. B6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 18, 2006

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~ ROB BROWN |
Play

_ usual to see children at play in Terrace. I
thought about it. He was correct. Take a
‘drive on the South Side or through the Horseshoe or

vurday or a statutory holiday, and see if it isn’t so.
You will‘see kids on™ the” soccer field at game
time. You’ll see ‘youth roaming the’streets and in

poor substitute for play of the free unsupervised,

search suggests. may just be the single most impor-
- tant activity in the development of child’s mental
and physical health.
~* When Glenn’ and I were kids, play was the: or-
der of the day. Freed’of the confines of school we
rushed home to shuck our school clothes and slip
into the ragtag uniforms of play..
Sometimes there were distractions enroute, almost
- impossible to pass up, like a newly excavated ditch.
_ or a freshly dumped. gravel pile. Succumbing to such

4 . temptations was fraught with danger and inevitably

» led to: soiled school clothes and punishment.

kept inside and not allowed to play.

- That play was constant and chaotic, or so it ap-
peared to the uninvolved. Kids could be found in
playgrounds, parks, fields, back lots, unfinished
houses, and anywhere else. that afforded a land-
scape for,the imagination.

terete ee nets >

dinner and, long after it, dying at dark after the
searching siren calls of mothers.

“Going to Walter’s,” I would announce before
racing through the ruins of the chicken farm to call
on my friend.

“What do you want to do?” one of us would
ask, proposing the first of a thousand problems we
would go on to solve on an average day at play.

_ And what did we choose to do? We might de-
_velop our scrounging and carpentry skills by build-

J: ing a fort, learning something about the division

of labour and co-operation in the process. Or we
might choose to hunt frogs. learning about amphib-
ian habitat as well as their care and feeding. —

fashion a trap from a bicycle wheel and go crabbing.
We might climb the cliffs of Burnaby Mountain, or

volved planning, organization and problem solving.
Our sports of choice were road hockey, football
and softball, all of them organized without adult as-
sistance or supervision. In the absence of referees

' or umpires there were disputes, heated arguments,
fights, but the last of these were rare because every-

skills that grew out of playground politics.
When we discovered that swimming was a valu-
‘ able skill, we went to the beach and taught our-
selves how to do it.

We had epidemics of childhood diseases like po-
lio because there was no.vaccine to deal with it, but
nobody could imagine an epidemic of childhood
_ obesity. Very few kids were overweight because
fast food was rare, cost too much, and we were too
_ damn active to get pudgy. ‘

from school and the store and town. Our parents
told us about strangers and what to do i in the event
that we encountered one.

“Nowadays, hyper concerned mothers, their alarm
fuelled by lurid reportage of a media that reports

tion in North America; drive their kids to the same
schools I went to, despite the fact that their homes
are close by.

Now city kids are driven to carefully constructed,

to sports, to.indoor playgrounds, to arranged play

enough. to drive.

A river flows right through our town. In all the
time I’ve spent on it over the last three decades,
[ve yet to see a gang. of kids fishing i it, or rafting,.or
otherwise poking around in the myriad of smaller
water courses or the woods adjacent to it.

If my childhood friends and [‘had been taken to
Terrace we would have thought we'd been trans-
ported to heaven. I can only surmise that the scar-

of exposure to them or fear of them and the wild
creatures that frequent them, or both.

Whatever the reason it’s a sad thing.

Frequent exposure to nature, like unbridled
play, is essential to the spirit, the intellect and good
health. It leads to what author Richard Louv has
coined Natural Deficit Disorder, a loss of wonder

natural world at a time when we need to strengthen

our bonds with it and be concerned with its fate.

“few years ago friend and Rénaissance:
~ man, Glenn Grieve, noted that it was un- -

’ through upper and lower Thornhill, even on a Sat- °

‘malls or big box stores, but those activities are a

" unstructured variety, the kind that educational te-

_c- And’ what was the dreaded punishment? To be

The: sounds of: kids at play: filled the air t before

On another day we might fish for pile perch or

bike to Still Creek and build a raft, activities that in- |

one had an investment in the game and negotiating

Creeps were abroad in those days, when we

- ranged around playing freely and walked to and

“every sad detail of every exceedingly rare molesta-

virtually hazard-free playgrounds. They are bussed —

4

TERRACE STANDARD @

4

Young basketball star defeats.

obstacles on way to silver medal

By MARGARET SPEIRS

THE ‘MOTTO: “Win or

lose, the importance is to:

participate” suits Grace
Straw perfectly. .

The

she was born 11
minutes before her fraternal
twin brother, Jeff - plays
the game of basketball with

- dedication and hard = work

whether she’s competing
with hearing or deaf team-
mates.

Despite being born. deaf.

into a hearing world, Grace

_ has taken on any obstacle in
the way to playing her fa- ©

vourite sport.

And she doesn’ t tackle
those obstacles alone.

“Jeff always makes her
feel better. He says ‘Grace
look what hearing kids can’t
do. You’re deaf-and look
at how much you can do,”
says theirmom Lynn:

Grace has a.cochlear im-

plant in one ear that enables

her to hear.
As a result, she attends

a regular school: program —
‘at Skeena Junior Second-

ary School and plays on the

- girls’ basketball team.
This year, she had the op- ~
_ portunity to play with deaf —

~ teammates down south.

All of Grace’s -hard work

' and perseverance lead to a

silver medal as a member of
Team Canada at the fourth
Pan-American Games for
Deaf Youth at'Gallaudet
University, the world’s only
university for the deaf, in
Washington D.C.

Grace played the first line

and point guard, the same
position as on her school

team and community mini-
ball team. She’s responsible
for dribbling the ball down
the court, passing it to other
teammates, and sometimes

playing it herself and ‘scor-
_ ing.

Playing ball with other

“deaf youth was different than

with hearing teammates.
“Deaf players rely more
on visuals and use their eyes

to look around,” Grace says.

Referees blow the whistle

as in hearing games, but also
use their hands and use sign

14-year-old, . who |
‘has been competitive since. .
- birth —

; language a lot; she says.
Grace's journey to.Wash- —
-ington began last year when
‘she submitted her. resume
detailing her athletic skills «

to the Canadian Deaf Sports
Association.

attended tryouts in Toronto
over spring break.

_ For five hours each day. .
coaches ‘observed players

demonstrate their skills.

_ Grace was. notified by,

mail that she’d made the Ca-~

nadian Deaf Olympic Team. .
She travelled to Edmon-~

ton in May for another train-
ing camp.

In August, she and the 7
Canadian team arrived in.
‘Washington D.C.

where
they -practised for séveral
days,and toured the Capitol,
Union Station and the Wash-
ington monument.

She said the.U.S. basket-
ball team proved to’ be the

» toughest, but Canada put a

lot of effort into sportsman-

ship and. teamwork to earn:

its silver medal.

Venezuela and ‘Mexico

also attended the Games.
_ Grace sought, and re-
ceived, permission to wear a

soft foam helmet to protect :
her cochlear ’ ‘implant while |

playing basketball. |. -

The helmet, similar. to a
rugby helmet, protects the -

delicate connection between
the implant and her brain so
that in the odd chance she
gets knocked in the head, the
connection won’t be dam-
aged and her hearing won’t

‘be lost.

After some question
about the use of the helmet
here — other players’ parents
feared it might be too hard
and cause harm if it struck
someone — and a ruling by
Basketball BC in her favour,
Grace was granted permis-

sion to wear it for games in:

the province.

Doctors advised Grace to
wear the helmet when play-
ing basketball, and said if it
did. hit any other player, it
would give way first, similar
to how a bike helmet reacts
in a crash, and not hurt any-
one. oo

Her cochlear implant
consists of internal and ex-

She was accepted. and

GRACE STRAW shows off her silver medal for basketball from the Pan-American
Games for Deaf Youth. Her twin brother Jeff is her biggest fan.

MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO

ternal parts.

The internal part replaces
the cochlea, which is part of
the innerear. . ;

The cochlea is respon-
sible for converting ‘sounds
that enter the ear canal from
mechanical: vibrations ‘into
electrical signals, which are

carried to the brain by the

auditory. nerve.
Grace's” implant

tions in a similar way.
Sound travels through a

microphone into a transmit-

func-

ter that converts the sound

°

into electrical ‘impulses
which are then sent to her
brain.,

' Grace received her im-
plant at age nine during a
five-hour surgery, and it was
as if she was suddenly, born
with hearing, says Lynn.

It’s not perfect and .in
noisy situations, such. as
school, Grace has a sign lan-
guage interpreter to help her.

Although she can’t return
to the Pan-American Games
again due to the age limit,
she can try out for the Deaf

Olympics at age 16 if there’s
a Canadian basketball team.

Grace ‘plans to play uni-
versity basketball.one day
and is thinking about major-
ing in sports medicine — a
program that she should eas-

ily be accepted into thanks —

to her straight-A average,
something she and her broth-
er have achieved every year.

The Pan Am Games for
Deaf Youth are for 12- to
15-year-olds who compete

_ in track and field or basket-

ball.

middle of. his dartboard.

all-star goaltender.

couver Canucks.

Last season, the Manitoba Moose goaltender
not only finished second statistically to Sab-
ourin in the American Hockey League, but the
latter also ousted him for the league's best goal-
tender award and relegated him to second team

Now, Sabourin has taken the job Flaherty
looked to finally land as backup with the Van-

The Canucks management had said through-
out training camp it would look to add a goalie
and it did that the day before the season started,
when the team claimed Sabourin off waivers
from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So on the eve of the NHL campaign, Flaherty
was again headed back to Manitoba. ‘where he
has starred for two seasons.

The 38-year-old played in four pre-season
games with the Canucks and had a .861 save
percentage and a 3.77 goals against average.

Those stats may not have been good enough

“Canucks give Flaherty the shaft, again

YOU COULD forgive Terrace’s Wade Flaherty
if he's got a picture of Dany Sabourin inthe

farm team.

nipeg.

for the job or the Canucks may simply have »
wanted Flaherty’s skill and leadership with the

_ . Either way, the demotion was a’little hard to
‘take for Flaherty, who contemplated retirement .
for a couple of days.

Moose management allowed Flaherty a
couple of days to be with his family in the.
Lower Mainland before he reported to Win-

Flaherty lost his first start last Friday in the
Moose home opener.

Terrace rebounds after becoming ©

victim of turkey shoot by Houston |

dates. Kids are driven everywhere until they are old ©

city of kids in these bushes is attributable to a lack ~

and a detachment from and lack of concern for the’

By DUSTIN QUEZADA

RIDING THE bus back to Houston
for the Thanksgiving holiday, the
Luckies must have been ‘thankful the

. Terrace Riverkings were not ready
‘to play last Saturday night.

Had it not been for. the first 21

minutes and 21 seconds of play, the.

Riverkings would have settled for
two draws with the visiting Luckies.
But after relinquishing ‘the first

‘six goals to an understaffed but

strong Houston team, Terrace efforts
were “only enough to gain one of a
possible four points.

Coming off a season-opening 8-3
drubbing of the expansion Hazelton
Wolverines the previous weekend, it
was Terrace’s turn to get humbled.

With a large Saturday home

crowd and facing a team playing its

y
ye

‘first game of the season, the Kings

looked poised for a strong showing.
But Houston dominated the ‘first

period, chasing Terrace goalie Burny

Carlsen from.the nets in building a —

. 4-0 first period lead.

Two quick goals greeted the
home team in the middle period be-
fore Terrace would get itself on the

-scoreboard.

The Riverkings twice. cut the
deficit to three goals but wound up
losing 10-4 to last season’s CIHL
regular season champions.

Saturday’s game was a coming

. out party for new Luckie Steve Lit-

tle, who finished the game with four
goals and two assists.

Ivan Laschenko scored twice for
Terrace, with singles to captain Ter-
ry Zaporzan and Steve Cullis.

“| think it was a little disappoint-

ing, it would have been nice to have
a better showing on the Saturday
night,” said Terrace co- coach Kevin
Fletcher.

Fletcher said the. Hazelton team

‘had given Terrace a good game the

previous weekend despite the lop-
sided score, but the talented Houston
team is at another level.

“It was a good experience for us,
it took us back down to Earth,” he
said. “You can’t take anything away
from (Houston), they're definitely a
strong team.”

Terrace didn’t roll ‘over and
Fletcher says he and the coaching
staff were happy about that, adding
he thought the team was going to
come back in the game.

Sunday’s rematch opened much
the same way as the Saturday tilt did
with. Houston taking advantage of a

power play to lead 1-0.
But the momentum and confi-
dence Terrace gathered in the sec-

_ ond and third periods Saturday con- |

tinued. Darcy Allison scored twice,
while Coby Johnson and Cullis

found the net in the opening period °
‘to take a 4-2 lead after one.

Terrace would lead 5-3 after two
periods but the deadly Houston power
play struck twice when Terrace ran
into penalty trouble early in the third.

“Sunday we totally outplayed
them,” said Fletcher, adding the
penalty kill has to improve.

Terrace faced the Smithers Steel-
heads in Smithers last weekend, who

at press time were the league’s early

season point leaders.

The Riverkings pay their first vis-
it to Hazelton this weekend for the
Wolverines’ home opener.

638-7283 |