By Staff
July 11, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington somehow managed miss out on the Pan American games.
The opportunity to have a facility in the east end of the city was lost – mostly due to a very strong reaction from the people who didn’t want anything done to Sherwood Forest Park
Now the biggest park the city has – and the furthest from the bulk of the population.
Burlington did get an excellent soccer pitch and a much improved park on the west side of the city.
City View Park is a superb site – with lot of room to walk and roam and 3 soccer pitches that the people of Burlington won’t get to use until the games are over.
The grounds are being used as a practice location for Pan Am soccer players. The city did collect a significant fee for the use of the grounds.
The soccer fields are covered with Astro turf which are seen as expensive to maintain.
In a media release the city sent out the names of eight Burlington affiliated competing in the Games: which is a cheaters way of saying there are eight Burlington or close by athletes playing in the games. Why would the city add in the names of great athlete from Oakville, Mississauga and Hamilton ?
Mike Green, Racketball; is a Hamilton resisdent.
Melanie Hawtin, Wheelchair Basketball is an Oakville resident
Mark Oldershaw, Canoe, is a resident of Oakville
Ashley Stephenson, Baseball; is a Mississauga resident.
Hawtin and Oldershaw are well known to Burlington audiences; Hawtin in particular is one heck of a wheel chair basketball player.
The genuine Burlingtonians are
Brady Reardon, kayak
Autumn Mills, baseball
Tyler Muscat; the martial art of Taekwondo
Kate Psota, baseball
Autumn Mills,
Since being selected to the Canadian Women’s National Team at age 16, Autumn Mills has competed in five editions of the IBAF World Cup and won three medals, including a best-ever silver in 2008. Her personal highlight has been playing on home soil in Edmonton at the 2012 World Cup where she got the save in closing out the bronze medal victory over Australia. Mills had played boys baseball throughout her childhood because she had no knowledge of any opportunity for girls in the game.
When she was 15 she was asked to try out for Team Ontario. That summer, she and her father commuted to Toronto from London every weekend for games. It was then that she finally heard about Team Canada and the chance to compete around the world, something she convinced herself she would be part of one day.
PERSONAL: Family: Parents Daniel and Nancy Mills… Getting into the Sport: Started playing t-ball at age 4… She was on par or better than the boys and had a strong arm so stuck with it… Outside Interests: Earned her Bachelor of Arts in kinesiology and Bachelor of Education (primary/junior) at York University… Enjoys doing Crossfit, snowboarding, and going to Blue Jays’ games… Works as a police officer… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: “Luck is the residue of hard work”… Admires smaller guys in MLB such as Dustin Pedroia who make big plays and hit the ball with power despite their size… Superstition: The ball must be on the ground before pitching; if someone throws it she puts it down, walks around the mound and takes a deep breath before picking it up… Has a good luck Pandora bracelet with baseball charms on her left wrist… Always travels with a lacrosse ball… Collects different Starbucks city mugs… Nickname: Millsy
Tyler Muscat
The martial art of Taekwondo is fascinating to watch – two people in the rink, each lightly bouncing in anticipation of the other person’s hit while trying to calculate their own strike. The energy that flows between the two competitors when they dance around each other, throwing jabs and kicks when they see the opportunity, is tense and powerful.
“My first Nationals was when I was 12 years old. I ended up getting first place.”
Tyler Muscat is a confident 19-year-old Taekwondo athlete who knows the sport well; he’s practiced it for the past 13 years of his life and he doesn’t see a near end. At the age of 10 he got into the competitive part of Taekwondo and has been going to competitions and traveling the world since. “My first Nationals was when I was 12 years old. I ended up getting first place, and from then on it just got better,” says Muscat, who lives just outside Toronto in Burlington, Ont.
He is heading to Russia’s 2015 World Taekwondo Championships later this week with promising ambitions of making it to the 2016 Olympic Games – he’s currently ranked 10th in the world for his weight division.
His speciality is his speed. Muscat says that in his division, 54kg – the lowest in the senior category, many of his opponents are tall and do this move called the cut-kick. What saves him is his speed and technique, they give him an advantage that makes it easy to get around the move.
Muscat isn’t too worried about the Russian Games right now, he sees them as more of an opportunity to grab points and advance his world rank. His confidence stems from two practices a day, each an hour and a half, and from his trainer Carla Bacco. He met Carla in the beginning of his Taekwondo career at his school Kicks for Kids, and has practiced there under her guidance since.
Kicks for Kids has become his current University/College since he decided to postpone his post-secondary degree indefinitely after high school. “There’s a perfect time for everything,” says Muscat, “I’m trying to focus on the main things right now. School is always there for you.”
When he decides to return he wants to pursue a career in marketing (experience with interviews and advertising himself as an athlete is his first taste in the line of work) and complete his post-secondary education. “I don’t think I will ever stop Taekwondo, even if I was in school,” says Muscat.
A constant quirk of his that has followed him through every country and competition is his familial support; while he appreciates his family’s help and encouragement he doesn’t allow them to go to his competitions. “I get nervous,” he says, “even Nationals in Toronto, I didn’t let my family come out to support me just because I’m particular like that.”
But whether he goes alone or not, Muscat’s confidence is unwavering and his world rank can prove it – coming back home to his family to celebrate the wins makes them that much sweeter.
Kate Psota
Kate Psota is a veteran of the women’s national team, having appeared in every IBAF World Cup since its inception in 2004. She has won four medals in six tournaments, highlighted by a silver medal in 2008. Psota was named national team MVP in 2009 and 2010. In 2010 and 2012 she was a World Cup all-star at first base. Psota played collegiate hockey for the Laurier Golden Hawks, winning five consecutive OUA championships from 2006 to 2010. In 2009 she was a CIS Academic All-Canadian.
PERSONAL: Family: Parents Ed and Monique Psota… Younger brother Mike… Getting into the Sport: Started playing t-ball at age 4/5… Nobody in her family was involved in the sport, but when she was young she was obsessed with watching the Toronto Blue Jays and wanted to play baseball just like them… Outside Interests: Graduated from Wilfred Laurier University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in geography and kinesiology… Earned her Bachelor of Arts in education from Queens’ University in 2011… Enjoys going to the family cottage, boating, fishing, swimming, and gardening… Works at a garden centre… Odds and Ends: Worked and trained in Australia during the 2012 season where she developed friendships with their national team members… Nickname: Sodey… Tries to bring home something reflective of the culture wherever she travel.
Brady Reardon
B
rady Reardon is a second generation Olympian who was proud to have his father Jim on-site to watch him at Beijing 2008. Just like his dad at Munich 1972, Reardon competed in the K-4 1000m. Reardon has competed at every edition of the ICF World Championships since his debut in the K-2 1000m in 2007.
In 2012 he began racing K-1 internationally and won a silver medal in the first K-1 500m race of the World Cup season. A longtime training partner of Burloak clubmate Adam van Koeverden, the two focused on the K-2 1000m in 2013 and won a silver medal at the third World Cup stop in Poznan. In 2014 Reardon teamed with Andrew Jessop in the K-2 1000m at the world championships and recorded one of Canada’s best results of the competition with their seventh place finish.
PERSONAL: Family: Parents Jim and Danny Reardon… Older brother Tucker… Getting married in September 2015… Getting into the Sport: Grew up in the sport because both of his parents paddled… Outside Interests: Enjoys mountain biking, DIY projects, being outside with his dog Banditt… Has a degree in kinesiology from McMaster University. Volunteers with KidSport. Odds and Ends: Always drinks a Guinness before race day. Always keeps his racing numbers.
Favourite motto: “When you think you’re going as hard as you can, toughen up and go harder”…
