: year-olds,

THE NORTH Shore
Shooting Stars under-14
girls’ soccer team capped an
exceptional season with an
exceptional feat over the
Thanksgiving weekend:
defeating a strong Alberta
team 4-1 at the Petro-
Canada National Cham-
pionships, thus capturing
bragging rights as the best
team in the country.

By A.P. McCredie
Sports Reporter

Not bad for a team that six
years ago was formed out of the
leftovers and rag-tags of eight-
only two of whom
had any experience on the soccer
pitch.

.“In che first year, the team
scored one goal in regular season
play, though we did win that
game,’’ recalls team manager
John Miller. ‘ttt was one of those
teams that spent more time at
McDonald’s than on the soccer
field.””

My, how times have changed.

The current incarnation of the
Shooting Stars boasts a win-loss
record in both league play and in-
ternational tournament play that
would be the envy of any soccer
team, amateur or professional.

Only three players remain on
the team from the inaugural
Shooting Stars’ season, and
first-year coach Dave Ashdown
has also moved on after laying the
groundwork for two seasons.

The Shooting Stars are currently
coached by Peter Phillips and
‘Jack Clerkson, both going well
beyond the duties of what their
volunteer positions call for.

Without the dedication and ex-
pertise of both men, and the
parents of players, past and pres-
ent, such titles as the national
championship would never have
been within striking distance.

Three years ago the team made
the jump to the divisionai level of
league play and began to turn
heads in the soccer scene by cap-
turing the “‘B’’ division Coastal
Cup.

Satisfied that it could play at a
highe: level of competition, the
team then made its way up the
ladder from the ‘‘silver’’ rung to
the ‘‘gold’’ rung.

Last year it reached the ex-
clusive metro division.

“Xceptional feet

Nat’! champs North Shore Shooting Stars take their soccer seriously

dnesday, October 21, 1992 — North Shore News - 19

Pe

NEWS photo Grad Ledwidge

MEMBERS OF the North Shore Shooting Stars proudly displa’ some of the recent additions to their ever-growing trophy collection.
The under-14 team claimed the braggitig rights as the best team in Canada when they emerged as the victors at the Nationals in

Caigary over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Only six teams in the Lower

Mainland compete in the metro
fevel girls’. under-14 division: the
Shooting Stars, Sur-Del
Challenge, the Dunbar Diamonds,
the Poco Lightning, the Richmond
Phanioms and the Coquitlam
Rowdies.
" Last season, the Shooting Stars
won 17 games and lost none,
dominating league play. Sur-Del
finished a distant second with 1!
wins, five losses, and one tie.

And by all indications, the
North Shore team, now competing
in the under-16 metro league, is
continuing its domination, leading
the young season with a 3-0-0 re-
cord.

As with any sport played at a
competitive level, the players on
the Shooting Stars squad know

the meaning of words like ‘‘com-
mitment’”’ and “‘sacrifice.’”

“To play soccer at the metro
level requires serious commitment
from the players and their
parents,’’ said Miller. ‘‘Practices
are an hour and a half, twice
weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays,
as well as league games on Sun-
days.”’

In addition, the team frequently
competes in local exhibition games
and tournaments south of the
border, providing a steady supply
of trophies and other assorted
hardware to fill those special
mantels and shelves of the players’
homes.

Given that many of the team’s
young players play other sports
during the high school year, the
dedicated coaches and managers

decided to give the team, and
themselves, a much-needed break
from training for six weeks during
the summer.

Judging from the outcome of

the national championships in
Calgary, the rest certainly did not
dampen the competitive spirit of
the team.

Another integral piece to an
amateur soccer team’s success is
sponsorship.

The Shooting Stars have been
greatly aided by their sponsors in
reducing equipment and travel ex-
penses.

The team’s sponsors are the
West Vancouver District, North
Vancouver City, North Shore
Credit Union, Royal Bank of
Canada, Pacific Customs Brokers,
Hyundai Canada [nc., the North

Shore Girls’ Soccer Club, and the
North Shore Youth Soccer
Association.

Not only does playing amateur
sports help in the physical devel-
opment of young players, it also
teaches them social skills.

“While in Calgary the girls were
complimented by the hotel staff
for their excellent behavior and
demeanor. They took their soccer
seriousiy and as usual, conformed
to their curfews,’’ said Miller.
‘*The parents on the other hand,
Staying in, separate rooms, were
noted to take advantage of the
occasion and party til the wee
hours.’*

I guess it’s not every day that
your daughter is a national cham-
pion.

‘Baseball expressions put spin on political scene

LETTERS, OH do we get
letters ... more in this fax-
crazed age than ever before.

The one I will share with you
today arrives from my Toronto-
based brother Tom, a journalist
of some renown who’s a bit of a
watchdog (or pit bull) on the po-
litical scene.

He writes: ‘‘Ever since the first
cave man took his war club and
batted a few rocks into the nearest
bog, comparisons have been made
between politics and sports.

‘The current World Series is no
exception. Rivers of ink have run
black with the jottings of pundits
rom sea to sea likening the trials
ef Canada’s Blue Jays to the up-

coming referendum on the con-
stitution. And there are a lot of
similarities.

“The obvious is the overall pic-
ture of a life and death struggle
for supremacy between two
baseball clubs on the one hand,
and two political ideologies on the
other.

“It’s amazing how
baseball expressions can be
translated into jargon that
describes the action taking place
in Canadian political circles these
days.

“Let's take some of those tradi-
tional catch-words and phrases
from the field of baseball and give
them a political twist:

Throwing in the bull pen: a

many

meeting of First Ministers.

Doubie play: Lucien Bouchard
getting paid as a member of
parliament while working to
destroy Canada.

Doubieheader: External Affairs
Minister Mike Wilson being two-
faced about free trade benefiting
Canada.

Three-bagger: Brian Mulroney's
eyes after another all-night session
of constitutional talks.

Sacrifice fly: Jee Clark getting
caught with his pants down trying
to defend the Charlottetown Ac-
cord.

Anuckleball: Eastern Canadian
nickname for Preston Manning.

Foul tip: Leaxed information
from the Prime Minister’s office.

Pinch hiuer: Any women within
patting distance of former Prime
Minister John Turner.

Texas Leaguer: Brian’s pal,
George, the soon-to-be ex-presi-
dent.

Mascot: The reason cabinet
minister Marcel Masse had to
resign.

Stealing second: What the Feds
take in GST after Mike and the
boys get their PST.

Infield fly: What a_ politician
unzips to give it to the farmers.

Tag up: What you tel! a drunk-
en badge-pinner at a political ral-
ve.

Nice Guys Finish Last: It can
only mean Mulroney wiii win the
next election,