8/3/2019 Sports Story 2011

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1Steve Omischl Sports FieldComplex opens:

Omischl,North Bay’s three-timeOlympianand four-timeWorld Cupfreestyle skiing champion,was onhand Aug. 20forthe official open-ingof thecity’snew multi-fieldoutdoor sports complex.The $11.725-millionfacilityincludesthree full-sized athleticfields— twowithartificialturf—andthree balldiamonds.

More than1,200 youngsterswereonhandopeningday for theannual Timbit SoccerJamboree.Thatsame day, theDragonswontheNipissingDistrictAdultmen’sleague soccer championshipunderthe lights on theartificial-turfsoccerpitch and Omischl andMayorAl McDonaldthrew outcere-monialfirstpitchesfora NorthBay

Senior BaseballLeagueall-stargame.Through thefall months,thecomplexhostedNDA footballregu-lar-season andplayoffgames, aswellas universityand communitysoccer matches.In thespring of2012,the complex will host itsfirstmajor tournament, a 20-teamOFSAA boys’soccerchampi-onship.

2

Sports user fees:

TheCityof NorthBay hadplans tohike user feesin additionto a $12hourly Capital ReserveFundsur-chargefor the2011 season,in parttohelprecovercostsforthe newOmischl sports complex.The term“cost recovery”was bandied aboutbycityofficials more than twodozen timesduringa publiccoun-

cilmeetingin thespring,butanoutcry fromusersand localsportsorganizations regardingfeeincreases washeard“loud andclear”by council.The responsewasan adjustment forrentalfeesforartificial surfacefields at thenewOmischlcomplexin 2011,aswell asa phasing inof theextra$12hourlysurcharge— a $4hourly surcharge for2011, $8 n2012 andthefull $12hourlysur-chargein 2013. In addition,citystaff undertooka comprehensiveuserfee review, whichincludedinputfrom local usergroupsoverthecourseof three publicmeet-ings, discussionand breakdown ofthecity’sannual $400,000 costsforfield maintenanceand opera-tionsas well asa survey ofotherOntariomunicipalities.The userfeereviewrecommendationswillbedecidedon bycouncilearlyin2012.

 3 (tie)

Coach4Food:

Inits sixthyearin NorthBay in2010,professional hockey coachTom Hedican’sCoach4Food cam-paign raised the equivalentof107,969pounds offood donationsfor theNorth Bay FoodBank.In2011,the program,in whichHedi-candonateshis timerunningdrillsat practices forlocal minorhockeyandringetteteamsin exchange forfoodbank donations, received a$115,800 grant from theOntarioTrillium Foundation to expand intothecommunitiesof St.CatharinesandGuelph,whereOHLand OUAuniversityhockey teams helpedcarry thetorch.In North Bay, how-ever,Hedicansuspended opera-tion ofthe local2011campaigninlateNovember dueto health rea-sons.

 3 (tie)

SJSH Bears go undefeated untilNOSSA football final:

TheSt. Joseph-Scollard HallBearssenior footballteam reboundedfroma heartbreakinglast-minuteloss inthe 2010 NDA footballchampionship game againsttheWest FerrisTrojansby sweepingthroughan unbeaten2011 NDAseason.Led byspeedstersSpencer Brooksand Jeremy Poetaand some up-the-middle-poundingbyJordanBeaudoinand Andrew

Bedard,the Bears earned a 33-10winover theTrojans inthe 2001final.LinebackerCarterConlonhelpedturnthetide byforcing akeyfumblewhich wasreturned fora touchdownby rumblinglinemanTysonHummel.The Bears thenheldoff Sudbury’sSt. BenedictBears 26-21in theNOSSAsemifi-nalto host theNOSSAchampi-onship game at theOmischlcom-plex, losing 38-19to theSaultSuperior Heights Steelhawks.

5

Mike Yeo is named headcoach of the MinnesotaWild:

After helping theNHL’sPittsburgh

Penguinswin the StanleyCup in2009as an assistant coach,theNorthBay native’sdecision toreturn totheAHL andtakea headcoachingjob withthe HoustonAeros in 2010-11 paidoff.Justbeforethe NHLEntry Draft in June,theMinnesota WildhiredYeoashead coach.Takingthe jobas theyoungesthead coachin theNHLatage 37,Yeo made animpact inthefirst half ofhis first season asanNHLbench boss. Throughmid-December, theWild were in firstplaceoverall in the NHL,jumpingoutto a 20-8-4start.Yeo wasanearly-season candidatefor theJackAdamsawardas NHLCoachof the Year.

6

Lakers hockey is in and outof the CIS top 10; team winsfirst round playoff series:

In just their second season in OUAmen’s hockey, the NipissingLakers continued to establishthemselves as a team on the rise.The two-year-old Lakers program,with Nipissing’s student body ofunder 4,000 full-time students,swept a first-round playoff seriesagainst the 128-year-old Queen’sGaels (15,000 students). TheLakers met their match in theplayoffs against the McGillRedmen, but carried momentum

into the 2011-12 season,wherethey entered the holiday breakwith a fourth-place 9-4-4 record inthe OUAEast. For the thirdstraight season,the L akers werealso recognized in the nationalTop-10 rankings,hitti ng No.9 inlate October and twice voted No.10 in November.

 7

Ryan Hunter wins doubleOFSAA gold:

Ryan Hunter spentthe lastfourmonths of 2011attendingCanisiusHighSchool in Buffalo,N.Y.,topursue future NCAAfootballopportunities,but beforeleaving,

hemadehis markin another sport.

As a Grade 10 Ecole secondaireCatholiqueAlgonquin student,Hunter accomplished a feat nolocalathletehad done in28 years— winning twogold medalsat theOntarioFederationof School Ath-letics AssociationTrack and Fieldchampionships.The six-foot-four,325-pounderrepeatedas anOFSAA goldmedalist in thediscus,winning theprovincial junior boys’titlewitha toss of63.05 metres inSudbury,sevenmetres furtherthananyoneelse.He alsowon junior boys’ OFSAAgold in theshotputwitha throwof 16.28metres.

It wasthe first local double-goldOFSAA track and fieldperform-ancesince 1983,whenAlgonquin’sRichard Charettewon goldin themidget boys’1,500- and 3,000-metre races in Kitchener.

8

North Bay is awareded the 2013World Ringette Championship:

Theworldwill becoming home 50years later in 2013, whenthe WorldRingetteChampionshipwill becontested in NorthBay,the homeofthe sportinventedin 1963 byformer recreationdirector SamJacks.In April, North Bay’s bid tohostthe 2013world championshipcamethrough.The event,sched-uledfor lateDecember 2013, willfeaturenational teams fromtheworld’stop ringette-playing coun-tries suchas Finland,Canada,Sweden,the United States,as wellas entries fromdevelopingringettenations suchas Slovakia,FranceandRussia.

9Coaching changes for the junior‘A’ North Bay Trappers:

Thejunior‘A’NorthBayTrappersopened 2011with Ian Swalucynskibehindthe benchand closetheyear underthe directionof formerNHLer Tom McCarthy, theteam’sthirdcoach inlessthana year.

Swalucynski wasfired Jan.25 with just11 games remainingin theNOJHL regularseasonafter morethan twofullyearsbehind thebench.The 15-19-5Trappershadwonjustthreeof theirprevious 16homegames. He wasreplaced byDanWest,whoguidedthe teamtosevenwinsin thefinal11 gamesbeforea first-round playoffexit insix games to theAbitibiEskimos.Unableto come toterms with West

at season’s end,the Trappershanded coachingduties toMcCarthy, theformerMinnesotaNorthStar and BostonBruin whohadcoachedthe OJHL’s HuntsvilleOtters forfive-plusseasons.TheTrappers,having made severalrosteradditionsand subtractions,are17-14-0 underMcCarthy’sdirection.

10

Claude Notel is namedcoach of theWinnipegJets:

Withina weekof NorthBay’s MikeYeo taking over headcoachingduties withthe NHL’sMinnesotaWild,a second coach withstrongNorthBaytieswas hiredto coach.

Noel, Noel, a 55-year-oldfromKirkland Lakewho moved to North

Bay atage14 andattendedChippewa SecondarySchoolwhileplaying forthe juniorNorthBayTrappers,was unveiledas theWin-nipegJetsnew headcoachJune24. Noel,who also spenttimeasan assistantcoachwith theOHL’sNorthBay Centennials,was famil-iarwith Winnipegafter spendingtheseasonwith theAHL’s Mani-tobaMoose. He alsohad previousNHLhead coachingexperiencewhen hetookovertheColumbusBlueJackets from thefired KenHitchcockforthefinal24 gamesofthe2009-10season.UnderNoel,theJets (16-14-5)are contendingfor a playoffspotin theEasternConference.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Theresultsarebasedon a survey ofNorthBay media.

topsports stories2011

Steve Omischl Sports Field Complex

Nipissing Lakers St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Bears

Sports user fees Ryan Hunter

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