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34 economist sunstouffville tribune sports thursday july u 2002 youth soccer kicks up a storm in stouffville registrationjigures suggest that the game of soccer especially for gtrls is booming in whitchurchstouffville by jim thomas correspondent its a soccer explosion this is how whitchurchstouffville minor soccer president mark kozakholland describes growth of the sport not only in whitchurchstouffville but across york region v its phenomenal he says for both boys and girls in all age groups kozakholland says whitchurch- stouffville membership is increasing 10- to 15percent annually with the total now exceeding 1200 players he anticipates 1400 next year and 2500 a few years down the road the world cup of soccer held every four years creates a new surge of interest kozak- holland claims because of this alone mem berships increase as much as 25 per cent he says the popularity of soccer is causing con cern in hockey and softball circles not so much in whitchurchstouffville but across ontario were holding our own insists cliff duhkeld former director and first vicepresi dent of the provincial womens softball union including slopitch numbers here exceed 800 with almost 600 in house league and select teams but across ontario registrations are down he cites to enhance enrollments the ontario softball association is organizing skills camps and clinics this fall kozakholland says girls soccer is enjoying an amazing upsurge with balance between the sexes almost 5050 whats more gills remain in the game longer he says with boys early dropouts are a little bit sad he notes girls tend to hold it all togeth er currently the adult league includes 72 men and 60 women howie burkholder manager of stouffville mennos in the oshawa and district softball league voices concern at the direction soft- ball is going despite excellence of competition home game attendance is sparse forcing players to pay some expenses out of their own pockets bob abbot pastpresident of the ontario softball association is equally anxious x he suggests in some leagues hurlers are so good its no longer a team sport but a matchup between the pitcher and the catch er the whitchurchstouffville minor soccer association is experiencing an annual growth in its program of anywhere from 10 to 15 per cent that growth is evident in its house league program in this under- 10 boys house league contest at braces mill conservation area sheraton antiques stephen taylor left was just a split second late in thwarting wilson towings joseph palladino from kicking this ball to a teammate burkholder doesnt see it entirely that way claiming theres no greater challenge than a hardhitting batter facing a hardthrowing pitcher soccer leaders however say theirs is a team sport where softball has become an elitist game with the pitcher holding the ace card and outfielders holding only their gloves soccer parents agree soccers a team game says donald ippolito our son found softball boring fielders fall asleep playing softball said craig allen soccer is much more enjoyable for parents also anne arnolds two sons play soccer in the summer and figure skate in winter the team environment in soccer and the individual skills in figure skating creates a good balance she says lenny campitelli describes soccer as civi lized sport unlike hockey or rugby he sees it as a great release for pentup energies i played it for 20 years and loved it he said in hockey a boy or girl will likely play no more than 20 minutes in a game while in soc cer its an hour to an hourandahalf says tony sousa a referee and coach size and power come into play in hockey but soccer is a finesse sport he says players are also on the move he notes running as much as 10 miles a night he calls it a gentlemans game with rough play and flareups rare soccer club registrar jeanette zuccolin says the cost of outfitting a player is about 25 registration fees range from 100 for early signups to 150 for latearrivals its in this area where minor hockey is hurting suggests league president joe cornacchia he claims the towns icepricing itself out of the market the most recent hourly hike is the straw thats breaking the camels back he claims alfons rubbens a longtime soccer king pin in town says the most serious problem facing the league is obtaining volunteers paid personnel in an office are now doing work once done by volunteers around a kitchen table he says in addition more and more coaches are also being paid rubbens predicts the time may come when the entire soccer program will be taken over by the town this has occurred in some other municipalities he notes increased registration is fine rubbens states but it presents problems volunteers taxed volunteers who once handled 450 play ers are finding it difficult coping with 1300 he says he predicts 2400 players within seven years the clubs president says the town has been cooperative in providing sites with two new fields now being readied for play he would like to see an indoor facility for year- round use we could fill it and it would be economi cally viable he claims at present several school gymnasiums are used but mostly for scrimmage suggestions by soccer officials and parents that softball is boring irritates dunkeld its always been a game of hit catch and throw he says not merely kicking a ball between two uprights besides argues dunkeld softball has a lot to offer byway of university scholarships and the olympics registration fees are less also 55 for house league and 75 for rep teams he notes dunkeld has doubts the town will ever take over whitchurchstouffvilles soccer operation but if it does it would need to change its way of doing things he said but like abbot dunkeld acknowledges that soccer is currently on a high these things run in cycles notes dunkeld right now soccer is on a roll gibbons salvages 1 lthplace finish in cascar molson indy race peter gibbons overcame limited practice time and some adversity during practice and in the feature race to drive his canadian tire chevrolet to an 1 lthplace finish in saturdays toronto indy cascar race fine tuning his vehicle in preparation for their one practice session last friday which was shortened when a fellow com petitor lost an engine the stouffville resi dent recorded the sixthfastest time of the 37racer field but during saturdays morning qualifi er gibbons drove his vehicle hard into one of the tight turns and brushed the wall after making repairs gibbons returned to the 1755mile street track and recorded alap time of 11958 to place peter gibbons finishes 11th after spinning out mn late going him in the seventh starting spot for the feature race gibbons maneuvered his way to fifth place in the feature race before a full course caution late in the race set up a four- lap shoot out for the drivers holding onto fifth place gibbons car spun allowing six cars to pass him before he recovered to finish 1 1th the car was just a little off and with the limited track time we get on the street courses its difficult to make any changes remarked gibbons after the race with their next event in calgary alta gibbons is opti mistic he can reverse his fortunes especially with the next race being longer in duration we always run well in the longer races and our next stop is in calgary i cant wait for that race he added team 3 finishes 13th and 22nd fielding two entries for jthe jsecpnd time thiseaspn at last saturdays molson indy cascar race in toronto the stouffvillebased team 3 red entry of billy rowse jr piloted his 3 snap on toolscanadian forces team 3 red monte carlo to a 13thplace finish while teammate 2nd lieut chris fowler finished 22nd rowse jr who hails from uxbridge began the race in the 14th position while fowler a resident of stouffville was 19th last weekends race was fowlers last event in ontario for the 2002 cascar season as he is headed for pilot training for the canadian forces at cfb moosejaw in saskatchewan this week fowler though is expected to rejoin the team 3 red crew in late july for the vancouver molson indy cascar race through seven cascar events this season gibbons occu pies 10th place in the overall series standings with 885 points while rowse jr is in 15th place with 822 don thomson is theoverall series leader with 1081 points