Nat’! net! AAV RL at weanesday, April 21, 1993 — North Shore News - 45 all squad reaches for the heigl is Women’s team challenging the best at ninth World Championships in Holland KNOWN FOR decades as “women’s basketball,’’ the. sport of netball is beginning to get the attention in its country of inven- tion it deserves. By A.P. McCredie Sports Reporter Created by basketball . inventor Dr. James Naismith in 1891 to of- fer women of the day a sporting equivalent to men’s basketball, the game has evolved to the point of stepping onto the Olympic stage, possibly within the next decade. For: now, however, athletes from over 20 countries — Canada included — meet every two: years for the World Netball Champion- ships. Two West Vancouver residents — a coach and a player — will be part of Canada’s team challenging the world’s best at the Ninth World Championships in Holland this summer. One is a veteran and one a rookie. The coach, Ann Willcocks, played the game of netball in her native England before coming to Canada in 1967, Once here, her passion for the sport was doused since no form of the sport — at any level — existed. This changed in the mid-’70s° when Willcocks answered a posted plea for netball participants at the local YMCA. Almost 20 years later, Willcocks is at the helm of the national team — and has been since 1987 — and is also the coach of the: British Columbia team, set to depart next month for the nationals in Toron- to. The Burnaby South high school teacher represents the roots of netball in Canada. : Joanne Burns future. The 22-year-old West Van- couver university student willbe the youngest member of the Ca- represents the nadian team travelling to Holland this summer. At an even six feet, Burns de- veloped the skills necessary to compete at an international level while attending Crofton House school in Vancouver. “I first started playing because the netball season fell between the end of basketball season and the start of the track season,”’ said Burns, also an accomplished volleyball player. What drew her into netball and away from her other sports was the challenge of mastering a com- pletely different sport, and an eye to the future. “When I finished high school | just felt I could go further with netballl than I could with volleyball,”’ she recalled, The decision seems to have been the right one. Invited to the B.C. netball trials when she was 17, the international telations student . hasn’t looked back, though she does admit to being nervous about the world championships. “The. calibre of netball played at the worlds will be like nothing I’ve ever. seen before,’’ said Burns. ‘The nervousness is just something I have to overcome in my mind,’’. Indeed, experience shows at in- ternational competition of any sport, but her coach feels that Burns is capable of rising to the challenge. “She is one of a certain kind of athlete that is a perfect athlete for a coach,” said Willcocks.. “She works hard, does everything that is required of her, and probabiv most importantly, she has an abil- ity to focus on the challenge.”’ The 12-player team (six from B.C.) that will be representing Canada in Holland has some ex- Pectations automatically placed on _ it after Canada’s last showing on the.world court. In 1991 in Sydney, Austalia, the Canadian team finished sixth, an NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge WEST VANOCOUVER’ S Joanne Burns will be reaching for new heights this summer with the Canadian Netball team competing in Holland in the world championships. The 22-year-old university student is the youngest member of the 12-woman team. outstanding placing considering Canada’s relative newcomer status to world netball competition. With only three players return- ing from that team, Willcocks is hesitant to make any predictions, noting that the sixth-place finish two years ago was an incredible accomplishment. Russian Rocket’s agent fires McLean leads the pack at $1.1 Players from the powerhouse countries Australia, New Zealand, England — are heavily. sponsored and play in highly competitive leagues. Willcocks estimates that” 1,500 women play netball in Canada. ' The B.C, Netball Association has been actively introducing the THE GAME NETBALL IS played on an indoor court like basketball, with hoops at either end. Unlike basketball, players can only advance the ball by pas- sing and each ‘“‘basket’’ rep- resents one point, not two. Other ‘similarities to basket- ball include height as a definite advantage, and touch with the bail slightly smaller than a soccer ball — as essential around ; the backboard-less hoop. With dribbling not an op- tion, the best way to describe the action is ‘“‘tightening”’ quick. : game of netball to Lower Mainland high schools for the past 10 years. Fifteen high schools will compete for the B.C high school championships this year. Though netball has yet to make inroads into any North Shore schools, Willcocks said repre- sentatives from the netball association will be approaching the two school districts during the © off-season to test the waters. ‘‘With players like Joanne, we have future skilled coaches to continue what others have done in the past,”? said Willcocks. Burns is already giving back to the sport she kas grown to love, coaching the netball team at her alma mater Crofton. She also -. manages to squeeze in time to, coach volleyball at the school. The sport of netball is currently being considered by the Oiympic Committee for demonstration sport status, and Willcocks believes the Commonwealth Games that precede the 1994 Vic- toria Games will include the sport. For more information about the sport of netball, contact Mary at the B.C, Netball Association head office at 293-1820. first contract shot -ONE OF our snoops down in Los Angeles insists he saw. Vancouver Canucks’ chief magistrate Pat Quinn huddled with player agent Ron Salcer during the team’s final regu- million. Quinn, obviously, acknowledges lar-season game against the Kings last week. Salcer has a nugget in his stable ‘by the name of Pavel Bure who has, technically, two years remain- ing on his Canucks’ contract — the 1993-94 season, plus an op- ‘tion year. As’ has become the trend in professional sports, management prefers to initiate the renegotiating process early when it. comes to those players who fall into the category of superstars. With 35 goals in just 44 games during his rookie season last year, and 60 this year, nobody ques- tions Bure’s star status — least of all his agent. ‘Salcer allegedly has fired the first shot by suggesting the im- mensely popular. Russian Rocket be paid a whopping $2 million a year over the next five years, which would make Bure a Ten Million Dollar Man. . Salcer duly notes such numbers would place Bure roughly in the wage range of Brett Hull, Mark Messier, and his arch- rival, Win- nipeg’s Teemu Salanne. GOAL LINES For the moment, according to the most recent list of salaries fil- ed with .the NHL Players’ Association, Bure ‘is the second- highest paid Canuck, at $600,000 per season. Goaltender’ Kirk that Bure’s contractual arrange- ment wiil have to be addressed, but’ the question is: How high is high? Quinn has expressed | the fear for the past several years that players’ escalating saleries can do nothing but damage the Cana- dian-based NHL teams where television and radio broadcast rights don’t come close to mat- ching those in major U.S. markets. He has said all along the only option is to continue raising ticket prices and there: will come a day when the paying customer says “enough already.” BCTV’s John McKeachie did a little homework on his trusty calculator the other night © and determined the casual buyer could spend $822 for a single red seat should the Canucks advance to the Stanley Cup final next June. His figures are based .on a 14- game projection with the Canucks having four home games in each playoff series going the limit. © West Vancouver’s Bud Poile — the Canucks’ original general 44 Bure is the second-highest paid Canuck, at $600,000 per season. 99 manager in 1970'— can only shake his head and wonder where all of this insanity is going to end. “I know you can say it’s simply the cost of doing business, but re- alistically, it has to scare the dickens out of management,’’ Poile said. Poile worked in Dallas for eight years as president of the Central Hockey League and had a hand in overseeing Norman Greene’s move to Texas from Minnesota. “‘When the arena was first con- structed, mainly for the NBA Mavericks, there was a bond issue floated whereby the basketball customers had the first right of refusal should the NHL one day’ go to Dalias,’’ Poile said. “I think you’ll see the new hockey club (in Dalias) instantly have a base of 12,000 season ticket holders, It makes a whole bunch of sense to have both an NBA team and an NHL franchise operating out: of the same building.” Arthur Griffiths Jr. seems. to agree, in light of the fact: he plop- ped down a $100,000 cheque last: week to convince the NBA deci- © sion-makers that Vancouver is serious -about chasing an expan- sion NBA franchise ‘for the Canucks’ new downtown arena in time for the 1995-96 season.