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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, August 14, 2013 | 18 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Club helping athletes reach their goals, whatever they may be By Rob Lamberti Special to the Oakville Beaver Sports "Connected to your Community" Charles Allen waits and watches the runners as they pick their 800-metre relay teams for a practice run around the oval track at Oakville's St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School. The kids, members of the Oakville Legion Track and Field Club, probably are taking too long to choose their rosters but the 36-year-old former Olympian, one of the team's three coaches, doesn't interfere in the obviously joyful camaraderie among the teens. Behind the smiles and team solidarity, there is a sense of purpose for the 25 members, between 10 and 18 years old, to compete well and to win. "They're competing with a smile on their face. We're trying to say, `You need a frown,'" Allen quips. "All in all, we have a great group of kids and they have a lot of fun. You want them to have a (killer instinct). It's hard." Allen looks out towards the track and shouts, "Come on, let's go. Build up, 65, 75, 85. Three. Let's go, let's go, everyone." They're slow to start but the speeds pick up as the training session continues into the early evening. "The kids are committed, they really are," says Allen. Taja McLean, 14, exemplifies that drive. "I just want to succeed in it," the relay runner and high jumper says. "I guess a dream would be to go to the Olympics, but I don't know if that's realistic. I don't know. It's big." She's already represented Canada on the world racetrack in the 4x100-metre relay where her squad netted a gold medal. The team broke the tape in 53.66 seconds at the CONI Meet two months ago in Rome, Italy. "We came in first in the 4x100, and in the high jump, not that well," McLean says. When a medal went over her head and rested on her neck, McLean says she felt "honoured, because I rep- Oakville Legion Track and Field Club coach Ted Neptune keeps watch over the club's runners during a recent training session. The club has had several athletes excelling on the provinical, national and international stages. Right, coach Charles Allen talks to a group of athletes. | Special to the Oakville Beaver Oakville Non-Contact Hockey Halton Men's Men's Halton Recreational Recreational Hockey League Hockey League (Our 30th Year!) Divisions For: Register Now For: Oldtimers (30+) Masters Oldtimers (27+ and (40+), 30+) Classics (47+), Intermediate (18+) Masters (40+) Classics (47+) and Women's Rec /Comp(18+) ··Non-contact play Non-contactrecreational recreational play ··Prime Primetimes times ··Uniforms Uniformsprovided provided ··Excellent Excellentofficiating officiating ··Team Teambalancing balancing ··Individual Group Entry entry Individual//Team Information and/or Registration Information and/or Registration by Phone: ( Our 55th Season! ) Fall/Winter 905-849-9712 or or: www.hmhl.bizland.com www.hmhl.bizland.com 905-849-9712 resented Team Canada. It was a really big thing." This medal is her first but it's thought that it won't be her last. McLean continues to edge her way toward other podiums, finishing fourth and sixth overall in provincial races, also held in July. Now, she's set her sights on OFSAA, the provincial high school championships next year, and doing well is part of her plan to snag a track scholarship at an American university. Commitment and discipline is key to achieving those goals, McLean says, but she admits a lot of the drive comes from her father Rohan. "He's really serious," she smiles. "It's gotten me to where I am today, so I'm quite proud of that." At the recent Legion games in Hamilton, Brandon Tyrrell qualified for the provincial meet in Sudbury. He came in second in the 100m at provincials, but a torn hamstring forced him to the sidelines and he missed the national meet in B.C. He's on the mend, and is using his time to prepare for a Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) because "I'm trying to be discovered" both academically and athletically. "I want to make sure my marks are there," Tyrrell says. "I just got to come over this injury and make sure my times are there. "I don't think I have a good time for this season, because I have been injured," says Tyrrell, who was once rated among the top three in Canada in the indoor 60m. "Considering how I tore my hamstring and I am coming back now, I'm pleased with my times." Ibrahim Ayorinde, 12, has shaken the track scene in Oakville since he donned cleats for the team two years earlier. At 10, the sprinter took gold in the 100-metre dash when he timed in at 13.47 seconds at the Hershey's Track and Field North American finals in Hershey, Pa. It was his first competition, and his first win. In 2012, he came in first again at U of T's Toronto International Track and Field Games, where he proved to be the fastest in his age class, 13.24 seconds for the 100m, a provincial record. Last Saturday, Ayorinde placed third in the 12-year-old boys' 200m sprint at the Hershey championships, finishing in 26.07 seconds. Coach Ted Neptune, another Olympian, predicts Ayorinde will soon break the 12-second mark for the 100m. Ayorinde's move into track had its beginnings during school recess. The MacLachlan College student said he enjoyed running and then decided to join the track club so "I could win all the races." Ayorinde then offers a surprise. He's not sure if he wants to qualify for the Olympics. He intends on running while young, but his dream of becoming an accountant is taking precedence at the moment. Allen is a recent addition to the coaching staff. He says he wants to "give back," to do for others what others have done for him. "I want some of these kids to have the opportunities that I've had," he says. If the kids get that experience, the opportunity to compete against the world, "it sets them up for success" both on and off the track, Allen says. "It's all about opportunity and that we believe in them." Allen was born in Guyana and later moved to Bramalea. In 2000, he competed for Guyana at the Olympics and four years later, he represented Canada at the Games. "During my experience representing Canada, there were a lot of people who assisted me along the way," he says. "It's not just about the funds that you receive, but it's about your training partner, the knowledge that you get from coaches and athletes, and sometimes, it's just having a place to stay. "You really develop some good relationships...that's because everybody knows the nature of track and how challenging it is," Allen adds. See Coach on p. 19