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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 20:21:03
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I know there’s plenty of regular-season baseball, slo-pitch and rugby league action over the next few days and at least one fairly big track meet about to explode out of the blocks. From what I can gather the biggest high school-related area sporting event over the long weekend is the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball Jets 2nd Annual Invitational Tournament.
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The Vauxhall Academy of Baseball (www.vauxhallbaseball.com) operates throughout the academic year. The players attend Vauxhall High and receive copious sport-specific and sport-related training. I’m a big fan of head coach Les McTavish and sidekick Jim Kotkas.
Jets compete in an extensive fall and spring schedule, versus a wide array of competition from both sides of what is often billed as the world’s longest undefended border. Often the opposition are significantly older.
This weekend’s wood-bat (yeah!) tourney, presented by Haven Agencies, will be played at idyllic Jets Stadium. Five teams are slated to engage in a round-robin format starting Thursday night. Games continue Saturday and Sunday with the top two round-robin finishers meeting in a one-game championship final Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m..
The Jets host the Okotoks Jr. Dawgs club team, plus the Lethbridge Spitz Elks, Medicine Hat Monarchs and Great Falls Electrics American Legion outfits. Many of the Elks and Monarchs are undoubtedly currently playing for Southern Alberta High School Baseball Association teams, but since the SAHSBA is not governed by the Alberta Schools Athletic Association they are allowed to suit-up for non-high school teams too during the high school season. The Jets however, do not play in a high school loop.
The current Jets roster has 21 players hailing from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Fifteen call Wild Rose Country home.
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I’ve been told the Lethbridge City High School Track and Field Meet will be held at Taber Athletic Park this Thursday. Taber you ask? Well, with no 400-metre track available in Lethbridge currently, an alternate site was needed. The South Zone Meet, habitually held in Lethbridge, will take place in Medicine Hat on May 21. As I understand it much of the impetus propelling construction of the Gas City’s fresh venue was the Alberta Summer Games, which invade the ’Hat this summer.
Of course, by this time next year, the ’Bridge will proudly boast, by quantum leap, the best track facility south of Calgary on the University of Lethbridge campus.
I would have gladly profiled any other South Zone district (there are five districts in addition to Lethbridge) meet in this space, but no info was provided. Frankly, data for most spring high school sporting events has been spotty. One source for the ever-weather-buffeted Southern Alberta High School Baseball Association schedule is www.lethbridgebaseball.ca with some results and standings there too.
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There are a myriad of high school athletic organizational meetings at this time of year. Already the South Zone Spring Meeting and Alberta Schools Athletic Association Annual General Meeting are in the history books.
One decision many readers might be interested in is the site of the South Zone 3A Basketball Championships. They will, for the second-straight year, be held in conjunction with the long-established 1A-2A hoopfest at Lethbridge College next March.
On a provincial level there is perhaps an historically light slate of ASAA finals in our area. In fact, at this time, the only ASAA Provincial Championship of any kind headed this way is the 2A Boys Basketball Championships in Picture Butte.
For the first time ever all four provincial football championship games will be held at one site — and we know it won’t be in this area. Over the weekend the ASAA passed a rule whereby the galas must be conducted on field turf in stadiums with amenities such as a large grandstand, ample spotters-booths and dressing rooms. The emerging edifice on the U of L campus will have field turf. Hopefully, the project will also pass muster in the other criteria. I know many folks around here would be so sad if no provincial gridiron finals were conducted in this area ever again.
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Sportsmanship has been an ASAA point of emphasis over the past decade. I see by checking www.asaa.ca, four South Zone teams have earned team accolades at provincial championships in 2008-09. They represented Vulcan County Central (2A Girls Volleyball), Cardston (4A Boys Basketball), Lundbreck Livingstone (1A Girls Basketball) and Bow Island Senator Gershaw (Mixed Curling).
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