Adrenaline October 2011

George Reed

Morgan Klimchuk

Ron MacLean

AJ Scales

October 2011

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FEATURES

04 From the Editor 06 Yoga 10 Wyatt Catley 12 Focus On Field Hockey 18 Ron MacLean 22 Rhythmic Gymnastics 24 Shoot for the Cure 26 Ehrlo Sport Venture 28 Picture This 30 Y’er Welcome

October 2011 14 AJ Scales

The disciplines of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts have been revitalized in Regina, in part due to AJ Scales, a world-class competitor and teacher.

16 George Reed: His Life and Times A legendary Roughrider has published his autobiography, and Nick Miliokas shares his thoughts on the book by George Reed and co-author John Chaput.

20 Morgan Klimchuk

There are high expectations for the rookie with the Regina Pats, who is looking forward to both this season and beyond.

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Adrenaline:

Regina Sports

Issue 22: October 2011 Editor-in-Chief: Julie Folk Admin Manager: Allie Folk Creative Director: Jay Roach Sales Representative: Paul Huff

From The Editor Legends one must have the personality to be remembered and idolized off the field as well.

Contributors: Bob Hughes, Maurice Laprairie, Don McQuillan, Nick Miliokas, Michael Phillips Printing: Printwest ISSN: 1920-4698 Cover Photo: pyramidproductions.tv Cover design: Jay Roach/AdSpark

This month we had the opportunity to take a closer look at two men who have recently written books that invite us into their lives.

George Reed and Ron MacLean are well known, each man for his own significant accomplishments.

Copyright covers all contents of this magazine. No part of the publication may be re-used or copied without the expressed written consent of Adrenaline: Regina Sports.

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Sport creates legends.

But legends, truly, are people who do extraordinary things.

In publishing a sports magazine, we have been very fortunate to meet figures in sport who are both inspiring and intriguing.

It is exciting to meet those figures who are already iconic in addition to those destined to become idols.

But what does “legendary” really mean? On the playing surface, skill and talent are assessed and remembered.

To become a true hero, however,

George Reed has distinguished himself for more than statistics.

His tenacity and determination, in addition to his off-field contributions to Regina, make him the legend and the idol that he truly is.

We look forward to continuing to get to know today’s present and future legends.

Cheer hard,

Julie Folk Editor Contact: Adrenaline: Regina Sports (306) 751-0787 info@adrenalinereginasports.com To advertise: info@adrenalinereginasports.com www.adrenalinereginasports.com Column photo by Maurice Laprairie

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FEATURE

Awakening to Yoga

By Julie Folk

Janel Walker walked into a “shala” in Thailand six years ago expecting to work on flexibility and strength and have fun learning a new activity. She left the yoga centre with an appreciation for the spirit of the discipline and a revelation within herself.

“I

t was such a humbling experience,” she said. “After an hour and a half of pure sweating and pure movement and pure breath, understanding all of what it is, I knew I had to try it again.”

Walker continued her study of yoga as she travelled through southeast Asia. She returned to Canada with a new purpose in her life. She started practising ashtanga yoga, and then using her degree in education, the teachings of yoga, and the sheer love of the lifestyle, she began to share it with others.

“It’s such a captivating discipline,” said Walker. “And it’s really neat when you have explored it enough to teach it.”

Walker, a former basketball player, has realized the benefits yoga can provide in sports. Athletes, she said, reach peak performance when the mind is in a state of relaxation, which yoga can help them to attain.

Walker feels she can relate to and understand her students and their goals.

People practise yoga for various reasons.

Some are looking for physical benefits, such as increased flexibility or injury prevention. Others are looking for a place

6 October 2011

where they can focus and leave a hectic world behind.

“Yoga is a gift for you. It’s your time on the mat, for no one else but you,” said Walker. “Everyone feels better leaving yoga than they do coming in, and that’s always my goal and my intention as a teacher.”

Tim Young began practising with Walker when his personal trainer suggested it would improve his flexibility and help

accomplish his goals. Young had been exercising for two years and had lost 65 pounds. He also had a goal to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in May of 2011 with his three sons.

“I was quite concerned about my flexibility,” he said, as the rigorous climbing would test his lower body, particularly the hip flexors. The 56-year-old Young began practising yoga with Walker three months before his trip.

“Due to the yoga, I had no issue at all with flexibility, either going up or down,” said Young. “Since I’ve returned, I recognize that flexibility could be part of my routine and it’s something I’ve incorporated into my workouts on a weekly basis.”

Young began practising yoga to improve his flexibility, but has found many other benefits. He and his wife, Judy, now practise together with Walker in a private class. Judy has found yoga has helped as she rehabilitates from a broken ankle, and together they are improving in other aspects of life.

“When my wife and I are done yoga, we look at each other and feel so relaxed and so calm, and we’re both very, very busy,” said Young, adding that his breath control in cardiovascular activity has greatly increased.

“With myself and my wife, there’s a vast difference in flexibility.

One of Janel’s favourite things is, ‘There’s no ego in yoga.’ We each do what we can and she wants you to progress, to press yourself.”

Walker practises and teaches ashtanga yoga, and is studying sattva yoga.

There are many different branches of yoga. Ashtanga is part of hatha yoga, which is a very traditional form of movement yoga.

“Ashtanga became very challenging,” said Walker. “I consider myself to be a person who isn’t an ‘A’ personality, while this form of yoga is very structured. It’s neat because it provides that structure in my daily life. You do your daily routine, a set amount of poses. As an athlete, I have a competitive edge within

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myself that I have to learn to let go. This was such a gift that came into my life.”

Teaching provides Walker the opportunity to see how her students benefit from their yoga practice.

They relax, emanate energy, and improve their lives with the balance yoga can provide. They start (or finish) their days better, enjoy a more relaxing sleep, and improve the capacity of their minds.

Yoga is about intentions – setting a focus for the class.

The discipline of yoga began in India, and gradually made its way west. Puttabhi Joyce, the founder of ashtanga, was one of the yogis who taught actively on this continent, increasing the popularity of yoga in North America in the mid1900s.

In addition to her studies in southeast Asia, Walker spent a month at a retreat in Brazil, which included a holistic approach to living. She has learned to balance this way of life with a Western culture.

“People here are so busy and you have to respect that,” she said. “Time is different here. It’s finding that balance within tradition, which is neat.”

Walker began ‘Awaken Your Yoga’ in January of 2011, to provide yoga to everyone as a discipline that can be enjoyed by every age, size, and ability. Walker will come to the homes of her students for private instruction, and also offers corporate yoga sessions in the workplace, and yoga for groups.

Walker teaches classes twice a week at Anytime Fitness, where the public can attend, and on Saturdays in the summer she teaches karma yoga in Wascana Park. The classes in the park are free, but students are asked to make donations to a designated cause.

Helping people to understand the truth behind yoga stereotypes is important, she said. Yoga is not a religion; you do not have to be flexible; it does not require a particular body type, and both men and women can participate.

“Everything is connected in one way or another, and it’s whether people want to integrate it into their lives,” said Walker. “I have so much fun and it’s only the beginning.”

Photos by Michael Phillips Photography

8 October 2011

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FEATURE

Wrangling the Herd

By Julie Folk

Wyatt Catley spent his summer in the countryside among bears and wolves.

S

ince his season started with the Regina Thunder, a junior football team in the Prairie Football Conference, he’s been avoiding a different kind of wildlife. Now it’s defensive linemen and the blitz.

The quarterback with the Thunder has definitely put in his time. After four years as the back-up to Reid Quest, Catley finally has his chance this season to lead the offence.

Following a summer of ranching near Cardston, in Southern Alberta, he returned for his fifth and final season with his junior football team.

“I wanted to put my time towards something,” Catley said about staying with the team throughout his junior career. “I wanted to win a national championship.”

Through an up-and-down season this year, Catley has enjoyed being at the controls in a position he has played since his football career was launched in Grade 9.

“Watching Brett Favre on TV, I thought I was the guy who should be throwing the football,” said

10 October 2011

Catley of his early days in the sport. “(I enjoy) being able to make the calls, and the responsibility that comes along with it.”

Catley grew up in Craven, and continues to farm when he’s not ranching or playing football. During the late summer and early fall he spent his days harvesting on the farm and evenings practising with the Thunder. Long days, he said, are the “nature of the game.”

Before heading to Robert Usher Collegiate in Regina for his Grade 9 year, Catley was home schooled. He went from a school of one to a team of over 40.

“It was definitely an eye opener,” said Catley. “It was maybe a little rough at the start, but after a little while it was a lot of fun. I’m sure glad I did it.”

Catley’s older brother, Clay, also played football at Usher. Wyatt followed in Clay’s footsteps all the way to Grade 12, when Wyatt was one of the 22 players who played for the Unicorns in their final football season before the school was closed.

“As an organization, we hope that all our

players have that same loyalty,” said Erwin Klempner, head coach of the Thunder.

“Last year we put him in our leadership program because he was here, continuing to be positive, supporting Reid, and ready to After high school, Catley knew his future go at any moment. He’s now given us that was in farming and ranching, and the opportunity to win with his maturity and Thunder seemed like his best option in experience, and continues to get better each terms of athletics. He quickly fit into the program and has grown into a team leader. and every week.”

The Thunder opened the season with a win followed by three tough losses. Their loss to Saskatoon was an eye opener, as the team began to find its identity, and built on it in the following weeks. Catley also found his footing after the game, beating the Winnipeg Rifles in a rematch the following week.

“(I enjoy) being able to make the calls, and the responsibility that comes along with it.”

- Wyatt Catley “His biggest strength is his calmness,” said Klempner. “His calmness and belief in himself are real strong traits.”

Catley believes not only in himself, but in his team as well.

No matter how desperate the situation, he has maintained his faith in the team throughout the season.

After sitting a game in late September to rest after sustaining a head injury, Catley was soon back on the field to lead his team.

“The guys in there have a lot of heart and determination,” said Catley. “This could be my last year of football ever, so stats don’t mean anything, getting ready for next year doesn’t mean anything. You just have to win it.”

Photos by Kelly Woloshin of ActionSports Courtesy of the Regina Thunder

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FOCUS ON

Field Hockey

By Julie Folk

Kids run from one end of the long field to the other, sticks flying, legs churning rapidly. They call to one another for the ball as parents cheer them on from the sidelines.

F

ield hockey is a lesser known but growing sport in Regina. It may seem like ice hockey on grass, but there’s a lot more to the sport, which can be played indoors and outdoors.

Jordan Soika began to play six years ago. Now the 14-year-old plays on provincial teams in addition to a recreational league in Regina.

“It was fun right away, and once I started playing more, I started getting better at it,” he said. “I’m a competitive guy, so I like it. It’s fun when the stakes are high and you’re playing for a gold medal or something like that. We travel quite a bit, so that’s one of the advantages.”

Soika has played on the Western Canada Summer Games team in addition to the Saskatchewan team, which competes each year at the Prairie Youth Games. The Games were held in Regina in July, and the Saskatchewan under-14 boys won the tournament against teams from Alberta and British Columbia.

“No one expected us to win,” said Soika. “We played a team (Calgary)

12 October 2011

that beat us 7-0 in the round robin. We came back and beat them 2-1 in the final.”

For a team that at one time consistently finished near the bottom, they have come a long way. Aaron Demyen, executive director of the Saskatchewan Field Hockey Association, attributes most of the progression to the technical director, Ramandeep Singh Grewal.

Known to his players as Raman, he began working in the position in Saskatchewan about a year ago. His background as a two-time Olympian, former national team captain and associate coach for the Indian Men’s National Team, are clearly strong credentials, but he has connected with the players in Saskatchewan as well.

“He’s very passionate about the sport and a very smart guy when it comes down to the learning process,” said Demyen.

Shaya Bellamy certainly thinks so. She was playing with her school field hockey team at Henry Janzen three months ago when Raman asked her to join the Western team. While the 14-year-old plays ice hockey, she plans to stick with field hockey as well.

“My goal is to play in university,” she said. “And Raman teaches us so much that other teams wouldn’t know. He encourages us all the time.”

The two seasons provide multiple opportunities for both the competitive and recreational programs in Regina.

Currently, there are approximately 500 members in the Saskatchewan Field Hockey Association (compared to 10,000 in B.C.) but the sport is growing.

Young people start in the Fun Sticks recreational program, for ages five to eight, and many are drawn to the sport through participating in Regina’s elementary school league. Programs include the Youth League (8-12), the Junior League (13-18) and an Adult League. These leagues lay the foundation for the provincial teams, which participate in regional and national tournaments.

One of Saskatchewan’s most promising players is Tyler Klenk, an 18-year-old who inspired others, such as Jordan Soika, to continue on in the sport. Tyler is playing on the junior national team – one of Jordan’s goals – and is also attending the University of Victoria.

rules of field hockey There is usually a maximum of 16 players on a roster.

In the outdoor version, 11 are on the field for each team. In indoor, teams play six-on-six, including the goalkeepers.

There are two 35-minute halves.

The sticks are all right-handed, with a flat side, the only side allowed to touch the ball, which means in order to move the ball, a player to roll the stick.

Only the goalkeeper is permitted to touch the ball with his or her feet.

Body and stick contact are not allowed, and the body cannot be used to shield the ball from other players.

In indoor, a ball cannot be raised unless it is a direct shot on net and no one is in danger of being struck.

Outdoors, the ball may be raised, but only in a safe move.

Other equipment includes mouth guards and shin guards. Masks are allowed to be used by two players who are defending in a penalty corner.

If a foul is called, the other team receives possession.

For more information, see www.saskfieldhockey.ca

One attractive draw of field hockey is the small community. Jordan’s family has also become involved in the sport. His dad, Chris, has managed many of his teams, his younger sister Elise is involved in Fun Sticks, and his younger brother Jeron is beginning to find interest in the sport. His mom, Michelle, is on the Field Hockey Saskatchewan board as finance administration director.

“It’s definitely a sport that is very athletic,” Michelle added when discussing the benefits of field hockey. “It’s a great sport if you want your kids to be active. Just watching these kids, when we come out and watch them, they’re having fun.”

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FEATURE

Changing Lives

By Julie Folk

AJ Scales has always had a passion for martial arts.

H

owever never did he think, when he was learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) , that less than 15 years later he would have not only competed at a high level of BJJ and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), but he would be helping others achieve similar goals and creating a movement of the sport in Regina.

“Here we are in Saskatchewan, in this little basement, and we have these world class grapplers, world class fighters down there,” said Scales. “It’s kind of crazy.”

Scales himself is world-class, a black belt in BJJ. He stands at a muscular and imposing height of 6-foot-1, but when he smiles and begins to speak, he is open and friendly, which demonstrates his success both on the mat and as a teacher.

“I love competing,” he said. “I’ve been a competitor, I’ve been a fighter. It’s in my blood. I always compete Brazilian Jiu Jitsu whenever I can. I take a team to Brazil every year, and we compete at local tournaments in Manitoba (and) Alberta, and at a local one I host here in June every year, Copa Sask.

“I love to compete. But I also love teaching. I didn’t realize I’d love it so much until after I’d seen the results. I just feel that martial arts needs to be

14 October 2011

passed on. I’ve seen it change lives. It changed my life.”

Since he was young, watching karate movies with his dad, Scales has had a love of martial arts. It wasn’t until the late ’90s when he began watching UFC and training with a friend that he realized he belonged in the discipline.

“I had no goals (at the start),” he said.

“My only goal was to get good and not get beat up by everybody else, because I was

not the top dog in class, that’s for sure.

It has just evolved into how it is a part of my life.”

Scales began training in BJJ and competed at several events, winning most. He was in Brazil when a tournament was held. Scales asked an instructor if it was possible that he could compete, and a super fight was arranged for him.

“There were so many moments in that

competition that really stood out,” said Scales. “The main instructor, his name is Andre Pederneiras. Moments before I stepped on the mat, he walked in, pulled up a chair, and said, ‘Let’s go.’ He’s the grandfather of the entire team, and for him to come in and sit down and show me that support was extra strength.

“I ended up beating the guy. It was a huge accomplishment and that skyrocketed me into this world-class grappler.”

By 2004, Scales was incorporating conditioning, striking, and wrestling into his training routine. That year, in Alberta, he competed in his first mixed martial arts event. By 2006 he had a 4-0 MMA amateur record. It was at that point that he took the discipline to another level.

“We were training anywhere and everywhere – churches, school basements, restaurant basements – anywhere we could throw a mat,” said Scales. “After travelling places and seeing other facilities, I thought we needed that here.

The first thing I did was create a place to train comfortably.”

Scales opened Complete Martial Arts and Fitness. It began as a place where he and his friends could train, and has grown into a successful business that invites participants of all levels of experience to train and compete in BJJ and MMA. Many people have misconceptions about mixed martial arts.

Scales is hoping to develop it into a more familiar sport, making people aware of what it involves, and showcasing his students who compete.

Some of his students are strictly involved in BJJ while others gravitate towards MMA, which incorporates much of BJJ as a foundation.

“It’s a necessity,” he said. “(UFC fighter) Royce Gracie brought (BJJ) onto the map. Everybody needs to know some sort of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in order to be successful in MMA... Nowadays you’re slowly seeing more guys competing or fighting more of a stand-up fight, and what it boils down to is they nullified their Brazilian Jiu Jitsu backgrounds – they’re at the same level and have stalemated each other, so they’re going to focus on the striking portion.”

MMA is beginning to receive more respect, which is important, as that’s what the discipline fundamentally includes. Scales sees training in martial arts as both a way to keep fit and, for some, a means to compete. It depends on the objectives of the students.

Bill Beaudry had been training in krav maga and was looking for something different. He had known Scales for some time and decided to train with him at Complete Martial Arts and Fitness. It wasn’t long before he was winning competitions in BJJ, and won a gold medal at the Riu Open in Brazil.

“At the school, everybody gets along, is supportive of each other, and it’s a really good environment that way,” Beaudry said. “AJ’s really laid back and he’ll crack jokes and make

everybody feel comfortable.”

There are many degrees of abilities and goals at the school, Beaudry added, but it’s possible for everyone to find a perfect fit.

“Once they (begin), they get addicted to it,” said Scales of his students, who he refers to as supermen and superwomen as they arrive from their day jobs and exchange their street clothes to gis. “It’s a bit of a rush, its adrenaline.”

Scales now competes in BJJ about four times a year – at Copa Sask, the Riu Open, the Pan American Championships, and the Abu Dhabi Trials in Montreal. He also hosts Saturday Night Fights for his MMA students at least twice a year. But it’s more than just the competition for him and his students. There are many other benefits that people do not at first realize.

“It’s amazing what martial arts can do for people,” he said. “They’re exercising; their energy levels are over the top. They’re being more productive in their everyday jobs and lives. They’re more disciplined.

The list goes on.”

And what’s next for Scales?

“My biggest goal is to create a market for (martial arts) again,” said Scales.

“Let everybody know there are other outlets. Students from five years old to 50 years old come in for different reasons but at the end of the day, they are all learning pretty much the same thing. You don’t do martial arts just to do it. You come and you set goals for yourself.”

AdrenalineReginaSports.com

15

FEATURE

George Reed: His Life and Times

By Nick Miliokas

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. But the fact of the matter is the cover is the first thing I look at. It generally reveals something worthwhile.

T

he cover of the book I am holding in my hands at the moment bears two images.

In the foreground, there is a recent photograph of George Reed as Director of Guest and Community Relations for the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation. In the background, there he is again, taking a handoff from Ron Lancaster during his illustrious career with the Roughriders.

It’s significant, I think, that George Reed the man is positioned front and centre, while George Reed the athlete is represented behind him in what resembles a segment culled from a dream.

Combined, these two images are a perfect complement to the title.

George Reed: His Life and Times makes no mention of the word “football,” and thus it emphasizes a very important point. This is not merely another sports book. It’s the story of a singular individual who took on (and overcame) challenges that extended far beyond the gridiron and ranged from prejudice to bankruptcy.

16 October 2011

Published by Centax Books, this autobiography is co-written by Reed and John Chaput, an accomplished newspaper reporter and copy editor whose name is a guarantee that the book is thoroughly researched and exceptionally wellwritten. There is also a foreword by Bob Hughes, who followed Reed’s career from start to finish, and chronicled a good portion of it on the sports pages of the Regina Leader-Post.

Early on, Reed sets out his mission statement. “Football made me famous,” he writes, “but I never wanted it to define me.”

I’ll leave it up to you to decide for yourself how George Reed is best defined. For me, the two themes that make the greatest impact are racism and life after football.

“You grow up thinking you’re a free person who can do anything like

anybody else,” he writes, “and all of a sudden you find out no, that’s not the way it is.”

Reed experienced segregation and bigotry in various parts of the United States (more specifically, the South and Seattle) but not only in the United States. He speaks openly and courageously about racism in Regina. He does not condemn the community at large, but he pulls no punches with the culprits.

Reed was candid in 1967 when interviewed by The Canadian newsmagazine and again later that year by The Toronto Telegram newspaper.

“It’s been more than 40 years since those articles were published,” he writes, “but I’m still passionate about those feelings. Yes, progress has been made, but the problem has not been eliminated. Probably it never will be; I accept that racism and intolerance will always be a part of the human equation. It has never stopped and it never will, but I am offended when people act as if it doesn’t exist, in whatever form at whatever level.”

Later, in an especially poignant passage, he writes: “I often said that I knew what was expected of me on the field but, once I left the stadium, I was lost as to where I could go and what I could do. This happens, you face it day to day, and if you say anything about it, people get defensive. Oh, this is lily-white Regina, that only happens in the States. Well, I beg to differ.”

Those words are absolutely chilling, and there is much more on this topic in the book, but the examples cited above are sufficient for the purpose of this review.

George Reed retired from football in 1975 as the finest fullback, bar none, to ever play the Canadian game.

In 1978, he was enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. He took out Canadian citizenship. He was made a member of the Order of Canada.

By this time, Reed had launched a second career as a sales representative for Molson Brewery, and devoted himself to several labours of love: the CFL Players’ Association, the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, and the George Reed Foundation.

He was transferred by Molson’s to Calgary in 1984, and dismissed in 1992 after 26 years with the company.

That was when the downward spiral began.

Unable to find employment, Reed started his own consulting firm, and then opened a restaurant, the George Reed Café, which was located in a very competitive climate and ended in bankruptcy.

“Back when I played football,” he writes, “it wasn’t unusual for me to work 12 or more hours in a day between Molson’s and the Roughriders.

Running a restaurant or bar, though, that’s more like an 18-hour-a-daything, and while I was learning on the job, I might not even be qualified to do it. It was taking a lot of effort, a lot of time, and I wasn’t getting a lot of sleep.”

In 1996, Reed was hired to manage the Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club, commuting to Drumheller. Drained by the two-hour roundtrip he made daily through “congested traffic,” he resigned after a year.

Reed then sold cars, for two dealerships, from 1997 to 2007, and it was during this period that he underwent an operation to repair an aneurysm.

“There were no after-effects from the brain surgery and I continued on at (the dealership),” he writes, “but the economy was slumping and cars weren’t selling as fast as they had been … Things got to a point that, in order to avoid dipping into retirement funds, I was working a little parttime job that brought in a few extra bucks. I stocked the shelves at the Real Canadian Superstore.”

The Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation brought Reed back to Regina in 2008, with support and encouragement from Premier Brad Wall.

Yes, there is a sports component in all of this. George Reed’s magnificent football career is laid out meticulously in the book, from season to season, and supplemented by observations and insights from teammates and opponents alike.

Along with the contributions of family members and friends, these segments are woven effectively into the central narrative in a manner that conjures a radio or television documentary.

At one point in the book, George Reed the football player describes himself (humbly) this way: “I may not have been the best runner, receiver or blocker, but you put them all together and I was a tough guy to beat.”

Like the man himself, George Reed: His Life and Times is the complete package.

Photos: Left: By Samantha Stom, courtesy of Special Olympics Saskatchewan Above: Courtesy of Solilo Productions

AdrenalineReginaSports.com

17

SPORTS PERSONALITIES

Who is Ron MacLean?

By Julie Folk

He’s the straight man with a dry sense of humour who keeps Don Cherry on track. He’s compassionate and he’s intelligent.

With the ability to cover any sport, he manages to entertain and captivate. He is a Canadian icon.

B

ut who is Ron MacLean?

Most know MacLean only for his work on Hockey Night in Canada and Olympic broadcasts with CBC.

But as readers travel with him through his life’s journey, in Cornered: Hijinks, Highlights, Late Nights and Insights, they finally get to know the man behind the camera.

It is written by MacLean and Kirstie McLellan Day, who is a Reginaborn writer and the CEO of Pyramid Productions in Calgary. “(It) might disillusion some folks to learn I’m more of a good-time Charlie,” said MacLean in an exclusive interview with Adrenaline.

“I do know that early in my career, Don Cherry was adamant about two things. One, you’re going to get ripped to shreds for being in the position you are. And two, perception is reality. Because of the way I chose to play my role, I often was out of character and I didn’t mind that. I didn’t worry about what the perception was.”

MacLean’s intelligence shines through the pages of the book, as

18 October 2011

he quotes prominent figures from Lewis Lapham to Paul Hogan. And according to co-author McLellan Day, he is a selfless and compassionate man.

“Once you meet Ron, you know him forever,” said McLellan Day, who was first introduced to MacLean in Calgary where he worked with her husband, Larry Day. “He really cares. He’s really interested in people. He’s the genuine article.”

McLellan Day, who also co-wrote the autobiographies of Theo Fleury and Bob Probert, was tenacious in convincing MacLean to tell his story. She said it was

tough because MacLean is a humble guy and had a hard time believing his story would be sufficiently intriguing.

MacLean laughed, “Eventually, she just wore me down.”

“When Ron does anything, he does it one hundred percent,” said McLellan Day. “When he made the decision to finally write a book, he decided to really write a book. He gave it everything. He was totally honest and open.

“Both MacLean and his wife, Cari, have tremendous recall, which was vital in writing his life’s story. There was no question that went unanswered. He

shared his innermost thoughts and opinions.”

“In hindsight, I realize that writing the book was instrumental in giving me a reason to sit back and think a little bit harder,” said MacLean. “It rekindled my desire to learn and step back and really think. The secret is to have three different approaches and thoughts on every situation.”

Both his parents were in the military, and so, when he was a child, the family moved frequently. His father retired from the military when he was 50 and then worked with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for 15 years.

This provided MacLean with a deep appreciation for the organization.

“In my young refereeing career, I would referee RCMP hockey and thank them for being a good employer for my dad,” said MacLean. He refereed for the love of the game, and continued well past the time he became a household name with CBC. “I was really proud of being an honorary colonel ... I was really thrilled to be the parade chairman at the Calgary Stampede, and it was one of those, ‘it’s hard to be a prophet in your hometown.’ And when they gave me the opportunity, it really resonated ... But I’m not really an awards guy.

I find my big joy in life is personal interaction. Last night I played beer league hockey and sat around the table after with chicken wings and beer. I

wouldn’t trade that for anything. That’s truly where I feel the best of life happens.”

Fans of Hockey Night in Canada will be interested in reading about the off-air dynamic between MacLean and Cherry.

The book makes us privy to their beer and sandwich banter in hotel rooms after games.

MacLean reveals that these conversations set up what we see on Coach’s Corner.

MacLean also takes us inside various challenges in his life.

“His response to his contract dispute in 2001 demonstrated how well he was liked by the Canadian public, how much people thought of him,” said McLellan Day. We associate MacLean with sport, but McLellan Day emphasized it is not a sports book. She says she writes people stories – extraordinary people. On the other hand, MacLean describes himself as just an ordinary person doing extraordinary things.

While McLellan Day knew MacLean prior to writing the book, there were many things she was surprised to discover.

“Ron really downplayed his abilities in hockey, as he does with everything,” she said. “I went to watch him play, and I came away impressed, because he has hands, he can see the ice, and he can really skate.

And, although it looked to me that he was so skilled he could skate through and score almost at will, he looked for opportunities as a playmaker.”

Cornered is released October 11th. MacLean is interested in what the response will be.

“Fortunately, I’m experienced, seasoned, jaded, call it what you wish, enough to be hardening myself for blows,” he said. “It seems like in my career, everything I think was good, usually I had poor reviews, and the things I thought were suspect, I’d win Gemini’s. I loved the book, so I’m steeling myself to the critics. Don Cherry warned me early in my career, ‘Look, kid, when you get up in my church, be prepared.’ Hopefully it gets a nice response.”

After the book’s release, MacLean looks forward to continuing with his busy schedule on Hockey Night in Canada. He has three years more on his contract, and he hosts “Battle of the Blades,” CBC’s television show pairing former NHL players with professional figure skaters. It’s likely he’ll be asked to host the next two Olympic Games too, because CBC and CTV are set to partner on the Canadian broadcast. He has never laid out a detailed plan for his future, and doesn’t intend to start now.

McLellan Day is looking forward to continuing in her writing career in television and books, but after three books in three years wants to take a couple of months off.

“Well, that’s the plan,” she said, “but I have been fiddling with a piece of detective fiction. My protagonist is an ex-NHLer turned RCMP officer, and he’s based in Regina of course.”

Read full interviews with MacLean and McLellan Day at www.adrenalinereginasports.com.

Photos: Left: MacLean and McLellan Day Photos courtesy of pyramidproductions.tv

AdrenalineReginaSports.com

19

FEATURE

Morgan Klimchuk: A Not-So-New Kid on the Block

By Nick Miliokas

To describe him as “a rookie with experience” is probably a stretch. But the fact of the matter is, Morgan Klimchuk did get a taste of the WHL last season.

I

t was just enough to whet his

appetite and perhaps make the challenging transition from the midget AAA Calgary Buffaloes to the major junior Regina Pats a little bit easier.

Now a 16-year-old forward shouldering the additional burden of high expectations, Klimchuk played his first game with the Pats last December and rejoined the team in the spring for four more.

He had an assist to show for those five games, presumably the first of many assists (and goals) to come.

“For me,” Klimchuk said as training camp and the exhibition schedule gave way to the 2011-2012 campaign, “hockey at this level is a whole new ballgame.”

He mixed his metaphors, but he made his point. It’s a whole new ballgame for even the veterans.

Pat Conacher has taken over from Curtis Hunt as head coach of the Pats, and after missing the playoffs for three years running, the team is rebuilding with a vengeance.

20 October 2011

“At the beginning, I was nervous, to be honest,” Klimchuk said. “But I felt comfortable right away with my coaches and my teammates. I’d like to think I’ve made a good impression. But this is only the start.”

Selected fifth overall by the Pats in the 2010 bantam draft, Klimchuk accumulated 50 points in 32 games with the Buffaloes last season. He had 27 goals and 23 assists.

The biggest adjustments to the WHL involve the physical aspects of the game and the accelerated speed at which it is played.

“The speed, for sure,” said Klimchuk, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 180 pounds. “Everything is happening at a much faster pace. That’s the biggest challenge. The physical stuff, I think I can handle.”

Conacher likes what he has seen so far, on the ice and off. “As a player, and as a person, Morgan is very mature for his age, and that’s a good start,” he said.

Beyond that, there are admirable qualities like quick hands and what they call a good hockey IQ.

At the same time, Conacher believes Klimchuk will have to get bigger and stronger; become acclimated to the culture of major-junior hockey; and gain both experience and confidence.

“These things are going to come with time,” Conacher said. “Morgan has to understand that it’s going to be a faster, more physical game at this level. I’m sure he’s noticed that already.

“He’s a very intelligent young man,” Conacher added. “He picks things up in a hurry. He’s got a firm grasp on what we, as coaches, are trying to do here.”

What they’re trying to do here is not just make the playoffs but groom a Memorial Cup contender. The former is the immediate goal. The latter is a longterm objective.

“In that respect, there’s a night-and-day difference between this year and last year,” Klimchuk said of the environment and the attitude associated with the Pats.

“We’re holding our heads high this year.

“It makes me want to be part of the rebuilding process. It makes me want to play a role in getting the team where it wants to go and where it needs to go.”

If that sounds like a take-charge kind of hockey player, it’s probably because Klimchuk has good leadership potential.

“Great leadership potential, as a matter of fact,” Conacher said. “He fits in very well with his teammates. Our players are beginning to bond. Already I have seen signs that this will be a close group of guys.”

Understandably, Conacher is counting on his veterans to show the way, but he also expects the younger players to assume ownership and responsibility.

“We want 20 leaders in that dressing room,” he said.

Klimchuk is billeted with a family in northwest Regina, and he’s enrolled in three classes as a Grade 11 student at Riffel High School. His interests are in the sciences. His marks are in the 80s.

“Between school and hockey, I don’t have much time for anything else,” he said. “It isn’t going to be easy, balancing the two, with the long road trips we have.

But I think I’m up to it.”

The team is rebuilding. The season is young. Management is asking the fans and the media to be patient.

“Different people have different expectations,” Klimchuk said. “But the real expectations, the only expectations that matter to us, as a team, are the ones in the (dressing) room.”

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AdrenalineReginaSports.com

21

FEATURE

Exploring and adoring the rhythm in gymnastics

By Nick Miliokas

Julie Levasseur may not have realized it at the time. She was only 10 years old, after all. Or perhaps she did understand.

Maybe, in her mind and in her heart she has known all along the role gymnastics would play in providing direction and shaping her future.

N

ow she is 26 and it’s crystal clear. It has been for some time. “My love for gymnastics has certainly been a road map in my life,” she said.

“Gymnastics has allowed me to be the person I am.”

Her passion is for rhythmic gymnastics, specifically, and she arrived at this special place through the more conventional discipline, artistic gymnastics.

Five years after her feet first touched the mat, Levasseur was deemed “too flexible” for the mainstream sport.

It was suggested she switch to the rhythmic variety, and this was fine with her. “I didn’t want to go upside down anymore, anyway,” she said, smiling.

Since then, her world has been one of hoops, ropes, balls, ribbons, and baton-size clubs, the hand-held objects that distinguish rhythmic from the other five forms. “It’s certainly not the newest gymnastics discipline,” she said. “But it’s not the oldest, either.”

As with any sport, the importance

22 October 2011

of choosing the discipline that best suits the gymnast cannot be overstated. It’s crucial to an athlete’s development, physically and emotionally.

“Absolutely!” Levasseur said. “In order to be successful, you have to find what’s right for you.

And by ‘successful’ I don’t mean only in the sense of winning competitions. It applies even if your goal is physical fitness and personal enjoyment.”

At the pivotal point, as a teenager, the thought of dropping gymnastics altogether and taking up another sport never entered her mind.

“Why start over completely?” she said. “I was already involved in gymnastics, and rhythmic was a natural fit. Plus, I had some transferable skills to take with me. The adjustment from artistic to

As grateful as she is for the contributions Mihaylova and Kroupa made to her development, Levasseur felt there was something missing.

Competitive sport tends to emphasize the physical aspects, and she was (and still is) determined not to overlook the emotional and mental-health components.

“At Wascana,” she said, “we really do focus on the whole picture.”

rhythmic wasn’t difficult at all.”

These days, Levasseur is an instructor with the Wascana Rhythmic Gymnastics Club. She teaches classes, 29 hours a week, at the practice facility of the Queen City Kinsmen Gymnastics Club, a converted hangar, on Tiger Moth Lane, near the airport.

“Tiger Moth” is named for the classic airplane, of course, but those two words also seem appropriate to gymnastics, somehow.

They suggest a combination of strength and graceful movement.

Training begins in September, and competitions are held from January through May, although the international season continues year ’round.

“It’s like hockey,” Levasseur said. “You don’t really have an offseason. Except maybe a month. Just to catch your breath.”

Students practise nine hours a week, some as many as 12.

“That’s a full-time job for a child,” said Levasseur. Mind you, she had set a weekly maximum of 18 for herself.

Levasseur was a perennial provincial champion and competed at the national level for eight years in solo, duo and group competition. She and Emily Brazill were Canadian champions the year the duo event was introduced.

Interestingly, Levasseur’s career as a coach ran concurrently with her years as a competitor. “It’s typical in gymnastics to see athletes do both, coaching and competing,” she said. “It kept me busy.”

Levasseur was 15 when she launched her coaching career. “I did it for the money, actually,” she said with a laugh. “I was a teenager. I wanted a part-time job. I preferred the gym to the gas station.”

By the time she was 20, Levasseur had earned the status of a Level 3 national coach. There are five levels in all.

She received invaluable mentorship along the way from two coaches in particular: Nadya Mihaylova, who has since returned to her native Bulgaria, and Marta Kroupa, of the former Czech Republic, who is considered to be “the grandmother” of rhythmic gymnastics in Saskatchewan.

Even as a coach, Levasseur finds time (and energy) to continue in competition, albeit not quite to the same extent as previously. She was one of five coaches who competed in the group event and won the provincial and Western Canadian titles last season.

The team included Levasseur’s younger sister, Jennifer, whom she describes as “an incredible athlete.”

Between the two sisters, in birth order, comes brother Paul, who is not a gymnast “but should have been,” Levasseur said. “He chose martial arts instead.”

Levasseur earned a Kinesiology degree from the University of Regina.

By next spring, she will have a Nursing degree as well, through the University of Saskatchewan satellite program at SIAST. She plans to complete her education with a PhD.

“I haven’t decided on the specifics. I’m really just testing the waters right now,” she said. “Whatever it is, it will have to increase my capacity to give back to the community. It would be the least I could do, after all the good things the community has done for me.”

Photos by Maurice Laprairie

AdrenalineReginaSports.com

23

IN REGINA

Shoot for a Cure

By Julie Folk

The fact is, the University of Regina Cougar women’s basketball team is always competing.

F

or one game in November, however, the Cougars confront an additional opponent.

Not only are they taking on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies; they will be waging an ultimately more significant battle - the fight against breast cancer.

Each year, CIS women’s basketball teams across the country take part in Shoot for the Cure, an event that raises awareness of and money for the fight against breast cancer.

The Cougars are participating for the fifth time. This year, the game is on Saturday, November 5th.

“Because we are female athletes and a huge percentage of females are affected by (breast cancer), it’s something that for us as athletes it’s really nice to support,” said fifth-year player Carly Graham. “It’s something we’ll probably be facing later in life, so if we can help find a cure for it, it’s a huge step towards helping ourselves.”

When the Cougars take to the court, they will be clad in pink

24 October 2011

jerseys, the purpose being to attract the attention of fans immediately as they enter the gym.

Donations will be taken for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and the team’s proceeds from the 50/50 draw will also be donated.

As well, Cougar merchandise – in pink – will also be sold to benefit the foundation.

Fans are invited to check out the hoodies with pink Cougars, for instance.

“As a team, we like to give back to a couple of different organizations, and this one is such a tie-in for female athletes,” said head coach Dave Taylor. “Nearly everybody on the team has some connection, so it’s a very powerful thing. It’s not something distant, it’s real life, and they understand it’s a good way to give back to the community.”

Opportunities to support the community permit athletes to stay involved, as well as bringing them together as a team. In addition to playing in the Shoot for the Cure game, the Cougars participated in the CIBC

Run for the Cure on October 1st in Regina.

“It’s such a team bonding thing, to finish that run,” said Graham. “Our competitive sides come out a bit.”

“For it to raise money for such a good cause, it adds to the excitement.”

- Carly Graham

Shoot for the Cure games take place throughout the CIS, with each team designating a home game at an opportune time. The Cougars chose Nov. 5th because, with the archrival Huskies in town, the game will draw a large crowd. As well, there is the proximity (in time) to October, which is breast cancer awareness month.

The Cougars also enjoy participating in Shoot for the Cure games as a visiting team throughout the season. For such special occasions, they bring pink jerseys for warm-up.

“Everybody’s really bought into (the event),” said Taylor. “It definitely brings the basketball community together across the country. We’re really happy with that part of the initiative.”

Graham urges fans to attend, both to assist in the fight against breast cancer and to witness a battle of a different sort – an exciting competition between provincial rivals.

Photos by: Don McQuillan, MTAG Images www.more-than-a-game.smugmug.com

In addition to the fundraising aspect, Shoot for the Cure helps to raise awareness of the disease.

Many young basketball players attend the Cougar games and look up to the players, so it’s important for these young players to become better informed, as well as see the university players supporting the event.

Shoot for the Cure will take place Sat., Nov. 5th at 6:15 pm, at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport at the University of Regina.

“It’s always a huge game, sold-out crowd, and exciting to play in,” said Graham. “For it to be a game to raise money for such a good cause, it adds to the excitement.”

AdrenalineReginaSports.com

25

FEATURE

Venturing into Sport

By Julie Folk

Sport.

It offers exercise. It builds friendships. And it keeps kids active in a very healthy way.

F

ive years ago, Laurie Labelle’s son, Jacob, became involved with the Outdoor Hockey League, through the Ranch Ehrlo Society’s Sport Venture Programs. He wanted to play, but he needed skates and some help in getting started.

Now, he can’t wait to return to the ice.

“He’s learned hockey skills, skating skills, and he can’t wait to start again,” said Laurie. “In the winter, it doesn’t matter that it’s freezing outside, he’s excited to play hockey.”

At 13, Jacob has many friends participating with him in the OHL, in addition to the Ehrlo Monday Night Football League and the Ehrlo Basketball League. It’s offered him the opportunity to play sports he otherwise may not have had access to.

“To have the equipment on hand and for them to join these sports with everything included, it’s a

26 October 2011

relief,” said Labelle, who is a single mother to Jacob and her daughter Danielle, who, at 15, participates in some programs in addition to serving as a volunteer with Sport Venture.

“It’s such a great help for the community to keep the kids busy and occupied. I personally appreciate it because I know the kids are out playing hockey.”

Ranch Ehrlo, Labelle added, has become

like a family. The organizers take the time to get to know everyone involved with the program.

Laura Logan is Program Manager of Sport Venture. She has seen how the program – which also includes the Ehrlo Soccer League – has helped change the lives of children involved.

“There are kids out there that would love to be playing in Hockey Regina that don’t

necessarily have the funding available to do that,” said Logan. “(These programs) are absolutely needed.”

There are multiple components to Sport Venture. In addition to operating its own initiatives, it works with other organizations, such as the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, to run sport and recreational programs.

“In the winter, it doesn’t matter that it’s freezing outside, he’s excited to play hockey.”

- Laurie Labelle

There is also the Sport Venture Library at 2730 7th Avenue, where donations of sports equipment are taken. Sport Venture is thus able to equip all of the participants in its programs. In addition to this, more than 100 community groups, organizations, and individuals have access the library’s equipment.

The majority of participants, but not all of them, return the equipment at the end of the season. The most important thing, Logan said, is that it is being put to good use.

The hockey league remains the most popular program, particularly because nothing says “Canada” like outdoor hockey.

But all leagues are becoming increasingly more popular. For example, the soccer season was extended this year. For many families who are new to Canada, soccer is the sport of choice.

Sport Venture is always looking for equipment donations and volunteers to help coach in addition to organize and care for donated equipment. Participants, aged eight to 18, are also invited to join programs at any time.

For updates on programs or for more information, go to www.ehrlo.com or visit the Sport Venture Library.

“In all reality, it’s a steady door of contributions,” said Logan. “And if we’re giving (equipment) to a family where they’re able to give it to someone else – we want people to recycle it, we want people to use it, and we want them to play.”

The Sport Venture programs are run in areas that have a demand for affordable recreation, and, depending on the sport, take place in community centres, schools, and fields.

The programming has grown from the first Outdoor Hockey League season 19 years ago.

“They started with one rink at Grassick Park,” said Logan. “It started with a classroom within Ranch Ehrlo, who decided to collect equipment to suit 10 kids up with hockey gear (in order to supplement what they were learning).

They put the word out and did an equipment collection and ended up with 400 pairs of skates, and way more equipment than a classroom could hold. They had a giveaway, and the next year they had given all this equipment away but now there was nowhere to play, so they started a league.”

AdrenalineReginaSports.com

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Y’ER WELCOME

from heaven to hell in one long summer

By Bob Hughes

T

here are more golf courses on a per capita basis in Saskatchewan than anywhere in the country. So how come there were so many times in 2011 when it was almost impossible to find one in the southern half of the province that was playing all of its holes, if any at all?

In a year of some of the most bizarre weather ever seen in these parts, one that saw records broken just about everywhere, Saskatchewan’s golf community took a severe beating. And some of the courses affected will need years to fully recover, and some may indeed not ever recover.

Golf is a hugely popular sport in southern Saskatchewan, among both women and men, people of all ages. It’s a game you can play from your youth until your death. It’s a game you can enjoy no matter how talented you are.

But golfers everywhere were tearing their hair out and those who own them were watching their hair go to grey as the spring and summer of 2011 became one to remember for all the wrong reasons.

It began with a winter of one of the heaviest snowfalls we have ever seen, and that was the first hint things were not going to be nice.

The snow had to melt, and when it did it spread across the south like a tidal wave of despair, leaving in its wake golf courses that were either partly submerged or entirely under water.

From Estevan to Avonlea to Regina and beyond, one golf course after another was knocked for one loop after another. The first flood was created by a fast melt. The second, coming weeks later, came from heavy rainfall, and it was the most devastating punch of them all.

It left the Woodlawn Golf Course in Estevan submerged, the waters lapping at its new clubhouse.

Twice, it buried Wally Nelson’s prairie jewel at Avonlea, the Long Creek Golf Course. So bad was that flood that almost the whole course was under water, and you had to literally take a canoe to get to the clubhouse.

But what can only be called a minor miracle; by

30 October 2011

late August the scars from the flood had mostly disappeared at Long Creek, and the course especially the greens - was pristine.

In the city, the Royal Regina Golf Club was the worst hit. It lost all the holes south of the clubhouse from the road to the golf course to the railway tracks. It looked like one big lake, and the season was virtually ruined because of it. For most of the season, the Royal had to play with eight or nine par threes because of the damage to fairways.

Bowing to pressure from its membership, the Royal eventually opened the course to its full 18-hole layout even though it was nowhere near playable. The fairways were mostly dirt with strings of grass trying to grow through. It will likely take the Royal Regina a year or more to get back to the magnificent condition it was in before the Floods of 2011 were unleashed.

The waters rumbled north and took a swing at the relatively new Deer Valley golf course.

It tore away at the greens and holes bordering the swollen creek, leaving long fingers of sod hanging over the edge of the cliffs. Much of the shoreline was destroyed by the power of the flood. Worse, the soil began to fall and dip and drop along some of the fairways, creating huge wedges, as if an earthquake had broken loose. At season’s end, some of the greens were blotched and showing not grass but tiny pockets of dirt. How all of that can be repaired is a huge challenge.

The Tor Hill and Murray, Joanne Goulet and Flowing Springs also were hit by the flooding, some more seriously than others but nowhere as bad as Deer Valley or the Royal Regina.

The Wascana Country Club did not escape unscathed, but of all the clubs hit, the Wascana suffered the least. For a brief time, members were playing only 14 holes. But the course dried up and long-time members said it was in the best condition they had ever seen.

The Summer of 2011. Nobody who golfs around here will ever forget it. And there was nothing anybody could have done to prevent it.

And yet, we remember how lucky we are. Our golf courses have suffered, but so many more have lost homes, cottages, and farms.

We wish a speedy recovery for all.

Y’er welcome!

Column photo by Maurice Laprairie

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32 October 2011