Tee Up with Brent Lale: July 16
Catch up on this week's top local sports stories with CTV News London's Brent Lale.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
28 minutes ago
- CBC
Canada's men's water polo squad shut down by Montenegro at Worlds
Canada was defeated by Montenegro 22-10 Friday's water polo crossover round at the World Aquatics Championships Kallang, Singapore.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Province to help fund North Bay's first cricket pitch
Cricket players in North Bay are celebrating as the province has come through with funding to help build a cricket pitch in the city. After years of prodding and pushing from the local cricket club, North Bay is getting its first cricket pitch. For years, cricket player and North Bay Cricket Club president Romy Ghumman has been asking city officials to build a cricket pitch. North Bay Cricket Club Members of the North Bay Cricket Club were on hand to hear Thursday's announcement. (Eric Taschner/CTV News) Softball cricket players would often have to use parks, uneven ground, or even roads and empty parking lots to play. 'For the hard ball, we don't have any dedicated space,' Ghumman said. 'So, we travel outside every weekend. So even last weekend we went to Timmins for a tournament.' The sport has grown in popularity in tandem with the city's growing East Indian community. 'They worship cricket' 'Back in India, they say they worship cricket more than their own religion,' laughed team captain Vasudevan Kaarudaiar. The club approached city council, which eventually approved the construction of a new cricket pitch, but it was dependent on funding support. Now, the Ontario government has stepped in to help. Through the province-wide $200 million Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund (CSRIF), an application was submitted and approved. NB cricket Funding of $1.6 million from the province will help build a cricket pitch in North Bay. (Eric Taschner/CTV News) 'That means that the application was done properly,' North Bay Mayor Peter Chirico said. 'The application was done right to be able to showcase our community.' The province is chipping in more than $1.6 million to get the pitch built. Ontario's Minister of Sport, Neil Lumsden, was on hand Thursday to dish out the money. 'When you talk about people coming together outside of sport, they really are becoming a team no matter what the challenges,' Lumsden told reporters. 'This is a great example of people that are passionate and understand the benefit and the growth of the sport.' Lumsden knows all too well about the passion cricket players have for the game. Growing up, he played cricket in Toronto when attending a private school before turning to pro football. 'The draw that it has, the uniqueness of it. It is a fabulous sport,' he said. 'Sport drives the economy and sport hosting drives the economy.' North Bay cricket After years of prodding and pushing from the local cricket club, North Bay is getting its first cricket pitch. The province is chipping in more than $1.6 million to get the pitch built. (Eric Taschner/CTV News) Potential cricket hub The cricket club sees the potential to turn North Bay into a hub and for hosting tournaments because of the city's central location. Teams can come from farther north and from down south to play. When Kaarudaiar moved to North Bay from India in 2016, he said there 'were 12 or 13 people playing cricket' in the city. 'But over the years, with more and more immigration happening, we have lots of players here,' he said, The pitch will be located at the Steve Omischl Sports Complex and will meet regulation size standards. Three potential sites at the sportsplex have been chosen. The city said design work is expected to take place this winter, with construction targeted for the spring. While there's a little bit more waiting to go for the city's 120 cricket players, Ghumman said he can't wait for the first bowl. 'It feels like a dream coming true,' he said. 'We've been fighting for this for a long time.'
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Arsenal's monster transfer fee for Canadian Olivia Smith buzzes at home
A Canadian player setting a new benchmark in the women's soccer transfer market floats a lot of boats, says Northern Super League co-founder and former Canadian international Diana Matheson. Article content The one million pounds (C$1.85 million) Arsenal paid Liverpool for 20-year-old forward Olivia Smith of Whitby, Ont., in the Women's Super League is the biggest price tag in women's soccer history for a transfer. Article content Article content Matheson says an accelerating transfer fee market bodes well for the NSL, which kicked off this year with six teams and a mission to provide the first domestic women's pro league for Canadian and international players. Article content 'The growth of the market really helps us sell to investors in Canada and abroad,' she said. 'The transfer market is obviously a piece of that puzzle. Article content 'This is where the market is at that a Canadian player is going for this and how exciting is it like that we're not far around the corner now that we have a professional league, that if top Canadians choose to leave the Canadian league in the future, clubs could be selling them for a whole lot of money because we create such world-class players.' Article content Smith's transfer to the Gunners announced Thursday surpassed the previous high of 900,000 pounds (C$1.6 million) Chelsea paid the NWSL's San Diego Wave for American centre back Naomi Girma in January. Article content 'To be part of a movement that's changing how the game is valued is an honour,' Smith said in a statement released by her public relations agency. Article content Article content 'This is a huge step forward for women's soccer and for Canadian soccer. I hope this shows young Canadian girls that anything is possible.' Article content Serita Thurton of the NSL's Wild FC said rumours about Smith's transfer to Arsenal before it was announced was a topic of discussion in the Calgary club's dressing room. Article content 'Seeing a Canadian player break a record like this, it kind of just shows that Canada has a lot to offer when it comes to quality in soccer players,' said the forward from Ajax, Ont. Article content 'It definitely makes our league look a lot better. Even though she isn't playing it, just the fact that it is a Canadian league, it does make a statement saying that Canada has quality players and that we're a football country in our own right. So yeah, it definitely has a good look in that sense.' Article content Matheson, who retired in 2021, says a transfer fee market for women was nonexistent for most of her career.
