The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 1, 1994 - C1

TERRAC E STANDARD.

INSIDE SECTION C

SPORTS MENU C2

SKEENA ANGLER
ROB BROWN

Arboreal ambush

NE BOX OF of dry Hies packed to

the lid with a menagerie of mayflics

in all shapes and sizes delicately

perched on the ripple foam by their
fine wire legs, caddis frauds with bodies of spark-
ling fur, stonefly imitations spun from the hair of
deer and caribou, and fake midges painstakingly
tied on hooks no bigger than this: ?

Another box loaded with wet flies, nymphs,
shiny minnows, and woolly contraptions. with
rubber legs — all of them proven killers; my
brass, goose neck lamp — a hefty, reliable ma-
chine 1] had used so often when the light was
waning and the hatch waxing; a duksbak
notebook half full of hastily scribbled observa-
lions of birds, beasts, bugs and weather patterns; a
thermometer with scales in Celsius and Fahren-
heil; a dozen spools: of tippet material; several
packaged leaders; a roll of toilet paper; the House
of Hardy bag containing all this paraphernalia:
my beloved Tilley hat with the Hardy Hall of
Fame Pin stuck to the front — were the casualties
at trip’s end.

The day had started out well enough: It was
overcast, which was good. It was neither too
warm-nor too cold, which was also good. The
liver was a little on the high side, but not so big as
to make wading uncomfortable. There was no-

~ body on the river, and plenty of trout in it.

After leaving Ed’s pickup at our destination, the

; three of us, Doug, Ed, and J, drove to within a few

“hundred yards of thé river: I packed my
dilapidated raft, Doug shoulderéd his canoe while
Ed took the rest of the gear. In fifteen minutes we
were afloat: Ed and I in the raft, Doug and his
hound Ruby in the canoe.

We glided down river over the more heavily
fished water, looking for fish and the shadows of
fish as a pair of eagles soared overhead. A few
yards above Coldwater we spotted a pair of deer
wading the shallows, the first any of us had seen
in the Lakelse Valley. They were handsome crea-

_ tures: Columbia Blacktails, said Ed.
Tt was lunch time, ] tethered the raft to a snag

and watched Webb hook some nice trout on the.

far side. ‘The fish lurked in the current seam be-
low a slower back channel to ambush fry. They
were cutthroats; for Webb’s minnow they were
suckers.

We floated on, leap-frogging from pool to pool
and run to run. The log jams on the Lakelse are al-
ways on the move. Only a few years apo there
were a half dozen of the kind that straddle the
river and force portage between Herman's point
and Thunderbird; last year there was only one
huge specimen blocking a series of channels a
short distance above the canyon; this year there
were no new barriers, but a lot of the smaller
‘structures wedged up against the river banks’ had
broken apart, bounced downstream in high water
and reformed.

Ed and I were probing one of these log piles a
‘hundred yards below the Lagoon with our
muddlers when Webh passed us. I watched him
slip down the main channel then saw him paddle

-back upstream. Must be blocked, I thought. He's
probably headed down the near channel. I
returned to my fishing,

When Ed had finished rounding up some trout,
we pul the rods fore, redistributed the gear, and
set off.

There was a root wad as large as a bus blocking
my view of the main channel. When in doubi,
says the river runner’s guidebook, scout, and [
would have, but since I’d seen Webb paddling up-
stream, there was no doubt in mind he had gone
down the right channel, I assumed he went down

. the channel to the right, so I took it too, There be-
fore us, unavoidable and fast approaching, was
concrete proof that my assumplion was dead
wrong: a giant hemlock had fallen across the
channel crealing a grill of thick bows reaching
down into the river in the process, Before we
could spell disaster, we were pinned up against
the tree sideways.

"No problem, Ed", I said, "We'll just pull the
boat along and weilge it through between the
boughs." I wasn’t at all sure this was possible, but
the boat was vibrating and there were no other op-
tions.

We pulled. If the raft moved; it moved a centi-
metre. As we started to pull again, I noticed one
of the oars was being pulled under the boat and
was about to be swept away. I reached out to grab
it— a mistake, The shift in weight lowered the
gunwale a couple of inches, The raft filled up in-
stantly and flipped, leaving Ed and I up to’ our
chests in waler, our legs at righl angles in the
~ slrong-current, hanging onto: the limbs of that ac-
cursed hemlock,

 ( Continsed next week.)

MALCOLM BAXTER 638-7283

Youth soccer calls for red

card on new field users

A DECISION to allow the resur-
rected Men’s Soccer League to
use Christy Park fields has Ter-
race Youth Soccer (TYSA)
crying foul.

Appearing before city council
last week, TYSA spokesman Don
Highe maintained the deal which
allows the men to use the fields
violated a 1984 agreement drawn
up with his organization.-

He pointed out that 15-year
lease agreement gave TYSA use
of the fields on Sundays between
the hours of 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

‘Yet on May 18 the city, through
the recreation department, signed
a deal with Men’s Soccer allow-
ing them to use Christy Park on
alternating Sundays between 5
p.m and 7 p.m.

Although TYSA did not use
Christy Park. on Sundays, the
fields were used on that day for
tournaments such as the recent
Girls’ Soccer Jamboree.

Close to 650 players ate regis-
tered in TYSA and the fields are
used by its leagues Monday-
Thursday evenings and Saturday
mornings,

The 1984 agreement prohibits

TYSA from using the fields for
practices,

That, Highe explained, was to
prevent the fields suffering from
overuse and to try and ensure
they were in fournament condi-
tion at all times,

“The fields need resting,’’ he
emphasized, adding they were al-
ready showing signs of wear and
tear even at the current level of
usage.

Noting construction of the

argued, adding the Men’s league
could use the fields at Caledonia
and Skeena schools and in Thorn-
hill.

In response to councillor David
Huil’s repeated point that nothing
in the 1984 agreement stipulated
the fields were reserved for youth
soccer, a visibly angry Highe shot
back that it was not a question of
the letter of the agreement, but
the intent.

He also complained about the

“Surely Christy Park should be maintained for
TNO KIDS.” sssssarssreoserernroersesosensersennaisoersereransenceonel GHE

fields had not cost the city any ..

money, be. said even the goal
posts had been bought and in-

stalled by TYSA.

And in answer to a question
from councillor Ruth Hallock,
Highe confirmed the Men’s Soc-
cer league, which existed at the
time, had contributed nothing to
the project.

“Surely it (Christy Park) should
te maintained for the Kids,’ he

way in which the deal with Men’s ,
‘Soccer was handled,

Instead of being consulted by
ihe recreation department, Highe
objected to TYSA being present-
ed with a ‘“‘fait accompli”. . .

. He therefore suggested the old-
agreement be renegotiaicd so as
to ecnshrine the organization’s
right to have input into such deci-
sions in the future.

Echoing his concems, TYSA

registrar Bev Bujtas said she had,

watched youth soccer grow from
4(0 in just a few years. . ,

And, with a waiting list of
young players, only a shortage of
coaches was preventing (he cur-
rent 650 figure from climbing
still further.

Recalling pre-Christy Park
days, Bujlas said everyone used
the school fields and as a result
they had gone downhill very
quickly.

More than once she had taken
youngsters to hospital. with in-
juries and broken bones caused
by the poor condition of the play-
ing surface, she added.

Asked by Hull whether she
believed allowing one game
-every lwo wecks and rotating the
fields the men played on would
really cause. any harm, Bujtas
gave an unequivocal ‘Yes’.

Men's soccer, she pointed out,
was far more aggressive than the
style of even TYSA’s oldest

-players.

“The fields should be just for
kids,’’ she added,

Council has referred the matter
to its recreation commiltes.

FLYING. That was exactly what Kitimat’s Under-14 girls
were doing (above) against their hosts at the May 21 Soc-
car Jamboree as thay regularly punched through the Ter-

race defence. The mini-tournay here ‘also gave , northwest
teams a chance to take on the province's best as the B.C.
Red and Blue teams both made the trip up for the event.

Going pro, Belgian style

JASON HALDANE will make
his entrance onto the pro-
volleyball scene on the courts of
Belgium.

The Caledonia graduate recent-
ly signed a seven month contract
with a Belgian professional vol-
leyball team.

Pro conlracts range between

$40,000 and $100,000 U,S., said

22 year-old Haldane, and he’ll be
pounding the ball for something
near the low end of that wage
scale,

“T was sort of thinking to go
play pros, but I didn’t know about
my chances for this year,’’ said
Haldane, one of five Canadian
volleyball national team players
to get pro contracts... -

He will be playing out of Zon-
hoven, a small town outside: OE

Brussels, during the Belgian vol-
Icyball season from October lo
April,

Rather than making the deal
through an agent like most teams
do, the Belgian scouts came
directly to him.

“They got my phone number

Belgian deal, Haldane ‘said, his"

main focus has to be playing mid-
dic with the Canadian national
tcam at the World Volleyball
Championships in Athens, Greece
this September.

In preparing for Athens, said
Haldane, the team is training, at

Pro volleyball contracts range between $40,000
and $100,000 U.S. stevtssensesstarseeseoenisveteesssseseese TAIANG

and offered me the contract on
the phone,’’ said Haldane from
Calgary where he is training with
Team Canada,

Haldane and.a Romanian player ;

will be the only two foreigners on
the team. ‘Two foreign players |s
the limit on Belgian pro teams,

While te is thrilled about he

least six hours aday,
The summer will be spent tour-

_ ing North America and Europe
~ for pre-World exhibition games,
-He has been with the Canadian -
team since 1992, _ trainin, out of:

Calgary.

Canadian icam until after the

1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

“My first priority after Atlanta

will be playing pro,’’ he said:
“‘Most players get a good four

years or so oul of playing pro.””

His volleyball days began as a
Caledonia Kermodel, playing at
the high school from 1987-1989.

He then moved on to play for
one year. at Vancouver Com-
munity College and two years on
Grande Praire’s college tcam be-
fore joining the national tearn. .

Once his pro days are over,

Haldane wants to go back to unl. .

versity and finish a degree in an

area such as computer. sclence or
“physical education.
He and “his © wife, "Patiela me
--Rrangon, plan to to return ta Terrace oo toe
Haldane pln to say on. tthe: penne

to live.”

oe mm me th aah ecto 2 Dt mafia mile mthil marlin amit. cassie mxaiinin, anim sammmm unthion wud