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Wednesday, December 20, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D1 Sportslfetek/ An O akville Beaver Feature Editor: NORM NELSON Phone:845-3824, ext 255 Fax:337-5567 E-mail:nnelson@haltonsearch.com Photos Special to the Beaver Aziz off to Sydney for junior worlds By Kathy V^nchus SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER onnolly Aziz will be home for Christmas. Right at home on the ocean >in sunny, summer-soaked Australia. The 18-year-old Iroquois Ridge OAC student was slated to leave yesterday for the 30th annu al Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships which are being held in Sydney Harbour, Dec. 28-Jan. 6. He and his sailing partner Trevor McEwen of Belleville are competing in the 420 division. The craft is a smaller version of the men's double-handed 470's which they use here in North America. "They are a bit smaller, a different design, a high performance boat," says Connolly, the product of an ardent sailing family, including mother Jennifer, father Julian, uncle John Dakin and grandfather Sid Dakin, a legendary sailor who competed in the 1979 Olympic Trials in Halifax, was World Shark Champion six times and a Pan Am Games fourth-place finisher in 1979. The young sailors are at a distinct disadvan tage in Sydney. Not only are 420s not raced in North America, they are not even available, says Jennifer. And they're not that much more popular in Australia where the duo were unable to charter a boat in order to get some pre-event experi ence. So, they'll undergo a baptism by fire. On Dec. 28#the duo will be assigned a boat and they'll have one day to rig it and practice, with races scheduled for Dec. 29. As a member of the Canadian Youth Sailing Team, under the helm of former Olympian Tine Moberg Parker, Connolly attended two sailing clinics this fall, one in Kingston, the other in Vancouver, preparing for Australia on the simi lar, but larger, 470. `There is a lot of theory, fitness, on the water training. In Kingston we were getting used to C Connolly Aziz is off to Australia over the Christmas break to compete in the world youth sailing championships. It's a grueling eight-race series being held in Sydney. the boat." Connolly's road to Sydney was an impres sive one with first and second place finishes at the mid-Winter East (Sarasota) and mid-Winter West (San Diego) regattas, respectively, solidi fying his Canadian Youth Sailing Team status, and accumulated two victories in the Laser II Gold Cup Series, one hosted by the Port Credit Yacht Club and the other, the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club. He also won the Laser II Ontario 23-and-under regatta in Kingston, and defeated some 30 other entries to become the Ontario High School champion this past fall. While Connolly won't be home for Christmas he will still be with family -- actual ly, family he has never met before. His Australian relatives are graciously putting up Connolly, his sailing partner, and their traveling family entourage. The Canuck crew will have a few days to acclimatize themselves to the Aussie summer, enjoying some scuba diving and some Christmas celebrations. Then it's on to the prestigious youth world sailing championships -- a grueling series of eight 45-90 minute races on a triangular course. Unpredictable winds, currents and tides will factor into every race, but Connolly feels if they place in the top 10, "It will be awesome." Upon his return from Australia, Connolly will wait out the winter, concentrating on his studies with the hope of pursuing a business degree at either Sir Wilfrid Laurier or Queen's University. He will be too old to compete again for the Ontario or Canadian youth sailing teams, but he will continue coaching at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club where he teaches the Optimists, sin gle-handed racers. No matter how he fares in Australia, Connolly already knows he's fortunate to have had the experience and to to have travelled throughout the world pursuing his love of sail ing. "Sailing is problem solving. You always have to be thinking. It's intuitive." S H E S H O O T S , S H E S C O R ES!!! in the right photo you'll notice the puck on its way into the net, with M ichelle Saunders o f the O akville H ornets novice BB rep team successfully pulling the trigger in a gam e against M ississauga last Friday night. In the photo below, a wall o f players speed after the puck. For this and other Oakville H ornets hockey action, see page D2. Photos by Peter C. McCusker Eighth annual rep tourney over the Christmas break One of Oakville's most successful minor hockey rep teams of late -- the Oakville Rangers minor bantam triple-A rep team -- will headline Oakville's eighth annual post-Christmas `minor' hockey tournament. The 56-team international tournament runs Dec. 27-30 (Wednesday to Saturday) and fea tures the `minor' divisions -- right from minor novice (8 years), through minor atom (10 years), minor pee wee (12 years) and minor bantam (14 years). The Oakville Rangers minor bantam triple-A rep team are the defending Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) champions and the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) finalists and have not missed a beat this year. They remain undefeated in league play and a stellar tourney record includes a championship win in Toronto that included wins over the (See Minor" page D2) 1 3 3 ] to i]D7 3 1 IIP f l y S F D-atoyjJJg i t s y s r · NO MONEY DOWN NO PAYMENT & NO INTEREST FOR 90 DAYS* 'Offer valid for Canadian Tire retail card purchases only, on approved credit when requested by customer at time of purchase. See full details at your nearest Canadian Tire Auto Centre. Offer applies to all installed services in our Auto Centre. Includes tires & batteries. Minimum invoice cost: $150 Upper Oakville Shopping Centre location will be Closed Boxing Day,TUes. Dec. 26. Kerr St. location will be Open Boxing Day from 10 am - 5 pm Accredited Test ft Repair Facility