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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com OGC sending five to acro worlds If Jack McGarr ever takes the stage in a Cirque du Soleil production, he doesn't expect he'll be intimidated by the crowd. The 18-year-old Oakville gymnast is preparing to make his third trip to the acrobatic gymnastics age group world championships, and said performing on the sport's biggest stage gets a bit easier every time. "My first worlds (in 2010), stepping up on the floor, it was so bright and the crowd was so massive, compared to what we'd been competing in front of all year," said the White Oaks high schol student. "There is that initial moment of `whoa'. "The second time (in 2012) was a little less stressful, we were much more prepared," McGarr added. "This year has been nowhere near as stressful." McGarr is one of five Oakville Gymnastics Club athletes who will represent Canada at this year's worlds, scheduled for June 29-July 12 in Levallois-Perret, France. McGarr will team with 13-year-old Natalie Pacheco in 1218 mixed pairs, while 16-year-old Sophie Lake, 14-year-old Alexandra D'Souza and 13-year-old Tessa Chiricosta will compete in 11-16 women's groups. This will be McGarr's final event as a competitive gymnast before he attends Montreal's National Circus School in pursuit of a career in theatrical acrobatics. A medal is likely a longshot -- Canada has been competing in the sport for less than five years, while several European nations have participated for 50 years -- but McGarr said he's still motivated to perform well at worlds. "(No expectations) takes the stress off," he said. "But we still need to look clean and professional, rather than going out and looking like fools." D'Souza will be making her debut at the world championships, but said competing at the Maya Cup in Portugal earlier this year should help settle her nerves in France. "We were exposed to the big lights and the big crowds, so we won't be as intimidated," the Fern Hill School student said. "It was just different (in Portugal), the atmosphere of the competition. There were a lot more people, the judges were different. It was harder, stricter and bigger." Acrobatic gymnastics sets itself apart from standard gymnastics disciplines by using athletes as the apparatus. Acro builds pyramids and catapults bodies high into the air while going through choreographed routines, similar to cheerleading. Jane Kirwan and David Scott oversee the OGC's acrobatic gymnastics program, which features 48 athletes. Kirwan moved to Oakville from Ireland two years ago, and Scott relocated from England. "They've been working really hard," Kirwan said of her world championship-bound gymnasts, estimating they've upped their training from four hours a week to 20. "(Canada is) one of the upand-coming teams. There are a lot of countries who have been around (in acro for) 20, 30, 50 years. Now we feel like we're at a level where we can start to compete with the top levels and hopefully be in the top half." -- Jon Kuiperij Sports HALTON TRANSMISSION "Connected to your Community" 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com 29 | Thursday, June 12, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Oakville Gymnastics Club members (above photo, left to right) Sophie Lake, Tessa Chiricosta, Alexandra D'Souza, Natalie Pacheco and Jack McGarr will compete at this year's acrobatic gymnastics age group world championships in France. In right photo, Lake, Chiricosta and D'Souza demonstrate their routine. | photos by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver Initially `just happy to be there', Holy Trinity earns bronze at OFSAA field lacrosse It didn't take long for the Holy Trinity Titans to adjust their expectations at last week's Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AAA/AAAA field lacrosse championships. The fifth-seeded Titans won four of five games at the provincial tournament in Mississauga and Brampton, capped by a 9-4 victory over defending champion Monsignor Paul Dwyer in Friday's bronze-medal game. "As the tournament progressed, we beat St. Thomas Aquinas (Brampton) and Huntsville pretty handily, we were watching other games, and we started putting it together that we had a pretty good shot of winning a medal," said Titans assistant coach Rob Nacevicius, whose school was making its first-ever appearance at OFSAA lacrosse. "When the tournament started, we were just happy to be there." Trinity started OFSAA with a 10-3 win over Aquinas and 8-4 victories over Huntsville and Upper Canada College. The Titans' loss at OFSAA -- and just their second of the season -- came in the semifinal, 13-4 to eventual champion Assumption College. Trinity's other loss this year came in exhibition play against St. Michael's, which was the OFSAA silver medallist. Nacevicius credited the play of midfielder Ben Heidecker -- Trinity's captain -- and defender Adriano Morgani as keys to the Titans' success at OFSAA. The coach is optimistic that field lacrosse, already a fairly popular sport at Trinity, will have an even greater profile next season. "The interest is growing now," said Nacevicius, noting this year's roster featured 25 players, most of whom had field or box lacrosse experience. "A couple kids chose lacrosse over soccer, but for the most part it's hockey kids." Trinity also hopes to field a girls' lacrosse team in 2015. Nacevicius said Georgetown's Christ the King is currently the only high school in Halton that offers girls' lacrosse. -- Jon Kuiperij