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(This Punch is proud of his workers) â€" As a more or less nineâ€"toâ€"fiver, Paul Puncher spends his working hours pushing threeâ€"piece suits and the like in his exclusive downtown Kitchener‘s men‘s wear store. Or at least he did until late last fall when he decided to put in a little overtime modelling ha_la _ o In this age of athletic unreason when fewer and fewer volunteers are wearing more and more hats, Puncher fi'fl;uratively picked the biggest one off the rack when he, after rounding up a classy coterie of equally devoted volunteers, agreed to become the new president of the Waterioo Tigers of the Interâ€"County Major Baseball League. It is common knowledge that Tigers for the past three years have been a oneâ€"man show at the management level. The seemingly indefatigable Merle (Champ) Glassford, before his untimely passing late last summer, took care of everything from promotions to player signings to pop in the press box. But equally common was the knowledge that no one else on the local scene had the time, nor the desire, to devote themselves to the single cause of senior baseball the way Champ did. Enter Paul Puncher et al. No martyr this suitâ€"seller, Puncher admittedly was reluctant at the outset to get involved with the enormous undertaking of reâ€"organizing Tigers basically from stem to stern. Such things as Iâ€"C administrative changes, the ownership takeover itself, the striking of an executive committee and directorship, the recruitment of both on and offâ€"field personnel to run the club, the promotions, the playver signings, the every day hassles, well, to say the least, the thought alone was enough to turn most people off the proposition. But Puncher, and to their credit, others, were motivated to carry on. Mainly by the fact that if someone did not step in to take over the club, not only would it go down the sewer, but along with it the years of hard work of the earlier regime, plus the hopes of local players to When you manage a .500 season record and it‘s still only good for sixth place out of eight, you know the competition is tough. And as manager Paul Puncher told the 15 hopefuls assembled at Waterloo Opâ€" timist midgets first indoor ball practice of the season Monday, there is no reason to believe it will get any easier this year than it was last. But as Puncher also pointed out, with a few breaks here or there, there is no reason why his club couldn‘t move up a notch or five either. A â€"check of _ initial~ roster â€" turnâ€"out indicates that not only have Optimists lost _ their top_ two . pitchers through graduation, but also their top hitter in addition to a handful of other valuable veterans Gone through graduation are mound stalwarts Jeff Schaefer and Dave Drago, leading hitter ; Kevin Schnurr, Mike continue up the ladder to the highest possible level of competition in their hometown. 1 And since Puncher represents one half of the tandem that has tutored the Waterloo midget club (the other being longâ€"time minor sports devotee Jerry Scharlach) for the past half dozen summers, he has what one might term a vested interest in the future of baseball in this CHty. ‘""There‘s a lot of work still to be done, but everyone‘s chipping in ... everything is taking shape nicely."‘ Hence, pass the president‘s hat. But while he admits, as expected, that this winter and spring has brought an awful lot of extra work to his table, Puncher said Tuesday that not only is he thrilled with the way things are shaping up for Tigers on and off the field, he is also anxious to continue in his role as midget menâ€" tor RICK CAMPBELL Eo AE GISTRATION B 304M Wou!ld you u«e to attend? ! so please compiete the coupon and return it with your cheque to the address below For further intormation please contact Maureen Hodgson te, 744â€"4186 The Registration Fee of $35.00 per The Manager Federal Business Deveiopment Bank Commerce House. 50 Queen St North | will attend the business management seminar at Waterloo Name(s‘ Kitchener, Ontario. N2H 6P4 Address 0N A Management Seminar Witmer, Eric MacNaughton, Aron Gagâ€" non and Dean Dippel. Questionable status labels have also been planted on Todd Schirtzinger, who is still in Florida, and Keith Lazenby, who might spend the summer months honing his basketball skills. . Optimists finished their 1980 Interâ€" County season at 12â€"12, not bad, but then again behind first place Guelph at 15â€"9, as well as Stratford, Cambridge and Brantford at 14â€"10 and Kitchener at 13â€"11. Spelling doom in most losing efforts for Waterloo was a woeful performance at the plate, especially in clutch situaâ€" tions. ~Hitting was our weak spot last year, 1 don‘t think we had a .300 hitter on our club, so we‘ll definitely be looking for more hitting this year," said Puncher who joins veteran coach Jerry Scharlach for their sixth straight season behind the Optimist bench together. "We‘ll obâ€" Waterloo Motor Inn Aprnii 29, 1981 Posta! Code Tel r person includes luncheon. waATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1981 â€" PAGE 21 on April 29. 1981 "I‘m really happy with the way things are going with the Tigers, I‘ve said from the start I‘d be restricting myself to work at the executive level, with the promotion of the club, with the exécutive branch and the board of directors. ‘‘We‘ve got a lot of excellent people, it‘s a pleasure to work with them. Our promotions are going well? and our season‘s ticket sales are going well. There‘s a lot of work still to be done but everyone‘s chipping in, we‘re setting up various committees, I don‘t see how any one person could do everything, but the division of powers has made my job easier, everything is taking shape nicely. While Tigers 1981 onâ€"field lineup is still up in the air {workouts began Sunday at Bechtel Park), Puncher has nothing short of 100% confidence in the "big three" responsible for establishing aforementioned lineup. ‘‘What‘s really gratifying is the excellent response we‘ve had from the community, we sure hope to keep that going." Those individuals, of course, are director of player personnel John Coppes, general manager Pete Brill, and field manager Gary Jeffries John‘s proving invaluable at the Major council meetings, that‘s his field of expertise. Pete‘s really grabbed the knack of contacting players and getting them signed and Gary, we‘ve never had any doubts about his ability to manage the club," said Puncher. ~I was concerned at the start of all this that my role with the midgets might be affected, but with Tigers good board of directors, everyone getting involved and sharing the workload, things will be just fine. Lest his Optimist midget troops be speculating as to his allegiance, have no fear. The Tiger prez, the seller of suits, still has his minor ball cap planted firmly. "For sure, I‘m really looking forward to our (midget) season, you know I‘ve always been very much a minor sports oriented person," said Puncher. Not only when it comes to looking out for their present. but also for their future. 9 NNAM to 4 30 PM Eeadlining the returning veterans along with Smith are first baseman Todd Sheridan, catcherâ€"infielder John Bell. Tim Wharnsby and maybe Lazenby Among the bantam grads. many of whom saw limited midget play dast season, are Jeff Lobsinger, Shayne Ackerl. Jim Woroch, Scott Puncher, Mike McLaughlin and Jodie Pfaff. viously also have to rebuild our pitching Helping that situation along will be the return of lefty Todd Smith, most impresâ€" sive last year on the mound. Bantam grads Jamie Young and Jamie Duâ€" Charme are also expected to play prominent roles while Puncher estiâ€" mates there are at least iour others who could help out in a pinch. Also out with the club are outfielder Shaun Reagan. who sat out last season and is a secondâ€"year midget, and Todd Loveday, of Waterloo Siskin hockey fame. Gerry Haack Siding & Supplies Ltd. 207 Madison S. Kitchener +*80.70 WHITE VNYL SOFFHT DOOR CANOPIEES 65 l‘/‘" 742â€"8394 SQ. FT.