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Pronghorn glides to ball hockey |
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Written by Dale Woodard
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Sunday, April 26 2009, 11:46 PM |
As the cranky coach in “A League Of Their Own” Tom Hanks once proclaimed there’s no crying in baseball.
As a sport played on unforgiving, not-so-slippery concrete, there’s no gliding in ball hockey, either.
Just ask Andrew Courtney.
During the winter months the 24-year-old from Belleville, Ont. dons his blades and slashes across the ice as a member of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
If need be, he can glide there.
By summer, the skates go into month balls, but the hockey stick stays out as Courtney hits the rink — this time minus the ice — as a member of Canada’s national ball hockey team.
“In ball hockey you can’t glide, that’s the biggest thing,” said Courtney.
Gliding on concrete? Not an option, unless you just want to stand still.
Now, Courtney will look to keep his feet moving this June as he and his Team Canada teammates seek to defend their world title at the Ball Hockey World Championship in the Czech Republic.
With four straight world titles to their credit, apparently the non-glide factor hasn’t been a big issue for Courtney and his Team Canada crew.
”We have a good group of guys and all those teams are going to be gunning for us,” said Courtney. ”So it’s going to be really competitive and everyone is taking us seriously because it can always be anyone’s last world championship and everyone wants to go out with a bang.”
Courtney’s ball hockey days began a little over six years ago in Belleville.
“My buddies were putting together a team and we were going to the junior nationals,” he said. “We won the provincials and then I got a letter in the mail saying I had been chosen to represent Team Canada at the World Championship in Slovakia (in 2004).”
After a bronze medal performance in Slovakia, Courtney’s services became a hot item.
“I got a call back the following year saying they wanted me to try out for the mens’ team,” he said.
“I went to the main camp there and battled my way through the camp and got selected to represent them in 2005 in Pittsburgh.”
Another championship title followed in 2007 in Germany as Courtney now gets set to tackle the world stage again, this time in the Czech Republic.
He’s got to rub elbows with a few notable players who went on to play in the ice hockey ranks as well.
“I played with (Vancouver Canucks forward) Alex Burrows and seeing the accomplishments he’s made for his future is good to see,” said Courtney.
Having officially formed in March, there will be no prior practice sessions for the team before departing for European soil.
“Most of the guys that are on the team have all played with each other and are familiar with each person’s style of play,” said Courtney, who also won nationals last summer in Burnaby B.C. as a member of the Montreal Black Knights.
“We see each at nationals and some of the guys on the team play on the same team. There are eight or nine guys from a team called the Montreal Red Light. They’ve won Nationals eight years in row.”
The no-glide aspect aside, there is plenty that can be taken from ball hockey and applied to ice hockey, said Courtney.
“It’s great for conditioning and hand-eye coordination. That ball is bouncing and you have to be able to control it and knock it down. It also works with you stick handling.
“You’re not playing ice hockey, but you’re doing the same movements. It just carries over into ice hockey.”
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