Sunday, April 11, 1999 Oakville Beaver Weekend Local U-12 all-star team reaches Dallas Cup semis If first impressions are lasting, then an area all-star soccer team will not soon be forgotten for their exploits at the Dallas Cup, which wrapped up last weekend. The U-12 team was put together by longtime Oakville soccer coach and executive Charlie Sciberras specifi cally to compete at the Dallas Cup, one of the world's most prestigious youth tournaments. The area all-star team featured two Oakville players -- Ryan Tuske and Kyle Dulmage. The idea was to bring the players together after their club season had ended and train over the winter in preparation for the elite world tour ney. Once completed, the players would then disband to join their community clubs for the regular outdoor season. And next winter, coach Sciberras will gather the troops again to train throughout the winter for next year's Dallas Cup. The team banded together so well and performed so admirably, however, that the players and parents actually put out a feeler to the coaching staff to see if they could remain together. But coach Sciberras refused, say ing he would stick to his original promise to have the team members return to their club teams for the out door season. Sciberras, meanwhile, is starting up his own soccer school called Goal School of Excellence, which is the banner the all-star team went under. He is still looking for a home base for his new venture. The team, meanwhile, couldn't have asked for a better start in their Kyle Dulmage first venture in the youngest division (U-12) at the Dallas Cup, going unde feated in the preliminary round. They tied a host Dallas team 2-2 and then went on to defeat Venezuela 4-2 and the Illinois U.S.A. Cup champs 2-0. That sent them on to the semifinals where they won 3-0 over the California Nomads who were unde feated in 102 previous games. The GTA-area team was the only one of five Canuck teams in the tour nament to advance to the playoff round. Their good run finally came to an end in the semifinals, however, where they lost to a Houston team 1-0. With only 13 players on the trip and limited to mostly indoor training throughout the winter, the Canadian kids finally ran out of gas against the Ambassador Program supports six local runners (Continued from page 26) runners might be appreciated by our local running community. Of course, it would have been easy to select only the best to receive assistance, but the Running Company was convinced its broader program would encourage far more people to take up the sport. But where to get sponsorship for such a novel program? Trying to convince suppliers that the grass-roots concept was a sound idea did prove a hard sell. But the Running Company believed in its approach and the need for its Ambassador Program; if neces sary the store was prepared to back it alone. The Oakville store now has six sponsored runners and, since its proven success, the backing of four major suppliers. One supplier even supports two runners. The Running Company itself is sponsoring the sixth member. Each member of the program receives about $ 1,500 of their respective spon sor's product. The store covers their cost of entering four local races. In Fastfrate season highlights (Continued from page 26) potent offence that scored 27 goals to lead all teams in their division. The Fastfrate coaching staff of Steve Buckland, Jock Dunbar, John DaSilva, Keith Rookyard and Russ Rennet guided the team to the league and playoff championships in their division. Other highlights included the grand championship at tournaments in Dundas (select) and Trenton (house league) and the consolation champi onship in Penetang (peewee-A level). U l l j H i 1 NON-CONTACT HOCKEY Individuals or team entry 84*4712 SHOOT, SCORE & SAVE ON OUR PRACTICE PADS Goalie & shooter pads available for rent Oakville Parks & Recreation Department 8 1 5 - 5 9 8 9 SUMMER NON-CONTACT ADULT UOCKEy LEAGUE HALTON MEN'S HOCKEY LEAGUE • Non-contact • Prime time games 1 26th j i of • Trophies • Balanced teams • Excellent officiating • Individual entries operation • Sweaters/socks £ provided s 1 INFORMATION AND/OR REGISTRATION 2 BY PHONE I (905)849-9712 o' Applications at RIVER OAKS ARENA, © GLEN ABBEY ARENA OR APPLEBY COLLEGE ARENA OM HA finals • The Oakville Rangers double-A novice rep team, sponsored by UltraFresh and Acrobat, made it to the OMHA finals, but were unable to defeat a tough team from Aurora. In the first game, the Rangers were in tough but had their spirits broken when Aurora scored with just over a minute to go in the game to win 2-1. Aaron Mirsky had the lone Ranger marker, assisted by Jordy Watts. In the second game, a Mirsky slapshot and two markers from Watts were the highlights as Oakville went down to defeat, 6-3. Jordy Watt, Alex Corrance and Matt Grigg added assists on the goals. In the third and final game in Aurora, Jordy Watts and Anthony Albrecht kept the game close at 4-2 until the clos ing minutes. With Oakville pressing to get back in the game, Aurora scored three times in the last three minutes to put away the Rangers 7-2 and win the championship. Despite the loss, the Rangers had a brilliant year, finish ing first in the regular season and then only losing one play off game en route to the OMHA finals. The players and parents thank coach Jeff Grigg, assis tants Frank Watts and Rick Macintosh and general manager Roland Klassen for their outstanding contributions to a suc cessful year. Ryan Tuske bigger American kids. The Houston team went on to lose the championship game to State rival Dallas Texans. Oakville was actually awarded the bronze medal (having a better goal differential than the other semifinal ist). The coaching staff also boasted two other Oakville residents, Cornel Vuia, who coaches Oakville's U-15 girls and Hector Estay, whose son plays for Phil Iafrate's U-9 rep team. The goaltender coach was Bob Pavelic, an ex pro goalie in Yugoslavia who also suited up for Toronto Italia. Coach Sciberras said the result was "better than I expected." At the same time, he said a lot of hard work was put in all around, by the players and the coaching staff. return, the sponsored runners are asked simply to promote running in the community and to offer encour agement for runners new to the sport. Directing resources at the grass roots level has proved a huge success. The number of runners now in the Oakville area has never been higher. With encouragement and the ongoing support of the Ambassador Program, these numbers are expected to swell even further. The Ambassador Program has done much to foster running in the community. The Running Company is proud of its members and the job they are doing in helping and encour aging so many who are new to the sport. Are you between 6 & 16 yrs of age? ____ ( a s _ o fA u g .3 1 )____ 1999 i # FOOTBALL REGISTRATION For BOYS & GIRLS Saturday April 17th 9 am ■ 3 pm Birth Certificate and Health Card Required at LOCATION: Equipm ent Centre (behind Nelson High School) , ^ . " s z s r STR«T l ' l FOOTBALLSTADIUM •oSoL A $50 fundraisi, commitment i required. a l l e q u ip m e n t SUPPLIED EXCEPT FOOTWEAR & SH0R1 BURLINGTON MINOR FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION For information please call R E G I S T E R E A R L Y