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(AOS) NORTHEND NISSAN 25 a: Annual midget tourney set Hockey fans in Halton Hills will have an added bonus to take in this Christmas. That being the 26th annual Georgetown Minor Hockey Association midget tournament. The event, which traditionally has been held in early January but in recent years has edged closer and closer to starting around Christmas, will get underway Sunday and carry on through to Jan. 3, when the divisional championships will decided. While that may be a bonus for young players hoping to maybe try out some new Christmas gifts on the ice, the early start has caused tournament director Brian James no shortage of problems. No less than three AAA tourna- ments will be underway at the same time when the GMHA’s event gets started, which creates the problem of trying to attract quality teams to the storied Georgetown event. The ¥ tec, — top tournament will be the Midget GMHA event enterin its 26th season Showcase in Toronto, but also tour- naments in Burlington and St. Catharines are in direct competition with the Georgetown tourney The Showcase tournament is expected to have a 16-team AAA field, with both the Burlington and St. Catharines events icing eight to 10 teams apiece in their AAA classes. The current economic hardships _ have forced teams to either cut out entirely travelling to tournaments during the Christmas holiday, or at least limit where they go. That, in turn, has made attracting AAA clubs that much tougher, James aid. As a result, to date four AAA midget clubs have confirmed their participation here. The quartet includes the Toronto Red Wings, Brooklin-Whitby, Guelph and a club representing the Central Ontario AAA loop. A total of 13 teams will compete g in the AA class, including the Georgetown Sunny Acre Farms squad and defending-champion Sarnia. James is hopeful he can get two more clubs to enter so as to be able to ensure three divisions of five teams. At press deadline, James could not be reached in order to find out if indeed the extra teams were found and will be available once the tournament gets under- < ay. If the additional teams cannot be found, then the AA format will fea- ture one five-team division, with the remaining eight clubs divided equally into two divisions. The teams that finish atop each division will automatically advance to the playoff round. A fourth team, a wild-card entry, will also take part in the playoffs. That team will be the one with the best record amongst the remaining franchises. The AA championship contest will get underway at 6 p.m. on Jan. ed 3, with the AAA title contest start- ing right after. All games will be played at the Alcott Arena. There will not be a contest played between the AAA and AA winners to decide the tournament’s overall championship club, James said. The Sunny Acre Farms team will compete in a division along with teams from Ajax, Etobicoke and Humberview. Georgetown will to go make its tournament debut Sunday evening, taking on Ajax at 5:30 .m. The Sunny Acre Farms contin- gent will then meet Etobicoke on Monday, with the faceoff time being 6 p.m., and finish the round- robin event Wednesday evening against Humberview, starting at 5:30 p.m. By Laurie Burns Are you making any New Year’s resolutions in 1993? Here are a few tips from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Good food alone will not keep your heart healthy. There are a few other adjustments you may need in your life. Smoking — To put it bluntly, don’t smoke. In Canada, 26,000 people will die to smoke-related cardiovascular ailments this year. Most will die of a heart attack, and if you smoke a pack of ciga- rettes a day, your risk of heart attack doubles. Smoke even more and your risk increases. Smoking is probably the single most preventable cause of heart disease. Exercise — Modern con- vienences make it very easy to. lead a sedentary life. Unless you plan for exercise, you might not get it. Yet moderate exercise. can greatly reduce your risk of heart disease — by halving your risk of hypertension, by lowering our blood cholesterol level, by con- trolling your weight and your stress level. Aerobic exercise increases the body’s ability to use oxygen and it strengthens the heart muscle. Try for at least three 30-minute Wednesday at the Gordon Alcott Arena in Georgetown. The gloves were off but it looks like a bit of a mismatch when these two skaters bumped into each other Photo by Scott Augustus NTN's horse-racing series Activity Line New Year’s resolutions Roger Haggett (center) accepts congratulations from Ann-Louise Logie (left) of NIN Entertainment Network and Rick Bonnette of Time Out Roadhouse for for finishing third in North America in eriods of aerobic exercise per Pi week. Alcohol — Excess alcohol con- sumption can damage your body in many ways, including increas- ing your risk-of heartdisease. Alcohol can prevent your body from absorbing important nutri- ents. If you drink, try to limit your consumption to no more than one drink a day. Change is hard. Try to imple- ment improvements to your lifestyle slowly. Have a happy, healthy New Year to all in 1993. For more information about exercise, feel free to contact Laurie Burns at 877-0771. Laurie Burns is an Exercise Physiologist and operates Work That Body Fitness Programs Inc. in Georgetown. een