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Badminton sure sign of spring By Barb Ansell Plaindealer sportswriter Birds flying through the air is a true sign of spring, but these birds are not the wild, outdoor type at McHenry High School. Instead they are the controlled, well-aimed shuttlecocks of the girls' badminton team. Second-year coach Jim Popovich sees the season as a building year. "Of the 12 present team members 90 percent are freshmen. The only returning player from last year is Char Einweck," said Popovich. "With such a young, inex­ perienced team, we must consider this season for re­ establishing a foundation for the program." In previous years, the bad­ minton program has often been considered "McHenry's best kept sports secret," according to Popovich. Part of Popovich's season goal is to give the sport some added exposure. "I've made some positive progress in bringing more girls out for the team. I'm working to make badminton a more respected sport, and in doing that more girls will discover the sports availability," Popovich said . Popovich's plans even include developing an intramural badminton program at the junior highs to increase the sports visibility. mis year s present team is still in the unfinished stages. "We still have players trickling in and may even have as many as 20 players on the team within the next week," said Popovich. While Popovich doesn't expect his team to win as many mat­ ches this season, he still feels this year's team does have a future. "This is the most en­ thusiastic group of girls I have Continued on pogo It Johnsburg earns goal, lose regional final BATTLING UNDER THE BOARDS - became heated during last Thursday's McHenry regional girls basketball final between Johnsburg and Crystal Lake Central. The Skyhawks' Vicki (Plaindealer photo by Wayne Gaylord) DeBeau tries to muscle in a basket against the Tigers' Laura Jensen. Battling for rebounding position for Johnsburg is Michelle Swartzloff. Sports injuries not a big problem in area One nice job of being a sports editor is all the mail that comes your way. In a week's time I've heard from the University of Illinois to public relation firms announcing boat shows and special events at the Horizon. Once in awhile something comes along that peaks my interest. One such piece of mail came to me not so long ago. It came from the University of Wisconsin- Madison Center of Health and Sciences. It was a warning given by a pediatrician who was the director of the Wisconsin Hospital's Teen Clinic. Basically, he was condemning sports for young athletes as being more harmful than beneficial. When you think about it, considering our sports minded society, that press release was pretty revolutionary. Now he wasn't completely con­ demning sports entirely, but he was giving a clear warning against some abusive practices of current day sports. Well, this interests me enough to talk to some experts in this area. Probably the biggest expert in this field is GU Bransen, a certified trainer and coor­ dinator of sports medicine at Good Sheperd Hospital in Barrington. He works as a trainer for schools in districts 155 and 300. While he saw no real big problems in this area, he admitted sport injuries to teenagers is a problem. His office took care of 750 injuries in 1983. Of those injuries, 77.4 percent of them toduitoce at practice. One of main concerns of MB press release and Bransen is too much athletic strain before puberty and before the growth plate has developed. Sport Talk by Mike Lamb Sports Editor "Weight training before reaching puberty is something to be discouraged," said Bransen. "Weight training before starting to remit the hormone pestosterone (effects change of voice and produces body hair) will not really develop gains of strength." Bransen said 15-16 is the age where a young athlete can start weight training. Below age 14 could be harmful, depending on the youth. Bransen said he doesn't like to see power lifting until age 16. "I'm sure there is abuse, but the word is getting out," Bransen said. One of the reasons Bransen isn't concerned as much as the press release is he believes the coaches in this area are well trained. Where Bransen has the problem is organizations like Little League baseball and football. "I have, a real problem with Little League. They allow a pitcher to throw for i mrt^n amount of innings. How last? If you have league game, an inning can last a long time. There should be a person on the bench counting the pit­ ches. "The catcher has to throw a lot also. He even puts more stress on the elbow than the pitcher." Bransen also indicated a psychological problem as well - pushing too hard to win. But he aiso auueu JLitue League is a lot more safe than sandlot. Ray Mathis, athletic trainer for McHenry High School, is very concerned with the psychological aspect of athletics. He has gone so far as to label some injuries to psychological roots. He states that the Vince Lombardi attitude of winning is everything can be very harmful to young athletes. "Parents having expectations of kids is not inherently unhealthy," says Mathis. "It is actually a necessary part of helping them grow. The thing that creates a problem is how they are conveyed, and more importantly, what is said when they are not met and the parent becomes disappointed or frustrated. "A person's response to a kid not meeting his expectations can be categorized as being either 'nurturing' or 'critical'." Both Bransen and Mathis have con­ fidence in high school and junior high coaches in the area. Both Joe Schlender and Randy Oberembt of Johnsburg have carried their expertise from the playing field to weight programs. Berth run weight lifting programs that stress safety. "We like to get kids early to gear l up in Sc. >ty techniques," said Schlender. Both coaches only allow high school Continued on pogo It By Mike Lamb Plaindealer sports editor Before - the girls basketball season started way back in December, Johnsburg coach Nancy Fahey set one particular goal for her squad - gain respect through being com­ petitive. Well, if Fahey's squad didn't gain any respect with a 13-9 record coming into Thursday's McHenry regional cham­ pionship, the Skyhawks can be assured of respect from the Crystal Lake Central Tigers. .. One of the top three powers of the Fox Valley Conference, the Tigers had to scrape and struggle to a 41-33 victory over Johnsburg to advance to the Crystal Lake South regional this week. The key of the whole game might have rested right on the free throw line. The Skyhawks had 18 free attempts at the basket from the free throw line, but could only sink five of them for 27 percent. Crystal Lake Central managed to make eight- of-13 free throws. *Yeah, thafrwas one of the key points," said Fahey reminded of the free throw shooting. Crystal Lake Central coach Linda Brady also thought it was key point of the game. "Our free throw kept us in many games. We've been able to score free throws under pressure," Brady said. The Tigers found themselves under pressure for most of the game. The Tigers struggled with Johnsburg to a 26-26 tie late in the third quarter, until Central could break the game open a little. Two free throws by Karen Bickness and a jump shot by Jean Barry gave Central a 30-26 lead after three quarters. A basket by Tania Brummer to start the fourth quarter gave the Tigers a six-point lead. The lead was big enough to hold off the Skyhawks the rest of the way. "We played well enough to win," said Brady. One of the problems the Tigers were having in shaking off the Skyhawks was a nagging press. Johnsburg put on full court press against Central early in the second quarter, and it seemed to bother the Tigers. "It put us back into the game," said Fahey. She in­ structed her squad to use the press with a 16-13 deficit. Lori Oeffling and Theresa Hauck were able to score a few points on steals off the break and the Tigers failed to get the ball over the time-line one time. "There's no reason for it," said Brady. "We worked on it. That's what gets a team hasseled. They know what to do, but continue to make mistakes." Continued on pogo 19 (Plaindealer photo by Wayne Gaylord) Johnsburg's Theresa Hauck was called for charging on this play, while making a move to the basket. Lady Hurricanes hold down Kaneland 47-32 By Sam Natrop Plaindealer news service BURLINGTON - In the third quarter of Monday night's Burlington Central Class A Sectional, semifinal, Marian Central's girls scored 14 points. Kaneland needed the entire second half to match that total. Paced by Nancy Walsh's 16 points and Kim Kuper's 10, the Hurricanes advanced to the sectional championship with a convincing 47-32 rout of the Knights. Hie Hurricanes, now 17-8 on the season, will face Burlington Central at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night for the right to advance to the March 26 Lisle Super- sectional. sicai, sometimes jame saw the Hurricanes adapt their usual quick-paced shooting style to meet that of the rugged Knights. "I guess maybe it's a carry­ over of football coaching into basketball," Hurricane coach Don Penza said with a grin referring to his being head coach of the Hurricanes. Kuper, Marian's leading rebounder who spends most of her time under the boards, agreed. "They're one of the most physical teams we've played by far," she said. The senior for­ ward said that playing in the sectional championship is just another game in the eyes of herself and her teammates. "Our goal was to use the season as an experience factor and we set a second goal to win the regional. Everything from there is an extra bonus." Marian advanced into the sectionals with a 49-44 win over Marengo for the Richmond- Burton Regional championship. Penza said he thought his Continued on pogo It PAQEg^LAINDEALE^WEDN^DAY^MARC^^lIM Michelle Swartzloff Theresa Hauck By Mike Lamb Plaindealer sports editor Theresa Hauck is now of­ ficially considered one of the top girls basketball players in the area. Not only was she named on the Northwest Suburban all- conference team, but she was also honored by Shaw-Free Press sports writers as one of the top guards in McHenry County. Hauck, along with teammate Michelle Swartzloff were in­ ducted into the Shaw-Free Press all-area team. Hauck made first-team, while Swartzloff was on the honorable mention list. Marian Central placed Nancy Walsh on the NWSC all- conference squad, while three Hurricane players were named all-area performers by Shaw- Free Press sportswrtters. On that squad besides Walsh, was Beth Penza and Kim Kuper. Top Shaw-Free Press.honors went to Tiffini King of Rich­ mond-Burton and Dave Swengo of Harvard. King was named player of the year, while Swengo coach of the year for the second straight year. It was the second* straight year in a row that Hauck and Walsh made the all-area team. "She played super," said Johnsburg coach Nancy Fahey on Hauck. "She was our team leader on and off the court." Hauck averaged 14 points a -game, but Fahey said her top senior guard could have scored more. "She was always a team player. She could have scored a lot more." The 5-foot-7 guard also averaged six rebounds a game and shot 73 percent from the free throw line. Swartzloff averaged seven points and 8.2 rebounds a game for Johnsburg. "She was the best defensive player we had," said Fahey on Swartzloff. "For 5-foot-ll she was a super rebounder. She was a good positioner. She worked very hard and is a real dedicated player." " ^Waisn, a Moot-5 senior guard, averaged 19 points a game for the Hurricanes. "She was our playmaker. She was an ex­ cellent quarterback," said her coach, Don Penza. Walsh also averaged seven assists per game. The sportswriters honored Marian's backcourt by naming Beth Penza on the second team. While Walsh scored the points, Penza was the defensive catalyst of the team according to coach Penza. "She created a great amount of turnovers. She led our team in defense. As a team, we held teams that scored 50 or 60 points a game to 40 points." Penza averaged 11 points a game and 4.5 rebounds a game. Kim Kuper joined Walsh mi the first team with a 11.0 scoring average and she grabbed 10 rebounds a game. Kuper was credited with 17 rebounds in one contest this season. Richmond's King was honored as player of the year in the area Continued on pogo It