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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, May 8, 2015 | 28 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Oakville father and son say modular parks don't challenge or develop elite skaters by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor Skate Bored Ian McKinstray credits stellar training facilities as one reason Oakville continues to produce elite athletes in mainstream sports such as hockey, soccer, swimming and lacrosse. He hopes the same opportunities will soon exist for local skateboarders. "Skateboarding will be in the Olympics by 2020 or 2024. They have the scoring in place, using the same method they've used for snowboarding and snowcross. They can quantify the scoring," says McKinstray, whose son Cayde is one of the top young skateboarders in Canada. "Now it's about having somewhere where kids can develop." The Town of Oakville currently features two 3,500-squarefoot skateboard parks (Glen Abbey and Glenashton), a 14,000-square-foot facility with 26 cement ramps (Shell Park), a 14,500-square-foot indoor training area (Kinoak Arena, open from April to August when the ice has been removed) and a YMCA-sponsored movable park which will rotate this summer through three locations in the town. However, McKinstray feels Oakville skateboarders need more. He points to smaller Ontario communities that boast superior skateboard parks, such as Uxbridge, Picton and Waterdown. "Kinoak is fantastic from a training perspective. The problem is, it's a summertime thing, and when it's nice out, people want to be outside," he says, noting that none of the skateboard parks in Oakville include a bowl. "The Town is doing a Ian McKinstray Father of young skateboarder lot of things right in that respect, but they (don't have) a facility able to foster development for kids like Cayde and others who can go to the next level. "The only non-modular skateboard park is Shell. If you want a comparison, Shell is the Maplegrove Arena to what Promising young skateboarder Cayde McKinstray feels skateboard parks in Oakville aren't adequate enough to help him keep improving. | photo by Justin Greaves -- Special to the Beaver What worked (20 years ago) really doesn't work anymore. Sixteen Mile (Sports Complex) is (for hockey)... Facilities have developed so much, what worked (20 years ago) really doesn't work anymore." Nine-year-old Cayde, who recently finished second out of approximately 200 competitors in the 13U division at an international event in Michigan, agrees with his dad. "It's harder to learn new tricks on the same ramps... I went to a competition last year in Minnesota, and there was a bowl and I wasn't used to it," says the Sunningdale Public School student. "It feels weird that I have to go all the way out of town just to a find a place to practise." Oakville mayor Rob Burton said the Town is satisfied with the facilities it offers skateboarders, pointing out the challenges skateboard parks can present. Four years ago, complaints about noise and inappropriate after-hours activity at a skateboard facility in the West Oak Trails area led the Town to relocate the park to Glen Abbey. " We like the way modular skateboard parks can be moved about," Burton said. Ian McKinstray says other municipalities have addressed concerns about mischief at skateboard parks by locating them near major intersections or even adjacent to police stations. According to the Town of Oakville's website, Phase 1B of the North Park Development (Neyagawa Boulevard, north of Dundas Street) may include a new BMX and skateboard park. McKinstray says his main goal is to ensure any such facilities would be built with a bowl, halfpipe and other amenities that would enable Oakville to host major skateboard competitions in the future. "You have to make the investment," he says. "There's an ability for Oakville to do the right thing, and we're hoping they will consider it when the time comes." Cayde, a redhead who began growing his hair out several years ago in an attempt to look like skateboarding icon Shaun White for Halloween, will soon shave his head to raise money towards a down payment for a new skateboard park. His fundraising goal is $5,000, half of which would be donated towards breast cancer awareness (his mother is a breast cancer survivor). Cayde's hair will be given to the Angel Hair Foundation, a program for children who lose their hair during medical treatments. "It's a gesture, more than anything," Ian McKinstray says. "We want to show our councillors and government we have something here that we want to try and build on. Here's a start." Former Abbey Park big man McLaughlin now shooting for pro basketball career by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff If you were to look at the University of Victoria men's basketball team photos dating back to the 2010-11 season, Chris McLaughlin is not hard to find. He's occupied the same spot in the middle of the back row every year. Even when he arrived in Victoria from Abbey Park High School as an 18-year-old, the 6-foot-10, 235-pound McLaughlin was the Vikes' biggest player. But size wasn't the only advantage he had. "He always did have the innate skills, the good hands, the hand-eye co-ordination, he was mobile for a big man, he could always shoot the ball," said Vikes coach Craig Beau- champ. "We knew he was something special, it was just a matter of maturing into his role." McLaughlin wasn't so easy to find on the court. In his rookie season, he played just 4.4 minutes per game, the fewest of anyone on the team. The following year, his minutes dipped to 4.3 per game, though he made the most of his time, averaging 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. It was during those first two seasons that Beauchamp realized that he not only had a special player on the court, but off the court as well. In high school, McLaughlin rarely had to match up with a player his own size, much less opponents four years older than him who had the benefit of building up their strength see McLaughlin on p.29