Saturday, June 27, 1992 & Lone local pitch no “Field of Dreams’ I’ve always been fascinated by the love affair every country outside of North America seems to have with soccer. From the British to the Brazilians to the boys in Bombay, soccer is as much a part of their lives as hockey is to us in the Great White North. Growing up I got into the game thanks to my father, who falls under the ‘British’ mentioned in the last paragraph, a game his people pre- ferred to call football. I never really got into ‘football’, probably because I couldn’t see the sense in all that running, especially when you never really touched the ball. Give me a game like hockey, where you would go out for about a minute every few minutes, get a goal and maybe even nail a guy when the ref wasn’t looking. Sure, the other guy could beat on you, but that’s what all that excess equipment was for. Do that in soccer and you don’t have an ounce of padding, except for those lame shinpads that could probably be used as microwave trays. And then there was baseball, where you could stand around all you want- ed and the coach wouldn't say a word. Do that in soccer, and you'll get a seat on the bench next to the fat kid. or the one who always had some sort of illness. With two strikes already against it, soccer was not going to be the game that made me a household name. But that has since changed, yet I’m having second thoughts again and I can thank the city for that. As a member of the West Kootenay Men’s Soccer League’s Castlegar Hi- Arrow Devils, I get to go out at least once a week on the pitch that sits next to the Community Complex. Like the Castlegar Dexter’s Dy- namos, that pitch acts as our home field, where we practice and entertain six other teams from Nakusp to Fruit- vale. But the sad thing is, there is noth- ing entertaining about that field. Not at all. For some strange reason, the city seems to be quite willing to manincure and look after the handfull of baseball diamonds in and around Castlegar, yet the lone soccer field gets the short end of the stick. Sure, I’m not blind to the fact that the number of base-, soft- and fastball teams in town far outnumber the soc- cer teams. But does that mean soccer should be treated any differently? Carlos Amaral doesn’t think so. Amaral is the Devils’ coach, a team that doesn’t seem to figure in the city’s maintenance plans. Wednesday, Amaral said a feud that’s been brewing with the city off and on is now very much on. It all started again around June 7, Jonny on the Spot JonathanGREEN the day the Devils were to play host to a team from Nelson. Amaral said the grass at the time was some six inches high, so he con- tacted the city to get it cut. In as many words, the city said “no”. Amaral said he was told that to send a worker out on a Sunday would cost the city overtime, money they weren't willing to pay. The grass eventually got mowed, but only because Amaral’s son Herb got on the horn with city councillor Lawrence Chernoff. Amaral’s quest continued the next week with public works superinten- dent Barry Comin, who said the city had no knowledge the Devils would be at home that day. “We were unaware the soccer play- ers were going to be using the field that weekend,” he said. Comin acknowledged the height of the grass, but added the city experi- enced some mower trouble that week. “It hadn't been cut on its regular ba- sis, Ill grant him that,” he said “but we did have some problems with our equipment.” Amaral said it’s not only the one in- ncident that bothers him, it’s the field in general. “I think we deserve better than that,” Amaral said, alluding to the amount of gravel in the field, deterio- rating goal posts and surface slope that disgrace the host teams. “It’s a shame what we have to pre- sent to the other teams when they come to play us.” But Comin doesn’t think so. “It’s probably not the best in the re- gion, but it’s OK,”.he said. Comin admitted the field needs work, but said the city is taking small steps to fix it up, something he said won't happen overnight. “It’s either going to take time or the inititative to rip it up and repair the whole field and do it right,” he said. The Devils won't play at-home again until late August, yet Amaral doesn’t expect the field to be in any better shape. “If you think it’s bad now, you should see it then. “It will look like hell.” The Castlegar Devils can go from pretenders to con- tenders in two games. The local club sits third in the eight-team West Kootenay Men’s Soccer League heading into a weekend road matches — Rossland Saturday and Sunday against first-place Nelson Heritage. Going into today’s action, the Devils are six points back of Heritare and five back of Nelson Savoy. The Nelson squads remain undefeated on the season. Going into the weekend games, Devils boss Carlos Amaral said he’s counting on two points Saturday. Amaral wouldn’t say the same about Sunday. He said the Devils have been given fits by both Nelson teams this year, losing to sack iy a com- bined score of 2-0. “It seems. every time we play Nelson we have prob- lems,” he said. Amaral said he’s put some thought into where certain players will go on Sunday. With that in mind, he thinks the Devils could enact some revenge in Nelson. “T think we’re in pretty AND THEY’RE OFF The C: News photo by Jonathan Green Bantam IECO softball team is off to the Provincial Championships in Squamish eek. The Castlegar crew are proudly represented by (front row, | to r) Shannon Geinger, Shaaenet Harshenin, Jan Holden, Lisa Fomenoff, Elyisca Samarodin, Takaia Casler, (back row) coach Ron Bartsoff, Susan Roosa, Paula Bartsoff, Cynthia Bartsoff, Lisa Datchkoff, Karen Akselson and coach Dave Roosa. Missing are Stephanie Rezansoff, Christina Street and Carrie Plomondon. good shape,” he said. ‘Te ook some different ideas for them this time.” In a best case scenario, the Devils could finish the week- end a point back of Savoy and a.couple behind Heritage. Win or lose, Amaral said these last games before the summer break will tell the tale for the rest of the year. “It will be interesting after these two games. I think it. will set the pace for the rest of the season.” Meanwhile, things don’t look to be getting any better for the Dexter’s Dynamos. The winless Dynamos will skip this weekend because of a player shortage and will re- play their scheduled game when the season resumes in August. ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Lisa Blackwell Castlegar Aquanauts ROOKIE CARD 1990-91 Rookie of the Year $25 (and going up) Suggested retail (SUBJECT TO CHANGE) By CASTLEGAR SPORTS CENTRE Sporting Goods & Fishing Tackle « Fly tying + Rod building ¢ Local fising info. * Athletic wear 365-8288 .- 2177 Columbia Ave., Castlegar Castlegar Sportscards lay BUY e SELL e TRADE 636-18th S Castleaird Castlegar - 365-7556 peers ree k aS l aNyo J Saturday, June 27, 1992 Dinosaurs make annual trek through Castlegar NEWS STAFF Contray to popular belief, dinosaurs are alive and well in Castlegar. And they golf, too. Over 150 of them invaded the local course Thursday and Friday for the Second Annual Dinosaur Open, a tournament open to men over 50. Some 40 golf clubs from B.C., Alberta and the Pacific Northwest were represented at the tourney, and local fa- vorite Bill Perehudoff emerged the first day leader with a 76. Castlegar’s Frank Holds- worth sat two back at 78, Trail’s Mickey Johnson came in with a 79 and Castlegar’s George Crossley was one back at 80. Although leading after one round, Perehudoff said he was less than impressed with his game: “—f probably played an av- erage game for myself,” he said, Perehudoff said the soft course played tough, not giv- ing any help to anyone. “You didn’t get any extra yardage at all. Whatever you hit, that’s what you got.” News phaes by Jonathan Green Winlaw’s Pete Stoopnikoff looks for his putt to drop while Partner John Downard looks on at the Dinosaur Open Thursday. (formerly Is Roadside Pic Provi FISHING & LIVE ding a c ample ste line Of. GEAR BAIT HOURS; Monday-S' aturday, § a.m.-6 P-™. Sunday, § a. & Mar w Owners John as Manager Steve Browne 365-0430 2259 Columbia Av e., Castlegar ° Next to M&J Grocely ° Your Lottery Centr iets & CN ial e, Thrifty ce Store (ete Brian L. Brown. 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