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"A Family Tradition for 132 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, September 29, 1998 - 23 PORT PERRY STAR GOT IT: The Port Perry Angels held a clinic for its players and hopefuls for next year Saturday (Sept. 26) in between frequent rain showers. Local instructors donated their time to the team and lent CHRIS HALL / PORT PERRY STAR a hand giving the girls some advice on hitting, pitching and fielding. Close to 50 girls from around the region came out to the clinic for some pointers, including how to make a proper sliding catch. Season starts on a sour note Georgina dumps Port 6-2 in season opener By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star It was not what Tom Thornbury had been hoping for, not by a long shot. The new head coach of the Port Perry ModJacks saw his team get in the first punch Sunday afternoon, then go down in a hail of lefts and rights thrown by the visiting Georgina Ice in a murderous second period at the Scugog Arena. When it was over, the MoJacks were on the canvas, 6-2 losers in their home opener that got another season of Junior C hockey underway. For Thornbury, making his debut as a Junior C head coach, he was obviously disappointed at the out- come, but far from dejected. "The guys kept working, they kept playing it hard right to the end," he said after the game, which was played in front of a decent size crowd on a hot, muggy Sunday afternoon. Breaking the game into segments, he said his team won the first and last periods. But the Ice certainly won the second frame, as they scored all six of their goals, including three straight by Jeremy Filay that broke open a close game and broke the backs of the home-town boys. With his team down 1-0 early in By Jon Sanders Special to The Star Communications 5 Goreski's Roofing 0 The opening game in week three of SHL action turned out to be a one-sided affair in favor of Compton Communications. Richard Huggins provided the shutout for Compton while Dave Mann contributed offensively with two goals. His first was unassisted and his second iwas from Mike Driscoll. Other goalscorers for Compton were Greg Warriner unassisted, Jeff ompton Cable tunes out Goreski's 5-0 in SHL play Kroonenburg from Greg Warriner and Ed Olsen, and Scott Wilbur who was set up nicely by Peter Somors to close out the scoring in this blow-out game. Taylor Ford/Mercury 2 Joe's Pizzeria 1 In this defensive battle, Taylor FFord/Mercury prevailed by a score of 2-1. Taylor Ford went to work early as Brett Laycoe connected after taking passes from Reg Templeman and Bill Bridge. But minutes later, Joe's would tie this game at one with a goal courtesy Turnto Page 25 the second, Filay went to work at 3:54, beating Jeff Mackie with a low shot to the corner. Just a dozen sec- onds later, he scored again, this time finding himself alone in front of Mackie. And he completed his hat trick at 8:17 on another play in which the MoJack defense deserted their - guy in the irons. The Modacks got on the board first, early in the opening period. Just six seconds into a power play, Ryan Odette got his stick on a shot from the blue line area. Dale Drummond and Adam Bonneveld drew the assists at 7:04. They managed to keep the visitors off the scoreboard during the first 20 minutes, largely due to the fine work of Mackie between the pipes. He was tested early and often and came up with numerous tough saves. But the second period belonged entirely to the visitors. It was Ice netminder Brad Hacket's turn to grab the spot-light as he was called upon to come up with the big stops. After Filay's three goals in the first eight minutes, they counted three more in the final five minutes to take a commanding 6-1 lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes. The MoJacks, to their credit, kept battling away despite the lop-sided score and they finally got one back midway through the third with Casey Van Schagen doing the damage. Tom Chambers and Rob Murphy drew the assists. Turnto Page 24 Large... Port Perry's Todd Healey takes a look at today's world of sports Volunteers the real heroes in Port's hockey system Trivia Time: How much would it cost the parents of a 12-year-old to play rep hockey for one season in Port Perry if all expenses, including registration, equipment, mileage, tournament fees, lodging and admission fees for away games were factored into the equation? Wanna guess? Would you believe $1,500? I hope so, because the figure is actually $2, 500. Now for an even tougher question. How is it that, dollar for dollar and ice-time for ice-time, Port Perry is the best place to play hockey in the free world? The first part of the answer is volunteers. The Port Perry Minor Hockey corporation is blessed with an abundance of men and women who altruistically give of themselves, their time and love for both the game and the kids. Operating an orga- nization with upwards of 500 players requires dedi- cation, know-how, and above all, effort; hours upon hours of time given to the job. From the coaching and managing of teams, to all administration levels, Port Perry Minor Hockey i is run exclusively by vol- unteers, which allows registration rates to remain low enough for parents in the community to afford. And their efforts do not end with facilitation and administration; they also actively fundraise with the fruits of such endeavors being put directly into the operations budget which again, aids in keeping registration affordable. Fundraising is also done for specific capital projects, currently focussed on the design and construction of a second ice pad. Which brings us to the second part of hockey's success story in Port Perry. Our local past and present councils have resisted the temptation to move towards a "user-pay" regime even when there has been rather vocal support for it in the past by a small group of tax zealots confusing dollars with sense. Many times, the squeaky wheel gets the grease when it comes to the political arena but not on this issue and we as a community are grateful for those councils who wisely chose our youth over a quick buck. And is user-pay really a savings? If only rich kids can play, where do kids go to fill the void left by a sport they can no longer play because their parents can no longer afford for them to play it? The Police Association has for many years pro- moted a slogan which answers this question. "Keep kids in sports, not in courts." The cost of court timo and related procedures far outweighs subsidized ice time at the local level and society as a whole benefits on a host of different levels. It is a lesson that thankfully Scugog residents have not been forced to learn. In the final analysis, the wonderful hockey pro- gram which Port Perry enjoys begins and ends with volunteers. If there is any so over used and misap- propriated word in sport, it is "hero." The media and public alike are so starved for something to* aspire to and live vicariously through that the first athlete to excel beyond expectations is branded a hero. We forget the people at the grassroots level who nurtured and produced our "hero." The next time you see a volunteer involved with any minor sports, thank them. Thank them for allowing our youth to learn, prosper, and grow in an environment dedicated solely to their development as athletes as well as responsible young men and women. You are the true heroes, and the rest of us are the winners because of what you do. I