32 Oakville* Beaver Weekend - Sunday, September 26, 1999 Abuse-free sports for our youth By Norm N elson BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR T he evening was a celebration of sports with an illustrious head__ table that included a couple of Canada's most renowned athletes, Donovan Bailey and Paul Henderson. And it was fitting, since the purpose of the evening was to ensure that this same type of positive atmosphere that sports can generate is available to all young athletes from the house league to elite club level. The annual sports celebrity fundraising dinner at Le Dome Thursday night was a fundraiser for the Oakville-based Halton Trauma Centre (formerly the Halton Centre for Childhood Sexual Abuse) which has been hard at work over the past two years developing a program that can be used by minor sports leagues and asso ciations to proactively combat abuse. For many Canadians, the horror of sexual abuse was brought to light by exNHLer .Sheldon Kennedy, who has tried to ensure that his own tragedy will not be repeated with any other youth, and also with the disclosure of sexual abuse within the halls of one of the shrines of Canadian sports. Maple Leaf Gardens. Kennedy has lent considerable sup port to the Oakville-based agency. And Maple Leaf president Ken Dryden was on hand at last year's fundraising event. The program deals with all types of abuse, such as physical and verbal abuse. Although the young players are the primary focus, it's meant to include everyone involved in the sport. A com mon image is a coach screaming abuse at a player, but it's also meant to include, for instance, a father hurling obscenities at a referee. The Halton agency was approached by the Burlington Lions-Optimist Minor Hockey Association (BLOMHA) with whom they have been working for the past two years. And the Halton agency is extremely grateful for the league's invaluable support, both in terms of volunteer help and input and even material resources, said executive director Paul Bennett. Not only has this partnership result ed in a program to proactively deal with abuse in this large Burlington league, but has also resulted in a tem plate, or a program, that can now be adopted by any minor sports organiza tion. One myth that the agency would like cleared up is that an organization seeking to adopt such a program, must have a problem. Right? Wrong. *■ BLOMHA, he stressed, came for ward because they wanted to be proac tive in ensuring that its league could be free of abuse, particularly towards the players. The evening's stellar head table was presided over by sport lawyer Gordon Kirke, who authored the initial Players First report for the Canadian Hockey League in 1997. With Donovan Bailey and Paul Henderson, there's no denying you have the authors of some of the top moments, ever, in Canadian sports, and it could be argued the top two. A great speaker, Henderson regaled the audience with a humorous account of the events surrounding his famous goal in 1972 (actually, he had three straight game winners) and also with other lighthearted stories from his long NHL career which began with the Detroit Red Wings. And then there was Larry Cain who really needs no introduction in an Oakville paper, suffice it to say that his legendary paddling career also culmi nated in an Olympic gold medal. And there was ex Argo great and current CFL players association presi dent Dan Ferrone, a life-long Oakville resident, and a who's who in the world of Canadian sports. The well rounded table had one of the WWF's brightest stars, from Whitby, who goes by the moniker of Test. And finally, the table was rounded out with a token non-playing member of the sports industry, CTV sportscaster Rob Faulds. While the other head table guests were able to inspire and amuse the audience with their own interesting, and in some cases, well known, anec dotes, Faulds was able to accomplish the same thing with the stories of other athletes he has covered over the years. In particular, the story he relayed of Mark Tewksbury's gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, which he called on national television, was inspiring. Faulds said that in his observations, the greatest athletes he has witnessed in his career have come up with a lot of D's, and he wasn't talking about their report cards, but such things as desire, drive, dedication and determina tion. Bailey actually followed up on this line of thought. Yes, he said, '99 was a tough year as he had to fight back from his potentially career ending Achilles Tendon rupture. But the bottom line, he said, in a serious tone of voice, is that he still has those D's -- the desire, the drive, the dedication and the determination. And he has the team, led by coach Dan Pfaff and athletic therapist Mark Lindsay. And he'll start training November 1st, he said, with his sights firmly set on striking gold, against, at next September's Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. 1 ' * * 1 ' , , I J < . . . . > Tough 6-5 loss for Rangers The Oakville Rangers triple-A midget hockey team lost 6-5 to Niagara Falls in their first regular season game Wednesday at Glen Abbey. In a frustrating game, the boys came out strong putting into play the new systems learned over the past few weeks under head coach John East. They were down 2-1 at the end of one period but led 5-3 after two. But the ejection of one player for too many stick infractions and the loss of two others to injuries left the ragged crew struggling in the third period. Eric Melander and Chris Riddell led the scor ing with three points each -- Melander with two goals and an assist and Riddell with one goal and two assists. Ryan Gow, with a goal and an assist and Geoff Curtis, with two assists, both helped the team. The other points were racked up by Shaun Dakin with a goal and Bryan Mills and Jeff Brown with an assist each. Once the new systems are well practised, the Rangers should be able to hold their own against most of the teams in their league which is remarkable considering the team is entirely made up of first-year midgets. The midgets play most of their home games on Wednesday nights at Oakville Arena, 8 p.m., and admission is free. Oakville Blades at hom e Sunday night The Oakville Blades are busy this weekend with a couple of provincial junior A hockey games at their Ice Sports Oakville home. On Friday, they hosted the Streetsville Derbys (the game went beyond our Weekend Edition press deadlines) and on Sunday night, 7:15 p.m., they host the Bramalea Blues. The Oakville Blades improved their early season record to 2-1 with a 6-3 doubling of Mississauga Chargers on Tuesday night. Excellent tune-up for the season The Oakville Trafalgar High School senior field hockey squad won the Kitchener Waterloo invitational tournament this past weekend. They earned a berth in the championship game by defeating Parkside 1-0 (Sarah Dunbar), Humber 2-0 (Laurel Gale and Lisa Robertson), Ridley College 1-0 (Laurel Gale) and tying Curling club open Curlers and non-curlers alike are invited to visit the Oakville Curling Club, 224 Allan Street, from Monday, Sept. 27th through to Friday, Oct. 1st, 7 to 10 p.m. for the annual open house. Bring a pair of clean running shoes, stretchy pants, and instructors will help you with the rest. Last season, the Oakville Curling Club enjoyed one of its best years ever at national and provincial championships. Looking ahead, the Oakville Curling Club has organized its first annual junior/bantam bonspiels to be held Friday evening, Oct. 15th and all day on Saturday, Oct. 16th and Sunday, Oct. 17th. The invitational junior bonspiel for the top men's and ladies' teams of Ontario will com pete for cash. Julie Reddick's Ontario champi on team (fourth at nationals) will head the all- star cast of participants, including some who GRCI 1-1 (Sarah Vogt) and M.M. Robinson 0-0. The championship game was a 4-1 win over M.M. Robinson (Lisa Robertson 2, Laura Gale and Sarah Dunbar). Gillian Johnson was outstanding in goal, allowing only two goals in six games. An excellent pre-season tourney. house on all week competed at the provincial championships. At the same time, an open junior/bantam bonspiel will be held. Spectators are welcome to visit the club and watch some of O akville's and Ontario's future Olympians participate. According to Ross Tousaw, general manag er, the club is planning to expand its daytime curling program. A new seniors' competitive league for those 50 years of age and older will curl Thursday afternoons. The club invites team entries, as well as individual entries. Also, a mixed daytime league is planned, as well as an open league (any age) for those who have the time to curl during the day but do not 'qualify' as a senior. For those interested in finding out more about the curling programs offered by the Oakville Curling Club, please telephone 844- 6982 or visit the club during Open House week. Athletiques at Cleveland track and field meet Eight members of Athletiques International Track and Field Club made the long trek to Cleveland over the Weekend, for the North American Invitational Track and Field Meet, held at Cuyahoga College. Next competition for Club members comes over hill and dale, as they take part in the various cross-country events in the next month. The Club moves indoors for the winter in mid- October. Anyone interested in making the move with them is invited to phone Bruce Burton at 630-TRAK (8725). Here are the results of the Cleveland meet. Fifteen-year-old Brad McPherson was the big winner for the locals, with four gold medals and a silver, and Personal Records in all five of his events. "Mr. Versatile" earned silver in the 100m, with a 12.2 second clock- > 9 * .*1*1. I w l * *.».». ' m • m L-1-, ing. His golds came in 200m (25.1s), long jump (5.66m), triple jump (12.89m), and javelin throw (37.10m). Mark Davis, 15, had P.R.'s in shot-put (10.36m) and discus toss (35.22m) for gold, earned silver in high jump (1.40m) and javelin (33.12m), and bronze in long jump (4.64m). Christie Powell, 15, was "Miss Versatile," with gold in long jump (4.82m), 1.50m in high jump, and 30.24m in javelin, as well as 14.2s in 100m for third. She had P.R/s in each event Lauren Rotenburg, 16, had P.R.'s in all three of her events, earning bronze in shot-put (8.42m), and gold in discus (29.80m) and javelin (31.86m). Laura Lang, 15, set three new P.R.'s with wins in the 100m (13.2s), 200m (29.4s), and third in long jump (4.14m). Ashley Miller, 10, collected the same set of awards, in the same events, in her age group with gold in 100m (14.8s), 200m (30.4s) and bronze in long jump (3.68m). In the youngest age group contested, Tina Lopez, nine, grabbed bronze in the 100m (15.6s) and long jump (3.37m - P.R.), and silver in the 200m (33.2s). In the same group, nine-year-old Alana Lang won the 800m in 3:02 and 1500m (6:14), while finishing right behind her Club-mate in long jump at 3.24m, a PR. *.m I t .14 * 1 i i4 'JULi M * * * > Abuse-free sports for our youth By Norm Nelson