LACROSSE... The North Shore {Indians stopped an end-of-season slide with a 13-9 victory over Ladner Pi- oneers last Friday night at the Lonsdale recreation centre. The victory — also the final game of the regular season — gave the Indians. a 16-3-2 season record, good for se- cond place. in West Coast Senior B league play. Both the Indians and first-place Bureaby Lakers get _(first- round byes in the playoffs. To press time, the format for the second round had not been decided, nor had the game dates for the Indians, but Tuesday or Wednesday of next week are the likely days. - The regular-season scoring race was won by Nanaimo’s Kevin Shores, with 97 points (50-47) in 18 games. North Shore forward Tedd Katan- chik was top Indian and fourth overall with 84 points (45-39) in 20 games. Other Indians in the tap 20 iachuide:: Wayne Baker (eighth) with 67 points: (39-26) in 21 games; Chuck. Martin (12th) with. 64 ‘points (28-36) in- 20 games; and Brian Baker. (16th) with 49 points (11-38) in 18 games. | TENNSS... Matthew .Walsh, — “of. North Vancouver, played in the finals of a Grand Prix | tournament: in Victoria “recently. Fhough he Jost in a tough championship match, the 18-year-old B.C. , Junior .tennis team’ player continues to impress: on the Grand Prix circuit -— - featuring some’ of Western Canada’s best senior players' — this year. He is also . part. of: Team B.C., ‘which - will compete at the Canada Summer Games next month in’ Kamloops... Biil Purcell, of West Vancouver, defeated fellow Hollyburn - Club. member Doug Holman 6-2, 6-0 in the final of the 1993 B.C. Seniers Tennis Championships, held recently at the Kelowna Four Seasons Racquet Club. Purcell then teamed up. with Holman to defeat Kerry Borden and Paul Burned 7-6, 3-6, 62 in the. men’s doubles final: “GUARANTEED SERVICE” LYNN VALLEY CENTRE 4199 LYNN VALLEY RD. 980-9211 es fire loca! lV Overwhelming numbers of kids signing up to play at recreation centres UNLESS YOU’VE been living under a rock for the past year, you have no doubt heard of the ex- ploding sport of roller hockey. By A.P. MeCredie Sports Reporter The sight of hockey sticks in summer was once the domain of road hockey. Not anymore. Vancouver’s newest professional sports team -—- the Vancouver Voodoo — represent just the tip of the exploding sport’s iceberg. An overwhelming number of kids of all ages have signed on this summer to play the sport at both North Shore municipal recreation facilities. .Since the health of a sport is best. measured by the base of . youths that are interested in ‘the game, the prognosis for roller hockey is good. The West Vancouver Recreation Centre has made an investment in the future of the sport with the purchase of 100 pairs of in-line skates for rental. - “We've always. been looking for - new ideas about how we can use .the arena in the late spring and summer,’’ said arena supervisor Jil Johnson. ‘Roller blading is definitely the strongest — par- ticipation-wise — new sport we've introduced.’’. A ward here on the name of the sport. Roller-blades, as most peo- ple call in-line skates, is a com- pany name. The correct. terminol- ogy for the sport. is in-line _ Skating, or in-line hockey. Regardiess of the name, over 130 kids between the ages of five and 16 have signed. up for the imaugural year of in-line hockey at the West Vancouver Arena. Although it looks. like tradi- tional ice hockey, there are a few differences in the rules governing in-line heckey. Four skaters plus a goalie. com- pose a line in this sport, with goalies at this level playing in run- ning shoes, not blades like the” pros. There is no icing in this game, and cnly one line — the centre line — is used. Offsides only occur when the ball is passed across the centre line : Hurry infor best selection! NEWS phota Mike Wakotield TWO MEMBERS of a West Vancouver recreation league bantam in-line hockey team go through their practise paces recently at the West Vancouver Arena. JI! Johnson, arena supervisor, reports that the inaugural year of in-line skating has been a huge success — so much so that she has ordered 100 pairs of skates for rental. to a teammate. A player can take the ball across the centre line when his players are in the offen- sive zone. Also, at this level, an ‘orange hockey ball is used instead of a puck. ‘“*We have about 12 pucks here, but to start the kids off we felt that a ball would be easier- and more controllable,’’ said in-line coach and summer program coor- dinator Kevin Cliff. Surprisingly, only about half of ‘the players signed up in West Vancouver come from a hockey background. “*} think many parents who feel ice hockey is not right for their kids are starting to look at in-line hockey as a suitable alternative,” said Cliff. The game has. no contact, but the skills of traditional hockey still apply. Also, kids can practise their skating anywhere there is concrete, thus eliminating the staggering ex- pense of ice time. To play in the West Vancouver ‘league a player needs a helmet, elbow and knee pads, gloves, a stick and skates — though these. NOW ON can be rented for $2 from the arena. What cemparisons has Cliff, a professional ice hockey referee during ice hockey season, noticed between the two games? ‘‘Kids catch on to the skating part much quicker than on ice,” he said. Jchnson noted that the in-line skating season will come to a close in August, but. plans for next season are already under way. “A number of. municipal pro- grams in the Lower Mainland are hoping to set up a. league next year,’’ she said. It isn’t often a new sport makes as quick an impact on the scene as in-line hockey has, but early signs are it is here to stay. _ Hf you'd like to try your feet at skating, or hockey, the West Vancouver Arena offers drop-in hockey from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday nights ($3.50), and public skating on Thursdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m. ($1.50), and Friday nights from 7 to 8:30 p.m. In North Vancouver, call 987- PLAY for details. DO NOT MISS THIS SALE! N. Shore athletes — bring back — gold Ceom Chilliwack THE NORTH Shoye’s contingent of athletes’ at this year’s B.C. Summer Games in Chilliwack were part of the third-place Zone 5° team. The. following are. North Shore gold medal winners: Maelle . Ricker (track, 300m ‘ girls); Todd Peliy (pentathion); Jody Weightman (triple jump, girls); Jonathon Gormick (cycling: cadet men’s time trial, cadet.men’s road race); Daniel Heicman ' (diving; 15-16 boys); Sarah Baldwin (div- ing, 17-18 girls); Dorothy Thomp- son (shooting, smallbore individu-" al high aggregate).