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

8 ·The IFP· Halton Hills ·Tuesday, January 3, 2012 SPORTS & LEISURE Bell a double threat at nationals By STEVE LEBLANC Metroland Media Group Hayleigh Bell has made it to the national skating stage before, but will be pulling double duty upon her return. Showcasing her stamina as much as her on-ice skills recently in Regina, the 15-year-old rural Actonian delivered dual qualifying efforts at the Eastern Challenge. Advancement in novice pairs was never much of a issue for Bell and Stratford partner Alistair Sylvester, who've tasted nothing but gold since joining forces about a year-and-a-half ago. The only question was would their victory run continue? Unfortunately no, as skating both individually and as a duo on the same day put a major strain on Bell's back, preventing her and Sylvester from measuring up to their personal-best performance. However, their 35.66-point short program and 65.88-point long routine were still good enough to keep their string of medal-winning efforts alive, with the total giving them silver-- plus passage to next month's national championships in Moncton. Bell will be especially busy out east, as she also qualified in the novice ladies' freeskate. A clean double axel in the short program highlighted a 28.45-point routine, while she scored 52.06 in the long program, thanks to a clean double axel and triple toe. That placed her 16th out of 52 participants, with the top 18 moving on to nationals. The Canadian championships are set for Jan. 1622 in Moncton, N.B. Hayleigh Bell and partner Alistair Sylvester. Submitted photo Five players, coach take part in tourney Raiders enjoy a working holiday at Challenge Not all of the Georgetown Raiders had the week off during the Christmas holidays as they were representing the Ontario Junior Hockey League at the Central Canada All-Star Challenge in Smiths Falls, Ont. A couple of Raiders did record points in the OJHL West's tournament-opening 4-1 victory over the Northern Ontario loop, with Patrick Megannety earning two assists and Nathan Domagala another. But members of the local squad were shut out in a 6-2 loss to OJHL North and a 4-0 defeat against the Central Canadian Hockey League's Yzerman Division, eliminating OJHL West from the eight-team event. Forwards Nick Perruccio and Tyson Fawcett, along with defenceman Matt Chiarantano and head coach Greg Walters, were the other Raiders at the tourney. The first-place Raiders, who returned to the ice for their first game of 2012 in Hamilton Monday night, don't play again at home until Saturday, Jan. 10 when the Aurora Tigers and former Georgetown head coach James Richmond come to the Alcott Arena for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop. Coach's Cup set for Jan. 13 The inaugural fundraising matchup between coaches from the North Halton Girls' Hockey Association and the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association will take place Friday, Jan. 13 at the Alcott Arena, with proceeds going to the new Arena Fund. The GMHA's 75th Anniversary Charity Game time is 8 p.m. and the Coach's Cup will be up for grabs. The arena will be decorated and sectioned off with the respective team's colours. Activities in conjunction with the game will take place throughout the evening. Tickets are $5 each and youths wearing GMHA or Twister jerseys accompanied by an adult will be admitted free. GEORGETOWN JR. A GEORGETOWN JUNIOR "A" RAIDERS vs BUFFALO GAME OF THE WEEK TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2012 7:30 pm at Buffalo www.georgetownraidersjra.com GO RAIDERS GO!