David Moser

AMATEUR SPORT

Saskatchewan Games Council unveils pilot project

The Saskatchewan Games Council hopes that nine is its lucky number.

On Monday, the Games Council announced that it is enlarging the number of zones that will participate in the Saskatchewan Games from eight to nine. The Zone 9 Pilot Project will see athletes from northern Saskatchewan participate in the next two Games -- the 2000 Saskatchewan Summer Games in Yorkton and the 2002 Winter Games, which have not been awarded.

"It's a pilot project that been in the offing for about four years," says Regina's Marlene Hoffman, who is the chairperson of the SGC. "The Northern Recreational Coordinating Committee started talking to us in 1995 after presenting documents explaining why it would be good for the north to have its own zone instead of belonging to Zone 8."

Zone 8 is a huge zone in terms of area that encompasses Prince Albert, La Ronge and Melfort, plus extends to the borders of Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.

Zone 9 will be north of an imaginary line drawn between Meadow Lake and Cumberland House.

"They found that northern kids were not going to Zone 8," Hoffman says. "The kids were not enjoying being just one or two of the guys on a team. They didn't want to be the token northern kids on a team. This way all the northern kids will be together on one team."

Zone 9 will send a team to the 2000 Saskatchewan Summer Games, which are slated for July 23-29 in Yorkton. The team will be made up of 158 athletes, who will compete in softball, soccer, canoeing and track and field. Anyone in the new zone who wishes to compete in other sports at the Games can still belong to Zone 8.

The Department of Municipal Government has provided a $25,000 grant through the SGC to help Zone 9 get its team ready for 2000.

Hoffman says the project will be evaluated after the 2002 Games.

"If it works, we can decide to make it a permanent zone," Hoffman says.

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It's a busy time of the year for the Saskatchewan Hockey Association.

The SHA's provincial playoffs began this past week.

This year, the playoffs have attracted more than 430 teams in 36 different divisions.

"It's especially popular in rural Saskatchewan," says Jim McLarty, who is the SHA's marketing and communications director. "It's a pretty big deal. Some of these senior teams get 1,000 people in their rinks for playoff games."

The SHA's 36 provincial championships include seven female divisions and two adult recreation divisions. There will be over 8,000 players participating in the playoffs, which conclude at the end of March.

"It's a prestigious thing," McLarty says. "Just look at the number of teams that start the playoffs and the number which end up on top. It's very prestigious to be the provincial champion."

Some of the provincial championship series started in the 1940s.

"Teams always want to see how they fare against teams from other parts of the province," McLarty says.

"It's good for the game of hockey and it's good for the communities across the province."

The SHA is keeping track of the provincial playoffs on its website at www.sha.sk.ca. The draws will be updated as the playoffs progress.

"It's a big undertaking for us," McLarty says, "but people seem to love it."

* * *

Female hockey continues to grow in the province.

The SHA held its Sask First Female Regional Jamborees in each of the eight zones in the province on the weekend of Jan. 23 and 24.

The jamborees attracted 755 girls. The goal of the jamborees is to promote female hockey in a positive and fun environment.

"It's growing at such a rate," McLarty says of female hockey. "A lot of girls don't get a chance to play with other girls on a regular basis. This is their opportunity to play with other females."

The next step in the Sask First Female Program is the Spring Festivals. Every player who attended a Regional Jamboree is eligible to attend a Spring Festival. Players aged 13-and-under will attend the first festival on March 5-7 in Regina. Players aged 14-16 will attend the second festival on March 12-14 in Pense.

The festivals bring together girls from all across the province.

The festivals are also an opportunity for the development of female officials, who will work at all scrimmages.

Total registration of female hockey players in the province is booming. Female registration in Saskatchewan was 878 in 1995-96 and was 1,174 in 1997-98.

"It's gotten a lot of exposure and that's helped," McLarty says. "Any of the girls we've seen have a genuine love for the game."

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THE SPORTING LIFE: Two pep rallies are scheduled for Team Saskatchewan athletes before they head to the 1999 Canada Winter Games in Corner Brook, Nfld. The rally for the first-half athletes will be on Feb. 19 and the rally for the second-half athletes is on Feb. 27. Both rallies will start at 10:15 a.m. at the RCMP Training Academy . . . The Waskimo 5K Red Dress Run is slated for Feb. 14 at 9 a.m. at Wascana Place. All competitors in the five-kilometre race must wear a red dress. The entry fee is $10 per person before Friday and $15 after Friday. For more information, call 777-7322 . . . Water Polo Canada is holding a women's World Cup event at Winnipeg's Pan-Am Pool, May 24-29. The event will offer one of six berths available for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The eight teams competing in Winnipeg are Canada, Italy, Hungary, Greece, Russia, the Netherlands, the United States and Australia. Australia has already qualified for the Olympics as the host nation. Canada is ranked sixth in the world. It will be in a pool with the Netherlands (second in the world), Australia (third) and the United States (eighth).

(Amateur Sport appears Wednesdays.)

From page B4 of The Leader-Post, Wednesday, February 3, 1999