Silver Sharks look to teamwork

THE ALL
NEW
403-934-2100
S T R AT H M O R E F O R D .C O M
OCTOBER 30, 2015
SPORTS
The Wheatland Kings left it all the on the table but lost to the top-ranked
Mountainview Colts 7-4 at the Strathmore Family Centre on Oct. 24.
Justin Seward Photo
Kings staying positive
The Strathmore Silver Sharks Swim Club had members of the University of Calgary Dinos swim club come out to
Strathmore to help the swimmers develop their techniques on Oct. 24.
Justin Seward Photo
Silver Sharks
look to teamwork
JUSTIN SEWARD Times Reporter
Despite the loss of some of last year’s athletes, the Strathmore Silver Sharks swim club
is experiencing higher numbers of participants than ever before.
However, there are many swim club members eager to fill the shoes of previous senior
athletes, and step up to the diving board and
show the new athletes coming on board the
ropes.
“I think the kids are really excited,” said head
coach Jennifer Mertz. “We had to get pumped
and excited for this year knowing that we had
lost some of our senior kids. But these kids
have just stepped right up and stepped right
into those shoes and own those places at the
top. We’ve had a big shuffle this year, the year
before we had four kids leave the club, last
year we had 30 but we’ve replaced all of those
kids and we’re at some of our higher numbers
yet.”
The swim club now has 98 members, with
nine registered in the Minnows program and
still three spots available.
Mertz added that all the swimmers being replaced this year boded well for coaches as it
allowed them to bump one lane worth of kids
into the next group.
The swim club had the privilege of having a
contingent of the University of Calgary Dinos
swim team come out last Saturday and help
the swimmers improve on their skills. Mertz
stated a camp like this is beneficial in opening doors for swimmers to build confidence in
moving to the next level if they so desire to.
“They’re ready to step up,” said Mertz.
“They’re already starting to look forward to
the next pieces. And camps like this are amazing opportunities for our kids to see if they’re
worthy of that level of swimming, if they want
it bad enough. We only train five times a week
but if you come to all of those five practices,
we can get you ready for university swimming.”
Mertz’s goal is to get the kids to achieve
whatever level they desire.
“Our goal is always to bring up their technique,” she said. “Every year, us as coaches,
set a team goal for technical pieces of their
strokes. Last year we really worked on streamlines. This year we’re continuing with the
streamlines and focusing on walls, making
sure that our whole team is on the same page
with that.”
She added that the club needs more of a fun
component to the season to create positive energy surrounding the team.
The team participated in the Canmore Pentathlon on Oct. 24. Madison Laycraft received
second place in her age group, Boris Kuljanin
got third in his age group and Marina Laycraft
was second in her age group.
Next Home Game
Saturday, Nov.7 • 8:00 pm vs Airdrie
Sunday, Nov. 8 • 7:00 pm vs Coaldale
ore
StratThim
mes
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Strathmore Family Centre - Gold Arena
Friday, October 23
Keenan Ogle
Saturday, October 24
Jacen Bracko
Sunday, October 25
Zachary Meadows
Come Cheer on Your Strathmore Wheatland Kings!
JUSTIN SEWARD Times Reporter
After going 0-3 last weekend against some tough opponents,
the Wheatland Kings went through a difficult stretch of games.
However, the team remains positive and is working hard to get
through their recent slump.
“The environment of the team is absolutely excellent,” said
head coach Emilio Fuoco. “I know that they had three tough
games. Our result should have been better if we would’ve played
60 minutes every game. We’ve had a lot of building and growing, lots of positives to come out of the weekend even though
there was no points earned.”
For the last few weekends, the Kings faced a challenging
schedule that had them playing games straight from Friday to
Sunday. As a result the team was left exhausted when Sunday
rolled around.
“(On Sunday), we probably played one of our better games all
year,” said Fuoco.
“There are no more excuses and no more crutches. We just
had to play 60 minutes, that’s really been our downfall in the
last few games. Same thing against Mountainview, Airdrie, and
the game in the Hat. If we play 60 minutes the way that we’re
encouraging them to play, we’re going to have a tremendous
amount of success.”
Additionally, Fouco knows more players have to be on board
for a full game effort but at the same time feels there is a consistent effort coming forth.
“We need certain players to compete shift in, shift out,” he
said. “That’s the whole problem of the situation is if we have
one or two passengers, a team like ours isn’t going to see a lot
of success. We need to have 20 players come prepared to play.
I think after this weekend we’ve taken a big jump forward. I’m
looking for some positive things to come.”
Fuoco said team discipline has been exceptional and there
will always be situations where you’re going to lose an opportunity or somebody makes a mistake.
In the 5-4 loss to Medicine Hat on Oct. 23, Jacen Bracko, Cole
Busslinger, Lucas Jones and Blake Bishop scored one each.
Bishop, Bracko, Tyler Rivest and Hayden Vanderploeg scored
in the 7-4 defeat on home ice to Mountainview the next night.
On Sunday afternoon, Bracko, Rivest, Jones and Brendan
Moore scored in the loss to Airdrie.
The Kings will get a well deserved break before they take to
the ice again in High River on Nov. 6 at 8:15 p.m. before hosting Airdrie on Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. and Coaldale on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.
NEXT HOME GAME
Saturday, October 31
5:15 pm vs Grande Prairie
Sunday, November 1
2:00 pm vs BPs Rangers
Strathmore Family Centre
more
StraTthim
es
PLAYER OF
THE GAME
Hunter Virostek
OCT 24 VS
CALGARY BUFFALOES
Cameron Shorrock
OCT 25 VS
CALGARY ROYALS
Come Watch Some Great Hockey!