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Arts camp was ‘utterly delightful‘ t was just a few weeks Iago that 1 read in the Waterloo Chronicle about Shoot for the Stars, a summer arts camp launched this year by three enterprising young women: Maggie Harkins, Lachlan Campbellâ€" Verduyn and Danielle Olivier. I knew that my eightâ€"yearâ€"old daughter would enjoy what the Now we know what our famous city council is doing with its (our) excess taxes! As you may know, the most beautiful part of the new Grand River trail near the RIM Park golf course ends at Grand River Drive. By the river we have been enjoying short walks there for some ‘No Parking‘ signs restrict use of Grand River trail at RIM Park Is the PM of Canada like a captain on a ship He will pick a crew to come on board don‘t give him any lip The finance minister is the navigator will guide us day by day He must listen to the captain pay attention to what he has to say You said it If they have a good captain they will have a happy crew They will listen to the captain when he tells them what to do If they have a captain that is drunk with power Then anything can happen any day any hour The Captain of the Ship We need a leader in the country to unite us coast to coast A leader with a vision to set goals the most A captain that can steer the ship in the right direction Then we can trust and believe in that kind of captain YOU DOING TO BEAT THE HEAT? Did Mr. Chretien make a promise if he ever got in power There will be no free trade or GST on the final hour We still got free trade and GST and more to the lot If you listen to the news you will see what they got Are the now like a ship on the ocean on a foggy day Without radar or a compass and cannot find their way Are they going around in circles and haven‘t got a clue With an incompetent captain and an unhappy crew? QUESTION He may fire the navigator he may fire half the crew Just to stay in power and his ego is high too Will he care about the people in this great land Will he listen to the people or will he give a damn camp promised to offer. However, I hesitated to register her because, being in its first year, the camp had no reputation. Nevertheless, I was so impressed by these young women‘s initiative that, after several phone conâ€" versations with Maggie, 1 took the risk and enrolled my daughter. I am writing this havâ€" ol I B S 1+ "Going to the beach; either Grand Bend or Sauble." "I like swimming at Beechwood Pool, and eating ice cream." O THE CHRONICL] By Bill Sooley, John Gorman Nicole Forrest COMMENT It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm and enerâ€" gy that these three young women brought to the camp they created. The The camp more than fulfilled my expectations. ing just returned from the open house held by Shoot for the Stars at the end of their first session. time and were recently shocked to find No Parking signs all along the drive for about 1/2 mile from the end of the trail making it impossible for us to enjoy this area again. Due to my husband‘s major stroke some time ago he is unable to walk very far. It was utterly delightâ€" So it appears now that this trail end is restricted to those who are capable of walkâ€" ing four kilometres or to the privileged few who live in the vicinity. Surely it is not too much to ask that the city would make a parking lot for those of the public who are paying for this trail to use it as well as those who apparently can not bear to have anyone park in front of their fine homes. There is no one in the twin cities who needs more than a painted crosswalk. There is certainly no one who needs bricks to mark it. Just drive through downtown Kitchener and see how many of their bricked crossâ€" walks are rough or have been repaved. University Avenue from King to Albert has just been upgraded and repaved. The job was very nicely done. Then, last Thursday morning, they started to dig up that new pavement to lay bricks for the crosswalks. Why would anyâ€" one dig up new pavement and replace it with bricks? The money wasted on this could have been spent on: library improvements, bus shelters, help for the homeless, or a tax reduction. Hasn‘t anyone any common sense? Where is the common sense? What greater praise could one wish for? Bravo to Maggie, Lachlin, and Danielle! children responded with equal keenness. My daughter came home happy and eager everyâ€" day, and this evening asked if she could return next year. "Wearing lighter clothing and going 4 to Grand Bend." "Swimming at Moses Springer pool and going to friends‘ houses with air conâ€" ditioning." Katryn de Salaberry, Jessica Podowski M. Carl Kaufman, Denise Harrison C. MacDonald, Waterloo Waterloo North Americans are only just catching on. Over eight million Americans burned the midnight oil to watch their team beat Mexico. This is impressive, it bears mentioning that more than one hundred million Americans tune in to the snoozefest known as the Superbowl. Sports Ilustrated put U.S. striker Landon Donovan on its cover, an honour that has been given to soccer only 11 times previously. Canada is not at the World Cup, as we aren‘t ranked high enough, but we are ranked fifth in women‘s soccer. We‘re bidding to host the next World Cup to be played in the Americas and, if successful, that should stimulate Canadian interest in the game (particularly in the 10 cities that would host games)}. More than anything else, however, Canadian interest in the game will continue to grow by leaps and bounds when parâ€" ents and grandparents go to watch their children play. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (better known as FIFA) announced last week that, in the first two weeks of the tournament, its website had received more than one bilâ€" lion hits. That‘s more than three times the number of visits that the Olympic website received during the Salt Lake City games â€" and that enjoyed prime time TV coverage across North America. "Football, more than any other factor, has enveloped whole regions, people and nations," said FIFA in its press release. "With approximately 200 million active players it now constitutes a substantial chunk of the leisure industry, having opened up new markets for itself and for the rest of the business worlQ* . . Unlike other soâ€"called "world championships" (like baseball, for example), soccer is actually played throughout the world and watched by over a billion people in every almost part of the world. A European Union summit was actually delayed until the end of the Englandâ€"Brazil match. When British PM Tony Blair emerged from the meetings, the first question that he took from a reporter was not about politics, but about England‘s loss on the World Cup soccer pitch. "We are all devastated, of course we are," he admitted. Even United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan offered his opinion on the results coming in from Korea and Japan. Referring to victories by countries such as Senegal, Annan noted that, "it is a World Cup of the underdogs, it seems to me. So there is hope for all of us underdogs." The recent street celebrations (or || TIAIRUWOSRKLE Il cancelled street celebrations) by Canaâ€" dians of Korean, Italian or Brazilian descent are just a small taste of the frenzy that must have been going on in their former counâ€" tries. Soccer fans rioted in the streets of Moscow when their team lost. Argentina‘s government had reportedly been hoping that a good showing by their national team would distract citizens from the disastrous state of their economy, but they weren‘t that lucky. What‘s going on here? Why has soccer become â€" by the only measure that really counts â€" Canada‘s national sport? The beauâ€" ty of soccer is that it can be played at virtually any level, from the fastâ€"paced ball control game played by professionals to the "herd and run after the ball" technique played by fiveâ€"yearâ€"old soccer fun registrants (then there are those of us who attempt to play something that more resembles the former than the latter). To play hockey, children must first learn to skate which, for most of them, is much harder than learning how to run. Moreover, expense is a major factor when deciding what activities children in which children will take part. Cleats and shin pads are the only equipment parents have to purchase to outfit their kids for socâ€" cer, while a complete set of hockey equipment every few years can requte them to take out a second mortgage. Perhaps more importantly, Canadian 0d society is becoming far less homogenuâ€" . |f es | ous, as the legacy of progressive immigraâ€" . | ANOT H [‘1 NB tion policies and rfulticulturalism is felt VIE“’ more profoundly. People who grew up playing and watching soccer (or "football" . [R % Fg., as most of the world calls it) are more likeâ€" _ | | ly to follow it and continue to play it than | fi‘ E o } those who have had little previous contact | ? E4 with the game. The Globe and Mail quotâ€" d 1.5 ed Reezwan Charania, who grew up in | wl Nairobi, as follows: "In Kenya, we played d orst even if we didn‘t have a ball. We made one out of plastic bags and a rope. The whole world plays soccer. Ask a Kenyan what‘s SCOTT ice hockey and he‘ll have no clue." ma alr t rimare uick: What sport do more Canadians play than any other? Those who said "soccer" can go to the head of the class. The numbers are actually quite staggering, even to someâ€" one#ke me who plays the game twice a week (once a week indoors and, in the summer, once a week outdoors as well) and has two other soccer players in the house. We have 800,000 socâ€" cer players in Canada, and approximately 40 per cent of them are women (and that‘s just counting the players who are registered). Even with women (aking up hockey in far greater numbers and roller hockey leagues being organized in the summer, our soâ€" called national sport doesn‘t even come close in terms of particiâ€" pation. Soccer: Canada‘s national sport thaan. | ANOTHER | [ _ VIEW | F f@”;}\'” | !“ ul SCOTT PIATKOWSKI