Josh Woolley was named the team’s new captain last week. It was a clear choice, said general manager Keith Stewart.

Josh Woolley is congratulated by GM Keith Stewart after being named the new captain of the Elmira Sugar Kings last week.

“For us it was an easy conclusion: he is a leader on and off the ice,” Stewart said shortly after presenting Woolley with his familiar #14 jersey with the captain’s ‘C’ stitched to the left shoulder.

Woolley takes over from last season’s captain, Jeff Zippel, a hard-hitting defenceman who was respected around the league. Zippel, an Elmira native, graduated out of the Junior hockey system after last season.
“Everybody really liked Jeff,” said Woolley. “He was vocal in the room but showed leadership on the ice as well.”

Woolley began last season with his hometown Cambridge Winter Hawks before being traded to the Sugar Kings on Nov. 30 for cash.

After a slow start in Cambridge, scoring one goal and collecting two assists in 11 games, Woolley certainly proved to be a worthwhile investment in Elmira. He posted eight goals and seven assists with the Kings in the 27 games following the trade, along with 28 penalty minutes.

The Kings GM expects the 6’3” forward to provide much-needed leadership and experience up front, particularly because the Kings expect to ice another young team this season.

“His work ethic, especially with such a young team, is going to rub off on the other players, on and off the ice,” explained Stewart.

Kings head coach Geoff Haddaway said that he and the other coaches had some good candidates to choose from, but Woolley was the top guy on all of their lists.

“It was consensual,” he said. “I think leadership is something that is learned; certainly he has some natural [leadership] instincts.”

Haddaway and the rest of the coaching staff are counting on Woolley to have a big season for the Kings at both ends of the rink, but the coach was quick to add that just because Woolley is the new captain, he will still have to earn his playing time.

“He comes in with a reputation of a hard worker and a great kid, and someone respected throughout the league, but Josh would be the first to tell you if things aren’t going well offensively, maybe I’ll give someone else a chance to play.”

It was the 16th annual outing for the Jeanne Renault Golf Classic organized by Woolwich Community Services.

Ron Billings (left) and Darcy Krahn (middle) from Royal Bank, and Tom Schuett from RBC Dominion Securities, the sponsors for the $10,000 hole-in-one challenge, take part in the Jeanne Renault Golf Classic.

“It was a really, really, really great turnout,” said Leigh-Anne Quinn, community resource coordinator at WCS. “The weather cooperated with us, all the golfers had an awesome time, and everything went great.”
The tournament commemorates the work of Elmira resident Jeanne Renault, who was instrumental in organizing the family violence prevention program.

Held Aug. 12, the tournament raised money through registration fees, a raffle and several other contests, such as a putting contest and a longest drive competition. The money will be used to provide educational programs to school students aimed at providing healthy dating and relationship tips, and to provide support to victims of family violence.

“It’s all about conflict resolution, bullying, and those sorts of things,” explained Quinn. “The key is to get into schools and talk to youth and children at their influential stage.”

The tournament also gave away $9,500 worth of prizes to golfers, including two hot-air balloon rides, and a new Blackberry Bold. RBC and RBC Dominion Securities sponsored several hole-in-one contests as well, including one for $10,000 and another for a trip to Maui.

“But nobody won,” Quinn said with a laugh. “Maybe next year.”

The 2011 Jeanne Renault Golf Classic will be held on Aug. 11 at the Conestoga Country Club.

Urban poling, or Nordic poling as it is sometimes known, is a form of exercise in which you walk with a specially designed pole in order to engage a greater number of muscles than simply walking or jogging.

Mary Jane Berry demonstrates the technique for urban poling. She's now offering instruction to area seniors.

“It’s ideal for people who are looking to increase their physical activity level,” explained Berry, who has 25 years of experience in long-term care and has just started offering classes in urban pole walking for seniors. “By walking with these poles, you burn more calories and you engage more of your core muscles.”

Essentially, each time the walker swings their arm forward, they plant their pole into the ground and as they walk to push off or themselves forward. The form of exercise evolved from an off-season ski-training activity known as ski walking, hill bounding or ski striding to become a way of exercising with poles year-round.

Ski walking and hill bounding with poles has been practiced for decades as dry-land training for competitive cross-country skiing. Ski coaches saw the success of world-class cross-country skiers who used ski poles in the summer for ski walking and hill bounding, and it became a staple of off-season Nordic ski training.
Hikers with knee pain discovered they could walk more powerfully with a pair of trekking poles, often eliminating or reducing hip, knee, and foot pain.

The result, according to Berry, is a full-body walking workout that can burn significantly more calories without a change in perceived exertion or having to walk faster, due to the incorporation of many large core and other upper-body muscles which comprise more than 90 per cent of the body’s total muscle mass.

“The baby boomers are all getting to the age where they will experience joint pain and muscle fatigue,” explained Berry. “So many people are getting hip and knee replacements and so much of that stress on the body is preventable with some simple exercise.”

Berry, who currently teaches a weekly fitness class at Elmira District Community Living, is now a certified instructor of urban poling and has started a new business, ‘Seniorcize S.O.S (Supporting Our Seniors)’ in which she will be instructing in-home lessons to seniors in Woolwich Township.

“It’s not only for seniors – anyone can participate. It’s a great cardio workout for anybody, but as I am starting to get older and feel the joint and muscle pain, I want to get more involved in the elderly community.”

For more information about urban poling or to register for instruction, contact Mary Jane Berry at 519-669-2359.

“We spent a lot of time since we finished [last season] recruiting, so we’re expecting a lot of changes this year. We could have up to 14 new faces on the team this year,” said head coach Kevin Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick said he’s been getting a number of calls and emails from players that are moving to the area for university or are graduating from local AAA programs. It’s an encouraging sign, especially given the Jacks’ struggles last season, when they went 7-23-6 and missed the playoffs.

Fitzpatrick admitted that 2009/2010 was a dispiriting season but noted that he faced a learning curve in his first year back as coach after many years, and the team was challenged by significant illnesses and injuries.

“It was a disappointment and I’d be the first to admit when the season ended I was glad, but there were a lot of encouraging things too,” he said. “It became apparent in January that we had to move on and we started to build for this year. I would guess that we’ve been to more than 100 games since January looking for potential recruits.”

The Jacks have a number of experienced forwards returning from last season, as well as goaltender Kurt Martin.

“He had an outstanding season last season as a rookie, so there’s no reason to think that’s not going to continue,” Fitzpatrick said of Martin.

Four other players the team is counting on to make an impact are Rob Hinschberger, Mike Moggy, Read Shantz and Eric Parr. Hinschberger will wear the captain’s “C” on his sweater next season, and Moggy, Shantz and Parr will sport ‘A’s.

Hinschberger was a natural choice after coming to the Jacks from the Elmira Sugar Kings last year, the coach said.

“Rob’s a real hard worker, he gives everything on the ice, he’s got a great attitude and outlook. He came in and found a niche in the dressing room where he fit in. It became apparent as the season went on watching him at practice, watching him in the dressing room and during the game that he had a real gift for being a leader.”

The Jacks open their season Sept. 18 against old rivals Tavistock, with the home opener Oct. 9. The Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League has been reorganized this year, with the 15 teams split between two conferences.

Fitzpatrick admits he isn’t delighted with the shuffle; while old rivalries against Tavistock and Ayr will continue, the Jacks won’t face traditionally strong teams like Thamesford, North Middlesex and Mt. Brydges until after the first round of the playoffs.

There are a few positives to the reorganization, however; the eight-team conference means the Jacks are guaranteed a spot in the first round of the playoffs and their travel costs will be significantly lower as they play more games closer to home.

The Jacks are also having success with their entertainment package fundraiser, selling raffle tickets for prizes that include autographed jerseys and tickets to Toronto Maple Leaf, Toronto Raptor and Buffalo Sabres games.

“We’re really encouraged as an organization that we turned a corner last year to improving a lot of things,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Jacks’ training camp opens Aug. 28 at 2 p.m. in St. Clements. Any players interested in coming out can contact Fitzpatrick for more information at 519-656-2970.

The connection between Campbell and Elmira goes back to 2004, the year Brady lost his friend and teammate Weston deBrouwer in an ATV accident. That December, the annual minor hockey tournament in Blenheim was dedicated to his memory. Knowing none of them would be able to speak about the loss, Brady’s father Brad invited Graham and LuAnn Snyder to the tournament.

Brady Campbell

Graham and LuAnn didn’t know Weston, but they knew what it was like to grieve for a son, having lost their own son Dan in a car accident the year before. In front of 2,000 players and parents that filled the rink to capacity, Graham talked about life and loss and how the two young hockey players, Dan and Weston, were alike.

Graham and Brad Campbell kept in touch over the years with occasional emails, and Graham issued a standing invitation: “If you’re ever in Elmira …”

The Campbells finally took him up on the offer when Brady was invited to the Sugar Kings’ prospect camp in May.

“I got the invitation in the mail and decided that would be a place I wanted to play,” Brady said.

A week before the prospect camp, Brady and his father spent the morning with the Snyders, who took them on a tour of Elmira and the new arena and told them about the team.

“We were barely on the road home and Brady told me that’s where he wanted to play,” Brad said.

The visit happened unbeknownst to the Kings, who had scouted him without realizing there was a connection between the families. When they asked him to sign and told him the Snyders had agreed to billet him, it only made the decision that much easier for Brady.

It’s been seven years now since Dan Snyder died, but he continues to have an impact on his community; last year with the opening of the new arena named in his honour and now by bringing three families together.

“In connecting these events together; it’s as if Brady has the opportunity to thank Elmira and the Snyders for helping Blenheim and the DeBrouwers in 2004,” Brad Campbell said.

That changes today (July 24) when the club hosts the semi-finals of the South Western Ontario Regional

Aquaducks Erin Nechanicky, Carmen Read, Sarah Norcott and Melanie McArdle wait for instructions during swim practice Tuesday evening at the Woolwich Memorial Centre.

Swimming Association. Close to 150 swimmers from Elmira, Kincardine and Fergus will dive into the new pool in the Woolwich Memorial Centre.

“The other two teams are really looking forward to coming,” said Cindy Nicholson, the team’s manger. “A lot of parents have said ‘I can’t wait to see the new facility.’”

The parents will have a good view too, keeping an eye on the competition from the lobbies upstairs and downstairs.

The swimmers are battling for a top-eight finish and a berth in the championship finals in Guelph Aug. 7.
Elmira’s team of 24 is much smaller than either of their competitors, who have around 60 swimmers each.
The team has a number of new swimmers this year, thanks in part to the new pool. Parents bringing their kids to the arena for hockey or figure skating saw the new facility, learned about the Aquaducks and signed up their children.

Despite their smaller numbers and a sizable group of new members, they’ve done well so far this season, Nicholson said.

Swimmers practice twice a week during the year, which is divided into four sections. The summer session is usually the smallest, as some kids opt out of competing and return in the fall. Although they do have a series of meets during the summer, the Aquaducks are still a recreational swim club. Swimmers who decide they want to be more serious about competing move on to the Region of Waterloo swim club after a year or two.
Today’s meet gets underway around 9 a.m. and should wrap up around lunchtime.

The Kings have lost a number of players from last season’s team, some expected and some unexpected. Three players have signed with other clubs, and two more have tryouts with OHL teams. The coaching staff also knew they would be without veterans Jeff Zippel and Michael Therrien, who graduated out of the Junior hockey system last year.

One of the team’s veteran defencemen, Jake Jefferies, has a co-op placement through school and won’t be able to commit the time necessary. And top blueliner Jon Jutzi is headed to play with the Powell River Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League.

“We’re obviously very pleased for Jon; he’s moving to what most people would suggest is the best Junior hockey outside of the CHL,” Haddaway said.

Goaltender Brendan Gorecki will be playing Junior A next season with the Milton Icehawks. Last year’s top rookie, Ryan Johnston, and forward Tyson LeBlanc have also signed with Junior A clubs – Johnston with Nepean, and LeBlanc with Newmarket – signings that came as something of a surprise to the coaching staff.
Two players the Kings would welcome back but aren’t counting on are Brennon Pearce and top scorer Riley Sonnenburg, who have tryouts with OHL teams. Another player with an asterisk beside his name is Seth Horricks, who may have work commitments that interfere.

Although the player turnover is higher than expected, Haddaway commented that it seems to be the nature of the league.

“Last year, by bringing in so many young guys – even though we would lose some – we could still have a strong returning core, and that’s exactly what we do have.”

Returning next season are Andrew Smith, Brad Kraus, Shane Smith, Zach Salomon, Lukas Baleshta, Jarred Parent, Spencer MacCormack, Kody Ellis, Nick Horrigan and Josh Woolley.

The Kings have traded Andrew Schacht to Waterloo for blueliner Colton Wolfe-Sabo, who had 18 points last season and 27 in his rookie season with the Siskins. Haddaway would like to add another offensive defenceman and a stay-at-home player to fill  Zippel’s role.

Up front, the Kings have signed Brady Campbell, who played Junior C in Blenheim last year, notching 19 goals and 20 assists. The coach would like to add another top-six scoring forward, and said the rest of the forward positions will be filled by players who display grittiness and a strong work ethic.

Haddaway said the coaching staff would like to have the roster finalized as quickly as possible after training camp opens Aug. 23, but the reality is they’ll be tweaking it up to and past the start of the season.
“No one likes to think of it this way, but I’ve said to many players in the past, tryouts go right up to Jan 10, because that’s when you can still tinker with the roster,” Haddaway said.

The team looks to be on the young side again this year, with only two 20-year-olds (Parent and Woolley) on the roster at this point.

“To me, that’s a good thing,” Haddaway said. “I don’t ever want youth to be equated with ‘can’t win,’ because some of the hungriest teams I’ve ever coached were young. The team the Elmira Sugar Kings finished with last year may have been the youngest in the league, and we were certainly close to winning. The guys that are coming back, they have one more year of Junior experience, and that’s supposed to go a long way to helping us develop this year.”

The camp offers two-week sessions for boys between the ages of 12 and 17. Each of the three available sessions focuses on a different theme, but all end the same way: with a three-day canoe trip on Crane Lake.

“Ultimately, we believe that kids experience God through nature,” said Ron Weber. “When you bring a kid from a city or an urban environment into the wilderness and really expose them to the outdoors, the change in them is amazing.”

This year, the camp has seen higher registration numbers than in any previous year, their lot is bustling and they have almost reached capacity.

“We have kids come from all walks of life – kids from upper class families who typically have things handed to them, to kids who have lost a parent and need to work through some of their issues, to refugees who are new to Canada; this is a camp for kids who need camp.”

Ron worked as a builder for a number of years and then spent some time working at a kids’ camp in the U.S. before deciding that his passion was for the outdoors and for what the camp experience could provide for kids from very diverse backgrounds.

“After a number of years of working at camp I began to realize that it was group work which allowed them to grow and develop their social skills. They aren’t going to have everything handed to them here. Group work teaches the kids to depend on each other and trust each other.”

The DIY-style camp allows campers the chance to learn to work together to construct living quarters, prepare meals, out-trip, portage, and catch fish.

When Weber first began working at camp, he would see kids arrive and then depart swiftly for home when they experienced a bout of homesickness, but he says it’s not quite so straightforward at Crane Lake.

“We had a kid once who had some behavior issues and didn’t want to participate,” he explained. “He thought we were going to send him home if he acted up but we worked with him and got through his fits.
We stuck with him. We are not going to send someone home – we work through things together, as a group.”

Registration for the first two sessions of camp are now closed, but a few spots remain for the third session.  The final session of camp, entitled ‘Discovering the World of Nature’ runs from August 3-15 and will give campers the opportunity to study the plant and wildlife native to the Muskoka area. Every day, kids will get the opportunity to spot deer, moose, and other animals that roam the woods surrounding Crane Lake.
They can also take part in a construction project using materials from the woods or go fishing, swimming, and canoeing.

To make sure they are inclusive to many different kids, bursaries are available for families who require financial assistance and the organization’s application and interview process helps to ensure each session is filled with campers who could benefit from two weeks where their needs and issues are given priority attention.

“I want kids to be able to come up here and just have fun in the outdoors,” said Weber. “This camp is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Mental focus is just as important as technique in a competition; Phil describes judo as “physical chess.” He’ll need a strong focus this weekend when he fights in the under-17 national judo championships in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Elmira’s Phil Leeman practices a judo throw with a fellow judoka at Kaizen Judo Club.

Leeman is ranked third in Ontario in the U17, 66-kilogram class. His toughest opponents will be the two Ontario judoka ranked above him – Luke Heatherington and former teammate Johnny Nagy.

Leeman and Heatherington have traded points this season, while Nagy has beaten both of them. That doesn’t mean that he can’t be beat, however; the last time Nagy and Leeman squared off, they went the full three minutes and into golden score, where the first point wins.

“If we go that far into a fight, I feel that I can beat him,” Leeman said. “A guy might be better than you, but if he makes one mistake and you see that mistake, you can beat him.”

Leeman is frequently one of the youngest competitors in his age category, being the victim of an unfortunate birthday. Judo Canada places him in the under-17 class, even though he won’t turn 14 until August. However, the age difference doesn’t faze him.

“I normally fight guys older than me. Being 14 and fighting guys who are 15, 16 doesn’t really bug me,” he said.

Although he has no interest in stepping in the octagon, Leeman enjoys watching mixed martial arts, particularly Canadian welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Leeman would like to see the Quebec fighter confirm speculation that he will try for an Olympic medal as a member of Canada’s wrestling team in 2012.

“Representing your country at an international level is an honour,” Leeman said.

Competing in the Olympics is something Leeman would like to do himself someday, although that’s a few years away. Leeman got his first taste of international competition in March at a tournament in Germany, which was followed by a week-long training camp. It was an opportunity to study different techniques and styles and try them out against opponents from a number of different countries. Not surprisingly, the Japanese judoka were head and shoulders above the competition; more surprising was that Kazakhstan dominated as well.

Leeman trains at Kaizen judo club in Waterloo four times a week and does weight training twice a week on top of that. He also helps out with his sister Olivia’s class, teaching or correcting technique where he can. Leeman just finished his first year of high school and discovered he had to step back from judo a bit to get his school work done, but keeping a balance was easier than he expected.

His coach, Bob Zettl, wants to see Leeman work on his technique, build strength, work on his mental focus and most importantly, get more experience in international events. Leeman has progressed with each tournament he’s participated in, and getting exposure to international competition was an important step.

“He knows what he has to do now,” Zettl said.

Murray Bremner of the WTA attended council Tuesday night to discuss the purpose of the project, the success of past projects by the group, and the type of support that they would need from the township in order to move forward.

Proposed trail location

“This is not just a trail for hiking enthusiasts to walk on, but for the general good of the community,” he said.

The WTA has successfully introduced two trails over the past number of years. The first is the Mill Pond Trail, established in 1999, which was made entirely using community contributions and donations in kind. Next came the Community Centre trail in 2004, which was also supported by the community through in-kind donations, but this one was built primarily with a $22,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Now, the group intends to approach the provincial agency again, this time requesting funds to build a trail that would be an extension of Molesworth Street and would travel northward across the Campbell drain, north of the new subdivision, and north of Wellesley Public School, through a pasture field and into Bast Bush.

Sections of the trail will be on private property, to which homeowners have agreed, pending the township providing insurance coverage for the area. The agreement with property owners is based on provisions of insurance, proper signage, and understanding of the responsibilities of the parties involved. With existing trails, the township provides insurance coverage and the WTA is responsible for maintaining the trails and keeping them clean and safe.

The trail would be for limited use, meaning not for use by horses or motorized vehicles, and would include a bridge; a cost the committee hopes will be covered by a Trillium grant.

“Getting the funding for the bridge will likely be our biggest challenge,” said Bremner. “But we have until November to draft the application and we can get a start on that now with township’s approval.”

If all goes well with the application, the WTA plans to start building the trail next spring.

“What’s nice about it is that it’s so close to the school,” Bremner told council. “I would hope that the school kids could do a field trip or two. There are some really exciting possibilities.”