Rodeo - A high school sport?

I had a few calls this week from readers wanting to know why we sometimes list high school sports that are quite uncommon. One person said, “flag football and (Ultimate) Frisbee scores are a waste of space in the paper.” This person wanted more stories on football. He is entitled to his opinion.

The facts: teenagers are playing more sports than the more common ones we grew up with all those years.

Turns out that the various Boards of Education in the Greater Toronto Area talk a good talk about getting young people active. Doesn’t matter what sport, as one Toronto District School Board educator told me, just get the kids playing and in shape.

I was curious about how many students actually play school sports. The last story we wrote, just over 250,000 in Ontario. I took a quick look at the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association website to check on their annual participation lists but was disappointed to learn that the provincial association statistics are badly out of date.

Either that, or they just haven’t posted the information.

Then, I glanced through the various sports. There’s football and basketball, hockey and baseball, soccer and volleyball. The list goes on.

And, while not a provincial playoff, high school students are also involved in archery, which is big in Peel Region, and bowling in Durham Region. Add things like rock climbing in York Region, Dragon Boat racing in Toronto and even sports like fencing and mountain bike racing.

Wonder what’s next?

How about rodeo – and winning money instead of medals?

Why not? It works in Oklahoma. We have equestrian at some of the private schools.

Check out the video – high school rodeo in Oklahoma. Yes, financial awards too.

Top performances of the week

With school sports competition nicely underway in the Greater Toronto Area, it has been an interesting week of achievements. After shuffling through a few hundred e-mails from coaches, parents and others, there were some worth noting.
While I'm told by coaches that it takes a few games before personal performances really start to show, I'm not so sure. Guess student athletes see it another way too. Not sure whether some of these youngsters are already in mid-season form, got the edge with some summer training, or are simply very, very talented.

A few things that caught my eye.

• In senior girls' soccer, Adriana Leon scored five times in a 7-0 win over Holy Trinity in a Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association league game. 
• Field hockey and the four-goal game from Chelsea Burke. Turns out her school needed all of them in a 5-4 nail-biter over West Hill in the Toronto District School Board league. 
• Christian Difalco has quite a leg. He converted all seven touchdowns for King City in a 49-0 whipping of Maple in a York Region senior football game.
• Connor Anderson scored five touchdowns as Huron Heights demolished Woodbridge 71-0 in another York Region football game. 

And then there was an e-mail about York Mills basketball player Claire Arrowsmith scoring 42 points - and the final score of the game was 42-17 over Don Mills. I wanted to know more about this remarkable performance. Turns out that she actually had 12 points, still tops for her team.

Let me know of some great individual achievements this season. Please drop me an e-mail at dgrossm@thestar.ca 

Hoops tips from an elite coach

Tubby Smith knows the game of basketball very well.

He has been an assistant head coach with the U.S. Olympic team and was at the University of Kentucky before shuffling off to take over the team at the University of Minnesota.

In case Minnesota rings a bell with basketball fans in the Greater Toronto Area, that's because Canadian Junior National team player, former Toronto Star all-star Devoe Joseph , accepted a scholarship to that school. He was considered to be the top high school player in Canada this past year.

Now, Smith will headline a two-day Coaches Clinic starting Oct. 4 at Pickering High School in Ajax. McMaster coach Joe Raso and Laurier coach Peter Campbell are among the Canadian coaches taking part. More info and registration from Mike Gordensky at Pickering at 905-683-4760, ext. 4334

Well-known football official fights back

For years and years, people watching a very important high school football game in Toronto would either see Jack Leitch as one of the game officials or more recently in a supervisory role training a new group. One of the more respected officials of the amateur game, including university football, Jack has been battling back from a brush with death. He's now living temporarily in Calgary. Check out the story on the Star's website.

Hurdlers Make Good Football Players

I often wonder why certain high school teams have track stars in the offensive backfield. Had this discussion with various successful track coaches, such as Cyril Sahadath at Pickering High — one of the more successful programs in Ontario.

Check out this clip from You Tube. A high school hurdler in the U.S. doing his thing — on the way to scoring a seventh touchdown in a football game.

Return of A Two-Time All-star

RICHARD LAUTENS/TORONTO STAR

Nicholle McKenzie.

Well, it's the start of a new high school girls' basketball season - and it usually brings surprises.

New players to a school, others who choose to switch schools for a variety of reasons, also the development of promising younger players from previous years wanting to get their game time and even the return of some familiar faces.

I can  just imagine the feeling Rose Booker had when the Notre Dame coach called her first practice.

Out walks Nicholle McKenzie. Not only was McKenzie one of the most dominant players in her league last season, but the two-time Toronto Star all-star - a 6-foot-1 power forward - was a huge factor in the Cougars leading their Durham Region league and finishing with an overall 39-3 record.

Reaction from teams around the league likely wasn't very pleasant as McKenzie, when she's on her game, can pile up the points, grab rebounds and be a nuisance for the other squad.

McKenzie was in grade 12 last year and apparently chose, like many students, to return for a fifth year of school. Fair game. Maybe it's to top up a few marks or just to have another basketball season.

As the team MVP last year, McKenzie averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds a game - and she was not easy to push around the key. With another year of experience, the Cougars forward just might emerge as one of the premier players in the province.

Her best game, a 31-point show in a 50-46 non-league loss to St. Marguerite d'Youville last year, caused lots of attention with recruiting schools on both sides of the border. St. Francis Xavier and Windsor as well as Boston College and Syracuse led the pack.

With Notre Dame topping the Star's weekly high school poll for the first time, McKenzie has already been a huge factor in the Cougars success - seven wins in the same number of games. She's also led the team in scoring and was top point-getter in both league wins including the latest, a 53-45 win over team rival Pickering.

Let's Talk School Sports

So, here we go - the Toronto Star's School Sports Blog is now official.

Hi, I'm David Grossman. Many of you know me, some don't. Within time, I am sure we'll get to know each other a lot more as I check out the very competitive and controversial school sports scene in the Greater Toronto Area.

Yes, school sports has been a part of my life with thousands of stories told about young people whose dreams were to make it to the professional ranks and even the Olympics. Others participated simply to say they played for their school while there were many who gained confidence in sport to help them get through the challenges of their studies.

There is lots happening in school sports and it's not always in the gym, on the field or in the rink or pool. In addition to what you read in the Star and on our website this will be the place to visit for more of the highlights, achievements and special announcements.

It's also an opportunity for some dialogue.

We not only value your opinions about school sports, but also the input on the issues and the hot topics such as recruiting of athletes, transferring schools and eligibility at provincial playoffs.

And we're open to your ideas, suggestions and, of course, tips. Yes, tell us if  you have something you would like to share with others. It could be about rivalries or upcoming school anniversaries or that special play that didn't make the highlight package. How about the importance of coaching, at least for the schools and teams that have them?

We'll share many personal accomplishments of student athletes - whether it's scoring that special goal or even a team recording a significant highlight, streak or record. We will be sharing lots of that with you in the days and weeks to come as well as posting links, such as the Toronto District School Board that help you get to the right school site.

School sports. It's a pretty big deal for thousands.