These are some of my sports stories I've done.
Springdale white wins silver
Stingers Brake to under-14 female soccer title
By PAT HEALEY, the nor'wester
SPRINGDALE -A two goal performance by Samatha Brake led the Deer Lake Stingers to the Pepsi Under-14 Female 'C' Soccer championship in Springdale Aug. 19.
The Stingers didn't give any of the four teams in the event, which included Gander, and two Springdale teams, a break en route to the title with a 2-0-1 record winning the final 4-0.
That one blemish, the tie, is what allowed Springdale White to make the final as they held Deer Lake scoreless at 0-0 in the last round-robin game to move one point ahead of Gander. This avoided a nightmare for organizers which, if Deer Lake had won that game, would have saw a three-way tie for second, with all three teams sporting 1-2 records.
Springdale goalie Megan Oxford played well, but it appeared that there was no zip in the players after leaving everything on the field in the 0-0 tie.
Also scoring for the Stingers were Ashley Guy and Jody Easton. Brake was named player of the game for her team.
Deer Lake coach Glen Schwartz said the tournament was very well organized, and all teams seemed to have fun playing the sport they love.
"I think it was a wonderfully-run tournament, well organized. It was a great bunch of girls. Our girls had fun," Mr. Schwartz told the nor'wester after the awards ceremony. "Whether our girls won or loss, everybody got along good. They made a lot of new friends.
"Fortunately, today our team came out the winner."
Before the tournament was too far in, there were fans saying that it was going to be a Gander-Deer Lake final. Coach Schwartz says that's not always the case with soccer.
"They're only kids, and it's a game of soccer and a 0-0 tie can happen at anytime in this game," he added. "Anything can happen in soccer."
Gilbert Saunders, coach of Springdale white, said he had several players on his team aged nine to 11, and that may have been a factor. Deer Lake had players with an average age of 12.
"The girls played played well as they played their hearts out," Mr. Saunders said. "We were just outclassed."
Exciting time
There seemed to be more excitement from the 100 or so people in attendance for the consolation game then there was during the final.
Both Denika Dicks and Allie Young stole the show in the battle for third and fourth place as both goalkeepers made several brilliant stops.
Gander's Shawna Morris opened the scoring early in the game to stake Gander to a1-0 lead.
However, a miscue by Young ended up handing a penalty kick to Springdale Blue as the game neared completion.
Laura Inder made no mistake on the freebie and tied things up at 1-1.
The teams played two 10-minute overtime sessions, with no scoring.
That led to the game being decided by penalty kicks in a shootout with each team having five shooters.
Springdale won the thrilling game as Inder, Amanda Warr and Kandica Adams scored on goalie Allie Young.
Springdale Blue Goalkeeper Denika Dicks, who was the hero as she stopped all three Gander shots she saw in the shootout, said Gander has a pretty good shooting team.
"Their team has good shots, but they were off a little bit," Ms. Dicks, who was named Team MVP for Springdale Blue, said.
Winning coach Anne Inder said she thought both teams went out with attitudes to play for fun.
"I thought it was an excellent game, the girls went into it with the attitude that it was for fun and it didn't really who won type of thing," Ms. Inder said. "They all enjoyed themselves, they all had lots of fun, Gander enjhoyed themselves. I think it was a great game all over."
Ms. Inder explained she thinks the girls had a learning experience from the game.
"By coming down to penalty kicks, I think it showed the girls how the technical part of the game is played," she added.
Round robin
In round-robin play, Deer Lake thumped Springdale Blue 8-0 led by the explosive Jody Easton and her five goals. Ashley Guy chipped with a pair of her own while Sarah Schwartz had a single. Sarah Spence picked up the shutout win.
Game two saw Jennifer Hurley score the only goal as Gander edged Springdale White 1-0. Young picked up the shutout.
In game three it was Springdale Blue battling Springdale White, as White came out on top with a convincing 4-1 win.
Speedy Rana Saunders had two, while the flashy Ashley England and Jonsy Pelley had single markers for the winners.
Denika Dicks was the lone goal scorer for her side, who had Madi Spence in nets.
Game four saw Deer Lake brush aside Gander 4-1 thanks to Ashley Guy's hat trick performance. Jody Easton picked up the other marker for the winners.
The lone goal for Gander came off the cleats of Allison Maloney.
It was another nailbiter in game five as Springdale Blue took on Gander in the final game Saturday.
With a win Blue would tie Gander and hope that Deer Lake lost to Springdale White for a three-way tie for second place. The only clear picture was that Deer Lake was in the final, with a 2-0 record at that point.
Laura Inder had a goal five minutes into action to stake Springdale to a 1-0 lead. Gander replied as Jude Gardner tied it up at the 32nd minute. Inder then scored the eventual winner in the 52nd minute of play for the 2-1 win.
Schwartz took home Tournament MVP honours for Deer Lake while Easton was named Team MVP for the Stingers. Most Sportsmanlike Player honours went to Jessica Rowe.
Receiving honours for Springdale White were Saunders (Tournament MVP), Sasha Mercer (Championship final Player of the Game and Team MVP) and Tara Jenkins, who was named Most Sportsmanlike.
Other players receiving awards were Springdale Blue's small sparkplug Brittany Avery who took home Most Sportsmanlike for her team.
Gander's Jessica French and Carla Tibbet took home Team MVP and Most Sportsmanlike player honours, respectively, for their team.
2001 Canada Summer Games
Local runner hopes to cool off competition in athletics
By PAT HEALEY, the nor'wester
TRITON -An already hot summer is about to get even hotter for one Green Bay South runner as he prepares to participate in the 2001 Canada Summer Games - Aug ust 11 to 25 in London, Ont..
Triton's Vaughn Hoskins will be the area's lone representative at the games, which are held every two years. He will race in the 1500 metre track and field event.
Mr. Hoskins just recently competed in his first meet of the season, the Atlantic Track and Field Championships in Halifax, N.S. two weekends ago. That event was his first since getting the green light to compete after being injured for most of the season.
"I'm excited to be going," Mr. Hoskins told the nor'wester. "The competition for the 1500 metre is very strong. It'll start off with heats."
"I hope to make it out of the heats and into the final
At the Atlantics, he ran the 800 metres in 1:57. He did the 1500 metre event in 4:02, to place fourth.
Mr. Hoskins, who is coached by Ray Will, will leave August 18 for London and competes in his first heat August 23.
His family will not be going, so they'll be among the 7.6 million viewers across Canada sitting in front of their television to watch some of TSN's 50-plus hours of live daily Games coverage.
Mr. Hoskins' heats will be probably be shown in highlight form, Tyler Bates, communications coordinator for TSN, said.
The 1500 metre final isn't guaranteed a live broadcast spot, so Mr. Hoskins' family may have to make do with highlights of their son's results.
Mr. Hoskins, who is studying for his Bachelor of Commerce in Business at Memorial University in St. John's, said he's doing a lot of "speed" work in preparation for the Games.
"I'm training for the 1500 m race here. That type of race is a real short race," he said. "What you do is a lot of speed work, like a lot of fast, fast running as well as plenty of fast interval training."
"It's basically hard speeds like 200s, 300s, 400s and 600s. It's a lot of hard, intense training. There's not a lot of mileage in this training."
Mr. Hoskins said he does three hard training sessions a week where he pushes himself to the limit. Then there are three moderate days when he does easy runs.
He became involved in athletics when he started doing cross country running during his high school years.
"I've never really been into track," he said. "This is probably the first race I've trained on the track for because I haven't run any road races."
The 21-year-old said being from a small town like Triton doesn't matter.
"Whatever you want to do, if you put your mind to it you're going to do it." Mr. Hoskins added. "I'm the type of person that nobody's going to tell me I can't do it. I'll prove them wrong."
"It doesn't matter where you're from, if you've got the talent you can do it."
Tourism Minister Kevin Aylward extended his best wishes to the 350-person Team Newfoundland and Labrador contingent August 7.
"For many of the athletes, a goal has already been reached by being chosen to represent the province at the Canada Games," Mr. Aylward said. "I commend them for their commitment and perseverance over the years of training and I'm extremely proud of each one of them. I know they will represent our province well in skill, spirit and sportsmanlike conduct.
"I extend best wishes to each of you as you compete with some of the best amateur athletes in Canada."
"I wish Team Newfoundland and Labrador every success at these summer games but, above all, I wish them an experience that promotes athletic excellence and fun."
The Newfoundland and Labrador contingent will be made up of 164 male athletes, 107 female athletes, 38 coaches, 22 managers and 20 mission staff.
"I'm very grateful for the many coaches and managers and parents who have helped develop these athletes and assist them in reaching their personal goals. Be assured that your contributions and personal sacrifices do not go unnoticed," the minister added. "I must also express my sincere appreciation to the mission staff for their commitment and hours of work over the past several weeks and months in striving to make this the best Games ever for our athletes."
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