Smart Sports Podcast

All I have to say is that it’s nice to be back! 

What is up friends. I am Darryl Smart and welcome back to Smart Sports Podcast.

This week on the podcast I have a very special guest. Jason Burgess is Norfolk County’s Chief Administrative Officer, and we are going to talk Norfolk recreation. With recreation hockey, arenas, and now a failed HUB attempt all in the spotlight the last while, I thought there is no better way to open up season 3, than to have Jason on the show.

Make sure to listen to previous episodes of Smart Sports Podcast. There are lots of great guests and conversations.

This week I have another great local athlete on the show. Not everyone can say they have a small shrine dedicated to them in their hometown’s arena. But this week’s guest can say that.

Welcome back friends. My apologies for not having a podcast the last two weeks. 

This week on the podcast we have another very special guest. 

She’s represented Canada between the pipes, set numerous records while playing for the University of University of Connecticut Huskies, and is now a member of the new NWHL franchise in Toronto.

Please welcome Elaine Chuli to the podcast.

Thank you so much for listening. It really is appreciated. 

This week on the podcast we’re going to talk hockey with Norfolk’s newest provincial champions.

After having their OMHA midget C final against the Mariposa Lightning come to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delhi Knights of Columbus Rockets and Lightning were named co-champions earlier this week. I have players Ryan Hill, Liam Twinem, and Jared Austin on the show.

This week on the podcast I have one of the five Brantford 99ers taken in this past weekend’s OHL Priority Selection.

Simcoe’s Ryan VanNetten was drafted by the Flint Firebirds in the 11th round (216th overall). This season with the 99ers, Ryan was his team’s rock on the blue line. He also showed off his great decision and play making abilities, netting three goals and 25 assists, which was good for the 99ers third leading scorer.

SHOUT OUTS

This week I’ll give a shout out to the other Brantford 99ers taken in the OHL draft.

A huge congratulations to Gavin Bryant who was selected in the second round (37th overall) by the Owen Sound Attack.

Beau Jelsma, from Brownsville and a former Tillsonburg Minor Hockey product was picked in the third round (55thoverall) by the Barrie Colts.

Tillsonburg’s Brandon Balazs was taken in the 10th round (198 overall) by the Saginaw Spirit.

And Luke Bibby was selected by the Attack in the 13th round (250th overall)

This week is another fun episode of Smart Sports Podcast. 

I have two local vision impaired athletes that have won a number of Canadian curling championships. And this year as Team Canada, Mike Vrooman and Jimmy Simmons earned silver medals with their Nova Scotia teammates at the AMI Canadian Vision Impaired Curling Championships in Ottawa.

This week on the podcast I thought it would be great to talk some Olympics, and golf. And there’s no better person to do that with than Turkey Point’s Ralph Bauer.

Hello friends.

I hope you are all having the best week possible despite everything going on in the word. And I hope this podcast can be one of those things to give you a break from our new normal.

This week on the podcast we have a guest that is in quarantine after just returning home to Nova Scotia from Germany.

Welcome to the podcast!

Well, it certainly has been a strange couple of days in the word, and I really hope this podcast will give you a little break from your day to day.

This week on the podcast I thought we would talk a little volleyball. And there’s no better story to tell, than the Valley Heights Bears. This senior girls volleyball team truly is the definition of the little team that could.

SHOUT OUTS

The first shout out goes out to Waterford’s Zach Zona. The local swimmer who now trains in Montreal was just named the Swim Ontario Para Swimmer of the Year.

Next shout out goes out to the Delhi Knights of Columbus Rockets, the Caledonia Thunder and Norwich Knighthawks midgets, as well as the Tillsonburg Tornadoes atom team.

These four minor hockey teams were in their OMHA finals before the season was suspended because of the COVID-19 situation.

I just wanted to congratulate these teams on a great season. Hopefully things settle down after the extended March Break and these teams can get back on the ice.

The final shout out goes to the SouthCoast Special Needs Kids. This group of sledge hockey players are going to take on the OPP Auxiliary in the annual game Sunday at 2pm at the Waterford Tricenturena.

And as of right now, on Friday, the game is still on.

This week’s podcast has been a long time in the making. The rep hockey partnership between Simcoe, Port Dover and Waterford is a topic I’ve wanted to talk about for quite some time. 

This week on Smart Sports Podcast we’re going to talk a little minor hockey. With the Ontario Minor Hockey Association playdowns in the semifinals now, I thought it would be great to feature one of our local teams making a run for a provincial title.

Gary Lazou is the head coach of the Simcoe Kocir Automotive Warriors. The midget rep team hosts Game 1 of its best-of-six point OMHA midget B  semifinal against the Petrolia Oilers on Thursday night at 6:30pm and will return for Game 3 on Sunday at 7:15pm at Talbot Gardens.

This is a unique team as you will hear throughout this podcast. Not only does this team represent the future of what minor hockey will look like in the county, this team is also the symbol of an end of an era sort to speak.

SHOUT OUTS

The first shout out goes to Taylor Bennett.

The Port Dover Skating Club member just captured a silver medal in dance at the Special Olympics Winter Games in Thunder Bay.

Our second shout out goes to last week’s guest Jacob Erwin. Jacob played his final collegiate hockey game over the weekend. He and his Castleton University Spartans teammates lost 9-0 to the No. 1 ranked Norwich university Cadets in the New England Hockey Conference quarter-final.

Well, that’s all the time we have for this week. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. It really is appreciated.

In this week’s episode of Smart Sports Podcast, I have a local athlete that has somewhat flown under the radar.

We’re talking about a dual-sport athlete at the collegiate level.

I don’t like to mix politics and sports, especially on the podcast. But in this week’s episode the two cross paths.

Our guest this week  is Melinda Tewes-Howard, the president of the Delhi Water Dragons Swim team. And with the recent budget news of the Delhi Kinsmen pool being among the budget cuts, and then subsequently taken off, I thought it would be very appropriate to talk to the person who used her persuasive skills at council to tell them how important the Delhi Kinsmen pool is, not for just Delhi. But the entire county.

SHOUT OUTS

First shout out goes to the Simcoe Sabres jr boys basketball team. Last weekend, they hosted their annual Junior Sabres Shootout, and looked great as hosts. The Sabres beat Paris and and then Waterdown in overtime to get to the final. That’s where they ran into a buzz saw of a team in the form of Saltfleet.

Next shout out goes to Simcoe’s Jake Luke. As you saw on Smart Sports Podcast’s Facebook page, Jake, who plays for the Norwich Merchants,  scored three goals against the Burford Bulldogs in the last game of the season to capture the PJHL goal scoring title.

This week on the podcast we have a very special guest. Our guest has a black belt in karate, has been all over North America competing in the sport, and has won a pile of medals doing it.

Welcome to the season 2 premier of Smart Sports Podcast. Thanks for joining us this week.

Hello friends, and welcome to the last episode of Smart Sports podcast of 2019.

With some giant news that I’ll share later on, the podcast is going to take a rest for the holiday season, so I can spend some time with family and start to focus on the future of what we’re doing here.

This week on the podcast, we have one of the best goalies in the Canadian Hockey League. Our guest has helped the Peterborough Petes get to the top spot in the Ontario Hockey League, while having the most wins in the league, and is among the league leaders in every statistical category.

Hello friends, and welcome to Episode 26 of Smart Sports Podcast.

Thank you friends for listening. This is episode 25!!!

This week Teagan Fitch joins the podcast. Teagan is a graduate of Valley Heights Secondary School, Brock University and Niagara College.

Hello friends and welcome to Episode 24 of Smart Sports Podcast. 

This week on the podcast, our guest doesn’t need an introduction. But he’s getting one anyways.

He’s one of our local Norfolk Pros, who played 310 NHL games for the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins, plus 353 more professional games all over North America and in Finland.

Hello friends, and welcome to episode 23 of Smart Sports Podcast.  

This week we have a great story to tell. Meagan Wilson and her mom, Melanie Squire thought of a great idea a couple of years ago. They wanted to share the great sport of rugby with the Indigenous youth in our area, so they created Iroquois Roots Rugby.

Fast forward to this past weekend. With the program flourishing, Meagan was named the National Indigenous Coach of the Year and was honoured at the Petro Canada Sports Leadership Awards Gala in Vancouver.

SHOUT OUTS

•First shout out goes to all of last week’s Norfolk Secondary School Athletic Association champions.

Like I said before. Last week was a busy one.

In girls basketball action, the Holy Trinity Titans took home the senior title, with a 53-34 win over the Simcoe Sabres, while the Sabres junior team won the championship thanks to a 69-29 win over the Titans.

In boys volleyball action, congratulations goes out to the Holy Trinity Titans, who won the NSSAA senior title with a 3-2 nail-biter over the delhi Raiders.

In the junior final, the Simcoe Sabres took home the title with a 3-1 win over the Titans.

Good luck to all of the teams at this week’s CWOSSA championships!

•Next shout out goes to Maddox Callens. The forward from Langton who plays for the Kingston Frontenacs, scored his first OHL goal over the weekend.

We know it’ll be the first of many.

•And a big shout out to Hunter Jones. He was huge in Team OHL’s loss to Russia Monday night in London during the CIBC Canada Russia Series.

Hello friends and welcome to Episode 21 of Smart Sports Podcast.

This week we talk football on the podcast.  Leroy Foster is one of the founders and a coach with the Port Dover Steelheads. He looks back at the season that was in the Ontario Football League, girl power within the organization, the growth of the Steelheads, and where he sees it going in the future.

SHOUT OUTS

First shout out goes out to the members of The Pitt Martial arts club. As usual, the little martial arts club that could is showing the rest of the world what they are all about this week at the WKC World Championships in Niagara Falls NY. Be sure to tune in to Smart Sports Podcast with all of their results.

Another shout out goes to Kyler Pehlke. The Grade 9 student at Simcoe Composite School wrapped up a brilliant first high school cross country season with a very impressive 37thplace finish at the OFSAA championships in Sudbury. In his first full cross-country season, he won the Young Canada Day road race and the NSSAA novice gold, before placing fourth at CWOSSA to qualify for this past weekend’s provincial championships.

On top of it all, he and his SCS Sabres teammates won the NSSAA junior boys volleyball title Wednesday night.

Hello friends and welcome to this week’s episode of Smart Sports Podcast. 

This week we have a great story to tell on the podcast. Brianna Spanics was a great athlete that did it all at Valley Heights Secondary School. One of those things wasn’t rowing. And now the fifth-year student at Brock University is an OUA gold medalist in rowing.

SHOUT OUTS

First shout out goes out to last week’s guest Landon McCallum. A couple of days after being  on the podcast, Landon scored his first OHL goal. Congratulations. We know it’ll be the first of many.

Another shout out goes to Maddox Callens. The forward from Langton got his first OHL point, with an assist against the Sarnia Sting.

And a huge shout out goes to Kyler Pehlke. The Grade 9 SCS student is going to be the lone competitor from Norfolk running at the OFSAA cross country championships in Sudbury this weekend. Good luck Kyler.

Well, that’s about all the time we have for this week. Thank you so much for listening. It really is appreciated.

Hello friends and welcome to episode 19 of Smart Sports Podcast. 

This week we have Delhi’s Landon McCallum on the podcast. Landon is in his rookie season with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League. He was the team’s first round pick (15th overall). 

Last week, the 5’10’ forward was selected to play for Hockey Canada’s Team Black at the upcoming World U dear-17 Hockey Challenge. 

Shout outs 

The first shout out goes to last week’s podcast guests Carter McDonald and Evyn Sherman, while the Simcoe Warriors atom AE team get one as well. 

Hello friends and welcome to episode No. 18 of Smart Sports Podcast!

This week we are talking October baseball with Simcoe's  Carter MacDonald and Delhi's Evyn Sherman. These two guys helped the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks capture its second-straight Ontario University Athletics men's baseball championship over the weekend.  MacDonald, Sherman, and the Golden Hawks will now battle it out for the first-ever Canadian University National Invitational in Ajax this weekend.

SHOUT OUTS

This week on Smart Sports Podcast we are talking Friday Night Lights football at Delhi District Secondary School with Grade 12 Delhi Raiders, Hunter Raymond and Taylor Matthews.

On Friday, at 8pm, the 2-0 Delhi Raiders host the 1-2 Holy Trinity Titans in the annual high school football game. As part of the festivities, DDSS is going to pay tribute to the 1991 Raiders team that won the school’s first-ever Haldimand-Norfolk Bowl, and the late Brian Stead, who was a basketball coach at the school.

SHOUT OUTS

A huge shout out goes out to everyone who participated in the Young Canada Day activities at the Norfolk County Fair. It was another amazing day, and ever3y school has tons to be proud about. Between the Raiders 10-peat, Holy Trinity taking home the overall road race title, while Simcoe Composite School’s Kyler Pehlke and Fiona Joyce won the races. Then Valley Heights captured the tug-o-war championship. And last but not least, Waterford taking home its first cheerleading title in over a decade.

It really was a Young Canada Day to remember for everyone.

One more shout out goes out to Brock Dyxhoorn. The right-handed pitcher, who played for the Lotte Giants in the KBO in Korea this season, was named to Team Canada for the upcoming 2019 WBSC Premier12® that takes place from November 2 - 17. There are two spots in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on the line, with one going to the highest-placed finisher from the Americas and one to the highest finisher in the Super Round/Finals from the Asia/Oceania region.

This week we have Chris Longthorne on the podcast. Chris is the general manager of the Delhi Travellers and comes on the podcast to talk about his team, the harsh realities of recruiting in junior hockey, the state of the Provincial Junior Hockey League, and thoughts on seven years after the dislodging of junior D hockey.

SHOUT OUTS

A big shout out goes to my friends Ty Backus, Paul Meiklejohn and Amélie Chandra, who helped raise $3,446 during their Paddle for Pedals fundraiser. They, along with other participants paddled from Turkey Point to Port Dover on paddleboards. The event was a fundraising adventure to help people with disabilities in Norfolk County maintain, repair and purchase bicycles.

On this week's Smart Sports Podcast, we are talking junior hockey.

And since the Provincial Junior Hockey League kicked off over the weekend, we thought it would be great to have one of the local teams on the podcast. This week, Port Dover Sailors head coach Mike Tobin joins us. He talks about his Sailors 2019-2020 season, PJHL, the Bloomfield Division, and junior hockey in general.

SHOUT OUTS

This week on the podcast, we have Norfolk’s newest national champion.

Cory Ann Pond came home over the Labour Day weekend to capture the 2019 ILDC Canadian Long Drive Championship at Stark's Golf Course.
Pond drilled a 328 yard drive in the final to win the event.

She will now represent Canada at the International Long Drive Championship in Mexico in November.

SHOUT OUTS

First shout out goes out to my old baseball teammates, the Simcoe Giants senior team.

The Giants captured Norfolk’s only Baseball Ontario OBA title. This has been five years in the making and the Giants beat Thorold 14-3, Essex 4-3 in 11 innings, Courtright 7-4, Creemore 14-2, Mitchell 4-3 in eight innings, and 10-0 over Creemore in the final to win the OBA senior C championship.

We were supposed to have a couple of the guys on the show this week. But we will save that for another week.

This week on the podcast we are going to talk baseball with Steve Scheers. 

Steve is one of the backbones behind Delhi Minor Baseball, not to mention, one of the coaches of the Delhi Tigers bantam team that won the town’s first bantam Southern counties title in 34 years over the weekend. He talks about his team's  accomplishment, how it's affected the association and community. Scheers also talks a little more about baseball, new pitching rules, and how Delhi has really taken ownership of its recreation facilities .

SHOUT OUTS

First big shout out goes to the Norfolk County Roller Derby team. With two big wins on home turf on the weekend, the local roller derby team captured the Southern Ontario Derby Association B division title.

This capped off an amazing season for this group of women, that also saw them featured in a documentary for Eastlink TV, called Down and Derby.

I was hoping to have someone from the team on the show this week. Hopefully we can make it happen after the long weekend.

A huge shout out to the Simcoe Giants peewee tier 1 team. This group of kids were in Toronto, playing at the CNE Tournament and lost in the semifinal to Mississauga North AAA. The Giants were exactly that in this tournament, finishing fourth in a 32 team tournament featuring some of the best A, AA and AAA teams in the province.

Finally, a shout out goes out to the Six Nations Rivermen. This lacrosse team is currently in Kahnawake, PQ, and are undefeated so far in the Presidents Cup tournament, where they are battling for the Canadian Senior B title.

Episode 10… Holy crap… I can’t believe it.

Welcome to this week’s episode of Smart Sports Podcast.

This week we have Delhi’s Ashley Spain on the podcast. And I couldn’t be more excited. Ashley just returned from the 2019 Royal Canadian Legion National Track & Field event at Cape Breton University. And for a second time, Ashley has a medal on the national stage, this time a silver medal in javelin.

SHOUT OUTS

The first shout out goes out to a pair of new world champs!

Bailey Donaldson and Chloe Nadrofsky returned home from the American Quarter Horse Association Youth World Show in Oklahoma City, and brought with them world titles.

Yes, that’s right, world titles in Level 2 Ranch Sorting.

Congratulations

Next shout out goes to The Port Dover Clippers, who successfully defended their SCBA senior title with a 14-6 win over the Scotland Scales. The Clippers were a perfect 3-0 during the tournament. Next up is the provincial championships in Port Lambton on Labour Day weekend.

The final shoutout goes to the Simcoe Minor Baseball Association. Over the weekend, the mosquito and rookie Giants both went undefeated to win the SCBA titles.

.........

 This week we are going to focus on senior baseball. 

The Southern Counties league made a return five years ago after a long absence. And this weekend the league is hosting its championship tournament, so Shortty and I are going to talk about how the league returned, and where it’s going. 

The tournament begins FRIDAY (although Shortty said Saturday). So go down to the ball park and cheer these guys on.

SHOUT OUTS

In a busy week in local sports, the first shout out goes to the Norfolk Timberwolves.

The bantam boys and midget girls did an amazing job of representing the county at the Ontario Lacrosse Association Festival in Whitby. Both teams went and conquered, bringing home the gold.

Congratulations to both teams. What a great accomplishment.

The next shout out goes to the Farmers of Norfolk Football Association. On Sunday, the FNFA held its annual soccer tournament featuring migrant workers from more than five countries representing our local farms. What a great success. Next year I can’t wait to dig a little deeper about the tournament.

Final shout out goes out to the Lights and Sirens 3-pitch tournament. This was the fifth year for the event and last Saturday 12teams battled it out at Win-Del park for a great cause. Led by Michael Bollert, the tournament run by the Law Enforcement Torch Run, raised money for local Special Olympics. It really was a great time. I was out there umpiring all day, and everyone had a great time for an even greater cause.

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This week we have an extraordinary athlete on the podcast, that just recently had the chance to represent Canada in her sport.

Kaitlin Kloet just completed her third tour of duty with Team Canada at the Softball Border Battle in Midland, Michigan. I am super excited to have her on the podcast to talk about representing Canada, competitive slo-pitch and being a new mom.

SHOUTOUTS

First shoutout goes to the Delhi peewee Tigers. They are taking on the Ingersoll Ironbirds in a bes-of-three series to determine who gets to take part in the OBA D championships in Port Dover on Labour Day weekend. 

The Tigers struck first in the series, winning Game 1 21-10.

They will try and wrap it up Sunday at 4pm in Courtland.

A huge congratulations to Corey MacLean. The former Waterford District High School standout athlete and his New Hamburg Mustangs teammates captured the Softball Canada U23 national title. Corey was a huge contributer on both sides of the ball. But htat .333 batting average was something else.

Congratulations Corey.

Congratulations to the Six Nations Rebels. Wednesday night they beat the Akwesasne Indians 12-9 on the road to capture the Ontario Jr B Lacrosse League title.

They now head to Winnipeg for the Founders Cup, the national junior B championships. 

And a final shoutout to all of the Simcoe Timberwolves teams competing at the Ontario Lacrosse Association Festival in Whitby. Good luck and have a great time.

This week I have Evan Anseeuw on Smart Sports Podcast. Evan is one half of a dynamic duo, which includes Erik Haines, who are representing the Langton area, and Norfolk County on the grid iron this summer for the Brantford Bisons varsity football team.

To say these two have had a summer to remember is an understatement.

Not only have they helped the Bisons get to the Ontario Football Conference varsity final on August 3 against the Huronia Stallions, Erik and Evan got the chance to play with and against some of the best young football players in the country recently at the ACG All-Canada Bowl in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

SHOUTOUTS

This week we have a couple of shoutouts. The first goes out to Kait Kloet. 

Kait is a good friend, and we all couldn’t be more proud of her. Over the weekend she represented Canada at the Border Battle 3 in Michigan. The border battle pits Canada against the United States in a winner take all slo-pitch game. Unfortunately the Americans won this year. But it’s always great to see Kait wearing the red white and black. Expect her to be on the podcast soon to hear about her experience.

This week we are in for a treat. I like to call our guest the professor of rugby in our area. Ian Fitzgerald, fondly known as Fitz to pretty much everyone, is, like always, on the road coaching rugby. He joins us by phone in Guelph, where he is helping out with the Ontario program.

But that isn’t why Fitz is on the podcast.

Last week, Fitz and his Niagara Rugby Union Thunder U18 girls team arrived home from France, with gold medals around their necks. The Thunder, made up of young women from all over the NRU, including members of the Norfolk Harvesters, won the Paris World Games rugby 7s title.

This week I have Waterford’s Hayden Halstead on the podcast. 

For those that aren’t familiar with his story, he has been a pro motocross rider for the last several years. Hayden is back home this week because he is racing in the 2019 Canadian Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MX Tour stop at Gopher Dunes on Saturday.He talks about his homecoming, and his season thus far, that has seen just about everything after recovering from a broken leg in February.

Enjoy!

Since summer is now in full swing, I thought it would be very appropriate to hit the beach in this episode.

I have Josh Reid on the podcast. He is currently enjoying some vacation time before the North Shore Challenge for Camp Trillium takes place on Sunday July 21 in Turkey Point.

Josh is one of the organizers of this event that has grown over the last four years. And to celebrate its fifth anniversary, which is also a fundraiser for Camp Trillium, and has raised over $51,000 for the charity so far, it is going to be a Canadian championship. That’s right folks. This year’s event is also the Global Swim Series Open Water Canadian Championship. 

Welcome to my first-ever podcast!
In episode 1, I thought it would be very fitting to share a story of resilience, and that hard work can get you places. We have Delhi’s own, Adam Brady on the phone. Adam is currently in Bemidji, Minnesota, getting ready for the upcoming NCAA hockey season.
And if you’re unfamiliar with Adam’s story, it’s a great one, and I know a lot of people in the area couldn’t be happier for him. And to add to that, the other week, the Bemidji State Beavers named its leadership group for the upcoming season. And Adam will be one of two players wearing the captain’s C.