Jan. 13 area; Brock research, Pelham hoops; Jordan Oldtimers, Welland hockey
Brock sport management assistant professor Michael Naraine is surprised the International Olympic Committee felt the need to clarify its rule about political gestures.
Thomas Bach, the IOC’s president, said Friday the Olympics are not and must never be a platform to advance political or any other divisive ends.
Naraine feels that stance isn’t necessarily accurate.
“The Olympic Games are inherently a political event,” he said. “For instance, having a unified Korean team at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang was a political statement.”
Naraine does understands why the IOC wants to “protect and preserve the commercial value to sponsors and broadcast rights holders in this new era of ‘wokeness’ and athlete activism.”
“There are sponsors on board for the Olympic movement who are spending billions of dollars to associate their brands with the Games,” he said. “New entrants like Toyota, Intel and Alibaba are publicly traded firms that are using the Games to advance their products and services and perceived negative publicity or any disruption to the event could derail their branding and message consistency.”
The IOC’s clarification of the rule comes during recent global conflicts and tension.
“The IOC is allowing athletes to share their dissent or activism via social media, however, this is unlikely to be the case given that athletes will want to use their digital brands to maximize partnerships and stay on brand,” Naraine said.
UNDER-1O PANTHERS SPLIT PAIR
The Pelham Panthers under-10 girls basketball team split a pair of Ontario Basketball League games and its record now sits at 2-2.
Pelham lost 26-20 to Canada Elite and edged the Brampton Warriors 26-24.
“Against a loud, hometown crowd in Brampton, the game was tied 24-24 with 22 seconds left on the clock,” coach Jodi Wilton said. “Taylor Wilton dribbled the ball into the paint with a quick pass to Lily Eich for the basket and the win.”
Leading scorers for the Panthers were Ella Howe (14), Taylor Wilton (9), Payton Smyth (6), Ainsley McDonald (5) and Lily Eich (5).
Other key players were: Marlowe Zekan and Kendall Snopek who contributed well defensively; and, Maddie Hall who distributed the ball well to her teammates from the point position.
Initial rankings in Ontario will take place this week and Pelham is hoping to make the top eight and continue playing in the Division 1 OBL league.
JORDAN OLTIMERS HOCKEY
Hawks 9 Bruins 4
Hawks: Adam Goodbrand 4; Mike Howarth 2; Adam Hendriks 2; Craig Martin.
Bruins: Mike Sheridan; Peter Beukema; Chris Boom; Adam Steele.
Rangers 6 Flyers 4
Rangers: Greg Penney 2; Frank Mucci 2; John Lamont; Darren Craig.
Canadiens 4 Stars 1
Canadiens: John Porter 2; Wayne Wall; Ian Bartley.
Stars: Steve Bowen.
WELLAND MINOR HOCKEY
Minor midgets rule Oakville
The Welland Tigers minor midget A hockey team defeated the Oakville Rangers 6-1 to win the Oakville Richard Bell Memorial Tournament
On the way to the final, Welland lost 2-0 to the Oakville Rangers Red, blanked the Oakville Rangers Blue 3-0, doubled the St Catharines Falcons 2-1 and shut out the Barrie Colts 4-0,
Ben Stea recorded three wins, including two shutouts and lead the tournament with an 0.36 goals against average. Jacob Salmon also picked up a win in net.
Scoring for Welland were Tyler Isherwood (4-6-10); Kolby Sumbler (4-2-6); Brayden Flint (0-3-3); Ryan Andrews (2-0-2); Jacob Passmore (1-1-2); Ethan Fox (0-2–2); Ryan Kelly, Dylan Coers, Copper Armstrong and Kaden Falardeau with single goals; and, Caleb Theriault with an assist.
Major peewees split
The Welland Telus Tigers major peewee A hockey team is 10-7-4 in league play after beating Pelham 4-1 and losing 4-1 to Garden City Falcons.
Noah Bovine, Tyler Ray, Josh Lamb and Alexander McQuillan scored for Welland against Pelham with Adam Federico accounting for the lone Panthers tally.
Lamb scored the lone Welland goal against Garden City while Isaac Dilts, Jack Baiocco, Alexander Trivieri and Cameron Mepham found the net for the Falcons.
Minor peewees top Welland
Riley Caron earned his third shutout of the season as the Welland 91.7 Giant FM/Country 89 Tigers minor peewee A hockey team blanked the Welland AE Tigers 6-0.
Brody Marton was exceptional between the pipes for the AE Tigers and kept things close until the game’s late stages.
Colby Franchetti netted a pair of goals for the winners and Chace Buti, Carson McComber, Julian Belcastro and Matteo Mete also scored.
