Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports T B A L The announcement of the rescinding of permits was posted on Facebook Tuesday afternoon and was quickly met with criticism from several players. Morgan Keating, who has played in the OSC men's house league for more than 10 years, said he and other players don't believe it is fair for the Town to issue a blanket punishment to all teams. "It's a little random. It's a group punishment. If they have issues with people drinking after the games, if it's a team, punish the team. And if it's individuals, punish them," said the 36-year-old Toronto resident, who plays for United FC in the men's open-age league. "I know some teams drink after the games, but I haven't noticed it in years, to tell you the truth. I'm in my mid-30s. Everyone on my team, we go to bed." Harris acknowledged it is unlikely all teams were guilty of infractions, but felt there was no other way to get the message through. "We have received numerous warnings and we have put them out to our (coaches)," he said. "It's like if you keep talking to your child, trying to get them to change their ways. Eventually there needs to be something else." One Facebook response to the announcement read, "As much as I hate to say it, yes, all captains got a warning about this." Warnings were not enough, in the eyes of Keating. "It has nothing to do with us. There's nothing we could do to stop it," he said, adding that players pay more than $200 per season to play in the league. "What upset me about the club is they said they support the decision. We're talking about Town policies and club policies. If they want those things followed, they should go out and enforce them. The wrong way to deal with it is to suspend people who have nothing to do with it... It's not the way to approach things, but it's the way they decided to go about it." The OSC will host a meeting of all adult men's house league team captains at the Pine Glen Soccer Centre Tuesday, July 30th at 7:00 p.m. in the Edith Sorensen Community Room. 25 | Friday, July 26, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" L A C T I O N Town rescinds permits of men's soccer teams by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor Oakville Soccer Club men's house league teams are getting an unexpected, unwanted and -- in the minds of some, at least -- unwarranted summer vacation. The Town of Oakville has rescinded all field permits relating to men's adult house league games for a twoweek period that began Tuesday. As a result, all OSC men's open-age and men's 35-plus leagues have been suspended until Aug. 6, though Oakville Cup playoff games will be played July 28 and July 29 as previously scheduled. Women's and co-ed leagues will not be affected by the ban. The rescinding of permits is due to the improper usage of fields and unacceptable conducts by OSC men's house league teams, according to an announcement made Tuesday by the soccer club. Alleged violations listed in the announcement included excessive garbage, smoking on turf and grass fields, consumption of alcohol on Town property, leaving lights on after games and inappropriate language, conduct and behaviour. Town of Oakville director of recreation and culture Nina de Vaal said the rescinding of permits was a collective decision based on a culmination of complaints and misconduct. "This is certainly not something we do lightly," said de Vaal. "It is a rare occurrence, but we felt (the situation) was significant enough, as did the soccer club, that action had to be taken." OSC executive director David Harris made it clear the club fully supports the Town's decision. "They're finding cigarette butts, garbage, beer bottles (on the fields). The conduct is not great. It got to the point here where the Town decided that was enough," Harris said. "I'll give the Town credit. Their fields are high level and they're meticulous in their management about how (facilities) look. We couldn't have a better partner in terms of scheduling. But you have to live up to it. The standards have to go both ways. They're living up to what our expectations are, and we need to correct what we are doing here." Blue Jays third baseman Mathieu Cote makes a force play against Rangers baserunner Tyler Makowich during a recent Oakville Little League major T-ball game at Heritage Park. The T-ball Blue Jays are enjoying much more success this season than their professional Toronto namesakes, leading their division as the playoffs approach.| photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Blades becoming a lot more Oakville by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor When Duncan Harvey took over as general manager of the Oakville Blades last summer, he expressed a desire to eventually have more Oakville players on the roster of the local Ontario Junior Hockey Club. Apparently, he wasn't kidding. The Blades recently announced the signings of 11 new players for the upcoming season, nine of whom are Oakville residents and another who has played in the Minor Oaks Hockey Association system. Twelve of the 20 players currently on the Oakville roster are residents of the town. A lack of local representation has been a legitimate criticism of the Blades in recent years. Last season, 11 of the players listed on Oakville's playoff roster were residents of the town, but five of them were affiliate players. In 2011, only four players on the Blades' playoff roster were listed as Oakville residents. Harvey said that when he inherited the team last summer from former president and GM Carlo Coccimiglio, many spots on the Blades' roster were already committed to out-of-town players. This year, Harvey said, is his first real opportunity to stockpile the squad with local talent. "There was a bunch of really good Oakville players available," Harvey said, "and we snatched up as many as we could." The Blades' newest signings include goaltender Brendan McGlynn, defencemen Daniel Jelic and Marcel Fatovic, and forwards Keigan Goetz, Ross Sloan, Ryan Garvey, Kamil Tkaczuk, Carmine Vietri, Scott Goodman, Mark Bzowey and Sean Kohler. Kohler, Bzowey and McGlynn, all 16 years old, were members of last year's Oakville minor midget AAA Rangers that won the OHL Cup championship. Seventeen-year-olds Jelic, Fatovic and Garvey suited up for the midget AAA Rangers a year ago, as did the 18-year-old Tkaczuk. Goodman and Vietri, both 17, played for midget AAA teams in the Greater Toronto Hockey League last year. The 17-year-old Goetz, the one player without a previous Oakville connection, spent last season with the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League's Waterloo Siskins junior B team. Sloan, 19, was acquired from the OJHL's Mississauga Chargers, where the former Oakville midget AAA Rangers player collected 21 points a year ago. Harvey hopes the influx of local players will generate more excitement about the team. "We learned last year that every time we would (affiliate player) an Oakville kid, our attendance went up by 30-40 people for one home game," he said. "But as much as Oakville wants to see a team of Oakville kids, we've told every guy we signed and our existing players from Oakville that this is a community that wants to win. This community would love see Blades on p.27