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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, August 12, 2016 | 26 Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports More than double that number of youngsters came out to Sherwood park on Thursday to try their hand at eight activity stations: a wet sponge bocce ball toss; Heads Up 7 Up; soccer dodgeball; a bean bag toss; octopus tag; kickball; Rock, Paper, Scissors; and an obstacle course. "Other than being a fun day, they get to meet new friends and work on their teamwork skills, self-esteem and physical activity," Harry Bell, regional manager for Hamilton-Niagara and southwest Ontario, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, said of the benefits received by the kids. The participants in the local Jumpstart Games were part of Canadian Tire's community partners including Community Development Halton, the YMCA of Hamilton, Burlington and Brantford, the YMCA of Oakville, the City of Burlington and the Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton. Six-year-old Erica of the Hamilton, Burlington, Brantford YMCA said she enjoyed tossing the water-soaked bocce balls, which the kids threw at each other, "cause we got wet and cooled off. They got me better," she said of kids who tossed the soaking sponge balls at her. Nine-year-old Kaytlin of the YMCA said she likes the games because "we get to be active and "Connected to your Community" Kids defy heat at Jumpstart Games Annual Canadian Tire-sponsored event attracts more than 200 kids By Tim Whitnell Burlington Post staff More than 200 area kids braved sweltering heat to have fun this week at the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Games in Burlington. Children ages 6-11 participated in eight activities on a rotational basis at Sherwood Forest Park on Thursday. The second annual local event is sponsored by Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, a national charity that helps kids ages 4-18 from financially disadvantaged families participate in sports and physical activities by helping cover the costs of registration, equipment and/or transportation. Anywhere from 100-1,000 children attending various summer camps get the free day of fun at Canadian Tire Jumpstart games across the country. Their bus transportation, registration, water and lunch are paid for. Locally, that was done by Canadian Tire Financial Services and Canadian Tire stores in Oakville and Burlington. More than 40 volunteers from Canadian Tire Financial Services and local stores guided the children during the games day. In 2015, the first year for the event in Halton, about 100 kids took part. The Oakville A's minor rookie ball team have reached the final of all four tournaments its has played this season. The latest accomplishment came last weekend when the A's won the Green & Gold Classic Division 1 title in Richmond Hill. Members of the team include (back row from left) head coach Nathan Brown and his staff of Steve Medcalf, Filipe Goncalves, Robert Dickenson and Dave Shaw; (middle row) Isaac Shaw, Juliano Goncalves, Connor Brown, Lincoln Currie, Carson Wise and Carson Medcalf; (front row) Connor Ferguson, Brody Riva, Matthew Wood, William Papadopoulos, Owen Wong and Josh Hunt. | photo submitted Farraj, 10, leaps over some noodles as he competes in the obstacle course in the Jumpstart Games hosted by Canadian Tire Financial at Sherwood Forest Park on Thursday. More than 200 kids took part, rotating through a variety of activity stations. | photo by Graham Paine ­ Burlington Post outside." In the middle of another heat warning for Halton on Thursday, temperatures were expected to hit 41 C (106F) with the humidex that day. St. John Ambulance was on standby at Sherwood Forest Park in case of any heat-related issues. A St. John medical first responder said kids are particularly prone to heat stress as they know only one speed when playing, all out, and don't always rehydrate when they should. St. John was probably keeping an eye on three area professional sports team mascots in full gear for the occasion, the Hamilton TigerCats' TC, Carleton the Bear representing the Toronto Maple Leafs and The Raptor from Toronto's NBA team. In 2015, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities helped more than 1,450 kids and disbursed $95,165 to the Oakville chapter. Since 2005, Jumpstart has disbursed $443,650 for 4,046 kids in Oakville to participate in sports/ physical activities. It also helped more than 1,000 kids and disbursed more than $116,000 across its Burlington chapter in 2015. Since 2005, Jumpstart has disbursed $613,141 for 4,536 kids in Burlington. Jumpstart has helped more than one million kids across Canada since 2005. If you know a child that wants to play sports but can't afford to, call 1-844-YES-PLAY or visit jumpstart.canadiantire.ca to apply. Oakville minor rookie ball A's excel in tourney play -- four trips to finals, two gold medals A winner or finalist in its previous three tournaments this year, the Oakville A's minor rookie ball rep baseball team added another title to the list. The A's won the 2016 Green & Gold Classic Division 1 title in Richmond Hill by defeating LaSalle 15-4 in the championship game last weekend. The A's won the Vaughan tournament and were finalists at the Cambridge Cubs and North Mississauga tournaments earlier this season. The team is in first place in the Central Ontario Baseball Association minor rookie ball standings with a record of 21-2-1. Including tournaments and other non-league games, the A's sport a record of 38-6-3 overall in 2016.