Scott Schmidt
For the Sun Times
Dave Burrows recently wrapped up his fourth trip to the Canadian Horseshoe Pitching Championships in Victoria, but if something doesn’t change soon, he may not have a home club to represent much into the future.
The Lethbridge Horseshoe Club has been around for a very long time and once enjoyed a solid membership of more than 30. However, with the decrease in the sport’s popularity in younger generations, that tally has dwindled to just a dozen members, the youngest of which is a 62-year-old Burrows.
“In my younger days when the (Alberta) Summer Games were really popular, they had the sport in the Games and it attracted lots of younger kids,” said Burrows at his final practice in Lethbridge before the Canadians. “Now, the Games aren’t as popular as they used to be and they’ve taken horseshoes out of it and I think that’s what’s killed it.”
Burrows grew up in Lethbridge but didn’t get into the sport until he was in his 20s, when his father Jesse somewhat nudged him into it. After all, Jesse was a former national champion and pretty much the reason horseshoes exist inside the city.
Jesse actually built the first pits down at Indian Battle Park and also led a fight against the city, which wanted them removed, and got a new set constructed at Pavan Park. He passed away before a flood destroyed those but the insurance money from Pavan Park went into the facility where they play now.
Burrows learned the game from his father and obviously picked up some of his will to win, as he tries to compete whenever he gets the chance. As long as the Canadians are within a decent travelling distance, he is there.
“I hope to do well,” said Burrows, who pitches a ringer about once out of every three attempts. “I enjoy the competition and I really enjoy the people.”
The Lethbridge club, which meets at their beautiful 12-pit facility outside Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. from May through the end of September, desperately would like to see the memberships go up a lot and the average age to go down at least a little.
Not to say the club expects a stampede of teenagers to show up at league nights because the game is extremely well suited for those past their physical prime.
“It’s great exercise because you have to walk back and forth so much,” said club president Gordon Ball, who heads things up along with treasurer Len Scheibner. “You throw 40 shoes per game and at tournaments you’ll play five games. When you throw over 200 shoes it’s quite a bit of work.”
Of course, if you’re smart like the guys in this club, you won’t ever have to bend over to pick up the shoes. Each of them carries a sawed-off golf club with an attached hook, perfect for scooping up downed horseshoes.
Ball even has a little measuring stick on one end, as any shoe lying within six inches of the peg is good for a point. (Everyone knows there’s only one other thing where close counts but chances are a hand grenade’s margin for error is a tad more than half a foot.)
Membership for the year is $10 and Ball says they have plenty of shoes they can lend newcomers — as a pair costs $40-$50 new — until they decide if the sport is for them. All you need to do is show up and the group will take care of everything, including teaching you how to play.

Scott Schmidt
For the Sun Times
Is there a bolder description than to call something “ultimate”?
   It’s not just thrown around, either, as quite often only the best fighters, state-of-the-art software and cheeseburgers are actually marketed with the term. Because the reality is, the second you call something “ultimate” you’re essentially guaranteeing greatness.
Well, for Frisbee lovers, their beloved — and increasingly popular — football/rugby/flying-disc sport doesn’t just use the “ultimate” tag; it pretty much claims it altogether.
Ultimate.
While most of us outsiders refer to it as ultimate Frisbee, those in the know need but one word to describe their favourite game. And if anyone is pondering an attempt to fend off the efforts of these Frisbee maniacs to steal a perfectly good adjective, it might be a wee bit late, as even Google lends four of its top-five search results to their sport.
The game, which is generally played seven a side with the intention of getting the disc to the endzone for a point, has been around for decades but has exploded in popularity since the turn of the century.
And if a small but eager Lethbridge following has anything to say about it, ultimate is going to find a niche right here in the city.
“There’s a club through the (University of Lethbridge) right now; it’s an intramural league really” says Nicole Rosen, a U of L faculty member trying to put the league together. “So there is a group of us that play — not all of us are university community members — and we play indoors through the fall and spring.
“But there is a group of us who also play (outdoors) whenever it’s nice out and so all summer we’ve been playing twice a week, just pickup.”
That group meets at Gyro Park every Monday and Wednesday evenings and sets up a field. They choose teams and scrimmage much like kids do before a street hockey game but with some more local interest in the sport they could easily form an organized league.
“Anyone who wants to come out can come out but what we’d like to do is set up a league with six teams,” says Rosen. “The intramurals will still be going on through the university but we really want to get more people from the non-university community to come out.”
At this point some discussions have taken place with the city about field availability and whatnot but the focus right now is awareness and interest. Until they have a sufficient number to move forward with, league details are somewhat irrelevant.
Interest is high during school months but many of the ultimate players aren’t from here and so they are gone in the summer months when the sport is best played.
But the Lethbridge following is there, as a nearly 60-member Facebook page can attest and with 15-20 already coming to regular pickup games during the summer months, Rosen believes finding enough athletes to take part can’t be that hard.
“We’d really like to have something together by the fall, “ she says. “I’m not sure how possible that is because we still have to publicize quite a bit.”
However, considering ultimate is a co-ed sport, fit for an extremely wide age demographic, Rosen figures an eventual league is inevitable, regardless of when it becomes official.
Rosen and the rest of the group looking to put something together are going to have a general meeting later this month to discuss the next steps. But one of the biggest hurdles the sport has is attracting those who don’t have a lot of Frisbee experience because many think they won’t be able to figure out the techniques.
That’s why Rosen and some friends are going to hold various ultimate clinics over the next several months to help teach the people of Lethbridge. The first two clinics run on Sept. 8 and Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran Park.
Another clinic is set for Sept. 18 at 11 a.m., also at Nicholas Sheran.
Contact Rosen at 403-393-2317 or visit www.lethbridgeultimate.org for more information or if interested in joining the league.

The final result wasn’t exactly what the host team was hoping for but, with a fair amount of drama from every squad along the way, the 2010 Junior Little League Canadian Championship was definitely a tournament to remember.
After just a handful of games together, an all-star group of U15 kids from Lethbridge Southwest attempted the daunting task of winning a national title as the host team. However, faced with taking down the country’s best Little League teams — all with a whole lot more experience than they had — the home club was never able to fully put their talents together in a strong, co-ordinated effort.
After a 2-1 start, the team dropped its final two contests to finish out of the playoff round and eventually tied for fifth with the Maritimes representative from Sydney Mines, N.S.
“We’d been practising for probably three weeks but the disadvantage we had is we only played 10 games as a team going into this tournament,” said co-coach Ron Strate. “The other teams from back east and B.C., they had 40 or 50 games together, which gave them a bit of an advantage for sure.”
But even though Lethbridge Southwest finished with a 2-3 record — their scheduled fifth-place game was cancelled along with the bronze-medal game due to rain Thursday — the club played everyone tough and could have easily finished with a better fate.
In Game One, a last-inning rally fell just short, handing them an 8-7 loss to tournament co-favourite Medicine Hat. In their second game, the team faced a five-run deficit to the Maritimes heading to their last at bat.
This time the rally, which didn’t even start until there were two out, did not die off and Lethbridge had eight-straight hitters reach safely to win 18-17.
That momentum carried them into a game against the two-time defending champion Coquitlam A’s representing B.C. In one of the best all-around team performances of the tournament, Lethbridge shocked the tournament by beating the A’s 8-7 and putting them in great position for a playoff spot.
It was the only game B.C. lost, as they went on to run the rest of the table and win their third-consecutive title. They are now in Taylor, Mich. as Team Canada participating in the Junior Little League World Series.
“That’s great for us because we were the only team that beat them,” said Strate. “The perception when you host one of these things is you’re not as strong and you’re only there because you’re hosting. And going into the tournament I didn’t know how we’d do, but we played with every single team and we could have just as easily been 5-0.
“There was just one bad inning in all those games, except for B.C.”
Magrath native Tyson Gruninger pitched that game against the eventual champs and picked up the win along the way. The young hurler actually appeared on the mound in both Lethbridge victories.
“It was sweet to start and pitch four and a third innings in that game,” said Gruninger. “(B.C.) were hanging their heads pretty good after that one.
“It was awesome to represent the home side in this tournament, and to contribute to the team was great.”
Unfortunately, after the B.C. game, the club found some serious inconsistencies at the plate and was unable to win another game, losing to both Quebec and Ontario and missing the semifinals. Ontario surprised everyone but themselves by knocking off Medicine Hat in the semis. The Hat had been to two straight finals prior to 2010.
After a wild, back-and-forth title game, the A’s of Coquitlam final prevailed in extra innings and took the tournament.
“There were times when I thought we could have been a little more intense,” said Strate. “But we were always in it and we never gave up.”
 

Scott Schmidt
For the Sun Times
Maybe 11 years of age is a tad early to start handing out comparisons to one of the greatest Olympians in the history of sport.
But how can you possibly describe eight gold medals in the swimming pool at any event without at least momentarily thinking about Michael Phelps?
When Kaelan Freund set off to Peace River recently for the 2010 Alberta Summer Games, he knew he was going to be tough to beat. What he didn’t realize is besting him would prove virtually impossible.
“I knew I would get some golds, not eight maybe, but some,” says Kaelan, who has been swimming for six years and whose parents were both lifeguards. “Not all of the best swimmers were there because some were at nationals.”
But the truth is, nationals for boys starts at 13 so if he’s already comparing himself to competition that much his elder, he’s clearly among the best of his age. His father Jason says Kaelan is generally in the top-three in the province for whatever event he competes in.
Kaelan entered into nine events at the Games and came home with nine medals, his only blemish — if you can even bring yourself to call it one — was a silver in a four-man relay.
“It was my first time up there; it was really fun,” says Kaelan. “I really like the scenery up there a lot.
“I was really happy to do so well.”
Don’t forget Kaelan’s name either, because he’s pretty focused on continuing his swimming career right through to an Olympic medal. How could he not?
And the family talent didn’t just land on Kaelan either, as his older sister pulled home a more-than impressive five medals — one gold, four silver — of her own. Brittany Freund hadn’t ever enjoyed quite that success at a swim meet before so she was extremely pleased.
And when you’re good at something you love, it’s easy to plan ahead.
“I think the next goal for me is to try and get in the age-group times for Western (Canadian Championships) and on to university,” says Brittany without batting an eye at the fact she’s still only 14. “I’m not sure which university (I’ll be attending) but it would be really nice to swim for one of the teams.”
The Freund siblings weren’t the only Lethbridge swimmers to bring some hardware home, as the pool easily provided the city’s best individual results.
Vincenzo Sljuka had four golds, three silvers and a bronze, while Tyrone Moline had three gold, two silvers and a bronze. Aidan Godwin had a pair of silver medals, while Jordan Calladine had a trio of bronze medals.
Outside the pool, Lethbridge produced a few medal on the track as well. Chris Hurdle took gold in the U17 1500m and also silvered in the 800m. Don Bridgeman had three U17 silvers on the track.
The rest of the city’s medal count came from the team sports, as much of the Zone 1 lacrosse team (silver), Football (bronze) and girls’ rugby (bronze) teams were made up of Lethbridge athletes.
Zone 1, which includes Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and pretty much anywhere south of Calgary, finished fifth of eight zones for final medal count, with 65, which is right about where the zone finishes every time. The count was down a bit from the ’08 Games but those were Zone 1 hosted in Medicine Hat Hat and this year’s event in Peace River is about as far to travel as you can get. Calgary (Zone 3) took top spot as usual.