RBC Sports Day In Canada is Saturday -- participation and discovering new sports
By Mark Schadenberg
This is my angle raise takeout to
promote three sports facilities and groups in the City of Woodstock,
including the Woodstock Curling Club of course.
If you have always wanted to attempt to
put your foot in the hack, and slide with a stone in your hand, now
is a great opportunity as the Woodstock Curling Club (519 539-9512)
is hosting an open house all day Saturday as part of RBC Sports Day in
Canada on Saturday, Nov 21.
The club on Beale Street, which will
host the Ontario women's and men's senior championships Feb 16-21 in
2016, was formed in 1948 and is going strong, but as membership is
always in flux this event is a great way to introduce the sport to
people who watch Rachel Homan and John Morris on TV, but have never
tried to draw to the button.
After you join the club, soon you'll be
signed up with a team and a league night, and next you'll want to
join a fundraising bonspiel like the Woodstock District Developmental
Services (WDDS) event on Dec 4. (Contact: droloson@wdds.ca).
The Woodstock Curling Club has twice
hosted the men's Ontario Tankard in the past 15 years.
Membership at a curling club is all
about eight ends of competing with teams four against four, but the
sport truly lends itself to the social aspects.
VOLLEYBALL
Also in recent years, the popularity of
adult co-ed volleyball has exploded in Woodstock to several divisions
(9) playing on different nights at several venues including high
school gyms and Cowan Park. The league ranges from very competitive
to a Recreational 'E' Division. I count 70 teams on their website
posting of standings, which would translate into as many as 600
registered players.
League play is underway, but there is always a spare list to possibly get on a team, and playoffs are held before Christmas, which means a new league begins in January.
The Woodstock Volleyball Club – the
association's actual name – has travel youth teams (Warriors), house leagues
with instruction time, and summer camps as well.
Long-time convener Jody Timpany
(788-0145).
BADMINTON
At the Woodstock Badminton Club it's a
world-class facility with a world championship calibre player (Penny
Parkes in masters). The 2015 Canadian champs in mixed doubles in 55+
age bracket is Penny Parkes and Saj Malik.
The club has smartly applied for grants
(Ontario Trillium Foundation for $70,000) and had made renovations to
both the interior and exterior. With siding installed on the
exterior, along with insulation – the club has become more popular
with an ability to maintain a warmer inside temperature during the
long winter months, which is obviously when the club is busiest.
When you combine all the factors with
the quick growth in the sport of pickleball, you can quickly see why
the Woodstock club is a focal point of the local sports scene.
If you're looking for fun and social
times, but also a great athletic workout attend the club on a
Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a round-robin night of doubles as matches are
set randomly but equally and all four courts are busy all night long.
Membership can be bought per person,
for a couple, or a family.
As a non-profit organization, the
badminton club is operated by a committee.
Darlene Hull, Wendy Clements, Malik,
the Parkes family and the list goes on and on for local club members
who have maintained and improved the facility over the years.
When I was sports editor at The
Sentinel-Review, I would play in the afternoon group and back then
players ranged in age from 20 to Al Wilmot. Today, on a Wednesday
night, competitors would range in age from 15 to Muriel Carder.
Penny Parkes (left) and her sister Sharon Rice
from Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame
LINKS:
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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