The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

| : "A Family Tradition for 133 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 16, 1999 - 23 NY VAVE: PORT PERRY Spo) ORTS Desperately seeking coaches, players for Port Minor ball By Chris Hall Port Perry Star While two months still remain before the Port Perry and District Minor Softball Association kicks off its 1999 season, committee chair Dave Kay is concerned about numbers. After years of watching the number of children registering with the local softball association drop, 1999 has seen renewed interest. But the numbers still don't add up, he says. "Registration 1s going slow again, still, but there are kids out there who want to play rep ball and that's a good sign," he said last week. "But, so far this year we've only got one manager and no coaches. We can't have a team without a coach and we've just about exhausted everything we've got. The ball season is just around the corner and we've got to get going." Interest in area rep teams has picked up, but nothing can be done until a few coaches are found, he says. "We're getting lots of calls about the teams... sponsors are coming forward and we're well on our way. Now we just need PPHS student hopes to help Canada's U19 rugby squad to some coaches," Mr. Kay said. "We can't start tryouts for the teams without coaches." The Association hopes to field a number of teams this year, including squirt (ages 11-12), peewee (13-14), and bantam (15- 16) squads and even possibly a girls team as well. Coaching, he says, is quite a commitment. "We need people who are ded- icated enough to do it. We'll train them and there are lots of people they can fall back on for help or tips," said Mr. Kay. During the season -- which the week of May 17 and runs through to the second weekend of August -- the rep teams play about twice a week with one home and one away game," he says. A single practice is usually held each week too, Mr. Kay added. "It would be nice if they had some game experience and played ball before, but all they really need to know is how to play the game." After watching their numbers drop from around 600 kids six years ago to about the 250 mark in 1998, Mr. Kay says the 1999 season will see a few changes in the system, including players being taught to pitch. While it is still early, Mr. Kay says he hopes to fill about 20 house league teams this year. Anyone interested in signing up or gathering more information can pick up registration forms at KCI Variety, Pineridge Sports or at any school. For information please call 985-7008. COMING UP: Anyone inter- ested in coaching this year will need to attend a clinic May 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the south lakefront diamond. There they will go over the basics and receive a few hand- outs. There is no registration fee for coaches. - An umpires' clinic will be held in Blackstock by the Cartwright Minor Ball Association on April 24 in Blackstock. This is open to anyone under the age of 19 and no previous umpiring experience iS necessary. A pre-season skills develop- ment clinic on May 8 from 10 a.m. to noon at the lakefront dia- monds. It will be hosted by Wayne Venning, who was selected as the OASA's Mr. Softball Ontario in 1996. That same day a used equip- ment yard sale will be held at the picnic shelter. As Hockey Night in Canada was beamed into homes across "the country, no one watched more closely than Prince Albert's Marie Carnegie on March 6. | For more than 60 years, Canadians have watched HNIC on Saturday nights to watch their favourite teams take to the ice; on March 6 Mrs. Carnegie watched as her grand- son Bradley Carnegie competed in the Labatt Blue Shoot Out, a competition he won when it was held in Oshawa on two days Proud Prince Albert grandmother watches as Bradley Carnegie appears on HNIC earlier. H e r many par- ticipants who crowd- ed into the Ice Sports Arena in Oshawa on Brad Carnegie Mar ch 4 to hockey skills in the Labatt Blue Shoot Out, a 23-stop tour across Canada from St. John's to grandson . was one of - Vancouver. The top-two finishers in the competition are featured on HNIC during the first inter- | mission of the second game of the Double Header. For winning the competition, Mr. Carnegie, a Toronto resident who plays hockey Monday nights at the Ice Sports Arena, received $5,000. Brad Carnegie is the son of Gordon Carnegie, formerly of Port Perry, and the grandson of Prince Albert's Marie Carnegie. Now you have By Chris Hall an international championship Port Perry Star Port Perry High School student Eric Alton will be one of only six young men in Ontario to represent Canada at an upcom- ing international rugby match in England later this month. A member of the Brock Rugby Club, Mr. Alton will line up in the flanker's position beginning on March 26 when he and his teammates on Canada's Under 19 squad take to the field in Wales, England. There, they will compete against the best teams in the world until a champion is crowned on April 15. Since he began playing rugby in Grade 9, the 18-year-old OAC student has climbed through the ranks; he has played on the provincial team for the last three years, which PPHS teacher Brian Armstrong has been a coach of for two of those years. Late last summer he attended a tryout for the national U19 team and later found himself on the roster. "I went to the tryout at the end of last summer and I made it. From there, we played against teams from France and Australia in Oakville and British Columbia," he said recently. "They kept modifying the team for the - upcoming World Youth Championships by bringing in more guys than they would need and cut some guys and bring in new guys... I managed to stay on. Mr. Alton will be the only representa- tive from Durham Region and is looking forward to the international play. "It's going to be great, I'm really excit- ed... I can't wait to go," he said. "New Zealand is in our pool and they're the top team in the world so there's going to be . DEENA EN | 4 Eric Alton: Off to England some intensity and great competition." There are four pools with four teams each. The Canadian squad is guaranteed at least four games, and will compete with Japan, Romania and New Zealand for top spot in their pool. As for his future, Mr. Alton hopes to continue playing for both the national and provincial teams and is looking for- ward to playing more rugby in post-sec- ondary school; he hopes to attend York University where he can pursue a career in kineseology and perhaps go on to chi- ropractic college. - As for his trip abroad, the cost will be $950 for all his food, flights, and lodgings. He has already received donations from friends, family, and the PPHS athletic association, but he is still looking for help from anyone who would like to help spon- sor him. For more info call (705) 432-2657. a choice in Ink Cartridges We carry BRAND names like Canon, Hewlett Packard, Epson & Lexmark plus we also carry Compatible Reinked cartridges & Inkjet Refill Kits for selected models. COME IN & COMPARE AT