LIONS GATE, LIONS SHMATE The annual 10km Sandy Cove to Kitsilano Beach swimming race goes 6 a.m. Sunday. The gruelling Bay Challenge onginated in 1931 when Percy Norman ted 40 swimmers from Pt. Atkinsor. to Kitsilano. Tom Walker was the winner when it resumed in 1983. Now the president of the North Van Rec Commission. Walker advises open water swimmers to Study tidal charts and avoid eating a big breakfast on race day. For info, call 290-9425. Wednesday, July 19, 2000 - North Shore News - 35 SANS WETSUIT When Walker won the Bay Challenge in 1983, he caked himself in a mixture of lanclin and Vaseline to retain body neat in the chilly water. That's the way it should be, says News columnist and swimming purist Shane Collins. He's promoting a rough water crossing July 29 using the same route as the Bay Challenge, but wetsuits are not allowed. Calt 921-0726 for informaticn. COVERING THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY Possee revamps provincial soccer STRANGE country, Canada. From the most distant out- ports in Newfoundland to the west coast of Vancouver Island, it stretches about 7,000 kilometres. Yet, in all chat length there is only one stadium with a grass field and sufficient seating to host international soccer games. The real turf and 50,000 seats happen to be at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, a city where grassroots soccer interest is up there with skateboarding, Nonetheless, that’s where the long 2002 World Cup qualifying road contin- ued Sunday for Canada and Trinidad and Tobago. And for Canada, after that 2-0 Joss, the road grows a little longer. None of the recognized centres of soccer culture in this country —— Greater Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal — have a real turf pitch with enough seats to properly and profitably stage serious international competition in the world's most popular team sport. Is there another first world country on the planet that can make such a claim? Derek Possee doubts that there is. He would dearly love to see 25,000 seats around 2 grass field — with no running wack to separate the fans from the action — somewhere on the Lower Mainland. That’s for the future, burt in the long run a facility where Canada’s national team could be on fairly regular display would provide a most visible target for the young fdea hereabouts. The young idea is what 20-year North Shore resident Possee is all about these days as the first-ever paid provincial head coach of the B.C. Soccer Association. Remember Possee? You . do if you were a Whitecaps fan a couple of decades back when soccer mania engulfed these here parts. He arrived here in 1977, after 19 years in the English League with Tottenham, Millwall, Crystal Palace and Leyton Orient. In 1979 he was the guy who scored the overtime shootout winner against the New York Cosmos to put the Whitecaps into the North American League final at Giants Stadiurn in the Meadowlands in New Jersey. There they won the league championship against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. There’s nothing like going out on top, so he immediately retired and for the better part of the ‘80s and ‘90s made his liv- ing as a salesman. In a way, he’s still a salesman, selling not only the game he loves, but selling the rank and file of B.C. youth soccer on new skill development structures. ~ Maybe not exactly new. He says they’ve been in place in Europe for several years now and he has borrowed from former ‘Whitecaps coach Tony Waiters’ “three steps to 1]” format. What he must do — and he believes he’s making real progress — is get the coaches of B.C.’s 75,000 youth players onside. ” Essentialfy, his job is to coach the coaches. -. The process is tailored to the players’ ages, starting with three-a-side play for kids of six and seven on mini-fields (20 yards by 30), five-a-side for eight to 10-year-olds on 30 by 40- yard pitches, then cight-a-side on 75-yard-long surfaces for 11 and 12-year-olds. Much more opportunity to play the ball, to be involved. Without that opportunity, how can kids develop ills? Only when thev reach their teens will they begin to be part of 11-man units on a regulation field. This also will be the time - when they must start learning how to compete. “It’s a progres- ‘sive system,” he says, “and the goal is to get everyone on the same page. If the coaches in the districts want to upgrade the level of play, this is the route they must go. Europe has been doing it for several years and it works.” Pointing out that 32% of the youth players in B.C. are on - ‘ Vancouver Island and in the interior, he plans to increase the . number of development and identification camps throughout © the province. Also in the works, hopefully by this autumn, rov- . ing high performance centres, involving coaches, players, refer- ees, trainers and medical personnel. Describing himself as “54 going on 30,” he’s as energized as “~~ that under-sized 14-year-old who battled his way onto the --Totteenham youth team 40 years ago and, against ail the prevail- ing odds, eventually made it into the starting side on the big team. . . -. Obviously, the guy’s a disciple of the old-fashioned ethic that says if you want it enough and are willing to work and compete hard enough, you can have it. This time around, his goal is to . efeate a revolution in B.C. youth soccer development. “Good luck, old son. ; As for that real turf stadium, don’t hold your breath, ” NEWS photo Julte iverson TARA Geach of B.C. tackles bail carrier Stacy Hardie of Wales during a women's under-19 rugby match July 12 at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver. Wales was vic- toricus 22-10. Visitors post second half win over U19s Bob Mackin Sports Reporter bmackin@nsnews.com B.C.’s under 19 women’s rugby team held their Welsh opponents to a 5-5 halftime tie July 12 at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver. But the touring U-19 Welsh national side took off in the second half and regis- tered a 22-10 win. B.C. led 5-0 after 20 minutes on an unconverted try by B.C.’s Hilary Leith, a Carson Graham veteran. Just before _ halftime, Wales’ Rhian Wilmott had her side’s first try. Jo Jones, who was cele- brating her birthday, gave Wales the go-ahead try 15 minutes into the second half. Emma White and Marie O’Neal were Wales’ other try-makers. Shannon Davies had B.C.’s other try. B.C.’s back-of-the-match was scrum. half Aidan McKinnon of. North Vancouver. B.C. had some .consola- tion in holding Wales to a 12-point victory. The visi- tors beat Calgary 47-5 and Alberta 38-7 in earlier games of a Western Canadian tour. Wales ended .its tour Saturday in Shawnigan Lake with a 19-7 win over. Canada. , Leith had the only try for the home squad, with Tina Carey counting the convert. Gymnast heads to Sydney Bob Mackin Sports Reporter bmackin@nusnews.com LISE Leveille is going to the Olympics. The Burnaby resident and member of North Vancouver's Flicka Gymnastics club was named to the six-member Canadian women’s team on Sunday. Leveille placed fifth among a field of 1} at the Women’s Gymnastics Olympic Trials in North York, Ont. She came second in her specialty, the balance beam, but was sixth on the floor, seventh on bars and ninth on the vault. She registered a total OLYMPiC-bound gym- nast Lise Leveille was fifth in trials on Sunday. score of 36.450, The only. other. British ~is Kate Columbian on Team Canada Richardson = of Coquitlam. Richardson, a member of the Abbotsford Twisters, won the Olympic trials with a 38.116 score. She won the beam, vault and floor and placed second on bars. The top three overall fin- ishers were ‘automatically named to the team. The remaining three spots were determined. by a selection committee. - That selection committee met fate into Sunday night before announcing Leveille was added to the team. The 18-year-old, who. is coached by Flicka’s Flaviu Toma and Nancy Beyer, is on the mend from a minor back: why: injury that. prevented her from competing in May’s national championship. The national team con- venes for a two week training camp in Calgary Aug. 15. A week of training will take ‘place in. Christchurch, ~ New Zealand at the start of September before. the team settles at the Olympic Village in Sydney. ‘ The Olympics: run Sept. 15 to Oct. 1. : Leveille will begin study- ing at Stanford . University this fall after fulfilling her Olympic duties. >. She was awarded 2 full gymnastics scholarship to ~ attend the prestigious north- ern California university.