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Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2010 37 Playing in the rain International rugby clash on tap next week Ontario's top senior rugby team will take on an English select squad next week in Oakville. The Oakville Crusaders Rugby Club is hosting the game between the Ontario Blues, finalists in the IRB America's Rugby Championship, and England Counties XV, a team with players from 12 different counties and 20 different clubs in England. The contest will kick off at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Crusader Park. This is the Counties XV's third tour in Canada, following trips in 2004 and 2008. The Counties will visit St. John's, Newfoundland tonight (Friday) and follow up their trip to Oakville with a game at Vancouver June 12. The Counties have won their previous three games in Canada, but manager Danny Hodgson is expecting tough tests this year. "Canada is working hard in many directions to drive its national game forward and is keen to get all the international exposure it can for its players," Hodgson said. "As we found in a very rural community like Chatham, the traditional rugby ethos is very much avlie, so in addition to providing a competitive, rugby development process for our players, I'm sure they will also enjoy another great touring experience." Tuesday's game will be the first of the competitive season for the Ontario Blues. "It will be a good test against top-class opposition," said Blues coach Les Gilson. Three members of the Oakville Crusaders -- forwards Dan Pletch and Alistair Clark and back Dan West -- will suit up for the Blues against England Counties. Gates open at 6 p.m. Tuesday. To order tickets, send an email to englandcounties@oakvillecrusaders.com. For more information, log onto www.oakvillecrusaders.com. RAIN OR SHINE: Wednesday's downpours didn't stop Team Navy Blue's Jesus Garcia (left) or Team Gold's Ryan Logan from showing up for their Oakville Soccer Club under-10 house league game at Hopedale Park. The weather scared off many members of Team Gold, which played with no substitutes, and there was no official score kept as no referee was present for the contest. MICHELLE SIU / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER CanAm Taekwon-Do meet this weekend at Sheridan Some of the top martial artists in North America will be fighting for continental supremacy this weekend in Oakville. Morningstar Taekwon-Do is hosting the CanAm Taekwon-Do championships at the Sheridan College Athletic Complex. The championships, which feature all levels of Taekwon-Do with more than 170 divisions, begin tomorrow (Saturday) and conclude Sunday. This is the second time Mike Morningstar, who created the tournament, is hosting the event. Morningstar Taekwon-Do also ran the inaugural CanAm championships in 2000. "The CanAms have returned home and we expect to attract some of the best Taekwon-Do practitioners from all over Canada and the U.S.," said Morningstar. "It's definitely bigger than when we held the first one." Participants of all ages will open the tournament tomorrow at 9 a.m. when they compete in patterns and sparring in both coloured belt and black belt divisions. This will also be a qualifying tournament for those wishing to make the Canadian team for next year's International Takewon-Do Federation world championships in New Zealand. Sunday, the Canadian sparring team will hold a round-robin tournament, with the top five earning a spot on the national team for 2011. Doors open at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Seniors (65 and older) and children (under six) will be admitted free. For more information and the schedule of events, log onto www.canamchampionships.ca or call Morningstar Taekwon-Do at 905-847-8955. Van Koeverden adds to medal collection Adam van Koeverden won two paddling gold medals last weekend -- one in an event gaining prominence and another in an event that is losing some of its luster. The Oakville native won the 5,000-metre and the 500m at a World Cup meet in Szeged, Hungary. The 5,000m, in which there are no lanes and paddlers complete five laps of a circuit, will make its debut at the world championships this year. The 500m, in which the Oakville native has won Olympic gold and silver, will be replaced in the next Olympics by the 200m. Van Koeverden also won a silver medal in the 1,000m in Hungary. It was Van Koeverden's longest race that produced the most dramatic finish. After more than 20 minutes and five kilometers of paddling, the 28year-old just beat South Africa's Leonard Jenkins to the line, winning by one-tenth of a second. His winning time was 21 minutes, 19.037 seconds. Van Koeverden turned in a time of one minute, 41.722 seconds in the 500m to beat Sweden's Anders Gustafsson (1:42.460). In the 1,000m, he finished less than a second behind Aleh Yurenia of Belarus. Burloak Canoe Club member Mark Oldershaw won three medals. He earned a silver in the 500m and bronze medals in the 1,000m and 5,000m.