1» RE - SECTION C ER 638-7283 | Coaches of the Year — THE VERDICT is in. Also, our thanks to everyone Below, the four individuals who sent in nominations and an picked as Coaches of the Year,in honourable mention for all the alphabetical order, remaining nominees: Mike The Standard would like to Brady, Brian Clark, Jeff Dilley, thank Joan, Steve and Mitch for Kristen Fairless, Richard Has- agreeing to be judges, They sett, Bud Kirkaldy, Blaine couldn’t have had a tougher job Kluss, Cam MacKay, Edgar than having to select just four Veldman, Tanya and Leonard from a list of 16 excellent candi- Warkentin, Andrea Warner INSIDE. | SPORTS MENU C2 Message from the judges We want to recognize the quality of all the nominees for Coaches of the Year but unfortunately only four could be selected. However, we hope that all their names will be put forward again next year since they all are deserving of community recognition. Joan Cox, Steve Scott and Mitch Stolarchuk. SKEENA ANGLER __ROB BROWN FTER THE bitterness, acrimony, and frustration of the last three decades, anyone suggesting u day would come whea commercial fishermen, native peoples and sport fishermen would sit down in the same zoom and come up with a fishing plan for the Skeena would be viewed as a candidate fora puzzle factory. Yet, this is exactly what happened this year when representatives from the fishing industry, native bands, the environmental movement, and the sport fishing sector, with the assistance of personnel from the Ministry of Environment Lands and Parks and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), rolled up their sleeves and reached consensus with the help of a professional mediator. Though the final plan didn’t completely satisfy the needs any group, all the participants in this ground-breaking, democratic process agrecd it represented a sigaificant breakthrough in fish management, While the DFO did not realize its goal to reduce the harvest rate of Skeena steelhead by 30%, the 1994 fishing plan did ensure a reduced rate of harvest and a greater escapement of early summer run steelhead and summer coho, Former sport fishing ombudsman and ad- visory board member Jim Culp, bas been the in- dcfatigable champion of this kind of process for years. He deserves much credit for bringing it about, Jim probably holds the lay record for at- tendance at mectings to with fish and fishing; in fact, I’d wager he has spent more time at the mecling table than many government people whose job is to attend such conventions, -Not content with Steelhead Society mectings {an organization of which be has been provin- cial and regional chairman), mectings dealing with the Terrace Salmonid Enhancement Society, get-togethers of the Skeena Watershed Sporifishers Coalition, and local forestry com- mittee meetings, Jim was instrumental in setting up local advisory bodies to the DFO, one of * Which he currently chairs. To every meeting he attended, Jim tock copies of a brief he developed over a decade ago that lays out the framework for a democratic, repre- senlative. management regime for the Skeena fishery. He gave copies to whomever be could and looked for opportunities to push the con- cept. The idea was met with skepticism, and, in some cases, derision, but Jim Culp is nothing if not persistent. After a long period of political mud wrestling, Jim’s idea has gained accep- tance. After the last Skeena Watershed Com- ‘mittee meeting one amazed government official likened it to a love-in. In this age of centralization and giant, authoritarian institutions, smaller regional boards are a damn fine idea. Thanks to the dogged perseverance of Jim Culp we have some local control in fishery management. Hopefully * that local input will grow. ‘Skeena chinook, coho and steelhead stocks got another break this year when the Tsimshian ‘and Gitsan Nations began successfully employ- ing fish wheels and beach seines to harvest sal- -mon. With these selective methods the natives are now able to target enhanced races of sock- ‘cye salmon without impacting sport fish. As a result a profitable, environmentally sensitive in- land commercial fishery is imminent, The inland native fishery is not without prob- Icms, however. Unfortunately, in-river gillnet- ting is still the method of choice for many na- tive fishers. Any fishery that has a by-catch ought to be outlawed, or be technologically ad- justed so there is no interception of non-target species. Additionally, many of the gillnets in the lower Skcena-are, largely because of the con- fused state of aboriginal affairs, outside the arm of enforcement and regulation, The Morice town fishery, where chinook and steelhead preparing to ascend the fish way are ripped from the river with gaffes and illegally sold to unwilling tourists by a handful of . ‘Wet’suwet’en, has long been a sore point be- tween conservationists and the Morice town band. This summer the enormous destructive capacity of this dip net/gaffe fishery became ap- parent when fisheries managers found out it was responsible ‘for the demise of anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 precious carly run ‘Morice/Bulkiey summicr steclhead. In the last twa years many of the unregulated fishers have been persuaded to adopt dip nets. While this has resulted in lowering of the num- bers mutilated fish that shake free of the gaffes, it has done nothing to reduce the over all catch. Embarrassed and shocked by the carnage, and aware of the political sensitivity of the issue, na- tive representatives to the Skeena Watershed Advisory Board have vowed to take the neces- _ sary steps to rein in the renegade fishery, - Without that forum be assured nothing would have been donc. OE ea dates for the award. and Dave Warner. Mike Carlyle WHEN HE saw his name appear in the Standard as a nominee for the award, Carlyle admits it was totally un- expected, “J felt very honoured to get the recognition and support from the club,’’ says the Blueback’s swim coach. Even more so on finding out he’d been selected by the . judges. ‘‘As the club grows, it’s a good (celing for me and the club to get recognition in the community,” he adds. But while it’s his name that appears here, Carlyle says credit is also due his assistant coaches and the swimmers themselves. oe , “The kids have worked really hard and all the coaches have a good rapport with them. The award reflects well on - all the coaches and the positive experience they give the kids.”’ Carlyle is now in his third season with the Bluebacks. During his brief tenure membership has soared, the standard of swimming has improved steadily and he has been able to instill in the swimmers a keen sense of pride, enthusiasm and team spirit. He is also credited with teaching them that reaching their potential, not simply winning, is the goal. “Shannon Murdoch : SIXTEEN NOMINATIONS for the first Coaches of the Year was a great start, but Murdoch hopes there will be many more next year, ‘*There’s lots of wonderful coaches out there,’’ she says, and as someone who helps run national coaching certifica-_ tion programs here, Murdoch should know. While admitling being selected as one of the four winners was a real honour, she maintains ‘‘being nominated is a prize in itself,’ ; She points out individuals don’t get into coaching because they are looking for rewards and awards, they do it because they want to have fun with kids. “‘If the athletes have a good season and come out of it pleascd with themselves, then that’s reward enough,’’ she adds. — ; A teacher at Thornhill Jr. Secondary, Murdoch has coached that school’s girls basketball and volleyball teams and has also been athletic co-ordinator for the northwest’ schools zone for the past 13 years. But she was pleased it wasn’t just school sport coaches who got nominated. ‘The national certification program. covers all sports,’’ she explains, offering bowling and horse tiding as examples of the variety. Bigs Bill Gook FOURTEEN YEARS ago Gook won an Award of Ex- cellence from the provincial basketball association. But, pointing out that followed his boys team’s ‘AA’ provincial championship, he says, “‘It’s easy to get an award when you have a winning team.” To be named one of Terrace’s Coaches of the Year is a “big honour’ because it comes from the community and is Tecognition of volunteer work rather than just winning. The principal at Clarence Michicl Elementary school, Gook coaches that school’s Grade 7 girls and the Skeena ~ Junior girls basketball tearns. “Being in education, I sec it as my duty to help young people in some way.”’ If he can do that through sharing his - . basketball knowledge and skills, he’s happy to do so. _And any success he’s enjoyed with those teams he lays at the door of his players. ‘‘Il’s easy to be a success when you have dedicated players,’* he says, adding that dedication has made his job casier. ‘I’ve been lucky.’’ Judging by the number that nom: .ated him, his players feel the same way. Gook has been a co-ordinator-coach for regional skill de- velopment camps and last year was the Junior Girls repre- -. sentative for the northwest zone. Jorge Silva “I CAN’T believe il.’’ That was the reaction of Jorge Silva to the news of his selection. “There are lots of coaches out there who deserve recogni- tion,’” he points out, adding it was an honour just to be in- cluded on the same nomination list as a number of the other names put forward. _ Ironically, one of the other nominees is responsible for Silva getting into coaching in a way. ~ Recalling he had played under Caledonia Kermode coach Cam MacKay, Silva says it was then he started wondering - what it would be like to coach. _ Four and a half years after he started, he has his answer: “It’s fun,"’ Until this season, the Overwaitca employee only coached boys basketball at Skeena Jr. Secondary, This year he heard a coach was needed so added girls volleyball. “T just enjoy coming out for the kids, seeing what I can ~~ show them about the game,’’ he says of the experience. - Silva keeps an eye on them even after they've moved on ‘to’ Caledonia and. the Senior teams, ‘You see someone playing and you say, | had him for a couple of years.”’ He. also has an explanation for his enthusiasm about | * coaching: “Maybe I'm just a kid at heart,”