Local Sports

A week of blowouts and rainouts highlighted last week's play in the Gibsons Men's Alumni Baseball League. On Tuesday, the Gibsons Royals beat Norris Oil 8-2.

Some up and coming softball stars learned from the best at the annual Simon Fraser University (SFU) Clan softball clinic last weekend.

The Court Jesters club volleyball team had a successful stint at the U15 provincials last weekend in Burnaby. The Court Jesters played four matches on Saturday, coming second in their pool.

Two Sunshine Coast girls are making a name for themselves off-Coast playing women's hockey. Sydney McAlister, 15, from Gibsons, and Mikaela Meyerink, 14, from Halfmoon Bay have been playing hockey since they were youngsters.

Some of the best coaches in Canada were in Gibsons last weekend for the annual Big League Experience Super Clinic put on by the Gibsons Minor Ball Association (GMBA).

"You guys have the sweetest bike trails anywhere." These were the words of "race dad" Cam Cairns from Squamish, as he hopped on his bike to check out the course for last week's high school series race at Sprockids park in Langdale.

The second running boom is alive and well as indicated by the nearly 10 per cent increase in numbers for this year's Vancouver Sun Run 10k: from 54,000 last year to over 59,000 registered in 2008.

The high school mountain bike race series is back in full swing. Despite the low snow on the mountains, our local race teams have managed to get some pre-season training in, and it has paid off on the finish line.

The unique sport of shore style skimboarding is starting to make waves on the Sunshine Coast and beyond. On April 6, local board company Akwa Industries staged the Roberts Creek Open, the first ever skimboard jam on the Coast.

Last year as Howie Joe and I sat at Hackett Park and watched the Gibsons Pigs win their playoff game with the Sechelt Chiefs, Joe said, "Next year, you're going to see Chiefs in the final.