Our advertiser’s “Goal” is always to “Assist” their customers.
JUNE 2016
29
Summerheight’s Josh Amyot, It’s a Long Drive to Work By Jordan Todd
M
ost golf instructors have spent their entire lives around the game. That’s not the case for Josh Amyot, Summerheights Golf Links newest teacher. Amyot never really played the game growing up. It wasn’t until the age of 25, when he was living out west that he took up golf as a sort of stress reliever. “I was working for a big corporation for a while and it was kind of my outlet,” says Amyot. “And I got really into it; the learning, the instruction aspects.”
Eventually, he decided that a career change was in order. All it took was a nudge from his dad, and he was heading home to earn his certification to teach golf. That was about two and a half years ago. After getting certified, he was looking for work for a while. He had a friend whose aunt and uncle owned Summerheights, but he didn’t immediately get a job. He really got their notice at their long drive competition. “I ended up winning the long drive Josh Amyot enjoys seeing his competition, and I think that made students improve their game. a small impression,” says Amyot. Photo Submitted “From there, I started last summer.”
Amyot is just beginning his second year as an instructor at Summerheights. As a teacher, he likes to explain why to his students, rather than just telling them what to do. He finds that it really helps students, and a lot of golf instructors don’t do it. While he likes the teaching aspect, what he really loves is seeing his students improve. “I really enjoy it when students come into the pro shop and tell me they’re bombing it 20 or 30 yards farther or that they’re scoring that much better,” he says. “That’s the aspect I really enjoy, helping people improve.”
Summer Kick-off with South Stormont Minor Soccer By Victoria Klassen
T
he South Stormont Minor Soccer Program has been bringing kids together to play soccer for over 20 years. Sherry-Lynn Harbers, the recreation programs co-ordinator, says this summer there are 460 children in the program. They take 60 participants in the Timbits program, which is an introduction to soccer for three year olds. They play games like What Time Is It Mister Wolf?, Red Light Green Light, and Follow the Leader drills. “They start off the program with stretches,” says Harbers about the Timbits program, “and then some exercises such as running and jumping. We always include scoring in the net as one of the drills because it is everyone’s favourite!”
The minor soccer is for children aged four to 13, and they are split up into five different age divisions. All together, this program has 36 teams this summer. “The volunteer coaches are what make this program possible. We have at least one volunteer coach per team and they are usually one of the parents,” says Harbers. The Tuesday night games are played at the Arnold Bethune Memorial Park in Long Sault. Harbers says that the one location and once-a-week commitment make it a great program for families with busy schedules or more than one child who wants to play soccer. “The program is also good for those that want to play in a noncompetitive league,” says Harbers. “They are able to gain soccer skills but it is a great program to get active, have fun, and create friendships.”
MURPHY’S SPORTS LAW
South Stormont Soccer Mascot Hootin Annie
By David Murphy
Dan Allaire vs David Murphy
That’ll be one of the amateur boxing matches at an event that’ll be held in May 2017 in support of the Children’s Treatment Centre and Champs Eastside Boxing Club. The two groups teamed up before to raise some funds a n d awareness for their causes and next year’s event promises to be a lot of fun and a good showcase of what amateur boxing is all about.
Dan and I go back to high school (I’m a year older). We’ve been friends ever since but friends who are competitive at everything we do. Whether it was playing hockey, golfing, MC at an event, or even producing more stories in day when we both worked in the Corus Entertainment news room, we have pushed and encouraged each other at every step to be better. In less than a year, we’ll be taking the idea of pushing and encouraging each other to a whole new level. We’ve had people ask us how serious this amateur boxing match is. We’ve been training up to 2 hours a day, 3 days a week since mid-March and will continue to do so up until our match.
The training takes place under the watchful eye of Jorge Luis and Matt Veenstra at Champs and includes a 2K run and 2-3 rounds of skipping --and then we begin the warm up before the actual workout! We’ve both already shed some weight and improved our cardio without losing strength. We’re learning that boxing is indeed the “sweet science”. Mark your calendar for next May (actual date to be announced later this year) for a great card of amateur boxing including a 3 round, two minutes per round, charity match. Ah, the things we do for charity!