By Doug Kennedy
The WOAA senior league has passed a vaccine policy similar to the PJHL for the upcoming season. The policy applies to all players, coaches, trainers, team and league staff, game officials, executives and volunteers. Contact tracing will be implemented at the entrance of every arena. Mandatory mask wearing will be in effect. Cleaning and sanitizing must be done and a six foot distance kept between people that do not come in a group.
Thirteen teams are back playing a 20-game unbalanced schedule. The schedule will start on Oct. 1.Tillsonburg and Elora dropped out and Creemore is a new team in the senior loop. Teams who are back are Clinton, Durham, Lucknow, Milverton, Minto, Petrolia, Ripley, Saugeen Shores, Seaforth, Shallow Lake, Shelburne and Tavistock.
The Kincardine Cubs won the senior AA OBA championship this past weekend, going undefeated in Dresdon. Sheldon McBride won the player of the game in the final. Congratulations to the Cubs.
What about these Blue Jays this past weekend? Their bats woke up to sweep Oakland, scoring 29 runs in three games. They have four games in New York against the Yankees starting on Monday. They have 28 games left and they will probably have to win over 20 of these games to have any chance at a wild card playoff spot. I’m not sure if their bullpen can pull them through.
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What about that final game of the women’s world championship in Calgary last week, between Team Canada and Team USA? Marie-Philip Poulin was the hero again for Canada, scoring in overtime with a great slap shot to the top corner of the net. Canada went down 2-0 early, but fought back for the 3-2 win. This is their first world championship in nine years. That is hard to believe, but they had the US’s number in the Olympics as the US has only beaten them once. Poulin is the Sydney Crosby of women’s hockey. She also scored the overtime goal in Vancouver in 2010 and scored the winner in overtime in the gold medal game again in 2014 in that big comeback win in Sochi ,Russia. What player has scored three goals like that in their career? No one!
Larry Walker will final be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this week, after being selected last year. He will join Ferguson Jenkins as the only two Canadian players in the hall of fame.