Springdale competes in Central Summer Games

The Central Summer Games 2007 clued up yet another successful year in Bishops Falls on Wednesday.

The three-day event, which spanned Aug. 13-15, featured youth 16 and under from Bishops Falls, Grand Falls-Windsor, Botwood and Springdale in various summer sports and all four communities went home a winner.

In ball hockey, Bishops Falls won the Boys 13 and Under competition, Springdale won the Girls 16 and Under tournament and Grand Falls-Windsor took home the gold in the Boys 16 and Under category.

The results on the soccer pitch were the same as in the Pat OReilly Memorial Stadium, as Bishops Falls won gold in the Boys 13 and Under category, Springdale won the Girls 16 and Under division , while Grand Falls-Windsor took the Boys 16 and Under championship.

On the basketball court, Botwood won the Boys 13 and Under category, while Grand Falls-Windsor won the Girls 16 and Under and Boys 16 and Under categories.

In volleyball, Botwood went home with the Boys 13 and Under category, while Grand Falls-Windsor Girls 16 and Under and Boys 16 and Under teams won gold.

Botwood dominated the softball diamond, sweeping all three categories.

The overall trophy for most points was awarded to Botwood, who also took home the trophy for Most Spirited Community. Individual community pride was also recognized with the presentation of individual most spirited awards. For Bishops Falls, Riley Fancey won the award for Boys 13 and Under, Marti Brace for Girls 16 and Under and Ryan Cooke for Boys 16 and Under. Grand Falls-Windsors Aaron Terry won the Boys 13 and Under award, while Chelsea Power and Allan Burton won the Girls 16 and Under and Boys 16 and Under awards respectively. Nick Canning was awarded the Boys 13 and Under for Botwood, Victoria Woolridge won the Girls 16 and Under award and Mitchell Burry won the boys 16 and under award for the community. In Springdale, Brady Budgell won the Most Spirited Boys 13 and Under award, Ashley Rideout won the Girls 16 and Under award and Kyle Pittman won the Boys 16 and Under award.

Bishops Falls recreation committee director Nancy Stewart said that the games were a success and ran very smoothly without a hitch.

There was a lot of good feedback and it was very positive. We had a lot of community volunteers so everything came together, everyone pitched in and it went really well. We were pretty well organized, I must say.

The kids enjoyed it very much. There was a lot of cheering, team spirit and community spirit.

Ms. Stewart said that the games had a great impact on the community and provided the town with numerous opportunities, socially, economically and health-wise.

Its good for the children. The games are about exercise and living a healthy lifestyle. It gives the children a bigger sense of community, she said. There has also been an economic spin-off for the town. Some of the local businesses said that they were fairly busy over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday because there were a lot of people visiting the community.