The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

47 Kevin Nagel, Oakville Beaver Sports Editor, knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports | Thursday, Ja n u a ry 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 | `Connected to your Community " 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905- 842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com Team Green keeper Ian McRorie can't get over in time to make the save in one of two walking soccer games played last week at the Pine Glen Soccer Centre. The weekly games made their Halton debut Jan. 5. NLL debut goal a dream come true for Cole By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff OAKVILLE BEAVER | photos by Graham Paine - Oakville Beaver Walking soccer is a healthy option for those who can't run By Kevin Nagel Beaver sports editor If results in Great Britain are any indication, walking soccer could be the growth sport of the decade. Playing the indoor ver sion of the game without all that running is proving to be quite popular. The sport, featuring players who for medical or disability reasons can't or w on't participate in the regular gam e, was being played by a w hopping 400 clubs in Great Britain in 2015. A year later it dou bled to 800. David Hamon, a m em ber of the Burlington Oldtimers Soccer Club, took a passing notice of a poster prom oting the sport while in England in June. A m onth later, he "died on the soccer pitch" , after which his doctors told him the sport would not be an option for him anymore. Remembering the poster, Hamon, 62, did his home work and approached the BOSC and the Oakville Soc cer Club about helping him start a walking soccer pres ence in the two communities. The result is a weekly, 60-minute outing for any one who loves soccer but can't handle the running. It's held at Oakville's Pine Glen Soccer Centre (1520 Pine Glen Rd.) Thursdays at 10 a.m. Two weeks in, Hamon is impressed with the response. The first session Jan. 5 at tracted 21 players and the second session last Thursday had 28. Hamon needs 14 to run one game; the second session ran on two pitches. "It's good," he said. "I'm encouraged by the support I'm getting. Cogeco was out shooting (Thursday) as w as the Ontario Soccer A s sociation as part of a feature they're doing." The Pine Glen facility has the available year-round week day hours needed, as well as four pitches if necessary. Rules are basically the sam e as indoor soccer, but anyone caught turning a w alk into a jo g w ould be warned a couple of times, then penalized. Partici pants the first two weeks haven't had any problem s adapting. After Hamon suffered a heart attack in 2015, he w as eventually cleared to return to soccer when ven tricular fibrillation -- a rhythm problem that oc curs when the heart beats David Wilson (left) of Team Orange challenges Team Blue's John Mal colm for the ball at a walking soccer game at Pine Glen Soccer Centre. with rapid, erratic electrical im pulses -- struck him last summer. Q uick w ork by St. Joh n Ambulance, a nearby nurse and a Autom ated E x ternal Defibrillator (AED) saved his life. His story w as detailed in the Bur lington Post last sum m er (bit.ly/2a1sYMj). Despite the setbacks, Hamon -- who now has a miniature AED implanted in his chest -- still wanted to play, even if it meant giv ing up the running game to keep his heart rate at ac ceptable levels. He w as encouraged by the fact that two women participated. They said they m ay "m uster up a few m ore" next week. If those num bers increase, wom en would have the option of form ing their own teams or sticking with the men. Anyone w ho's interested should come ready to play and with $5, the weekly fee, in their pocket. Pine Glen Soccer Centre is located at 1520 Pine Glen Rd. in north Oakville. As he laid down for a pre-game nap, Bryan Cole couldn't help but think of the game ahead. The 23-year-old has played in big gam es before, going to the fi nal of the World Under-19s with Team Canada and playing in backto-back NCAA cham pionships at Maryland. While there might not have been as m uch on the line for this game, he had been dream ing of playing in the National Lacrosse League since he first picked up a stick. So as he tried to sleep, he kept thinking about his first game -- in particular what he w ould do if he had a chance to score. H ours later, with the Georgia Swarm holding a 10-7 lead against the defending cham pion Saskatch ewan Rush, fellow Oakville minor lacrosse grad Alex Crepinsek sent a pass to Cole as he broke in on the wing. Cole chased it down, scooped up the ball and broke in alone, ju st as he imagined. He lift ed his stick above his head as he approached the crease and faked a shot. With a quick step to his left, he drew the ball back and then fired over the shoulder of Rush goalie Tyler Carlson. "W hen it happens, it's kind of a spur of the m oment thing," Cole said of the shorthanded goal that w ould prove to be the winner in see Cole on p. 48 | w w w .insideH A LTO N .com Register Now Oakville Little League - 2017 Youth Baseball Registration Register Now Program Blastball T-ball Minor T-ball Major Minor Major Junior Senior Big League Ages 4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-17 17-20 2017 Registration Open Houses Saturday, January 21 & January 28 ·9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Oakville Little League Fieldhouse 425 Cornwall Road Proud Sponsor of Oakville Little League Oakville Little League runs nationally recognized house league and all-star baseball programs that emphasize FUN, TEAM WORK, SKILL DEVELOPMENT & FAIR PLAY. For more information call 905-827-1831 or register online at www.ollb.org