Novice B Lions open with tie

 

With a pair of recent wins under his belt, Morrisburg boxer, Phil Hoftyzer says he is back and hopes to fight on a more regular basis.

After an injury last May which prevented him from training Hoftyzer says, “I kind of fell out of it.”

However, he is back training on a regular basis at Champs Eastside Boxing Club in Cornwall and the Beaver Boxing Club in Ottawa.

On Saturday, May 4, Hoftyzer, 26, participated in the third annual Help Knockout the Effect of Hunger fundraiser, which was expected to raise over $40,000 for the Agapé Centre, Cornwall, along with some of the proceeds earmarked for the Champs Club.

On the Saturday ticket, Hoftyzer won the co-main event over Shayne Brindle of Plessisville, Quebec, on a TKO when the referee stopped the contest in the first round.

At this point Hoftyzer had put Brindle to his knees twice with left hooks to the body. Then a flurry in the corner finished the fight.

For his effort, Hoftyzer was awarded the most outstanding fighter of the night.

Presented by BMO Nesbitt Bruns at the Best Western Plus Parkway Inn in Cornwall, the evening included seven amateur bouts.

Hoftyzer’s win was in the senior men’s open light-heavyweight division.

“It was a corporate event and it raised a lot of money for a good cause,” said Hoftyzer. “It’s a really nice venue.”

On April 19 in Ottawa, at the Big Fight Night in Little Italy, Hoftyzer won in a split decision over Brutus Payant in his first fight in almost a full year.

“It was a very close fight, and Brutus was extremely aggressive,” says Hoftyzer explaining it wax his ring control and counter punches that helped him to the gain the edge.

After recovering from an injury last May, Hoftyzer returned to the ring, but in December he was again forced to take time out due to injury.

He is now healthy and working hard and training regularly with the hope of fighting “at least once a month.”

[…]

 

The summer beach season moved into full gear on Monday, July 2, with some 60 kids signed up for lessons in Iroquois and 25 taking lessons at the Morrisburg beach.

Heading up this year’s program in Morrisburg is Bev Fowler who is returning for her second year. At Iroquois, Kristina Swank, in her third season at the beach, is in charge of the program.

Both instructors are reporting a good crop of youngsters and both are seeing the biggest numbers in the lower (generally younger) swim categories.

Fowler, who completed her high school this year at Seaway is heading to Ottawa University in the fall to study Biochemistry. She did all of her early swim training in the South Dundas swim program at Iroquois and earned her certifications at Brockville and Cornwall.

Swank has just completed her first year of university where she is working on her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. This is her third season at the Iroquois Beach and the first to be in charge of the program.

New this year South Dundas is offering four two-week sessions as opposed to the previous two, three-week sessions of the path. Both instructors feel this should work well.

Fowler says she has heard positive feedback from parents about the two week sessions. She explained that pool lessons are generally once a week for 10 weeks, “so basically, we are applying it to the beaches here. Over the two weeks, that gives the students their 10 hours.”

Both she and Swank are getting the impressions from parents that the two weeks sessions also work better for them as they give them more leeway in taking summer vacations.

Fowler points out the only difference may be that “some of the little kids might take longer than one session to complete a level. But the parents understand that.”

At Morrisburg, most of the swimmers are in the Red Cross lower swim levels, with a good number in the 8-9-10 levels.

Joining Fowler this year at the Morrisburg beach are Kelsey Ellis of Winchester and Kennedi Gervais of Morrisburg.

Ellis is going into grade 12 at North Dundas this fall, and hopes down the road to take college/university courses in Graphic Design which she feels will be beneficial in the operation of her already established art business. Ellis took her early swim lessons in the pool at Winchester and says she is looking forward to a summer on the beach, which will be a bit different from the pool scene. This is her first year of employment in a swim program.

Kennedi Gervais is going into Grade 12 at Seaway this fall and is looking at Science studies after high school. She completed her early swim training in local pools and then finished it off in city pools in Ottawa, Cornwall and Brockville. Gervais, too, says she is looking forward to a summer on the beach. “I love it. It’s tons of fun. I love working with the kids, especially the variety of age groups. I have some kids who are pre-school age and some who are nine and 10 year olds.”

At Iroquois, Swank report most of the swim students are “younger kids”.

“We have five or six registered for Bronze Star which starts on July 16 and we have just six other kids in the higher levels. But the classes up to level six are full.”

Because the maximum is six kids per class there are a couple of levels with two classes.

Swank is joined by Jessica Earl and Elizabeth Horne. Both girls are from Iroquois and both are in their first year at the Iroquois beach. Horne has three years guarding/teaching experience in Brockville.

Earl has just graduated grade 12 at Seaway and will study Pre-Health for Paramedics at Algonguin college in the fall.

Horne is heading to Nova Scotia where she will study nursing at St. Francis Xavier.

Those wishing to sign up for the remaining three swim sessions are asked to do so as soon as possible, either at the beaches or by seeing Ben Macpherson at the visitor centre in the Pinkus Plaza in Morrisburg.

The cost is $35 per swimmer, $65 for two or more swimmers and $100 for families of three or more swimmer. There are also discounts when signing for more than one session. The cost is more at the Bronze swimming levels.

The current session ends this Friday, July 13. Session two runs from July 16-27, followed by sessions from July 30-August 10 and August 13-24.

[…]

 

The South Dundas Atom B Lions evened their season record at two wins and two losses  Sunday, October 26, with a 4-3 win over the Char-Lan Rebels at home.

Montgomery Dejong took a feed from Quade Mullin and beat the goalie with a perfect shot just 15 seconds into the game to give the Lions a l-0 lead.

Then Sam Connors put the Lions up, 2-0, at 5:10 assisted by James Martens.  

Although it looked as if the Lions were on their way, Rebels Jack Gray (assisted by Riley Tessier), had other ideas as he worked to pull his team to within one goal with 4:39 left in the period.  

The Lions managed to hold on to their one goal advance until the final minute of the first when Jacob Campeau, assisted by Sean Marasa, tied it 2-2. 

Although the Lions had started strong in the first period, the Rebels carried the momentum into the second.

They did a good job of limiting the Lions’ scoring chances during the second. While they played defensively, Campeau, assisted by Avery Teodoro, provided their offense to put the Rebels up 3-2.

The game settled down and some key saves from Lions goaltender Mateo Lacroix, during the second and third periods, enabled the Lions to stay within the one goal reach. 

It was late in the third period when Spencer Barclay was rewarded for his strong two-way play. 

Barclay counted for the Lions after taking a nice pass from Mullin to tie the game 3-3, and give the Lions a needed shot of adrenaline. 

The Lions continued to press and with 1:21 left on the clock, Sean Nicolaassen’s shot found the back of the Rebels net.  

Nicolaassen, who normally plays defence, was moved up on a forward line with Barclay and Dryden Buter for the final shift of the game. It was Barclay who provided the assist on his winning goal.  

Following Nicolaassen’s winner, goaltender Lacroix and his teammates were able to survive a final push from the Rebels in the dying seconds.

The Lions next action is on the road in Athens, Sunday, November 2.

[…]