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36 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 14, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Squashing gender discrimination Oakville presence felt at skating provincials Though the competition was held in Clarington, members of the Oakville Speed Skating Club (OSSC) must have felt right at home at the recent provincial age class championships. OSSC athletes made up 22 per cent of the field at the meet, the largest-ever representation for one club at an all-Ontario speed skating championships. Patrick Duffy led the 44-skater local contingent, winning all the races he competed in as well as placing first in his relay event. Emma Hobson was the other OSSC skater to win individual gold, while Blake Sullivan earned a gold in relay. All three were selected to represent Ontario at both the North American and Canadian championships later this year. Claiming silver medals were Erin Heidecker and Sullivan, with Anaka Will-Dryden and Sean McAnuff winning bronze medals. Also reaching event finals were Erin Stewart, Ben Heidecker and Sean Stewart (fifth in their divisions) as well as Anne Marie Gildea, Zachary Lin and Jeremy Lin (sixth-place efforts). Ben Heidecker, Sean Stewart, Jeremy Lin and Zachary Lin qualified for the North American championships. Hazel Garde, Joshua Sullivan, Amanda Tickner, Antoine Parent, Katie Quesnelle, Hal Malcolm, Cassandra Boychuk and Michael Lowrey each cracked the top 10 in their divisions. Also representing Oakville at the provincials were Eli Chislett, Christopher Gemmell, Zubin Khan, Nicholas Kothleiner, Robert Lowrey, Ryan McAnuff, Sara McNamara, Antoine Parent, Tiago Santos, Joshua Sullivan, Ian Welsby, Samuel Chin Cheong, Manon Garde, Daniel Giannotti, Mitchell Kos, Quinn MacHattie, William Malcolm, Connor McNamee, Gabriel Patron, Colin Skov, Ryan Quesnelle, Graeme Stewart, Christopher Sturino, Joshua Whibbs and Stephen Van Gemert. In other recent club news, five OSSC skaters won medals at the third Ontario Cup age class meet of the season in Gloucester. Erin Heidecker and Blake Sullivan each won silver, with Sean McAnuff, Duffy and WillDryden adding bronzes. RON KUZYK / OAKVILLE BEAVER BECAUSE I AM A GIRL: One of the world's best female squash players, Natalie Grainger (left), was in town this week for an intensive training camp with junior players at The Oakville Club. Grainger, the top-ranked doubles player and fourth-ranked individual player in the world, also joined Oakville's Laura Gemmell (the top-ranked under-17 player in North America), national team member Tara Mullins, Canadian doubles champion Adrian Griffin and local junior players at a high-energy exhibition event in Toronto Wednesday to raise awareness of gender discrimination around the world. The Plan Canada campaign, titled Because I am a Girl, will follow the lives of 140 girls in nine developing countries until 2015. Leonard to stop pucks for elite squad By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Kristi Alcorn spent five months looking for the best young hockey players to form two elite girls' hockey teams. When it came to finding the last line of defence, she chose Oakville's Cami Leonard. Leonard was named as one of the two goalies for the East Coast Selects, an under-12 team that will play in tournaments as well as a series of exhibition games in Finland, "She's very quick on her feet and Sweden and Iceland in August. The East Coast Selects were moves really formed five years ago by Travis well. She has Howe, the son of Mark Howe and good size and grandson of Gordie Howe. Since their inception, the Selects have her angles are run programs for boys' teams -- really good ." four players, including Edmonton Oilers forward and former East Coast Selects Oakville Trafalgar High School scout Kristia Alcorn, student Sam Gagner, from the on Cami Leonard Selects' first team were drafted in the first round of the NHL draft. This year, the Selects have added the two girls' teams. Alcorn was put in charge of scouting for the teams. She traveled around to various tournaments to find the best young players. Invitations were then extended to 70 skaters and 12 goalies for a tryout in Rochester, N.Y. on Dec. 31. Leonard's Burlington peewee Barracudas team was playing in the Bell Capital Cup Hockey Tournament in Ottawa. The day after winning the championship, she was off to Rochester. After putting the goalies through a variety of drills, the players were split into six teams for scrimmages. "I thought it was 50-50," Leonard said of her chances of making the team. "There were a lot of other really good goalies and a lot of good players." Leonard, who turns 13 later this month, turned out to be one of the best, though, finding out the next day she had made the team. "She's very quick on her feet and moves really well," Alcorn said. "She has good size and her angles are really good." The former captain of the NCAA's Quinnipiac University Bobcats, Alcorn said she wishes there had been a similar program in place when she growing up. She believes playing for the team and the added exposure it provides should help the players achieve their long-term goals in the sport. "Playing with the top girls, the competition is going to be better and they're going to be pushed so much harder," said Alcorn, who will coach the under-12s. "Plus your name gets tossed around a lot easier. When I was (scouting) at games, I would ask parents and coaches, `Are there any other girls I should be watching.' It's all about networking and for those who want to play at a higher level, this will definitely help." To help the players raise money for trip, the Barracudas will be holding a fundraiser for the girls at Club 54 in Burlington on March 29. For tickets, call 416-684-5817. MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER SELECT COMPANY: Oakville's Cami Leonard was recently named as one of two goalies for the East Coast Selects under-12 girls' hockey team.