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Sports Oakville Beaver By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 39 Garth Webb's sports teams prepare for debut Jay Anderson is searching for a bag of pinnies, which is somewhere among the two dozen boxes of uniforms, volleyballs and T-shirts piled in the gym office. It's been just three days since Garth Webb Secondary School -- Oakville's newest high school -- opened. And, though the school is impressive, it's not quite finished. Among the final details to be completed is the hardwood floor in the gym, which is preventing Anderson from accessing the equipment room, where all the equipment currently stored in the office and the hallway outside will eventually find a home. "There are going to be growing pains," says Anderson, the head of the phys-ed department. "Once everything is sorted out, it will be fine. Everything here is new. How can you complain about that?" Garth Webb will field junior teams in girls' basketball, girls' field hockey, football and boys' volleyball this fall. The Chargers will wear gold uniforms with black, white and grey trim. Anderson said incoming students were surveyed last year, and Chargers emerged as the leading name. Webb, a Halton resident, was part of the Canadian forces who landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. Webb, who died earlier this year, was also the driving force behind the creation of the Juno Beach Centre, a tribute to the soldiers who fought on the beaches of Normandy, France. He is honoured on all school uniforms with a poppy on the left breast. The school logo depicts a snorting bull. "Once we had the name, we said, `What else charges?'" Anderson said. "And we came up with the bull." With the name and logo selected, students were given a choice of colour schemes. Anderson said they needed something that was unique within Halton -- no other team uses gold as its predominant colour. While that will immediately set the Chargers apart, Anderson said it will take some time for the school to establish its sporting identity. "Every school has its pockets of interest and its sports that it's good at," said Anderson, whose former school, Oakville Trafalgar, excelled in rugby, volleyball and field hockey. "We're still figuring out our identity of what our sports are going to be but it will be neat to see in the next couple of years to see where we fit in in Halton sports." Having seen a few practices, Anderson is already impressed with the boys volleyball GRAHAM PAINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @HALTON_PHOTOG LEADING THE CHARGE: Thomas Law (with ball) tries to avoid Matt Collings (in red) during the Garth Webb Chargers junior football team's practice Wednesday. Garth Webb will also field junior teams in girls' basketball, girls' field hockey and boys' volleyball this fall, the inaugural sports season for the new school. team. And he should know, having coached an OFSAA-winning girls volleyball team at Georgetown and assisted with an OFSAA champion boys team at OT. The school has no shortage of facilities at its disposal -- or at least it will once they are completed. In addition to a triple gym, a football/soccer field and track, the school will also have access to two neighbouring town-owned soccer fields and a baseball diamond. For now, it will play its home games for field hockey and football at Bronte Athletic Field. The Chargers will be at a disadvantage for their first couple years. It will take time to build a base of volunteers to help with the teams, as John Phillips is currently a oneman show running the football team. Also, the school has only half a complement of Grade 10s, as last year's Grade 9s were given the choice remaining at their school or attending Garth Webb. But Anderson is looking forward to the school continuing to grow, both in staff and students, in the coming years. "You look at the logo and we're a little isolated now because there is only a grade and a half wearing the school colours. I think over the years with more kids wearing it, we'll become part of the community." For now, Anderson is excited by the opportunities presented by being a new school. "We get to build the tradition," he said. "We've taken some ideas from other schools and some ideas of our own and we'll see what works. The great thing is there's no `That's not how we've always done it.' We can try things and see what works. If it works we'll keep it and if doesn't, we'll learn from it and improve on it." And as the Chargers tradition builds, Anderson hopes it won't be long until those now-empty trophy cases start to fill up. -- Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter @Herbgarbutt