THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday April 21 MM Sports Outlook OLIN GIBSON Herald Sports Editor MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY PLAYERS Rod of the Cornwall Royals left and Adam Bennett of the Sudbury Wolves right returned to their hometown hockey roots Wednesday evening at the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association Rep teams awards banquets and Bennett each spoke briefly to the captive audience and each insisted that a National Hockey League career was well within the realm of possibility for those young players who displayed tion and were willing to work for their dream Both players also look time to sign autographs and chat with the players in attendance much to the delight of two Bruins players Doug Sheppard left and Jamie Stephenson got to meet the hometown hockey players and trade hockey yarns Herald photo by Colin Gibson Rep teams awards banquet Soccer season to prove exciting By STEVE LEE Herald Special 1990 promises to be an exciting year in soccer at both the local and international level with the World Cup in June and at the other end of the spectrum a large group of Georgetown Mini Squirts and getting their first chance to be involved the world s most popular sport Minor Soccer in Georgetown of both a Girls and Boys House League Boys Commissioner Bill Harrison indicates that based on current enrolment the League will consist of MiniSquirt teams and bom 83 4 Major Squirt U8 6 Atom U9 and Peewee and U13 and 3 Bantam U16 and Girls Commissioner Isabel McNeily has respon again based on current enrolment for Squirt U6 117 and Atom U9 and Uio Ull and and 3 Bantam and Silverware and stars highlight evening By COLIN GIBSON Herald Sports Editor The Georgetown District Minor Hockey Association Rep teams group held it annual awards ban quel Wednesday evening at Gor don Alcott Memorial Arena hall and aside from all the silverware that was handed out the youngsters were treated to three special guests Georgetown minor hockey pro ducts Adam Bennett of the OHL s Sudbury Wolves and Rod Pasma of the OHLs Cornwall Royals were on hand to meet the young hockey players and offer words of advice In addition former NHL Rick Hainz one of the frontrunners for the general s managers position vacated by Bob Hooper with the Georgetown Junior B Raiders took to the podium as the evenings guest speaker RATED HIGHLY In addressing the young hockey players Pasma urged them not to give up the dream of one day playing in the National Hockey League He recounted how at a similar banquet several years ago it was suggested to him that he not get his hopes up too high of one day play ingintheNHL After just one year in the Ontario Hockey League the latest NHL scouting bureau ratings rank 12th in terms of junior hockey talent and he urged those youngsters harboring NHL dreams to go for it it can be done if you have the ability and are willing to work for what you want CLOSE TO CONTRACT Bennett the number one draft choice of the NHLs Chicago Blackhawks in last Junes entry draft revealed that he is very close to inking a pact with the NHL club after months of wrangling by both sides We he and his agent Anton Thun of Toronto have an offer in the mail I hoping things will be wrapped In his address to those in atten dance Bennett stressed just how much hard work and dedication succeed in hockey Rick Heinz even at the major junior level You can basically say pointed out Bennett that it is a 24hour a day job Unfortunately at he junior level school often has to take a back seat to hockey He outlined a typical day for a junior hockey player and what with practices viewing video tapes journeying back and forth from the arena then reporting ear ly for that night s game how little time the players really had for other activities Bennett touched on the money aspect involved as a professional hockey player but stressed that should not be the beall and end all of a youngster s hockey dream Sure the money is nice said Bennett but the game still has to be fun It a lot of hard work and you have to be dedicated but for me it s worth it Both Pasma and Bennett had praise for and offered sincere thanks to all the people who ed the help and proper guidance for them as minor hockey players EDUCATION IMPORTANT Heinz was a bit of a surprise guest speaker considering he is in the hunt for the Raiders general manager Heinz moved to Milton last August and is a real estate agent for Canada Trust He also offers advice on tax shelters He recounted how bis nine years as a professional hockey player had its ups and downs but overall was a positive life experience Heinz appeared last weekend on the television program Don Cherry Grapevine to plug the book he has written Many Are Called Few Are Signed Heinz toiled for four years as a minor professional hockey player and was employed mainly as a backup throughout his five year National Hockey League career with the St Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks In his book Heinz stresses young hockey players take a realistic look at the r chances of play hockey and offers advice on things such as retaining an agent how to go about getting a hockey scholar ship and planning for life after hockey many former hockey players Heinz is adamant on the importance of education He advised the youngsters at the Wednesday evening gathering that there is life after hockey and that they had better be prepared for it citing the fact that the average career of a professional hockey player including minor profes sionals is 4 5 years Heinz who grew up in Essex Ont went the scholarship route and played for Minnesota He bounced back and forth six times between the NHL and the minors and suggested to the young hockey players have fun playing the game making the NHL is a bonus Years ago Heinz played for Essex in the Georgetown Interna tiona Bantam Hockey merit so he is not a total stranger to local environs The highlight of the evening for the young hockey players natural ly was the handing out of awards and there were plenty medallions were handed out for the Most Valuable Player Most Improved Player and Most Sportsmanlike Player in both the Junior and Senior Rep divisions In addition special awards were handed out to both players and team officials Esso Medallion Winners JUNIOR REP Minor Novice MVP Scott Ellis Mark Maclnnes MSP Jason Campbell Novice MVP Robert MacLeod Danny Cabral MSP Chris Hall Minor Atom MVP Steven Smith MIP Trevor Rich MSP Allan Rasmussen and Mike Crawford Atom MVP Peter Mashinter Darin MSP Ryan Taylor SENIOR REP Minor MVP David Boere MIP Kevin Lumb MSP David Kotsos Peewee MVP Doug Shepherd MIP Jim Katsiliems MSP Duane Erlek Bantam B MVP Greg Dawson MIP Jim Kingston MSP Cory Bantam AA MVP Steven Wright MIP Dustin Thompson MSP David Osborne Midget MVP Rob Boyle MIP Rob Lang MSP Rob Boyle Juvenile MVP Doug McDer mid MD Gary Cunningham MSP Kevin Rowe Special Awards Hockey Moms Rep Vezna Trophy Chris Hall and Joey Barber The YeoChristie Memorial Trophy to Most Improved Team Bantam AA coach John Wright The Gilmer Trophy to Most Suc cessful Atom Team AtomAA The David Hulme Trophy to with Best Goals Against Average Peter Downs and Paul St Pierre The Paul Memorial Trophy to Most Valuable Midget Player Trevor Ellnesky Joe Award to Ex ecutive Member of the Year Jim Coleman and Carson Mimnch The Pearce Family Trophy to Senior Rep Coach of the Year Chris Milne The Hume Family Trophy to Senior Manager of the Year Wayne Pries Junior Rep Manager of the Year Brian Clark and Wayne Smith Junior Rep Coach of the Year KenSmtth There are a very limited number of spaces left in all age groups both boys and girls for late registrants Contact Steven Lee Club Registrar regar ding availability fees are for Squirts and 65 for all others Teams will be filled on a first come first served basis In addition Georgetown will have two Rep teams in the Peel Halton League the core of the teams have been working out for some time but potential new players should contact Sally Remedies 7647 coach for the Girls team or Nunzio Verrichio Boys immediately The coaches and managers meeting will be held in the GDHS Gym 1 on April 29th from Coaches will contact their players and distribute uniforms early in May A few coaches for the older divisions and referees at all levels are still need if interested contact the Com The season begins JYIay and ends the second week of September Squirts and Atoms play 7 a side mini soccer while the older groups play the regular 11 a side game Mini soccer is played on a smaller field with smaller balls and goals and fewer rules for ex ample no offside Mandated by the Canadian Soccer Association mini soccer is gaining huge accep tance around the world as a method of introducing small children to the pleasures and skills of soccer in a non competitive en vironment Stress is on having fun and no standings are kept every child gets equal time on the field regardless of skill level and all participants receive the same trophy at the end of the season It is an excellent introduction to team sports for young children and many of the concepts carry over into other sports such as hockey while providing them with an op portunity to burn off some of that excess energy by running around in the fresh air Games are played on numerous Georgetown fields Monday to Thursday throughout the summer spectators are always welcome Perhaps the small child with the big grin you watch this summer you will see again representing Canada and Georgetown in the World roi