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SPORTS NEWS
The Chronicle November 21, 2006 39
Pitcher perfect coach for UOIT
By Steve Parker
Chronicle Staff
Be it participating in sports, going
for a run, working toward his PhD,
coaching the DC-UOIT women’s
extramural hockey team, preparing
the Ridgebacks team for OUA varsity
next year or helping out students,
Gary Pitcher, Director of Student
Rights and Responsibilities on campus,
is a busy man.
He served as a police offi cer in
Toronto for 29 years.
When he retired, Pitcher started
on campus as a teacher as well as
the DSRR.
After helping start the women’s
extramural hockey club and becoming
head coach, Pitcher gave up
his teaching job but remained on as
DSRR.
He says coaching isn’t like play-
ing, however there are
some similarities be-
‘
tween coaching and
teaching.
“Coaching and playing
the game are similar
but very diff erent,
there’s a whole set of
skills you need to learn
as a coach,” Pitcher
said. “Coaching is all
about teaching, leading
and trying to get
the best out of people.”
Since he and assistant
coach Scott Barker
started the team two
years ago, Pitcher feels his biggest
accomplishment is on an academic
level, converting several players on
his team to university.
Goaltender Melissa Scott and
forwards Cheri Ostroski and Sarah
Carter were in college when the
team was started.
“Th ey were college students and
we converted them over to university
students,” Pitcher said.
“Th ey took the bridging program
and they’ve gone on to take univer-
UOIT is about to launch
its very own lacrosse team
By Jason Miller
Chronicle Staff
If you would like to play fi eld lacrosse
for UOIT, then get your gear
and prepare yourself for the chance
to be a part of the team.
Th ere are hopes of launching a
lacrosse team at UOIT to keep some
of the province’s
top players from
‘
Durham Region
representing their
local university instead
of going off to
other schools such
as Western or Mc-
Master.
“Women’s fi eld
lacrosse is huge in
this area,” said Beth
Partlow, UOIT Human Resources
representative and one of the organizers.
“For UOIT to off er a lacrosse
team would increase enrolment
and off er somewhere for these ath-
We approached
the athletic department
because
we think it is important
to have
them involved.
sity programs.”
Hockey doesn’t end at his coaching
job. As DSRR Pitcher views himself
as kind of a referee, as he is here
to enforce the rules.
“If I’m doing my job eff ectively,
nobody really notices me,” he said.
“I’m dealing with problems either
early on or I’m preventing them
from becoming bigger problems.”
Th e challenge for Pitcher is maintaining
balance between the rights
and the responsibilities of students.
To better describe this he used a
hockey metaphor.
“Th e balance of letting people
play (rights), versus having to play
within the rules where people don’t
get hurt (responsibility),” he said.
Students usually receive three
strikes with Pitcher before being
ejected from the institution. It
doesn’t happen unless absolutely
For every student
I have removed,
I’ve had
the same number
of students
come to me and
say ‘thank you
for keeping me in
school’.
Gary Pitcher
’
necessary.
“For every student
I have removed,
I’ve had the
same number of
students come to
me and say ‘thank
you for keeping me
in school,’” he said.
His background
in policing is helpful
with his DSRR responsibilities,
and it
was sports that lead
him to police work.
Pitcher has always
been involved
in sports.
Growing up in Scarborough,
he played catcher in baseball for a
while before moving to third base.
He believes his love for sports
infl uenced his decision to become
a police offi cer.“Women and men
who have had athletic background
are attracted to policing because of
the physical nature of the job,” said
Pitcher.
“Having a sports background is a
natural fi t to policing.”
letes to play.”
Th ere are several players with
professional club and Rep lacrosse
experience who have shown interest,
including a former national
team player.
Th e fi rst goal is to try to form a
club team to play in a intramural
league on campus, then build on
that foundation.
“We approached
the athletic department
because we think
it is important to have
them involved,” Partlow
said.
“We are also inter-
’
ested in playing at the
varsity level but that
might not happen until
Beth Partlow 2008.”
To be prepared for
varsity play, Partlow said they are
now doing development practices
at fi elds around the region since
they don’t have a specifi c fi eld as
yet.
Th ey are also planning to invite
Photo by Steve Parker
EYES ON THE FUTURE: Gary Pitcher, New coach of the DC-UOIT women’s extramural
hockey team works out the team at the campus ice centre. Along with coaching Pitcher
is also active at the local gym, and is currently working towards his PhD.
He says that policing is not easy
and you need to have eff ective coping
mechanisms to deal with some
parts of the job.
“To survive policing you have to
be grounded and have a good support
system around you,” Pitcher
said.Police see people at their best
and worst and that teaches them
how to relate to people and solve
some varsity teams like Laurier and
Western to play practice games.
For more information contact
beth.partlow@uoit.ca.
“I think our diffi culty right now is
that we started the team late,” Partlow
said.
“We don’t have a facility or the
necessary resources. As the word
gets out next year we will increase
our athlete base.”
Partlow said things look good
so far, as the girls want to play but
they just need the funds and proper
equipment.
She said, all they need to start the
team is 30 core players. Practices are
held on Wednesdays and Th ursdays
on various fi elds off campus.
“Ken Babcock (Durham College
and UOIT athletic director) is very
positive about a women’s team,”
Partlow said.
“He supported our idea of starting
as a club team and developing
into a varsity team. Th ey are excited
about lacrosse and its growth in the
community.”
problems, explained Pitcher.
“If you do your job well in policing
you can go home at the end of
the day and say
‘I’ve helped that person or this
person and made a diff erence,’”
Pitcher said.
Pitcher believes experience plays
a role in shaping a person and his
experiences growing up have determined
who he has become.“I think
you are a product of everything
you’ve experienced,” he said.
“I think that if I look at who I am,
I’ve been fortunate enough to have a
good family, good parents and good
experiences growing up.”
Watch out for UOIT
Th e UOIT Ridgebacks women’s
hockey club will be a force to
be reckoned with come fall 2007.
Th ey already have the main
component in place to be a
championship team.Defence.It’s
the single most important detail
that needs to be addressed before
reaching a competitive status, be
it in the National Hockey League
or Ontario University Athletics.
Th e Ridgebacks
defence is
solid with Jackie
MacArthur,
Ashley Lucas
and Megan Friel
forming a strong
nucleus.And
the goaltending,
the backbone of
any defensive squad, consists of
Melissa Scott and Carleigh Taggart,
two sensational netminders.
How often in the NHL playoff s
has an elite team been killed by a
hot goaltender? Last year’s gritty
eff ort by the Edmonton Oilers
would have been wasted had it
not been for the stellar play of
Dwayne Roloson.In previous
years, clubs such as the Calgary
Flames and the Anaheim Ducks,
who weren’t expected to make
it past the fi rst round, have upset
some of the best clubs in the
league by playing strong defensive
hockey led by hot goaltending.Th
e Ridgebacks have two
sturdy goalies who will be invaluable
when they start their
varsity season next year.Last, but
not least, the coaching staff has
a strong infl uence on the type of
play a team exhibits.
G a r y
Pitcher, head
coach of
the Ridgebacks,
likes
his teams to
play a feisty,
hard-working,defensive
style to
frustrate opponents.
Th at’s a method that has been
used constantly to by successful
defensive squads.With that component
established, and players
such as Sarah Carter, Chrissy
Tereshyn and Hailey Van Seggelen
leading an off ensive charge,
the Ridgebacks are going to be a
thorn in the side of all their opponents
next year.
Steve
Parker