The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Wednesday, July 5, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D1 W HY ARE 37 MILLION CARS INSURED WITH STATE FARM? JUSt ASK A GOO D NEIGHtOR. Don't trust just anyone to insure your car, see me: Andrew Heideman 2228 Kingsway Drive, 2nd Fkxjr · 8 2 9 -0 0 1 8 Sportslfete<% You'll eat up our new menu! CHECK IT OUT! tDorval » cT Sl U V EE N T E R T A IN ! & QtW ,. Every Friday An O akville B eaver Feature Editor: NORM NELSON Phone:845-3824, ext 255 Fax:337-5567 E-mail:nnelson@haltonsearch.com P H IL T H Y 'S S P O T L IG H T : the Oakville Blue Stars won the prestigious Robbie over the week end. TOP PHOTO ... Back row: Daniel Ortega, M ackenzie Rostron Wilde, William Hyde, Kyle Bekker, Matthew Healy and Phil Iafrati. Front row: Lucas Severin, Chris Tsipas, Victor Carreiro, Nick Agam, Benjam in Estay-R ojas, Satpal Ubhi, M itchell H oulahan, David Slattery and Theo Koolen. Team mascot: Matthew Koolen. BOT TOM PHOTO: accepting the tour ney hardware are captains Matthew Healy, Kyle Bekker, Theo Koolen, Satpal Ubhi and David Slattery. - Philthy' s Spotlight Teams receive a Photo by Peter J. Thompson Photos Special to the Beaver $50 gift certificate BACK FROM HOLIDAY: Katie Zwir (w/glasses) battles for the ball against an unidentified member from the Dunfermline team from Scotland. The Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils field hockey team cut their summer holidays short to play this international friendly. lourney triumph The Oakville Blue Stars U-10 rep soccer team won the prestigious Robbie International soccer tournament in Scarborough this past weekend. The Blue Stars had some uncustomary close games throughout the tourney, which stretched out to six games for the Oakville team, but they left absolutely no doubt in the championship game with a 6-0 win over East York. It was the Blue Stars fourth tournament win in four tries this year. The championship game was tied 0-0 at the half, but the flood gates were opened on a goal by Kyle Bekker. He would add a second goal and single goals were added by Chris Tsipas, Theo Koolen, Daniel Ortega and MacKenzie Rostron Wilde. Victor Carreiro notched the shutout. The defence of Nick Agam, William Hyde, David Slattery and Satpal Ubhi all were solid. `T h e Blue Stars were brilliant in the second half," said Blue Stars coach Phil Iafrati. There were 23 teams entered in the U-10 boys division. The Blue Stars started the tournament slowly, managing only two ties on the first day, 1-1 against Kleinburg (Chris Tsipas) and 2-2 against Chinguacousy (Lucas Severin and Mackenzie Rostron Wilde. Day two (on Sunday) proved to be a much better day as they posted three straight wins to earn their way into the championship game. The first game o f their day was a 7-0 win over Glen Shields which gave them first place in their division. Goals were scored by Chris Tsipas (2), Lucas Severin (2), Mitch Houlahan, Benjamin Estay and Kyle Bekker. Victory Carreiro notched the shutout. In quarterfinal action, a goal by Chris Tsipas stood up in a 1-0 win over Richmond Hill. Theo Koolen assisted and Victor Carreiro was in for the shutout. In semifinal action, Oakville won another close one, 2-1 over Markham with goals to Lucas Severin and Mackenzie Rostron Wilde. ALSO W INNING THE ROBBIE Also winning a prestigious Robbie tourna ment championship was the Oakville Impact U17 girls rep soccer team. As recounted in Sunday's Beaver, this team (See Oakville' page D2) Scottish teams celebrate Canada Day in style... ... field hockey team draws OTHS 1-1 Normally, when the summer holidays roll around, students like to get as far away from school as possible. But a visit by a Scottish field hockey team from Dunfermline (near Edinborough) led to the members o f the Oakville Trafalgar High School hockey team, who are sponsored by the Duck and Ferkin, banding back together for an international friendly. The game at Glenashton Park ended in a ll draw. And the OTHS players, we assume, have resumed their summer holidays. ... U-18 rugby team edges Cru 17-12 The Oakville Crusaders U-18 rugby team had an exciting international match-up for their first game of the season. They lost to a Scottish touring team from Dunfermline (near Edinborough) but it was close -- 17-12. W OM EN CRUSADERS The Cru W omen's team, playing in the province's top A division, also played over the week end, losing 10-0 to Waterloo. OakviUe gym coach is a top ranked pow er tum bler B y K a t h y Y a r tc h u s SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Elite athletes don't come more tenacious than Ryan Webb. The 23-year-old Oakville G ym nastics Centre coach sits seventh am ong C anadians in the little known sport o f pow er tum bling, but his springs, twists and flips rate third in degree o f difficulty. The gym has been his second home since high school. Besides spending hours perfecting and creating his own com petitive routines, he is coach and m entor to young gymnasts. W hat is so am azing about this solidly built young athlete though is that he has come as far as he has, on his own. No coach. No grants. No funding. Since the age o f 18 Webb has been livf ing on his own, training and supporting himself. His surroundings may be hum ble, but his goals are lofty. He wants to reach and remain within the top five in his sport over the next sev eral years. Recently he placed in the top 10 at the C anadian N ational Pow er Tum bling ( Cham pionships in Toronto. "It w asn't my best (show ing) and it w asn't my w orst," sm iled Webb. "I've always been the underdog. There were a lot more gym nasts with a lot m ore experience. It's a growing thing with the judges." An adm itted "daredevil" , Webb pushes him self to the limit. He had to sit out three seasons due to career threatening injuries, one sustained while auditioning for Cirque de Soleil. Despite a broken ankle, an achilles reattachm ent and tom knee ligam ents he ju st doesn't give up. "W hen I broke my ankle they told m e to quit, but I said I'll do it when I'm ready. No injury is going to keep me out o f the sport." H e's been at it long enough to know when to push himself, and when to take it easy. Photo by Peter C. McCusker Oakville Gymnastics Centre coach Ryan Webb is nationally ranked in power tumbling and is aiming for a long stay in the top-five. He was five when he watched a gymnast exe cute an aerial cartwheel on the beam and tried to em ulate the move on the cement floor, "freaking out" his mother. He joined a kids' gymnastic program while his family lived in London and was immediate ly scouted for pre-competitive, but had to drop out because o f the cost. There isn't a sport Webb hasn't trie' d , base ball, track, volleyball, badminton, swimming. "I was above average at all of them but I didn't stand out." W hile taking a leadership course at his Cambridge high school, Webb was required to do 10 hours o f coaching, so he called upon a friend who worked for a gymnastics club and was taken on. "After about two sessions, they gave me my own class." From front and back handsprings in the yard, to provincial and national championships, Webb has done it alone, save for fellow coaches who give him advice and spot him, an exceptional accom plishm ent. W hen pressed, he'll adm it molding him self into an elite athlete has been gutsy, but well worth the trem endous sacrifices. "I jum ped on the tram poline a lot. I taught m yself double back tucks, double front twists, really crazy stuff, quadruple front. I was always a daredevil. W henever I had time, between class, I'd fool around on the tram poline." The discipline o f tumbling and tram poline, a demonstration sport at this year's Olympics in Sydney, is a series of springs, flips and twists on a narrow mat approxim ately 26 m etres long. At one time, torn between artistic gymnastics and tum bling, W ebb was pursuing one in Burlington and the other in Newm arket before deciding to focus on the latter. At 18, he m oved out on his own to train at Toronto Gym nastics International "to see how far I could go." Four years ago, the Oakville Gymnastics Centre offered him a jo b and he jum ped at the opportunity to coach-and make use of the avail able equipment. Webb has taught "just about every single program here" and spends the rest o f his time practicing, his goal this time to be one of the top four to make the national Power Tumbling team and travel to the worlds in Copenhagen next year. "I spend about 17 hours in the gym and then I have other small jobs on the side during the day. I spend as much time practicing as I can and as much as the body will allow, anywhere from four to 20 hours a week." Webb also rollerblades, plays beach volley ball and cycles. "I'm not in a hurry to do anything else right now. This is so much fun learning and growing. I'm not in any hurry. I am headstrong as far as athletics go. W hen I put my heart into som e thing, I put everything in it."