B6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 12, 2003

TERRACE STANDARD

ois

. SKEENA ANGLER ||
ROB BROWN

Wading Sticks

y ve been using wading staffs for years.

My first was a folding model that

Doug Webb found on the bottom of

the Kispiox River. From its condition,

it had been in the river long before it was found by

Doug, who looked at its dilapidated condition then
offered it to me.

I took it unenthusiastically. Still, with a lanyard
attached for convenience, it helped make hundreds
of crossings more secure over the next few seasons,
I can’t remember where I misplaced it, but I prob-
ably left it leaning against a tree and drove off.

Shortly after losing it, I flew to Vancouver for
that year’s annual meeting of the Steelhead Society
where [ saw the Rolls Royce of wading staffs. It was
a robust beauty built by veteran steelheader, Bob
Taylor. The skeleton of Taylor's staff was a stout
piece of plumber'’s pipe approximately five feet in
length. After plugging one end with lead so that the
finished staff would remain upright in the river, Bob
had coated it with a number of layers of black shrink
tubing then attached a brass clasp at the top end so
that a lanyard might be tied or clipped to it. Above
the clasp he had put a black bicycle grip and at the
other end the tip of a crutch.

There was a lot of experience and clear thought
behind this pole. An angler could lean on this staff
during a hard wade in a strong current, something
you couldn’t do with my-second hand folding staff. I
obtained one and used it for all my river fishing until
I was swept down the Clore and had to jettison the
pole in order save myself.

When all the insurance claims surrounding that
mishap were settled, I persuaded Bob to come out
of retirement and build me another. The day after I
received it, [ drove down to the Kalum. Snow cov-
ered both boat ramps and parking lots forcing me 10
park on the shoulder of the highway.

Fishing alone puts me in a meditative state. I'm
More prone to forgetting pieces of equipment at
those times. In fact, I’ve left so much behind after
fishing tips, ’'m wondering if I should put those
fluorescent orange canes around my pickup when I
arrive at the river and pick them up when I’m ready
to go, the way that telephone linemen do.

I drove home. The fishing had been good so I
returned the next day and, realizing what it was at
the last moment, drove over my new wading staff
which I had left propped up against the truck when
I drove off the day before. The staff retains a slight
bend from that accident to this day.

Next summer while fishing a murky Skeena, I
dropped the staff at my side, thinking it was clipped
to my belt. It wasn’t. I spent the next hour probing
the dirty water with my feet before [ spotted the gray
tip and recovered the staff to which it was attached.

Early this October I fished a spill near Simpson
Creek. After that, [ had lunch, pumped up the boat
then drove off to launch it. The next day Terry
Sexton and I were preparing to fish the Lakelse
when I discovered my staff was not in its customary
place behind the sear. I replayed the events of a day
earlier and concluded that it must be at the pull-out
above Simpson Creek. We drove there, my anxiety
increasing with each kilometre. Sure enough, there
was my staff lying beside the road in broad daylight,
so visible with its new red banded handle grip that
we spotted it from a hundred metres away. Yet, no-
body had picked it up.

Two days later Fred Philpott and I fished the
Skeena, A week later, ] was on the Lakelse again. I
reached behind the seat. No staff. I phoned Bill and
Dave at Cedarvale. They hadn't seen it lying where
I'd parked, Then I remembered that Fred and I had
stopped to look at the height of the Lakelse on our
way home. That’s where my staff had to be.

It was dark. I phoned Dennis Cook for company
and aon extra pair of eyes, eyes sharper than mine,
and we set out, On the way, I sheepishly told Den-
nis the story of how I'd left the staff leaning against
my truck a week ago.

We came to the turn around where ] was sure I’d
left the staff. We scoured the spot with a flashlight.
There was no staff. I turned the truck around, slip-
ping it into four high to keep it moving on the wet
leaves and there, some hundred feet further on, was
my staff, where some good Samaritan had propped
it, anticipating that its owner would return.

I was elated: happy to have my staff back ard
happy that there are still good men out there whose
empathy for others prompts them to do the. right

thing.
Thanks whoever you are,

Tryout trials: 101

Alocal ringette players gets a taste of what it takes to try out for the most

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN
WHEN Melissa Beaupre watched 2 eae ee at
Team Canada win the 2002 Ringette ;
World Championships she never
imagined she'd be trying out to play
for the country’s elite squad,

But last month Beaupre hopped
on a bus and travelled for 28 hours to
Medicine Hat, Alberta for a regional
evaluation camp — the first step to
being selected for the national team.

“T never thought J would have the
chance but it’s something J] always
wanted to to do,” says Beaupre,
“So when I got the letter there was
nothing that was going to stop me
from going.”

Three such try-ouls have been
held in western, central and Atlantic
Canada.

Team Canada head coach Lorrie
Horne says the camps aren’t just for
try-outs but also to allow players to
develop their skills.

Many members from the 2002
squad attend the regional camps
giving the wannabe Team Canada
players a taste of the level of
dedication and skill that’s required
to play at that level.

There were seven Team Canada
players at the western try-outs and
Beaupre was impressed with what
she saw and heard.

“They were really, really close
and they had a lot of fun,” she says.

That ‘closeness is something
Horne says makes her team so
strong.“Our team is a family and
their families support our family
— parents, partners, grandparents,”
Horne says.

At 20 years old Melissa Beaupre
is still very young compared to the
players on the national team.

the world.

elite ringette squad in the country — and

TERRACE’S Melissa Beaupre. is one of more than 100 players from
across the country vying for just 30 sots on the best ringette team in

SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

The average age on the 2002
national team was 25. The players
are mostly career women -- lawyers
and doctors - and many have
children as well, °

Most of the players also come out
of major urban centres — nine of the
players on the current Team Canada
play in Edmonton.

sense of the phrase,

group,”

THE TEAM celebrates its victory. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Pee Wee reps
claim top spot

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN
TERRACE’S Pee Wee reps took a Williams Lake hockey
tournament by storm going undefeated in round robin play
and clinching top spot out of eight teams.

The team not only won all of its games but did so by some
pretty lopsided scores — not bad for a team that has only
played four games in the Skeena Valley League to date. A
10 hour bus ride from Terrace did nothing to slow the squad
down defeating Smithers 4-0 in its first match-up of the
tournament,

“After getting on the bus at 5:30 am, that morning and
playing at 8 p.m. that night they played pretty good,” says
head coach Darcy Mallett,

Chapen LeBlond and Kevin Haworth both picked up one
goal in the effort with team captain Sahir Gill putting two
between the posts.

Next up Terrace whomped Prince George’s B team 11-2
with Gill picking up an outstanding double hat trick, LeBlond
finding the net once more and Kyle Holtom and Spencer Bell
each picking up two goals.

The rout continued in the third round robin game with
Terrace downing. Quesnel’s AAA squad 9-0, with -back-
up goalie Devynn Ames manning the net for the shut-out,
LeBlond and Taylor Mallett each scored a hat trick with
Haworth, Gill and Scott Simpson each putting one past
Quesnel’s goalie,

The wins meant put Terrace in the final against powerhouse
Dawson Creek, who also went undefeated in its pool.

The game was tied at 4 after three periods thanks to a hat

~ trick by courtesy of Sahir Gill and a goal from David Tooms.

With one minute remaining in-a four-on-four overtime period

_ Chapen LeBlond found his mark giving Terrace the win.

“The team played phenomenal,” says coach Mallett...
The Pee Wees take to home ice against Smithers Nov. 21
at 8 p.m. and Nov. 22 at 10 a.m,

“They are elite athletes in every
says Horne.
“Its such and honour and a
privilege to work with such a great

It’s a tough crew to break into for
a girl from Terrace who hasn’t had
as much experience playing high

level ringette.

While she’s played the game
most of her life, living in Terrace
has ils limitations. Beaupre says it’s
tough to find teams where she feels
she’s being challenged.

The evaluation camps was the
first time in quite a while she’s felt

the world

the rush of playing at the level she’s
capable of.

“T could be agressive as I wanted,
skate as hard as I wanted,” she says.

But she’s also well aware
that she’s up against much more
experience and some very stiff
competition. If she doesn’t make the
cut this time around she just puts it
into perspective.

“I don't really think it’s a big deal
because a lot of them are a bit older
like 25-27,” she says. “I would just
try-out again in two years.”

The regional camps aren’t just to
choose players for the 2004 World
Cup team, but to identify potential
players for the 2006 and 2008
squads.

The first round of tryouts will
yield 51 players including goalies
who will attend a centralized camp
in the new year. The field will be
narowed down one more time
before Horne and her coaching
staff pick the top 30 players in the
country to attend the 2004 World
Cup in Finland. ;

The contest will be held on
Canada’s arch-rivals home turf.

While the Canadian team has
made a name for itself by winning
the 2002 world championships and
the 1996 world championships
— they always seem to end up going
head to head with Finland in every
final. The 2000 championships
saw Canada lose to Finland in a
heartbreaking overtime periad.

Beaupre was glued to her
television set when Team Canada
clinched the gold medal in 2002
while playing Finland in front of
a sold-out house at Edmonton,
Alberta’s Agricom.

It's a scenario Beaupre would be
proud to be a part of.

“T can’t even imagine playing for
that many people,” she says.

“Here we're lucky to get 20
people to come out and watch.”

Beaupre will find out if she's
made the first cut in the next few
weeks.

Cal knocked out of zones,
Smithers lodges protest

over Kitimat victory

By SARAH A. ee

ZIMMERMAN
THE Caledonia boys soccer
team just couldn’! pull it
together at the AA soccer
zone playdowns.

The Terrace squad took
on Smithers in the first
game of the tournament
playing well in the first half
but faltering in the second
losing 2-0, says coach Nick
Kollias,

Next up was Kitimat.

“Kitimat gave us a
chance to beat them because
they didn't play well but we
didn't either,” Kollias said. — 5

The team was up by one-
until five minutes remaining
in the second when Kitimat
came back to score, Terrace
lost the game in penalty
shots.

“We have a goad skilful
team but.to win the game
you have to play both
halves,” Kollias said. “We
didn't do that.”

Kitimat’s Mount
Elizabeth Senior Secondary

went on to play Smithers
~ the number one ranked

TERRACE couldn't pick up a much needed win to get

tearm in the northwest zone {to the zone finals, FILE PHOTO

— and lost which meant with

Terrace knocked out those
two teams would play in the
Nov, 2 championship game.

Kitimat . won the
championship but in ao
Strange turn of events the
Smithers ‘coach launched
a protest of the win to the
B.C,” Secondary School
Soccer Commission.

In its - written © protest
Smithers protested not only
the win bit the format: of
the -championships, the

qualifications of the referee
in the final game ~a Kitimat
resident - and the seeding
of the teams prior to the
championships.

But last Friday the
commissioner overseeing.
high school soccer in

the province dismissed

the protesis of Smithers
Secondary School's athletic
‘ director Irene Howard;
* Kitimat’s: title of zone
- champions ‘remained -valid

“would seed,”

and no further deciding
games would be played,

“In my discussions and
taking a look at the format
used in the championships .
the format was acceptable,”
commissioner Don Moslin
said. “I felt the format that
was used for the seeding of
the Smithers teams was in
accordance with how we

Kitimat will go to the
Nov. 22-23 provincials, -