asking whats wrong with our national game they dont need to look very far were pricing ourselves out of existence by creat ing an upperclass environment cornacchia says jim thomas we have to do something about it im not sure what but we have to do something he said he suggests some sort of fundraising may be the answer cornacchia admits in recent years soccer in whitchurchstouffville and elsewhere has come on strongly no wonder he says all their league must do is cut a little grass provide shoes a ball and a tshirt costs compared to hockey are low at the same time he acknowl edges the cost of operating an ice arena is high but its a service parents have a right to expect apart from our schools the arenas the focus of the community he said needs should not be measured on a rate of return keith acton assistant coach of the toronto maple leafs is an excellent example of what stouffville minor hockey can produce cornacchia said tournament play also generates income for the town he said joe and janice cornacchia residents of vandorf for the past 19 years are proud hockey parents whove watched son michael now 18 progress through whitchurchstouffvilles minor league system from mite to juvenile they also have a daughter erin 15 cornacchia has been involved in both admin istrative and coaching roles he began as a man agertrainer of a minor peewee team and later accompanied a minor bantam club coached by trevor zimmerman on a tour of europe two years ago he also accompanied a markham midget team to europe a trip organized by gary mcdonell of sports tours international of stouffville at riverdale collegiate in toronto joe was involved primarily in hockey football and wrestling and was voted athlete of the year a brother rick was head coach of the 1991 memorial cup champion oshawa generals prior to assuming the wsmha presidency cornacchia served as league tournament direc tor omha rep and vicepresident he takes over the reins from andy cartwright association pres ident for the past four years while pleased to assume this position cornacchia says hell miss the role of spectator watching your kid play hockey is the most enjoyable thing in the world he said macri is set to get back on winning track after having last weekend off from their hectic cart toyota atlantic racing schedule jonathan macri will be going back to work c savoring a performance prior to their week off in which he reached the victory podium with a secondplace finish in his last race at portland oregon the gormley resident hopes he can continue to climb the ladder of success as he pre pares for this weekends race at the chicago motor speedway macri is optimistic hell feed off of the momentum he gained from the last race as he prepares to embark on the sixth leg of the championship series on chicagos 1029- mile oval having raced there last year in his rookie season in jonathan macri rnished sixth in chicago last year which he qualified fourth and finished sixth macri and team p1 racingntn bearings miller genuine draft swift 014a are well aware of what needs to be done to succeed we did well at chicago last year macri said we know the track well and well be even better able to configure the bestpossible setup for the car the team is back on a high after our success at portland and well be aiming for a win at chicago this time macri currently sits in 10th place in the cham pionship series standings and is tied with ryan hunterreay with 38 points apiece only 23 points separate macri from first place the chicago race weekend starts with a half hour practice session saturday morning followed by official qualifying late saturday afternoon sunday will see drivers enter onto the track for a 15minute warmup at 945 am local time the 70lap race begins at noon local time the race is on speed channel on a sameday delay at 9 pm est staff photosteve somerville leader of the pack markham track clubs alexandra aasen far left leads the pack in the 17 and under girls 800metre race during last saturdays royal canadian legion district track and field meet at the conneufranklin track at stouffville district secondary school track aasen proceeded to win the event in a time of 2265 ace swimmer gives lebovic pool top marks by jim thomas correspondent whitchurchstouffvilles new aquatic centre has received an aplus rating from someone who knows what swimming pools are or should be all about judy koonstra one of the finest swimmers to grace this or any oilier pool visited the site earlier this year its beautiful she says very spa cious and very bright she and sister kelly were made to feel welcome she said and invited to return whenever convenient undoubtedly koonstras reputation proceeded her shes the pride and joy of uxpool uxbridge where shes helped put both the swim club and the town on the map born in pickering koonstra and fam ily moved to uxbridge township at age six she attended goodwood public and uxbridge secondary schools even as a novice she displayed a skill that attracted the attention of coaches and competitors alike by 10 she was competing at a provincial level and at age 13 was classed among the top eight in ontario the butterfly was her specialty at 14 koonstra was selected to be a part of a tour team travelling to santa clara california and a year later joined the youth national team in competition judy koonstra nationalcalibre swimmer back from us college at nepean near ottawa she set records in both the 100- and 200metre butterfly koonstra describes as a break through her thirdplace finish in olympic trials held at montreal it was something i never expected she says koonstras last four years have been spent at brown university in providence rhode island where she recently graduated with a degree busi ness economics while at brown her learning skills were strengthened both physically and academically but there were times she admits when she wanted to set swim ming aside two years ago i wanted to quit she revealed but it seemed selfish on my part to let the team down parental support during formative years set her course she claims she recalls how her mother and dad would rise at 6 am and drive her to town her college swim coach also gave her career a boost achievements over the past 17 years would never have been realized if it had nt been for swimming koonstra says the sport has taken her to from coast to coast across canada many states in the united states and to south america in addition she has a roomful of medals trophies and plaques also it provided her the opportunity to attend an ivy league school and compete with and against some of the finest swim mers in the world she describes her last four years at brown university as amazing but now shes home and enjoying a wellearned rest a rest that still includes swimming but this time shes swim ming for fun