Sport, Recreation & Leisure

With a flick of the wrist, the attempt to get an ultimate frisbee league soaring in Lethbridge is underway.
And on May 14 and 15, an ultimate frisbee clinic took the field at Gyro Park for women aged 16 years and older, allowing those already familiar with the sport to touch up on their skills and to give potential new recruits their first look at the game.
“We’re trying to get as many women as we can to come out,” said Nicole Rosen, who originally hails from Toronto and has been involved with ultimate frisbee since 1999. “We’re trying to encourage the sport in general. We find that sometimes women don’t want to come out when it’s mixed. We’re trying to make it a little less stressful and starting with the basics. We have one person who’s a beginner and everybody else has played a little bit. We’re teaching the skills and how to throw the disc in different ways (as well as) basic strategies and defensive strategies and then we’ll play a little bit.”
Ultimate frisbee is a non-contact game played with a 175-gram flying disc.
The object of ultimate frisbee is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in football or rugby. Players cannot run with the disc and may only move one foot while holding the disc.
“It’s seven people to a side and the point of the game is to pass the disc down the field and catch it in the end zone,” said Rosen. “Once you catch a disc, you’re not allowed to run anymore, so it’s a passing game and a possession game.”
The non-contact sport caters to both genders and many leagues are co-ed.
The sport is self-refereed.
“You call your own fouls or you can call fouls (on the other team). Then they can contest it or not. If they think they didn’t foul you, you just redo the play. It goes back to the previous thrower and you redo the play.”
Among the athletes on hand for the May 14 clinic were sisters Janelle Brodner and Deanna Belanger.
While Brodner has been playing ultimate frisbee for three years, Belanger was fairly new to the sport.
“I played a bit in gym class in high school, but that was about it. But I liked it,” said Belanger. “It’s just being active and laid back.”
Running through a few training skills with Rosen and Medicine Hat-based coach Jolene Lamont, Belanger took stock of the skills to be successful in ultimate frisbee.
“It’s the different throws and catching, that’s what we were doing earlier,” she said. “It’s also good cardiovascular because you have to run around a lot.”
Brodner brought a little more ultimate frisbee experience into the clinic.
“My brother recommended it to me so I thought I would try it out,” she said. “The first time I played I thought it was so much fun. It’s really good because it’s non-contact and it’s a sportsmanship game. We call our own fouls and the people are really nice. It’s a good co-ed sport, as well.”
Having taken part in three tournaments in the past three years, Brodner has learned the secrets to ultimate frisbee success.
“You have to have good cuts and outs so you’re not plugging up the lanes on the sides,” she said. “(You need) a good solid flick and throw. Those are probably the two most important things.”
Having played ultimate frisbee for the past 12 years — including a stint at nationals — Rosen brought her love of the sport to Lethbridge when she moved here from Toronto in 2004 to take a job at the University of Lethbridge.
“I had a women’s team there, so I’m used to teaching. I especially like to encourage women’s play,” said Rosen, who has promoted the sport in other places she’s lived as well. “It’s the best way to meet people. So I played in Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto and here.”
The different rules on the field allow the ultimate frisbee player to excel at different facets of the game.
“There are people called handlers, they’re the ones that are good throwers and have really good patience and a good eye for what kind of throw to make to what kind of player,” said Rosen. “They have to have a lot of different throws under their belt and also be able to throw into the wind and around people. Then there are the receivers that usually have to have good hands for catching. The ultimate player would be fast and have good hands and good throws. You can be one or the other and still contribute.”
While ultimate frisbee is played with seven players on each team, it can also be played five-on-five, said Rosen.
And that’s something to start with on a local level.
“What I would like is to at least see a four-team league to start,” said Rosen. “So you would need about 15 people on each team. So 60 players that could come out regularly. We’re probably at about 20 (players) right now.
“(It would be ideal) if we could do a fall league on Sundays and then try to get the sport more popular the spring and summer.”
But the ultimate goal is to get a full-fledged league going in Lethbridge, said Rosen.
“We don’t have a league in the summer, which is funny because it’s very much a summer sport. We have an indoor league at the university throughout the school year and then as soon as the university students leave we have a few people that are left. I’d love to have an actual league. Medicine Hat has a league.”
From there, establishing a touring team is another objective.
“The touring teams are the ones that go to the tournaments,” said Rosen. “So they have practice and they go and compete against other cities and ultimately play in regionals, nationals or, if they’re really good, worlds.”

With his boyish good looks and humble grin one might expect Kyle Sebastian is destined for fame as a teen idol. Few might predict that the 21-year-old alumnus of Winston Churchill High School is on track to stardom in the ranks of professional wrestling.
At a ceremony recently in Las Vegas, Sebastian, whose birthname is Kyle Kristensen, was honoured by the wrestling industry, receiving the Future Legend Award.  The plaque was awarded as part of an annual awards banquet presented by the Cauliflower Alley Club. Fewer than a dozen wrestlers have received it since its introduction in 2000. Past winners of this honour include Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, the late Chris Benoit, and TNA Wrestling star Frankie Kazarian. 
 Along with the award, Sebastian receives a paid scholarship to attend a Missouri wrestling camp this summer led by former seven-time world champion Harley Race. The camp is regarded as one of the premier training programs for future WWE stars.
It has been an incredible ascent for the native of Lethbridge, who started his career at 16 years of age in 2005. In his young career he has already wrestled more than 200 matches across Canada and made a successful debut in Japan last spring. In February, he was featured in a two-page spread in “The Wrestler” magazine in the U.S.
Sebastian continues to make appearances across Western Canada. He is a co-holder of the Monster Pro Wrestling tag team championship in Edmonton and is a leading contender for a number of singles titles as well.
 He makes his home in Kelowna, B.C.

It’s one of the first outdoor track and field events of the season in Alberta.
    And if local coaches and volunteers have their way, the Lethbridge Track and Field Club Spring Meet May 7-8 at the University of Lethbridge Stadium will not only be one giant leap toward becoming an annual meet, but will also help promote future events that come to Lethbridge.
“The plan is if we can get the support from the city, we’re willing to help them with the 2012 Alberta Summer Games,” said Lethbridge Track and Field Club coach Greg Guyn.
The 2012 Alberta Summer Games are scheduled for July 26-29 next year.
“It’s a big task and this is a chance for us to practise and learn how to run a meet again. We’ll try and do it again prior to the Alberta Games and help out as long as the support is there. We’re just a volunteer group and we don’t have a lot of funds, so to do something like that is huge. There are a lot of athletes coming from the whole province. So you need lots of volunteers and lots of additional funding to do things like bring in registered officials and order medals as well as get supplies for the volunteers.”
In the meantime, the focus is on rebuilding the Lethbridge Track and Field Club Spring Meet at the local level.
“It’s a meet we haven’t done for a number of years,” said Guyn. “The last time we did it was in 2003. In 2004, it was snowed out, and in 2005, the track was closed at the university.”
For the next four years, the local contingent was without a regulation track and field facility.
“We were over at the Civic (Centre Field), but it’s not a full-sized track,” said Guyn. “We weren’t able to run a meet there.”
That downtime produced another issue.
“During that period, we had a big turnover of athletes and kids that grew up and parents who had moved on,” said Guyn. “We were kind of struggling to get everything re-organized to do a meet.”
But with athletes from around Alberta getting ready to toe the line at this year’s meet, the local track and field contingent is eyeing a fresh start.
“It’s kind a rebirth and we’re looking forward to it,” said Guyn. “We’re going to try and keep (this year’s event) fairly low-key and fun for everyone and try not to make it too overly competitive.”
The event has already attracted the attention of clubs around the province.
“We’re hoping to get at least 100 athletes,” said Guyn. “I know we have 40 (athletes) coming from Edmonton, mostly peewee and bantam-aged kids aged 10-13, and then a number of kids from Crowsnest Pass.”
The event is an all-ages meet, said Guyn.
“We’re going to have events for whoever is signing up.”
While focused on the upcoming track and field event, Guyn cast an eye to the upcoming 2012 Summer Games.
“There will have to be a qualifying meet for southern Alberta athletes. I think they’re going to ask us to do that and that’s going to take some work as well, so we’ll take whatever help we can get,” he said.
While the 2012 Alberta Summer Games are still more than a year away, volunteers have already gotten on board for this weekend’s event.
“We’ll get people slotted into the different events, (from) recording distances and times, holding the measuring tape and raking the sand or collecting the discuses and the javelins,” said Guyn. “If we have people to do that, the meet should go fairly smoothly.”
And that will only bode well for the future.
“I’m hoping it’ll be a positive experience for them and they’ll look into trying to come back next year and we’ll get them involved right through to the Alberta Games.”

One of the city’s newest amenities, Elizabeth McKillop Park will be officially opened May 7.
The green space, near the entrance to the Legacy Ridge neighbourhood, is named after one of 28 women who were part of Lethbridge’s progress during the city’s early years.
City and Lethbridge Historical Society officials selected the names when it was decided Legacy — near the north end of Stafford Drive N. — would become Canada’s first subdivision with women’s names for streets, parks and other features.
Elizabeth and Charles McKillop became the city’s first “clergy couple” when the Presbyterian preacher arrived in Lethbridge 125 years ago. Decades later, McKillop United Church was named in their memory.
Opening ceremony organizers hope descendents of Elizabeth McKillop and all 28 women being honoured will be able to attend the public event, set for 1 p.m. at the new park.
Those 28 are, in alphabetical order: Thyrza Young Burkett; Mary Cameron; Edith Emma Coe; Grace Dainty; Rosie Davis; Mildred Dobbs; Dorothy Gentleman; Elma Hazel Groves; Alma Isobell Hodder; Victoria Houk; Florence Ho Leong; Elizabeth McKillop; Jessie Ellen McLeay; Haru Moriyama; Natawista Maydell Palmer; Lillian Margaret Parry; Lettice Perry; Mary Elizabeth Reed; Jessie Robinson; Agnes Short; Jane Stafford; Margaret Sutherland; Anna Tilley; Jessie Ursenbach; Marie Van Haarlem; Revenge Walker; White Tailed Deer Woman.

Alberta International Air Show announces its lineup

On July 23 and 24, the skies above Lethbridge will once again be blessed with the talent and excitement that southern Albertans have come to love for more than 20 years. This year marks the 20th anniversary performance of the Alberta International Air Show, hosted by the Lethbridge International Air Show Association and a growing pool of local and regional sponsors.
The Canadian Forces Snow Birds have confirmed their participation for this year along with the return of the CF-18 Demo Team,  A-10 Wart Hog and a number of military and civilian “surprises.” LIASA is proud to announce the confirmation of the “LIMA LIMA Flight Team” as well as the eagerly awaited return of Julie Clark in her T-34 Mentor.
This year promises to be fast and loud with more than six jet acts expected, including; Hawk 1 and “Fire Cat.” More acts will be announced closer to show date.

Turning Points Golf Classic to benefit Harbour House

The sixth annual Turning Points Golf Classic, in support of the YWCA’s Harbour House, will be held June 23 at Henderson Lake Golf Course.
The event includes 18 holes of golf (Texas Scramble format) with cart, dinner and prizes. Registration fee is $150 for individual golfers. There is also a range of sponsorship levels available. For registration information or details regarding sponsorship levels, call the YWCA at 403-329-0088 or email Diana Sim at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
More details are available online at www.ywcalethbridge.org.
Proceeds from the tournament assist women and children who experience domestic violence.