Appleby College - Argus Yearbook (Oakville, Ontario Canada)

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Firsts S o c c e r FRONT ROW; Durrant, Bloemen II, Zahorvskis. Morgan I, Slattery I, Johnson I. CENTRE ROW: Mr. Revill, Roloff, Taylor I, Peart I, Marsh, Klymas, Maslon. BACK ROW: Wetmore, Vieira, VanTighem II, Mr. Larsen. The creek field took on a com- pletely new look in September 1975, where we were playing organized soccer at a Senior Level for the first time. We were all quite apprehensive of the standard of the league we were joining, but I venture to say that our spirit and enthusiasm over- came (to some extent) our lack of basic skills. Soccer is not a sport in which one can put a group of people together and expect them to play with any real skill. It takes mon- ths of coaching and effort to get anywhere at all. Our Coach, Mr. Revill, had only a couple of weeks to weld the team together before the first game. His job was momentous, but we had to start somewhere. During our first few practices, we seemed quickly to dwindle in numbers, due to castoffs and later injuries, so our tactics had to be modified. Finally, we had a squad of fifteen. Let me tell you a bit about some of our players. Our forwards, I believe, were very strong and fast, although not always working together. Few teams are blessed with a good left winger, and we were no ex- ception. We experimented with Jim Wetmore, of the dazzling footwork, and Bruce Peart who had the amazing skill of running into our inside forward John Slat- tery. Slatts is one of those few players who create a breakthrough out of nothing - maybe because of his low centre of gravity.

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Under the hot September sun, the Novice Nine tool up the three point stance: centre Richard Hicl ling; tackles Jim Coxon and John Toles, guards Chris Thomp- son and Glenn Wright, ends Mike Appleby and Greg Beckett, and flankers Steve McBride and Dave Piatt. All played admirably at positions where bruises come routinely as breathing, and whose glory is unsung. Defence was a greater challenge. Having taken the largest members for the offence, it was decided that a quick mobile 5-5-2 Oaklahoma Shift defence was the best choice. The defence was a complete rookie unit. Initially, terms like the blitz or zone coverage were the obscure rhetoric of Monday Night Football . As the season progressed, what was once obscure rhetoric, became a day to day reality. Under the leadership of Gary Gray, and aided by the tenacious tackling of Dave Green, Scott Johnson and Bob Smith, the unit produced 12 interceptions, 7 fumbles, 7 quarterback sacs and 2 blocked kicks, while allowing an average of 16 points per game. By the season ' s end, the record board showed a five win, four loss season, three of those defeats by a touchdown or less. However the win-loss column was only part of the story. Two and a half months of hard effort has transformed individuals into a cohesive veteran team. It was only fitting that the last game a- gainst a somewhat strengthened Lakefield team, although a 32-27 loss, was the best game of the season. Both coaches, Mr. Singer and Mr. Turner, thank the team for a rewarding season and the promise of success in future years. D.S. GAME RECORD AC Lakefield 49 Won AC SAC 37 6 Won AC Ridley 12 16 Lost AC Ridley 7 15 Lost L AC UCC 14 7 Won AC Hillfield 7 37 Lost Hewitt AC TCS 33 13 Won Pike AC SAC 42 16 Won Wright AC Lakefield 27 32 Lost Keates LEADING SCORERS 98 84 26 12 ' J ' r

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Chris Zahovskis who played our inside right acquired skills for not heading the ball. He was, however, very adept when it came to taking corners. His foot seemed to do a better job. The right wing position was con- tested by Peter Taylor, Greg- Marsh and Jim Wetmore. Peter ran very quickly, usually forget- ting the ball, whilst Jim showed us his dazzling footwork, only once in a while. The halfbacks consisted of Graham Johnson, Tomas Vieira and myself, John Morgan, at cen- tre back. Tomas played the left side rather well, and the right side too, to the consternation of Graham. Both Graham and Tomas were the backbone of our team and showed good potential for next year. Although Graham was not the tallest guy on the team, he was excellent in the air, and scored good goals from cor- ner kicks. We had a truly united trio at the back, with Rob Maslon or John VanTighem at leftback, Barry Durrant at centre and Howie Klymas at right back. These players worked together well. 10 with Howie shouting ice it and Rob, well I am not too sure what he said. Maarten Bleomen, our goalkeeper was a credit to our side, a courageous and depen- dable member of our team. He should do well as a regular mem- ber of our team in the next few years. If this team had been together for a few more months, we could have achieved greater success. In fact we did improve as the season progressed, not being beaten heavily at all throughout the season. I think that we sur- prised many of the teams we played, for we were praised on more than one occasion for our drive and sportsmanship. Throughout the short season we learned a lot about the game, and had fun doing it. Victories were hard to come by, and our defeats were hard to accept, but we did in a sporting fashion. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank Mr. Revill for a pleasant soccer season. Appleby had to start soccer some time, and we were all pleased that we were the ones to start this great sport on its way. I hope that the boys who play next year learn as much as we did, enjoy it, and have better success. Rr-.5f - APPLEBY ' S RECORD k ' vBMRRG t ' ' • ■• Games Played 8 feWP f Games Won 2 Games Lost 5 Games Tied 1 vV Points 5 Position (of 8) 6th