Mountain biking - the high school sport

Mountain bike racing.

Sounds like an interesting sport. Must admit, I didn't know much about it, or its popularity with high school age kids, until I started checking things out.

Not everything is baseball, football, hockey, basketball and the list goes on. Mountain biking is just another way to keep in shape, have fun and also compete for a school —- assuming the administration gives the thumbs up. 

Durham Region has 10 high schools with teams. The sport is catching on in the Greater Toronto Area. Huron Heights Secondary in Newmarket also is involved and mountain biking is really big in Eastern Ontario. I called Mike Ring, a high school teacher at O'Neill Secondary in Oshawa and convener of the Durham Region school league, to get the background. Interesting guy. Found out that there is also an Ontario Invitational high school race set for May 22 at Hardwood Hills, north of Barrie.

South Grenville District High, near Prescott, Ont., will host the 2009 Eastern Ontario school final on May 15. The video (above) shows highlights from last year's final involving schools from Kingston, Cornwall and the Ottawa Valley.

The sport, which attracts boys and girls, is like cross-country. But on bicycles. There are jumps and drops, and every mountain biker is required to wear a helmet. Makes sense. Like everything else, from selecting hockey equipment to buying a baseball glove, this sport allows the competitor to purchase his or her own bike. That can be costly.

And for those who aren't so sure about this sport, talk to Emily Batty. She's from Brooklin, which is northeast of Toronto. Batty not only finished first at the national mountain bike championships, but recently did very well at the under-23 Pan American mountain bike race in Santiago, Chile.

 

Blue Jays' Prentice Cup set for June 10

Time for some baseball —- and I don't mean the Toronto Blue Jays.

It's take me out to the ball game at high schools in the Greater Toronto Area. Here we go: the usual squeeze to get in as many games as we can for seven leagues in this area.

Get this: In just about five weeks, champions have to be declared —- and some schools haven't even played their first game. I can just imagine what will happen if it rains a bit in the next month.

Year after year, the same problems —- access to fields, inclement weather delaying use of municipal fields and also the shenanigans among high school and club coaches on who wins the debate on whether an elite pitcher can throw for his school team or his club team on the same day.

The idea of baseball in the fall, when fields are available and there is no conflict with rep teams, got flushed away. Football coaches put up quite a stink.

So, just 29 school days to go until the Blue Jays-sponsored Prentice Cup returns to the Rogers Centre on June 10 —- one of the earliest dates for a championship. The Blue Jays will be out of town so the kids get the field thanks to some great work from Kevin Briand, director of Canadian Scouting for the pro team.

What amazes me is how leagues can actually play a full season in a month.

Former high school star athletes still shining

Remember the names Cody Hodgson, Matt Morris, Jamaal Westerman or Leah McIntosh?

All were great high school athletes in the Greater Toronto Area, and they've maintained their excellence at the next level. Thought it might be nice to single them out, among many more, as a result of some recent accomplishments.

Hodgson, a former Toronto Star high school all-star hockey player in 2006 while at Unionville Secondary, was named the Ontario Hockey League's most outstanding player after a sensational season with the Brampton Battalion. With 92 points in 53 regular season games, he helped led the team to its first appearance in an OHL final. Trivia fans take note. Hodgson received more votes than John Tavares.

Morris should trigger interest from football fans. When things didn't work out in the NCAA for the former Cedarbrae Collegiate athlete and Metro Bowl MVP, and another Toronto Star all-star, he packed up and came home. Last year, he had a superb year with the University of Toronto Blues and has since gained much interest from teams shopping for talent in the Canadian Football League. Morris, a defensive back, is being touted as one of the top 10 projected picks in the CFL draft set for May 2.

Westerman and football also go in the same sentence. At 6-foot-3, 265-pounds, the former Notre Dame high player from Brampton is now headed to the NFL and the New York Jets camp as an unrestricted free agent. He tore his biceps in his last season while playing at Rutgers University. Also a Toronto Star all-star, pass rusher, some say he's too small for the pros. He finished third in Rutgers history with sacks and was chosen a Big East Conference all-star.

McIntosh went to Sinclair Secondary in Whitby before heading off to the State University of New York at Albany on a softball scholarship. A former athlete of the year at her high school, it was her pitching that attracted scouts. This year, she has thrown four perfect games and just the other day put her name in the university record books for recording the most strikeouts in school history. She has 222, on pace to break the single season NCAA Division One record of 252 with seven league games left.

Very impressive.

Here we go - again

Let me get this right: Either Oakville Trafalgar high school has one exceptional boys' rugby team this year - or that group of players at Holy Trinity high school is, well, not off to a good start.

Either way, and I know the rugby folks will come after me with a few words about this, but I can't see the value of a high school rugby game finishing 76-7. In this case, Oakville Trafalgar was the winner.

Maybe there was a reason for 10 players to combine for a dozen tries on the winning team - in the Halton Region opener for both teams. Maybe the winners just wanted to be sure that Holy Trinity wouldn't rally late in the game and pull out a win. Maybe the players wanted to remind the coaching staff that they deserve to be on the starting roster of every game. Maybe and maybe.

I know rugby folks have all the right answers. In the world of education and sport, I would think we have more people scratching their heads wondering what is to be gained or learned with this kind of a final score.

Oakville Trafalgar has a rich tradition in this sport. The school had lost just one championship in almost four decades of rugby in the region. Very impressive. Sports teams at Oakville Trafalgar are called the Red Devils and like to be known as simply "OT."

By the way, the juniors also won a close one — 53-0, also over Trinity.

With scores like this rugby game, I'm sure there are individuals who have other names for them too.

My top choices of the week

Back with my picks of the week. Lots of great performances now that the spring season, the busiest of the school year, has started. Something like 10 sports. Tough choices, and things won’t get any easier in the weeks to come. Congrats to the picks and apologies to those I missed because coaches didn’t get around to telling us about scores of individual stars.

Jason Cerqueira, Richview (Toronto). He scored the winning goal and added an extra one for insurance. By the time the junior boys soccer game was over, he had all four goals for the Saints in a 4-1 win over Etobicoke in a Toronto District School Board matchup.

Darlene Coroa, Ascension (Mississauga). She’s the goalkeeper for the school’s Tier Two varsity soccer team. Three games, three shutouts. Not sure how many shots she stopped. The Eagles have scored 20 goals. Coroa is a multi-sport athlete having played on the Peel Region championship basketball team and was captain of the volleyball squad.

Jordan Dutfield, Holy Trinity (Richmond Hill). Three tries for him in a junior rugby game and a 26-10 win over Country Day of King City as the Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association started a new season.

Michelle Li, Richmond Hill. She’s hoping for a three-peat. Ranked as the top under-19 female singles badminton player in Canada last year, she’s won the past two provincial high school titles. Now, with the York Region gold medal, she heads to Sudbury hoping to make it three in a row before graduating.

Calum McLeod, St. Andrew’s (Aurora). Field lacrosse is big at this school and McLeod knows what to do with a ball in a game scenario. He had five goals in a 12-3 win over Mulock, added two more in a 12-3 win over All Saints and scored in an 8-6 tournament championship win over St. Peter’s of Peterborough.

Kristen Papadakos, Donald Wilson (Whitby). Can’t figure out if she’s very good or if the opposing teams have been so-so. Anyway, she scored four goals as the Gators varsity lacrosse team crushed Father Leo Austin 10-2 in Durham Region.

Kayla Picanco, Loretto (Toronto). She’s a goal scorer for her all-girls’ Catholic high school. Try five goals in a 7-0 win over St. Joseph/Wellesley to start the Toronto District Colleges Athletic Association season.

Jordan Spear, Mount Carmel (Mississauga). The varsity boys’ lacrosse team at Mount Carmel is strong but no one expected a 19-1 thrashing over Meadowvale in a Peel Region game. Spear made sure the opposing team got the point: six goals for him in the game.

Brian Vardzel, St. Michael’s (Toronto). Looks like this school has intentions of returning to the provincial high school baseball playoffs. Vardzel was solid helping the private school champs clobber De La Salle 15-0 in the league opener.

Brittany Woodhouse, Woburn (Toronto). It’s worth recognition anytime a player scores four goals in a soccer game She did it in a 7-0 rout of Lester B. Pearson in a Toronto District School Board league game.

Silencing the starters pistol? Maybe

If you've been to a high school track and field championship, the sound of a gun going off is the pistol from the starter of the races. In fairness, it still does tend to scare the heck out of people.

Well, that gun sound might change. More about that later.

The track community got a scare of another kind when rumour became fact about a shortage of shells for those pistols. I am told that companies aren't getting them to retailers. Don't know why. Heard everything from supplies being low to problems getting them from U.S. manufacturers across the Canadian border. How can a track meet go on without a starter pistol?

Two good authorities on this subject, and guys who have their own pistols for meets, told me that school championships are not in jeopardy in the Greater Toronto Area. Pat Reilly, a Toronto teacher, has been pulling the trigger for years and does it at various invitational meets and the upcoming Toronto Catholic high school final. John Metcalfe has started many races in the west of Toronto in the Golden Horseshoe Region and more.

Reilly and Metcalfe have enough shells for now, even though they had to get their supplies from a sporting goods shop in Orillia. These shells, when fired, are blanks. They give off noise, black powder residual and a flash —- all picked up by electronic timers to record who wins. The days of hand times are long gone. Still with me?

Before you start running to the local police station, these guns are legal. The Ontario Provincial Police tell me they are not a prohibitive weapon, as long as they are used for track meets. In parts of the U.S, these guns aren't sold unless the purchaser has a Firearms Licence or a track and field coaching certificate.

But that loud "pow" of a gun could soon be history. Peter Morris, responsible for the Ontario high school track and field finals (set for this June at Varsity Centre in Toronto), tells me that alternatives to the gun noise could be happening sooner than we think. Now hold on, we're not going back to the whistle or the horn —- still used for some elementary school track meets in Toronto.

New technology has one object that looks like a gun, but sounds like a horn. The starter wears some kind of an arm band and the sensor does the trick. No smoke. No spark. No people getting overly anxious. I like that — and so do my nerves.

Mixed reaction to rugby comments

Mixed reaction to my last blog on rugby. Have to tell you that some rugby worshippers would like to meet me in a scrum or a back laneway. Not so edgy folks, please.

Rugby players and coaches need to know that I am not bashing your sport. For heaven's sake, don't call out the army. If you believe I'm dragging rugby under a bus, it's far from the truth. I'm never short of a few words. These are my opinions. Some people agree, some don't. And for those who believe I'm arrogant and insensitive by mentioning two names, both rugby players who died, read the previous blog again.

Lots of e-mails, and a few telephone calls, from readers. Here are a few.

One man said rugby is nasty. He called it "barbaric" and believed it shouldn't be played at schools without padding of some sort. I agree that a mouthpiece and a cup aren't enough. A parent thought the sport was exciting, but figured far too many kids get hurt as a result of mismatches with physically bigger boys tackling smaller ones. Fair comment. Another reader thought any negative attention, or injuries, could prompt Boards of Education to reconsider offering rugby. Highly unlikely since football, lacrosse, and hockey are all very physical and kids get hurt. Heck, students get injured playing badminton. Maybe badminton followers will come after me now too.

Wow, some of you are downright nasty. I can't even use the language hurled at me.

There is plenty of statistical data on injuries —- and some items debating whether the risk of playing is worth it. I know, people can get killed crossing the street too. Whether data is a few years old doesn't matter, I'll gladly take the opinion of those in the medical field. An injury is an injury. The Public Health Agency of Canada has a 2007 report with some interesting reading on rugby injuries. For those who thrive on something more current, Dr. Charles Tator, a well-respected Canadian neurosurgeon, has a section in a 2008 report on catastrophic injuries.

And just one final thing, my comments are about the high school sport of rugby. Not all schools are fortunate to benefit from coaches who know what they're doing. We have many great coaches but others haven't played the sport or even taken the national coaching certification program. That's another problem.

Some thoughts about rugby

Let's just say, incidents affiliated with rugby have captured the attention of people the past few days - but for reasons other than game scores.

Tragic news from Waterloo where Wilfrid Laurier University first year student David LaForest, a graduate of Toronto's Crescent school and a very good rugby player, died on Sunday in a Hamilton hospital from injuries he suffered in a residence fire. He was 19.

Also, a high school rugby tournament. This one for grade 9 students and hosted by Pine Ridge Secondary in Pickering. Two players from Uxbridge Secondary collided while going after a ball in a game. Both rushed to hospital with head injuries, one air-lifted to the Hospital for Sick Children. Both have now been released, one after suffering a concussion.

And it'll soon be two years since Manny Castillo, then a 15-year-old rugby player at Lorne Park Secondary in Mississauga, died following a physical confrontation that took place late in a Peel Region high school game against Erindale.

There are more, but this is enough for now. All different scenarios. I have mixed opinions about the sport. It's fast and physical. I understand much of the game but continue to have difficulty seeing people get whacked, stomped on and tossed to the ground. Football, hockey, lacrosse and other sports all have - padding. And I am aware that it doesn't always prevent injuries.

I was checking statistics about rugby injuries, which are reported to be nearly three times higher than soccer and football. Most injuries are suffered by boys and experienced by those between the ages of 10 and 18. Rugby is a very physical game. There's a great deal of contact, especially around the head. It got me thinking about rules, policies, procedures and even liabilities by the various high school athletic associations and the Boards of Education - as it pertains to allowing students, those injured, back in to a game.

Is it good enough for a player and a parent, even with written medical approval, to insist on returning to the field of action - especially after suffering a traumatic injury? Oh yes, and without padding. Wonder if people have checked this out in detail? Who makes the final call on whether a student can play sports: the school or the parent? Could it now be time to introduce mandatory helmets for rugby in the school game?

A time to remember - how about it OFSAA

After watching hundreds of students competing at the Father John Redmond Classic track-and-field meet on Saturday, it occurred to me that a huge chunk of them didn't have a clue about the man they named the meet after - or even his tremendous contribution to school sports.

Father John Redmond, whom I had the pleasure of knowing and we got along quite well, was a Basilian priest, prominent national track coach and former principal of Toronto's Michael Power/St. Joseph's Catholic Secondary School. He died unexpectedly on September 21, 1981 after a brief illness. He excelled in coaching many track-and-field teams and won numerous league, city, provincial and international competitions including an un-matched 11-year reign as Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations champions. Yes, wise move to name a school in his honour.

I was thinking about him when I received an email about the death, another tragedy, of a great teacher, coach and convenor of the Ontario Catholic Classic - an annual, and one of the most respected, school basketball tournaments in the province. Daryl Mahler, a physical education teacher at Denis Morris High in St. Catharines, was killed in a vehicular accident on Saturday, while going to visit his son - who is on a track-and-field scholarship at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Yup, Father John Redmond liked to hear when young people mixed academics with sports - and were successful. Winning or losing in sports didn't matter. Participating, and excelling on a personal note, was what counted. Same for Daryl Mahler, a huge loss to the educational and amateur sports world, and others.

It occurred to me that maybe the time had come for OFSAA, the provincial athletic association that has somehow found money to beef up its full-time staff in a time of economic concern, might be creative enough to tinker with an initiative that would give them some much needed positive attention.

How about the idea of having a special day to recognize coaches, not just teachers, but people who have made a huge impact on student athletes. More like a special tribute or ceremony to people like Father John Redmond and now Daryl Mahler. Yes, they were educators - but there are many others, not just teachers in a classroom, but teachers of sport and also good role models.

Even a spot on the OFSAA website to memorialize the many coaches and supporters of school sports no longer with us. Something tells me that Father John Redmond and Daryl Mahler would have been behind this. Then again, OFSAA's administration doesn't even have a spot on, or even an award, in memory of one of its own - Andy Gibson, a former executive director, who passed away not long ago.

Sports scholarships and picking the right school

Every few days, someone confronts me with questions about scholarships - the kind that are awarded to graduating high school students, who have intentions of continuing their university or college education and also playing sports. Things like my son is getting a $200,000 scholarship or my daughter was told she's the best player in Canada.

I'm no expert at this, nor do I like to recommend one higher institution of learning over another. Well, let's just say I'd prefer schools that have a good reputation for a particular academic program. An athlete can always contribute and doesn't necessarily have to pick out a school that has won every year. For the most part, these athletic awards are really helping students get a solid education. The numbers who advance to the pro sports are small, very small.

My point. So much emphasis over the years on students wanting to play in the NCAA. Almost like this is reaching stardom. Maybe for some. For others, disappointments. That can also be true in Canada too. Yes, there are various forms of scholarships. But I don't know if going to a school in the United States is always the best thing. Ah hum, nothing wrong with a Canadian education - or am I missing something?

Yes, Ontario universities and colleges offer various forms of athletic awards. There are restrictions. Maybe they're not doing a very good job getting the word out, Maybe the money could be drying up because of the economical situation. Maybe some students are taking the advice of people in the recruiting business, who look more at the kickbacks they get from U.S. schools for finding the best athletes. I'm sure there are all kinds of scenarios.

Parents need to get more involved. Advisors need to be more sincere. Teenagers, who can be vulnerable, need to do their homework better and not get sucked in by school names and sales talk.