Elementary Volleyball
There appears to be a great crop of girls’ volleyball players this year. Despite playing against teams who have league and intramural volleyball experience, teams from Little Current, Mindemoya and Gore Bay all showed well at the Rainbow District School Board Championships. The “B” division was a great format including 16 squads that were all fairly well matched which made for closely contested games.
The CC McLean girls’ volleyball team travelled to Sudbury for the Board “B” Championships and showed their terrific character, skills and perseverance, once again by defeating the first four schools they played against. Their fifth match was another nail-biter which saw the girls lose 25-23 to the eventual champions. This was the team’s second event as they recently played in the Candy Cane Classic in Lively, where the Colts took home the Sportsmanship/Spirit Award banner. Congratulations to: Malia Leighton, Ayriell Nodecker, Macy Pearson, Amber Wiwchar, Reece Carter, Larissa Chevrette, Zoé Couillard, Lily-Faith Hore, Dream McLaughlin, Nicole Shank, Abby Smith, Madison Swihart and Paige VanderWeerden as well as Coach Dan Smith.
The CMPS Eagles also had an amazing run with nearly the exact same record. They also won all three of their round-robin matches as well as their first cross-over games. In the next round they also held the eventual silver medalists to a 25 – 23 squeaker! The features: Haylee Cress, Hailey McGillis-Prior, Marjorie Scott, Madison Skippen, Zoe Redmond, Chloe Peltier, Alexandria Lewis, Avery Lentir, Amber Wahl and Coach Lisa Pennie.
All elementary volleyball teams will play in the Island Championships tomorrow (December 10). The girls play at Little Current P.S. and the boys head to the Wikwemikong High School. Good luck to all teams!
Manitoulin Minor Hockey Spotlight
NOTE FROM ANDRE: The following will hopefully be the first in a series about our MMHA spotlights. (If you have information to share about one of your teams please send it along to the email address at the bottom.)
This week the Mindemoya Thunder Tykes are shining. The young squad has five straight win in this season and are sporting a crazy 52 goals for and just 5 goals against record!
The team consists of: Jonah Balfe, Chase Taylor, Thomas Redmond, Adam Spry, Corie Brown, Easton Assinewai (who scored his first ever goal on the weekend!), Ethan McKenzie, Samantha McKenzie, Brinley Watson, Scarlet Mohr, Max King, Theo Verboom and Kaci Lariviere. Hats off as well to the staff including: Head Coach Steve Redmond, Assistant Coaches Reid Taylor, Chris King and Darren Brown and Manager Christa King. The next game for the squad is Friday, December 11 at 6:30 pm versus the Little Current Flyers in Mindemoya.
King scores
Tyler King picked up 2 goals on Saturday night in a close loss to the Espanola Express. Last year’s SDSSA scoring champion is finding his way at the next level. Congrats for sticking it out with a struggling team, Tyler, you will continue to improve as you experience the extra speed and quickness.
Mustang Minute
Congratulations to the Manitoulin Mustangs who won the NDA Tournament in North Bay over the weekend! Last year, after beating the St. Charles Cardinals earlier in the event, the Mustangs were defeated in the championship game. This go-round, however, the Gold and Black side were certain to not make the same mistake, downing the Cards by a 6 – 4 at Memorial Gardens. The guys played some amazing hockey against the strongest teams but could also be pulled into “chippiness” by some of the less skilled teams.
As the team turns into the important part of their Rainbow Board season they will want to extra careful not to take bad penalties. The Mustangs boys play their next home game this Friday, December 11 at 7 pm in Little Current.
The girls’ team is also doing very well with a strong 2-1-1 record with a relatively young team. Congratulations to players: Sophie Bondi, Kennedy Lanktree, Cass Bisson, Trinity Leeson, Faith Turner, Anna Migwans, Meghan Wall, Robin Lentir, Michelle Campbell, Bethany Wesno, Brooke Addison, Lyric Peltier, Alayna Cranston, Kylie Cranston, Cassie Cristo, Hannah Woestenenk, Mikki Noble and Maddy Niven. Their next home game is to be Tuesday, December 15 in M’Chigeeng at 5 pm against LoEllen.
A deep bow to young refs
Lately my Dad has watched or heard some great comments about young teenage Island referees. Over the past few years I was impressed with the work of Providence Bay’s Michael Niven. His poise, confidence and quick decisive calls in the heat of the game were impressive for a teenager. Manitoulin has lost him now as he is off to university where he continues to ref at the Bantam and Midget AA level.
This year, however, I have heard good things about Gore Bay’s Connor Croft and Mindemoya’s Cole King. Another youngster receiving attention is Wikwemikong’s Kyle Baibomcowai. Kyle’s respect for the little ones on the ice has drawn numerous comments even from visiting teams. He high-fives the kids on both sides, helps them on and off the ice, and even carries them to their proper places on the ice at faceoff time then encourages them verbally throughout the game. Good job gentlemen. The Island needs more young refs such as yourselves. Kudos also to Stephan Charrette, who is also now off at post-secondary education.
A good sport is good for sports.
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