Local Sports

Saturday was a great day for soccer, unless you were a coach, sub or spectator! Rain to keep you cool and a wet pitch to make play interesting. The fields on the Coast were playable, but teams travelling to the Lower Mainland were not so fortunate.

A big second half paced the U14 United boys to a 6-3 win over Squamish in rep soccer action last weekend. Andrew Kraus scored in the first half for United, but they trailed 3-1 at halftime despite outplaying Squamish.

The Gibsons Pigs Men's Rugby Club returned to the pitch last Saturday, putting in a solid effort in a 24-10 win over Capilano.

Gibsons' Eric Tietze captured the 2004 Pacific North West Motorcycle Association series last week, but it came with a price. In his race last weekend, Tietze and his family travelled to Washington State for the last event of the year.

By a mere 17 seconds a Sechelt man has had his dream of qualifying to run in the Boston marathon come true.

Seven teams from the Lower Mainland ventured to Chatelech Secondary School last weekend to take part in Chat's annual Chaudierre Classique senior girls volleyball tournament.

The U16 Boys' Strikers played a tournament in North Delta over the Thanksgiving weekend and came away with a bronze medal. Rain made the Delta fields a mud bath. The first game saw Skyler Lagace and Eric Lehman score as the Renegades won 3-2.

In the match to determine south Coast soccer supremacy, the two Gibsons sides met at Shirley Macey, where United went down 5-2 to the Pigs. Eoin Ross scored two, his first a cheeky chip over United's keeper.

Amidst the sound of deafening cheers in the Olympic Stadium in Athens last month, the biggest Paralympic Games in history began. More than 3,800 athletes from 146 countries paraded proudly into the marble-laden stadium.

Saturday morning Oct. 2 saw the start of the 14th annual Grouse Grind, a 2.9 km trail with an elevation gain of 3,700 feet that resembles a goat path in the Himalayas.