Sports | DrumhellerMail

Carbon debuts first annual Mud Stomp race

    Carbon is getting dirty.
   On June 22, the village in the valley will be holding its first annual Carbon Mud Stomp, a 5 kilometre race filled with obstacles and, as the name implies, a lot of mud.
   “We had some members of the community who had seen similar events and thought Carbon would be the ideal place to hold one with our hills and trails. It’s a way to get people to the community to see what we have,” said Jody Wacowich, one of the organizers for the race.
   The route will take racers through Carbon’s extensive trail system and will feature eight obstacles for participants to overcome.
   “There will be everything from balance beams, over-and-unders, and the last one is a huge mud slide down one of the hills,” said Wacowich. “It should be a lot of fun.”
   Kids are also encouraged to run the course.
   “We’ll shorten the course for the kids. They’ll still get to do the mud slide, but won’t have to run as far. We want to get the kids out too,” said Wacowich.
   It is hoped up to 200 adults, divided into four heats of 50, plus kids will participate in the event. Registration has been filling up fast, with runners from Edmonton, Calgary, Stettler, Lacombe, and more coming down for the race.
   Proceeds from the event will be split between the Carbon Rec Board, Carbon Fire Department, and Parent Advisory Council who are organizing the event.
   The event was named after one of Carbon’s most famous celebrities.
   “The Mud Stomp was from Archie the Stomper, who made Carbon a little famous,” said Carbon CAO Debra Grosfield.
   Archie “The Stomper” Gouldie was born in Carbon and would go on to train with the legendary Stu Hart and become one of Canada’s most famous professional wrestlers.
   Registrations to race are still being accepted and can be found here.
   Organizers are hoping more volunteers will come forward to help with the race. Those interested are encouraged to contact the Carbon Village Office at 403-572-3244.
   “We’re always happy to take more volunteers and there is room for more people to sign up to run,” said Wacowich.
   Should all go well, it is hoped the Mud Stomp will become an annual event.
   “We’re hoping there will be many more,” said Wacowich.

U17 basketball team wins consolation at Calgary tournament

    The Drumheller Valley U17 Club Basketball team is mid-way through its spring season and is playing well.
   The team, coached by Al Molzan, participated in a Vision Basketball Academy tournament in Calgary on May 3 and 4.
   The U17’s first game was against the Rockyview Rebels from Calgary, which was a highly skilled team with a deep bench that pressed the whole game. Drumheller was down early, but after the jitters wore off, they realized that they could play with them. They managed to make a game of it, although they fell 87 to 41.
   This put Drumheller on the B-side against the Calgary Youth Development Centre (CYDC) Panthers, also from Calgary. This was an early game on Saturday, but the team came ready to play. Drumheller led by as much as 15, and although the Panthers closed to within three points with two minutes left, Drumheller managed to win 67 to 61.
   This put Drumheller in the consolation final against another big team from CYDC. The U17s came out hard and led for the first half, but the CYDC press wore them down. The Calgary team had 15 players, and to Drumheller’s eight and injury and foul trouble took its toll and Drumheller ended up losing 71 to 88.
   “For our first tournament playing together, the team played really well - we just need to realize that we can play against kids from bigger schools and hold our own,” said coach Molzan. “Ideally we would like to have ten players, so that we can make two even lines and roll them, that way we can rest and keep up the fast pace that the city club teams play. “
   Those interested in learning more or joining the squad can call Molzan at 403-820-6544 for more details. The Drumheller team practice Sunday evenings from 7-9, and will be playing in two more tournaments. On May 31 – June 1 they are heading to a tournament/basketball camp in Edmonton, which will also have modules on nutrition, training, and skills.
   Their last tournament is June 14-15, also in Edmonton.

The Drumheller Valley Basketball U17 team won consolation at a tournament in Calgary last weekend. They are (back; l-r) Brian Flater (Asst. Coach), Josh Thomson, Justin Molzan, Logan Pratt and Al Molzan (Coach), along with (front; l-r) Matt Thomas, Travis Molzan, Zach Flater, Adam Shymanski, and Talon Marshall.

Rage win three in opening weekend

    The first few games of any sports team can set the tone for the rest of the season. The Drumheller Rage have already made it clear they’re looking for more gold.
   The Rage, Drumheller’s bantam girls softball team, are looking at another grand slam season. In their first four games of the season, the Rage have already picked up three wins.
   On Saturday, the Rage opened their season versus South Bow River 2. The weather was windy and cold, but the Rage prevailed with a colossal 23-9 win.
   Their second game was a rematch of last year’s Provincial Gold Medal game against the West Valley Sliders. The game was back and forth the Rage eventually ended up just short in the final inning, losing 11-10.
   The team didn’t let that bring them down and picked up two wins on Sunday versus both South Bow River teams, 18-6 and 16-6.
   The Rage are off to a great start, despite not having been able to practice outdoors until the weather warmed up last week.
   “We’re doing pretty good, considering we only had about an hour of outdoor practice. Otherwise, we’ve had to spend the past couple months inside throwing the ball around,” said Shari Fournier, head coach of the Rage. “Considering the late start, we haven’t done too bad.”
   Last season, the Rage was a powerhouse. The team took provincial gold in their own backyard, when Provincials were held at the Newcastle ball diamonds.
   Unfortunately for softball lovers, the team plays in Calgary and may only have a couple games in the Valley.
   “We’ve been looking at having a tournament again, but umpires are so hard to find. We couldn’t get any umpires for the weekend we had planned, so we probably won’t have a tournament this year. There are a couple of teams out of Calgary looking to come and play some exhibition games here. It’ll be nice, because that way the girls will have some home games and their families and friends can come and watch,” said Fournier.
   The girls are excited to finally get back on the field.
   “They’re pretty excited to get league started. I think they’re ready and they know what they have to do,” said Fournier. “They worked really hard last year and saw the fruits of their labour.”

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