B2 - Sunday, June 29, 1983 - North Shore News

Creative approach

IT’S A HEADY jump from piaying with your
school chums at Sutherland high school and the
Lynn Valley soccer organization to being called
“potentially the best mid-fielder ever developed in

North America.”

Yet that’s just what Tampa
Bay Rowdies head coach Al
Miller is saying about just-
turned-18 Jim Easton, now
with the Florida club.

While not with the
somewhat troubled Rowdies
on their disastrous trip to
Vancouver on Sunday,
young Jim, the son of Jim
Easton, the first coach of the
Vancouver Whitecaps, and
long time North Van resi-
dent, causes the only
American coach in the
North American Soccer

League to brighten in what
has not been a good beginn-
ing to 1983.

The Junior Mr. Easton .

was picked up by the
Rowdies and sent down to
the mighty Sao Paulo Foot-
ball Club in Brazil, the home
of so many of those fantastic
Brazilian World Cup players
where he trained from last
September through
December before joining the
Florida entry for their indoor
season.

A graduate of Sutherland

secondary, Easton was only
17 when he went down to the
heady atmosphere of South
America.

And he made himself a bit
of a name. One Brazilian
soccer magazine said that he
was one of two North
Americans who could play
regularly in the — skillful
Brazilian league. No small
praise indeed where the
game is presently considered
to be at its creative and ex-
citing best.

Miller considers the young
Easton a creative midfielder,
something in rare supply in
North America.

Over the years, Canadians
and Americans, with rare ex-
ceptions, have found
themselves solidly entrench-

ed in the defensive areas of
the field with limited oppor-
tunities to gain experience
creating and scoring goals. A
limitation that showed up in
the three game series against
Scotland when Canada was
shut out 7-0.

And while Miller knows
he’s got a good one, he’s not
gong to throw him to the
wolves. He _ continually
stresses that he’s not going to
rush Easton, but is going to
let him develop over a
period of time. Although
after watching his Rowdies
drop their seventh road
game with what has to be a
weak middle, he must have
the odd moment when he
considers giving the young
North Van player his first
Start.

Born in Scotland, young
Jim watched his dad perform
with Dandee and Hibernians
before the family moved to
North America and even-
tually to Vancouver where
Dad coached the new fran-
chise for 1974 and 75.

Over here, Jim played
with the Lynn Valley
organization and

Sutherland, as well as being
selected to the B.C. under 16

No money for soccer clu

NORTH VAN United Soccer
Club Under 16's will get no
money from North Van-
couver City council to help
defray the cost of a tourna-
ment in Denver, Colorado.

Council has voted to turn
down a request from Wait
Perri, coach of the team, to
help defray an estimated
shortfall of $1,700 in the
finances needed for the trip
to the tournament.

Alderman Ralph Hall,
who has been involved in
North Vancouver soccer all
his life, first as a player, then
a coach, and organizer, led
the way in turning down the
request. He said that in all
his years in soccer, “we
never thought of coming
before council asking them
to sponsor a junket.”

Babe Ruth winners

M.G. Builders, Junior
Division League Babe Ruth
winners, also captured the
playoffs in three straight
wins. In the final game,
M.G. Builders defeated Dill-
ingham 9-7 with Geoff
McKay winning pitcher.

July 9 and 16 Babe Ruth
Junior All Stars play
Squamish. Teams will be
compcting for a District pla-
que as both teams are
entered in the Provincial
Toumament of Champions
to be held at Mahon Park Ju-
ly 22.

Prep playoffs saw BA.
Blacktop down Midas Mul-
fler 17-12 with Warren Can-
non pitching and collecting a
double However, Midas
Muffler succecded tn the all
important Game 7 to defcat
B.A. Blacktop If 10 in extra
innings and two rain delays
to become playoff cham.
pions Arron Assance patch
ed for the winners and Jeff
Gibbs carned a triple

July 9 and 10 Babe Ruth
Prep All Stars play Squamish
to win a berth in the provin-
chats to be held July 16 in
=-*rince George

He said he didn’t like be-
ing “virtually blackmailed”
by sports groups coming
before council and saying
they won't be able to go
somewhere for a tournament
unless the City gives them
money.

Hall suggested council
adopt a policy on the matter,
perhaps by only giving grants
to teams that are represen-
ting the province or the
country after winning the
right to represent B.C. or
Canada.

Alderman Stella Jo Dean
agreed with Hall, and
wondered how many of the
players of these teams ac-
tually live in the City. She
cited the example of a team
that was given money by the
City to go to Germany for a

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tournament.

The team assured council
that about half its members
lived in the City, but council
found out later that only one
team member was a City
resident, Mayor Jack Loucks
said.

Hall suggested that the
City’s Select Parks and
Recreation Committee ex-
amine the issue of grants to
sports groups in detail.

Only Alderman Gary
Payne voted against the re-
jection of the request for
moncy. He said North Van
United was “not the first
group to come to us for
assistance, and we've always
helped out in the past.”

Coach Perri said in the let-
ter to council that teams
from Mexico, Peru,

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of Canada and the
United States will be playing
in the tournament.

He said the team has
already raised 34,300 of the
estimated $6,000 needed
through bottle drives, a
parking lot flea market,
delivering phone books and
working in the community.

But, he wrote, “In the
month of June we will have
to curtail our heavy work.
Some of the teams from
Mexico, Peru and Colorado
will be used to the high
altitude and heat of Denver,
so we will have to put most
of our time and effort into
practising and condition-
ing.”

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and 18 teams. ;

Miller, whose coaching
experience goes back to
1960, is attempting to create
North Americans who can
find their way in any com-
pany. He likes the idea of a
more aggressive, attacking
game and he’s trying to find
the players to fill that slot.

And that's a role that too
few coaches in the North
American Soccer League
have been willing to work on
over the years.

Team America is a sad ex-
ample. Told they will defend
to the last man, they seem to
have taken that motto to

mean the last man of the
other team as they chop
down anything that comes
their way while totally lack-
ing any creative attack. And
if Team Canada is set up
next year, that will most li

ly be the same approach ~

because of the players
available.

Miller seems to have the
idea of slowly creating and ©
building for the future. And
judging from his high praise
for the Lynn Valley grad, he
seems to feel he’s on the
night track. Hopefully more
coaches in North America
will take the same approach.

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