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Sports Whatever the problem, one cannot dispute the great achievements made by the association and its players over the years, including a provincial title for the Juniors this season and a fourthâ€"place finish at the Nationals. Now its up to the parents, former players and lovers of the sport to make sure it continues in Waterloo. If the organization can get 10 to 20 people for three hours a week, the problem will be soived. As Faulds concluded in his president‘s report dated April 11, "Let‘s do it for the kids." ‘"The program is in real jeopardy. It‘s a very, very serious situation," said Litwiller. "You can‘t run things without a president and a president can‘t do much without volunteers. We need new blood." Litwiller has been on top of the ringette situation since joining city hall in 1968. And as a knowledgeable observer of the current executive, he claims the organization itself may be partially responsible for the lack of interest because of a preâ€"occupation with the allâ€"star teams. ""Some people tend to think we concentrate too much on the the allâ€" star level at the expense of house league and maybe they‘re right. Maybe we‘ve got to get back to the grassroots and reâ€"establish the Tom Litwiller, program manager th the city‘s recreation and culture department, says the situation may even be worse than Faulds lets on. The situation could have been worse but thanks to a pair of volunteers who responded to the cries for help, the association has a publicity director and a first viceâ€"president for next year. Beryl Gatzke has taken on the publicity portfolio while Deb Kraemer has assumed the position that looks after house league teams. And another three new faces showed up at the organization‘s annual general meeting in April, bringing the total to five parents with concern enough to investigate the situation. A very disappointâ€" ing number considering the City of Waterloo paid postal costs to ensure each and every family involved in ringette was aware of the problem and the dates of both meetings. lan Faulds‘ situation is comparable to being the captain of a sinking ship. And right now he‘s faced with the toughest question a skipper will ever face â€" deciding how long he should hang in there before bailing out and suggesting to others around him that they do the same. Faulds‘ vesse! is the Waterloo Minor Ringette Association, an organization that has created its share of pride in this city, but at the same time does not appear capable of attracting enough volunteers to run a quality program in the future. "I don‘t know what we can do," Faulds told me recently. "We‘ve done everything short of skywriting and we still can‘t get anybody to take interest." "I really hate to think what will happen to ringette in Waterloo if things continue to go the way they have been." Faulds has been the president of the association for the past two seasons, stepping down this year to make way for somebody new. Unfortunately for Faulds and the 225 or so girls who play ringette in this city, there were no takers. He said he would stay on another year if need be but he‘d rather not. The organization is also without a secretary, statistician and a Central Ontario Ringette League (C.O.R.L.) representative. Seven house league convenors would also make a nice addition to the small i erannnne o The saddest aspect of the e o custion, said Faulds, is lan Faulds Help wanteéd said Faulds. "And then there‘s always that large group of people that don‘t want to help, get too excited about it. In hockey there‘s always a chance that your kid can be a Wayne Gretzky but in ringette there‘s no way that‘s going to happen." ‘‘There‘s no (career) fuâ€" ture in ringette and a lot of parents quite simply don‘t that parents are fully aware of what‘s going on, yet very few appear even slightly bothered by it. Yantzi‘s poor fortune Sunday began well before game time. It actually started earlier in the day when he left for the bal} park without his glove or spikes in tow. "I had to borrow," he said. Chym‘rs field manager Ron Nico! is happy with Yantzi‘s first two outings "You can‘t worry about it if you‘re throwing good, and I‘m satisfied with what I‘ve done so far." "It‘s just one of those things," said the hardâ€"luck righthander in an interâ€" Yantzi went the distance in a pair of Interâ€"City Fastball League games this week, only to wind up a card short in both appearances. He was also tagged with the loss last night in Cambridge, a 5â€"1 win for the Gores. Don Stebbings pitched well enough to win the errorâ€" filled game. Doug Reid scored the lone [ Waterloo run. A starter in Waterloo‘s seasonâ€"openâ€" er Thursday night at Hillside Park, Yantzi held the mighty Owen Sound Canadian Tires to eight hits and two runs â€"â€" one earned â€" only to wind up on the short end of a 2â€"0 score. He met o a similar fate Sunday in Sernia PWR s scattering four hits and losing a 2â€"1 i?“‘” w decision in the second half of a [ , * doubleheader with Sarnia Ranson of § _‘ the Memorial League. Rick Beedie e and Jim Clayton combined for a 4â€"3 o / Apa Chym‘rs win in the opener. His luck hasn‘t been all that good lately. Waterloo Chym‘rs pitcher Dan Yantzi will be staying away from the poker table until further notice. Waterioo Chym‘rs field manogf Ron Nicol hasn‘t had a lot to cheer about in the earlyâ€" season going, but he‘s optimistic that things will turn around. Mark Bryson photo Mark Bryson Chronicle Staff Hard luck hurler Chym‘rs pitcher throwing well but bats are cold ‘"Dan has pitched real well for us and we‘ve played well defensively. All that‘s been missing is the hitting and I‘m sure that‘ll come. There‘s too and predicts that it will only be a matter of time before the Chym‘rs begin to make contact. Dan Yantzi Y3 were both converted into runs by the tough Owen Sound ilineâ€"up. Owen Sound scored in the second and ninth Chym‘rs host St. Thomas Pot of Golds Thursday night at 8 p.m. In Thursday‘s game against Owen Sound, Chym‘rs managed just three hite off Owen Sound‘s potent rightâ€"left combination of Glen Moreland and Brad Underwood. A walk and an error Nicol said Yantzi will get his fair share of starts in the early going as neither Beedie or Clayton appear as far along as Yantzi is at this point. "Clayton likes the warm weather and won‘t be ready until at least the beginning of June. Until then T‘ll probably be rotating Beedie and Dan," said Nicol. "I wasn‘t getting the ball enough in Cambridge to be effective. I need to be out there a lot," said Yantzi. One bad pitch was enough to beat Yantzi in Sunday‘s game as John DeRush‘s windâ€"assisted, twoâ€"run homer in the second inning gave Sarnia the only score they would need. Al Taylor hit a solo shot for Waterloo to make things close. Rob White smacked a threeâ€"run home run in the sixth inning of the opener to erase a 2â€"1 Sarnia lead and give Waterloo the win, their first of the year. Beedie pitched five innings for the win and Clayton closed out for the save. Derwin Hodges took the loss for Sarnia in the opener and Brad Young won the second game. Yantzi left Cambridge Gores in the offâ€"season, hoping for "at least 75 per cent of the starts in Waterloo this many good sticks on this team for it not to," said Nicol.