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

Wildcats start on strong note EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer After eight years under the Ontario Varsity Football League umbrella, the Halton Hills Minor Football Association has decided that a change of scenery might be better for the close-to 200 youths who suit up for the five Georgetown-based Wildcat teams in the spring-summer season. The two older rep age groups, in peewee (13-14 yrs.) and junior varsity (15-16 yrs.), left the OVFL along with several other smaller-population centres in the off-season and started up their own loop- the Ontario Minor Football Leaguewhich played its first-ever league games here last Sunday. "OVFL teams wouldn't listen to the issues organizations like ours typically face so the smaller-centre teams said we've got to help ourselves and start a new league," said Dan Ralph, president of the Halton Hills organization and head coach of the junior varsity team. "The OMFL is made up of smaller centres that have the same issues like talent base and school availability, so hopefully now when we have a problem with something, people can identify with it and rectify it." As well, the two Halton Hills house league teams at the atom level (11-12 yrs.) have split with the Brampton organization and joined with Orangeville, meaning that for the first time the Wildcats at that age group will play home games consistently and play each other to save on travel. "It's a sign of growth and maybe we're turning a bit of a corner," Ralph added. "But we're still a fledgling organization in every sense of the word. We've got 17 coaches who are basically running the association and we are in real need of more volunteer help." The Wildcats will hold their annual fund-raising barbecue on Sunday, June 18 at the Christ the King field when the home teams will see regular-season action. Also in the works is a promotion with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in which a player will attend youth practices and Wildcat teams could get a chance to play games at the Rogers Centre. The junior Wildcats' varsity team opened its season with a 26-0 home win over the Toronto Junior Ticats last Sunday at Christ the King High School. Rob Cutting had two touchdowns and a two-point convert to lead the Wildcats. John Leckie and Coulton Vetro had the other touchdowns. Halton Hills led 14-0 at halftime in the OMFL opener for both teams. Linebackers D.J. McPherson, Kevin Goncalves and David Van Kooten, along with cornerback Nathan Shepherd all led a consistent defensive effort for the Wildcats. Halton Hills resumes OMFL action Sunday at home against the Orangeville Outlaws. The Halton Hills peewee Wildcats kicked off their season with a 36-0 win over the Junior Ticats. The Wildcats put in a total team effort, scoring on offence, defence, and special teams. Running back Brandon Stoker led the charge with over 100 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Dylan Hannan and David Przytula also added scores. Robert Murden rounded out the scoring Midget Bulldogs off to nationals EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer For the first time in the organization's existence, a Halton Hills minor field lacrosse team has advanced to the national championships after sweeping through the provincial tournament last at Budd Field in Kitchener last Sunday. The midget #1 Bulldogs captured the Ontario Lacrosse Association A title by winning all four of their weekend matches in convincing fashion, capped off by a 7-5 victory over Orangeville under hot, humid conditions. Halton Hills led 7-2 heading into the final period and despite a brief late lapse, coach Daryl Haynes said his players bought into the team concept and hasn't allowed the opposition score more than five goals in a game this season. "The boys adjusted well to some defences Orangeville threw at them that they hadn't seen before and we've continued to play a strong all-around game since the start of the year," said Haynes. "It starts from the goaltending out to the defence and in our transition game up to the forwards. For an organization this size, it's nice to see the type of high-end lacrosse that's being produced from the novice and tyke levels on up." The Bulldogs defeated Brampton #1 in their opening game 8-4 and then downed Peterborough 11-2. Receiving a bye into the semi-finals, Halton Hills beat Brampton #1 13-5 before dispatching Orangeville in the final. Haynes hopes to stage some exhibition games through the summer months to help his squad stay well-tuned for the nationals, but isn't overly concerned since most are playing box lacrosse in the meantime. The club's focus right now is to raise funds to cover the estimated $40,000 cost of traveling to Victoria for the Labour Day weekend. A garage sale will be held this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 52 Costwold Court in Georgetown and the team will seek private and corporate donations as well. The Halton Hills #2 midgets went 2-1 in the preliminary round of the OMFLL C playdowns in Kitchener but did not advance to the semi-finals. Running back Brendan Stoker of the Halton Hills Peewee Wildcats tries to keep out of reach of a Toronto Jr. Ticats player in the season opener held at Christ the King School Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats rumbled to a 36-0 victory. Photo by Sabrina Byrnes with a 40-yard punt return in the second half. The defence stymied the TiCats offence all day, resulting in a welldeserved shutout. The WildCats are in action this Sunday when the Orangeville Outlaws come to town. Kickoff is scheduled for noon at Christ the King High School. For more information on the Wildcats, visit the website www.haltonhillsfootball.com. (Eamonn Maher can be reached at emaher@independentfreepress.com) Novice After handing Oshawa its first loss of the season in the preliminary round, the Halton Hills Bulldogs were beaten by that same team in the semi-finals of the Ontario Lacrosse Association novice field championships this past weekend in Kitchener. Oshawa went on to win the title. A couple of late goals in overtime by Adam Wiedemann on passes from Justin Huggins earned Halton Hills the bronze medal in a victory over Oakville. Preliminary round-- Halton Hills 7, Oshawa 6; Halton Hills 10, Brampton 5 Semi-finals- Oshawa 7, Halton Hills 2 Bronze medal game_ Halton Hills 9, Oakville 7 (OT) Bulldogs' scoring: Adam Wiedemann (8G, 4A); Connor Mayner (6G, 3A); Justin Huggins (4G, 5A); Alex Rapp (3G, A); Stevie Rosa (2G, 5A); Cody Menzies (2G, See NOVICE, pg. 21 Rampulla's Martial Arts to host Banzai Open Rampulla's Martial Arts Centre in Georgetown will play host to the Banzai Open international karate competition this Saturday, drawing some 300 competitors to Christ the King High School's gymnasium. It's open to all styles of martial arts and organizer Tony Rampulla said that some top Canadian athletes will attend. The fifth annual event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for kids age 6-11. Kids five and under will be admitted free of charge. Cost to register to compete in one of the events is $45. For more info call 905-702-1116.