My efforts to avoid the daily precipitation that has become
trademark this summer are proving fruitless.
While driving some 12 hours down to southern Vermont for a
family holiday, it seems that I was the common denominator as
the clouds trekked right alongside our vehicle, through Quebec
and upper New York State, across Lake Champlain and on to the
Green Mountains of America's "Green State."
Naturally, it affected the sporting menu, canceling nine holes
of scheduled golf with my son and his friend (not that I'm
complaining mind you - I'm really getting tired of losing to
the two of them). Turns out we simply rescheduled for later in
the week anyways.
And a side visit to Boston's venerable Fenway Park, a shrine
for baseball lovers of all ages, could not avoid the curse of
the weather. While most of our tour remained indoors or under
the cover of stadium roofing, the skies naturally opened as we
sat perched atop the Green Monster, some 37'2" above the
scoreboard and new home to the "Manny Ramirez Memorial Washroom
Facility."
Thankfully, not all sports related outings were affected by the
weather. A mind-boggling weave through Dartmouth College, home
of the Ivy League "Big Green" varsity teams, eventually landed
us outside Thomson Arena. Wandering in, we stumbled across the
"Elite Hockey Camp," with the girls session taking to the ice
for a game against the counselors.
The rain pelting the arena roof did little to dampen the
liveliness of an assortment of conversations as we chatted with
hockey parents from Illinois, New England and Canada about the
experiences their children were enjoying. Bellies painted,
banners waving, loads of screaming young co-eds: this mid-camp
exhibition game could have easily passed for a bonafide varsity
sporting event.
Much closer to home, the incredibly wet conditions appeared to
be much more of a nuisance to coaches, fans and parents than it
was to the vast majority of young soccer players who took part
in the Valley East Soccer Club season-ending tournament this
past weekend.
Not a single game, it seemed to me, was played without the
pre-requisite half-time lunge across the ponds that had
gathered either on the field of play just adjacent to it. And
while this phenomenom was much more prevalent among the
giggling U-6 and U-8 divisions, it didn't stop the occasional
hardy sole in the older age groupings from sailing belly-first
across a mud-filled midfield, without the benefit of his soccer
sweater.
As to the game action at hand, it could not have been much
closer in a good number of championship affairs.
A scoreless draw at the end of both regulation time and a pair
of five minute overtime sessions gave way to a nail-biting
shootout in the Girls U-12 final as Northern Sports Photography
topped Neil's Your Independent Grocer 1-0.
Brittany Renaud drilled the game-winning goal for Northern
Sports. Meredith Graham enjoyed a four-goal outing and Jayde St
Pierre added a solo marker as Tim Horton's Teal Timbits stopped
Tim Horton's Yellow Timbits 5-1 in the U-6 Girls championship
affair.
Yet another closely fought battle in the U-8 coed division as
Patrick Godin netted the hat trick, lifting Chico's Bowl past
Eva Lanctot Realty 3-2. Alain Loyer replied with a two-goal
effort in a losing cause.
Montanna Onucky did the family business proud, scoring twice as
Onucky Fire and Security downed 89 Electric Limited 3-1 in the
Girls U-8 final. Alexis Gunther added the remaining goal for
the victors.
The Valley East Lions received a pair of goals from Broedy
Bertrand as they roared past Eva Lanctot Realty 2-1 (well,
maybe more of a very loud purr than a roar) in the Co-ed U-10
Gold medal game.
Braydon Henri answered with the only Lanctot goal in a losing
cause.
A balanced scoring attack helped propel the R.V. Doctor crew to
top spot in the Coed U-14 Division as Jacob Smith, Brandon
Bazinet and Jesse Henry scored one goal apiece in a 3-1 win
over Jomik Interlock. Tyler St Denis managed to break the
shutout bid, finding the back of the net for Jomik.
And Erin Jones struck the championship winning goal in yet
another shootout as Four Leaf Solutions took home bragging
rights in the Girls U-18 age grouping, slipping past Valley
Dental Clinic 1-0.
And we can't sign-off this week without wishing all the best to
the dedicated athletes representing Sudbury's hopes at the 2008
Ontario Summer Games in Ottawa. Local athletes competing, at
least to the best of my knowledge, include swimmers Anna and
James Clendenning, Hayden Kosmerly, Julie Langlois and Jacob
Toner, Emily Tymchuk and Krystal Rancourt with the girls
basketball team and sprinter Celine Loyer.
The volleyball contingent is a large one, with Jaime Adams,
Corey Behnke, Carly Santi and Michelle Claveau with the girls
team and Kyle Herold, Kevin Wiseman, Mark Pascal and Dakota
Campbell with the boys squad. Finally, Emilie Bouchard and
Victor Sabau are both competing in the sprint kayak event.
Randy Pascal is the voice of Persona 10 Sports and the founder of SudburySports.com.
