In determining the top sports story in previous years, the notion of championships won, banners raised and numbers retired have been scrutinized thoroughly and repetitively.

However, it is hard to ignore the ever-present shift toward sports events and their financial impact on the host community. These numbers tend to be more significant to any region than goals, assists, rebounds or medal counts.

With that in mind, it is our pleasure to announce Muskoka’s selection as host for the 2010 Ontario Youth Winter Games as the top sports story for 2008.

The region won the right to host the youth championships after the Sport Alliance of Ontario (SAO) voted unanimously in favour of its proposal, according to an April 10 press release from the Muskoka bid committee.

“The Muskoka bid committee is thrilled to receive the news,” said committee member Kelly Haywood. “We believe that positive relationships were formed with the Sport Alliance of Ontario when Huntsville and Lake of Bays hosted a very successful inaugural paralympic winter championships in 2006. We believe that through our partners from all over Muskoka, we will able to deliver another success for the Ontario Games program.”

The Ontario Youth Winter Games  – also known simply as the Ontario Winter Games – started in 1970 to showcase amateur sport. It is the province’s largest multi-sport event and provides young athletes with development and competitive opportunities that prepare them for national and international competition. There are over 3,500 participants competing in each of the Ontario summer and winter youth games in 20 to 26 sports.

Athletes competing in the games range in age from 13 to 22 years. The games are held every other year on even years and feature sports such as men’s and women’s ice hockey, five-pin bowling, badminton, biathlon, boxing, curling, diving, fencing, figure skating, gymnastics, judo, ringette, shooting, skiing (alpine, freestyle and cross-country), speed skating, squash, synchronized swimming, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

The games are administered by the SAO, a not-for-profit provincial sport management agency with the mandate to support personal and community development through sport opportunities.

The total cost to host the games is between $1 million and $1.2 million, of which the SAO contributes $600,000. The economic impact for the hosting community is estimated at between $5 million and $6 million.

Now for your reading pleasure, we present the other contenders for the top sports story honour in no particular order.

Ironman 70.3 lives up to billing

Last year’s top story came close to securing the number one spot again. The 2008 race marked the beginning of a three-year contract Trisport Canada – the organization which operates the annual Muskoka Triathlon – has with the World Triathlon Corporation to host the event. Mitch Fraser, Trisport’s race director, has confirmed the race will return to Muskoka for the remaining two years of the contract.

Twelve hundred and ninety-nine athletes crossed the finish line on Sept. 14 after completing a gruelling 2-km swim, 94-km bike ride and 21.1-km run that took in part of Hwy. 60 and around Lake of Bays.

In the end, Australian star Craig Alexander captured the first-ever Muskoka title, taking the race with a time of 4:10:31, more than four minutes ahead of Rich Cunningham of the U.S.

Alexander was the third-fastest male competitor after the 2-km swim, but moved into second place behind the eventual third-place finisher Daniel Bretscher of the U.S. following the 94-km bike portion.

The Aussie took control of the race during the 21.1-km run where he was at his best, clocking an impressive 1:13:48, nearly five minutes better than Cunningham’s time.

Joanna Ziegler of the U.S. was the fastest female competitor with a time of 4:37:04. She was five minutes ahead of her nearest competitor, New York native Rebeccah Wassner (4:42:42).

Huntsville’s Mike Duncan was the top local finisher. He clocked a time of 5:10:36 during the race, good enough for 68th place overall and fifth in the men’s 40-to-44 age group. Traci McIlroy of Huntsville was the top local female competitor. She placed 600th with a time of 6:18:40. Twenty-six Muskoka athletes competed in the first-ever event.

Olympic torch to make second stop in Huntsville

Mayor Claude Doughty announced in front of a packed council chamber in November that the Olympic Torch Relay will be coming to the community in either late 2009 or early 2010 on its way to the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

The 100-day torch relay route will be the longest domestic torch relay in Olympic history, covering 45,000 kilometres with 12,000 runners carrying the flame through more than 1,000 communities.

After four days on Vancouver Island, the torch will head toward northern B.C. before travelling into the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

The journey will continue to Newfoundland before embarking on a

cross-Canada journey  – including the stop in Huntsville – that will put it back in Vancouver on Jan. 21, 2010 for the game’s opening ceremonies.

The torch came through town when the Olympics were held in Calgary back in 1988, but this time, the community will host a celebration ceremony.

“Obviously this announcement will mean a significant impact for Huntsville because not only is the torch running through our community, it is stopping here. Huntsville has been given the honour of hosting a regional celebration. One of your community members will have the privilege of gracing the stage of the lighting of the Huntsville Olympic Cauldron,” said Doughty.

The torch is expected to stop in town on Dec. 30 of next year.

Sportrec’s closure could mean the end of resource

Sportrec chair Peter Jacob said following May’s  spring-summer funding meeting that the group may wind up its operation within the next three years.

“Our reserve funds are being depleted at a steady rate, and are only being replaced at about $5,000 per year. At our current rate of disbursements, we face a situation whereby we will have returned all our revenues to the community in the future and the organization will dissolve.”

Sportrec has provided financial support, and offered advice and technical support over the years to many different groups in the community. Sportrec funds are derived from the sale of Nevada tickets at the Huntsville Place Mall.

Sportrec has funding available to organizations seeking to initiate or upgrade their training, coaching, officiating or organizational effectiveness, which leads to increased or improved programs. The board meets twice a year to review applications and does not fund individuals, continuing programs, normal operating costs, profit making groups, or events/activities that have already taken place.

Jacob said the board knew the day it would wind up its operations would come. “We may not disband entirely. We may decide to just use the money we generate annually and distribute that money once a year.”

He said that Sportrec has contributed about $300,000 to 60 different groups and organizations in Huntsville since 1992.

Huntsville Otters win first division title in franchise history

The Otters captured the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League’s North Division regular season crown by defeating the Aurora Tigers on Feb. 10 in Aurora and winning their 10th straight game in the process.

It was the first title for the franchise in its four-year history.

The Otters tied a league record on Feb. 7 with their 10th team shutout in a 4-0 win over the Couchiching Terriers in Orillia.

Newmarket and Otters ended up tied with 84 points each, but Huntsville got the nod for first based on winning the season series (four wins in six games). Even if the two teams were tied at three wins apiece, Huntsville still would have been awarded first based on winning more games (42 to 41).

The Otters concluded the season tied with Newmarket for the third-best record in the league behind St. Michaels and Vaughan.

Huntsville also ended the year with the best defensive mark in the loop with a goals-against average of 1.88, an impressive mark in the high-scoring world of junior hockey.

Goalie Jeff Dawson picked up the team’s first major trophy win in three seasons, winning a share of the North Division’s MVP award.

The dream season ended with a surprise seven-game playoff series loss to the Stouffville Spirit.

Town makes it to top 10 in Hockeyville voting

What started off as a grassroots movement soon took on a project of national and financial implications, as Huntsville was one of the communities seeking the title of Kraft Hockeyville 2008.

Huntsville was up against Kingsville to see which one would represent the Ontario region in the next round.

The top 10 communities were chosen by an in-house panel, which made their selections based on community spirit, originality and passion for hockey.

The top five communities were determined by audience vote.

The overall winning community would host an NHL pre-season game in their arena as well as a CBC Hockey Night in Canada broadcast plus receive $100,000 in arena upgrades from Kraft.

The other four finalists would win $20,000 in arena upgrades from Kraft, plus the right to host a CBC Hockey Night in Canada broadcast from their community.

Huntsville put forward a strong case to be named Hockeyville. CBC visited the community Feb. 6 in response to residents’ submissions for the town to become Kraft Hockeyville 2008. The town submitted a total of 52 stories for the competition, a figure that was second in Ontario and third in the country.

One of the highlights was the CBC visit to the Huntsville Otters’ junior A hockey game that afternoon against the Couchiching Terriers. More than 700 fans jammed the Jack Bionda Arena not only to show support for their hockey team, but to also show why the town should have been chosen as the winning community.

Huntsville was voted as one of the top 10 communities in the competition, but was out voted in the Ontario balloting.

Local organizer Katie Peleikis said she was disappointed by the vote, but proud of how the town rallied together in an attempt to win the competition.

“It started out as an idea I had and a personal goal to put our town and our teams on the map but it quickly turned into a town project. Kingsville did have an advantage on us in the sense that they competed last year and had the entire year to prepare their plan of attack however we really came together as a community to represent Huntsville in the time we had,” she said.

Minor lacrosse captures two Ontario titles

Our national summer sport continued to thrive in Huntsville this past year, as the tyke and intermediate rep teams captured their respective Ontario Lacrosse Association championships.

The Huntsville Moller Insurance Tyke Hawks competed in the C2 division of the Ontario Lacrosse Association championships Aug. 3 to 5. The tykes faced off against Akwesasne in the semifinal for their fifth game in three days. The Huntsville players found the energy to get through this game for a final of 9-2. In a great display of determination, the Hawks overcame a 7-5 deficit heading into the third to score five unanswered goals and defeat Owen Sound 10-7.

The Huntsville Richard Dunn & Son’s Siding Intermediate Hawks lacrosse team travelled to Six Nations to compete in the C Division championships Aug 15 to 17.

The Hawks went into the weekend with an impressive zone record of 13-7-1. Huntsville was able to capture the town’s second Ontario title with a 4-3 win over Fergus in the final game.

Huntsville lacrosse star gets entry into hall of fame

Gail Cummings-Danson, who is already enshrined in halls for fame of Ontario, the United States and Huntsville, was elected to the Canadian Hall of Fame in British Columbia during a ceremony held in early November.

She entered the hall with such luminaries as John Grant Sr., Gary Moore and Al Frick.  She joined other Huntsville residents in the hall like Jim Meredith, Jack Bionda, Brian Thompson, Jim Higgs, Ivan Thompson and coach Jim Bishop.

Cummings-Danson called her entry into the hall an “unbelievable” honour.

“When you come from Huntsville, where virtually all of my coaches are hall-of-famers, it is indeed an incredible feeling. I am not even by far the best lacrosse player the town ever produced, so you can imagine how humbling this feels,” she said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Cummings-Danson grew up playing boys minor box lacrosse in Huntsville before playing with the Ontario women’s field lacrosse team from 1982 to 1989.

She later enrolled in Temple University in Philadelphia, where she became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 372 points and helped the university win the national field lacrosse title in 1988. Cummings-Danson was also a three-time All-American, earning first-team honours in 1987 and 1988.

She was a member of the Canadian women’s team from 1982 to 1989 and the American women’s national team from 1990 to 1993, winning a world title in 1993.