Tag: writing

Former Coquitlam Little League champion begins his journey to the Major Leagues

Tim Piasentin’s journey to Major League Baseball begins in Dunedin, Florida.

The hard-hitting Coquitlam infielder is at the minor league complex of the Toronto Blue Jays for the team’s introductory camp of prospects it selected in the MLB Draft on July 13 and 14.

Piasentin, 18, was the Jays’ fifth-round pick — 143rd overall — and on Monday, July 21, the team announced it had agreed to terms with the former Coquitlam Little League All-Star, along with several other of its recent draft acquisitions and non-drafted free agents.

According to MLB Pipeline, a website that tracks prospective Major Leaguers, Piasentin received a signing bonus of $747,500. That’s almost $250,000 more than the assigned value of $503,800 for a player picked 143rd overall.

Piasentin’s contract means he’ll forgo his prior commitment to attend the University of Miami in the fall.

Instead, he’ll likely begin his long and uncertain journey to the Major Leagues playing with Toronto’s rookie-league affiliate, the Florida Complex League Blue Jays, that is based in Dunedin.

As Piasentin continues to develop he could eventually find himself back near home with the Vancouver Canadians, the Jays’ High-A team, its third-highest minor league affiliate.

When he was 12, Piasentin helped take his Coquitlam team to the Little League World Series in Williamstown, PA. He drove in all five runs in its 5-3 win over host Little Mountain in the final of the provincial championship and he hit a home run at the Canadian national championship in Ancaster, Ont.

Piasentin progressed to the Coquitlam Reds program in the BC Premier Baseball League and last spring he graduated from the Okotoks Dawgs Academy program in Alberta that plays in the Western Canadian Baseball League, a top summer circuit for prep school players. He was also part of Canada’s national junior team.

In 2024, Piasentin won the Rawlings home run derby that was part of the Canadian Futures Showcase at the Rogers Centre in Toronto for the country’s top young baseball players.

Scouting assessments praise the bat speed and power of the 6’3”, 200-pound hitter but question whether his defensive capabilities might be better suited to playing first base or right field rather than third base.

Piasentin is the seventh Coquitlam Little Leaguer to crack an MLB organization. The first was catcher Don Gurniak, who was signed by the Montreal Expos in 1970 but never ascended beyond the team’s A-League affiliate before he was released in 1972.

More recently, pitcher Curtis Taylor continues to work his way toward an MLB roster spot. He’s currently playing for the Memphis Redbirds, the AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, which signed him to a minor league contract last spring.

Taylor was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016 and has since toiled in the minor league systems of five other MLB teams, including the Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins. He also played two seasons in the Mexican League.

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‘Like a hug from a mother’: Port Moody museum exhibit swaddles visitors with sounds of First Nations’ languages

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News on May 30, 2022

British Columbia’s 203 First Nations speak 34 distinct languages.

Several exist only orally and as elders who know them pass away, they’re at risk of disappearing entirely.

A few already have.

The effort to ensure Indigenous languages survive and even flourish is the subject of a travelling exhibit from the Royal BC Museum that’s being featured at Port Moody Station Museum from June 1 to Sept. 10.

The exhibit, entitled Our Living Languages First Peoples’ Voices in BC, is comprised of information panels and interactive stations that tell the history of those languages, the threats to their continued existence and the work that’s being done to document them so they can be passed on to future generations.

Language is a vital component of First Nations’ culture, said Kate Kerr, coordinator of the travelling exhibit.

“Language is unifying,” she said. “It gives you a sense of history and a sense of place.”

But colonial pressures like assimilation, residential schools and even diseases such as smallpox and measles that were introduced to Indigenous communities by white settlers have diminished many First Nations’ languages, undermining their culture.

Bringing those languages back to life has been a bit of a hodgepodge effort over the years, championed by dedicated researchers making audio and video recordings of conversations with elders. Digitizing the tapes has been an ongoing project at Royal BC, Kerr said.

The work is also important to reconciliation, she added.

Language can help build bridges to empathy and awareness, Kerr said. Witness recent initiatives to resurrect Indigenous names for places like Belcarra Regional Park, now təmtəmíxʷtən in the language of the Tsleil-Waututh, or səmiq̓wəʔelə, the Kwikwetlem title for the Riverview lands in Coquitlam.

Brianne Egeto, the manager/curator at Station Museum, said she reached out to learn about the language program that the Tsleil-Waututh community is doing.

“The Port Moody Heritage Society is committed to taking steps towards reconciliation,” she said. “We hope this exhibit will get people wanting to learn more about all the other initiatives taking place within the communities.”

Kerr said the display has the potential to open the ears and hearts of visitors, especially when they take a seat in the specially-constructed “cradleboard theatre” that envelopes listeners in recordings of conversations in Indigenous languages, many of them with children.

The effect is intentional, she said, as a cradleboard is a portable carrier woven or built of wood that is used by many First Nations to transport infants in their first few months of life.

“It swaddles the listener,” Kerr said. “We want it to feel like a hug from a mother.”

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‘It’s clear that a new, larger facility is needed’: Port Moody pondering Kyle Centre replacement

The days of Port Moody’s aging Kyle Centre may be numbered.

Tuesday, July 15, council’s strategic priorities committee will consider whether it should spend $515,000 to begin conceptual design work on a new community centre. The money would come from the city’s community amenity contribution reserve fund.

According to a staff report authored by project manager Sandy Tolentino, the new 30,000 sq. ft. facility would be almost triple the size of the existing Kyle Centre, that was constructed in 1977 and has fallen into disrepair.

In 2023, council shelved a $3-million plan to repair the 11,000 sq. ft. building that had previously been approved a year earlier. Mayor Meghan Lahti said the reconsideration was sparked by anticipated growth in the surrounding Moody Centre neighbourhood.

“There will be significant needs down there,” she said.

Coun. Kyla Knowles said fixing up the old building, which had been identified as in danger of “functional obsolescence” as far back as 2013, amounted to “throwing lipstick on a pig.”

In her report, Tolentino said Kyle Centre is “nearing its end of life,” and as the neighbourhood grows, “it’s clear that a new, larger facility is needed.”

Tolentino estimated a new community centre will cost $30-$40 million. Half the money would come from city reserve funds while the other half would be financed through the Municipal Finance Authority, necessitating a property tax increase of 1.47 – 1.97 per cent.

Construction would take about 24 months with a preliminary completion date anticipated in late 2028.

Tolentino said the new structure would be in the same location as the existing Kyle Centre, while leaving room for a potential future affordable housing project just to the west. The current surface parking lot that also services PoMoArts would become an underground parkade shared by the neighbouring facilities with a potential connection to the housing structure.

Kyle Park would also be expanded and upgraded east of Kyle Street where Port Moody acquired two residential properties for $5.9 million in 2024.

Tolentino said the city will review options to connect the new Kyle Centre with the expanded park, including closing roads and the construction of a community plaza.

She said consideration of council’s strategic priorities as well as feedback from residents “has led to the understanding that now is the time to take steps to move forward and develop a plan for a replacement of Kyle Centre.”

If council approves the conceptual design project, next steps would include public engagement later this year to determine programming needs followed by a final estimate of capital costs and financing options by the end of 2025, in advance of a report to council and subsequent public review early next year.

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Coquitlam slugger plucked by the Toronto Blue Jays

A Coquitlam infielder whose bat helped his team of 12-year-old All-Stars reach the Little League World Series, could someday help the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series.

Tim Piasentin was selected in the fifth round, 143rd overall, by the Toronto Blue Jays in the second day of the Major League Baseball draft on Monday.

The left-hand-hitting third baseman was part of the Coquitlam All-Stars team that went to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA, after it won the 2019 provincial and Canadian championships.

Piasentin is a graduate of the Okotoks Dawgs Academy program in Alberta that plays in the Western Canadian Baseball League, a top summer circuit for prep school players. He was also part of Canada’s junior national team.

Piasentin is committed to join the University of Miami Hurricanes in the fall.

Heading into the draft, Piasentin was ranked 160th of the top 250 MLB prospects and he was considered to be Canada’s top high school prospect.

Scouting reports praise the bat speed and power of the 6’3”, 200-pound, 18-year-old but question whether his defensive capabilities might be better suited to playing first base or maybe right field.

Just Baseball’s Tyler Fleming said Piasentin’s “violent swing” is “tailor-made to do damage in the air, especially against heaters.”

“His standout tool is his raw power,” said MLB.com’s assessment of Piasentin.

MARIO BARTEL PHOTO When he was 12 years-old, Tim Piasentin helped lead the Coquitlam All-Stars to the 2019 Little League World Series in Williamstown, PA.

His ability at the plate was already apparent as a 12-year-old with the All-Stars when he drove home all the runs in the team’s 5-3 win over host Little Mountain in the championship final at the 2019 provincials and another five runs in its semi-final win over Hastings.

Piasentin also hit a home run at the Canadian national championship in Ancaster, Ont.

In 2024, he won the Rawlings home run derby that was part of the Canadian Futures Showcase for the country’s top young baseball prospects hosted by the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.

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When they were kings. Coquitlam hoopsters reunite to celebrate 50th anniversary of championship

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News on March 20, 2022

The Centennial Centaurs’ eighth place finish at the recent BC High School AAAA boys basketball championships may not have lived up to the team’s second-place ranking heading into the tournament.

But several kilometres away from the Langley Events Centre, a group of lifelong supporters celebrated anyway.

Players from the 1972 Centaurs’ team that was the school’s only boys side to ever win the provincial senior basketball title gathered last Friday (March 11) at the Vancouver Golf Club to renew acquaintances and catch up.

It was 50 years to the night this group of now senior citizens tasted the sweetest victory of their young lives, defeating the defending champions, North Delta Huskies, 60-40, in front of almost 10,000 screaming fans, friends and family at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Centennial Centaurs that won the 1972 senior boys provincial high school basketball championship gather at the Vancouver Golf Club for a reunion 50 years later.

“It was like a chill ran down your back,” said Greg Hoskins, Centennial’s 6’4” power forward, of the atmosphere that long-ago night. “It was amazing.”

As much as the game was for provincial basketball bragging rights, it was also an opportunity for the Centaurs to avenge an earlier setback by one point to the Huskies at the Fraser Valley playoffs.

North Delta was a basketball powerhouse, having rolled through teams like Abbotsford, MEI and North Surrey that were stacked with big men to win the 1971 championship. Heading into the ’72 final, they’d only lost twice all season.

Huskies coach, the late Stan Stewardson who went on to guide the Simon Fraser University men’s team for several years, had said many of Centennial’s players weren’t good enough to make his squad.

Future NBAer

And the one who was, towering centre Lars Hansen, had been stymied in the Fraser Valleys by North Delta’s strategy to double-team him with a defender in front and behind.

Hansen, who starred at the University of Washington and then played professionally in Europe as well as one season with the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics, said Stewardson’s assessment stung the Centaurs.

“I don’t think there were any doubters on that team,” he said. “We had a confidence. Our physicality was better than North Delta’s.”

Hansen, who’d yet to commit to a post-secondary program, said he’d already been battle-hardened by playing in basketball camps in the United States where he had to overcome the coverage of some of that country’s best high school players.

“That set me up to come back bigger and stronger and a clear idea of what basketball was all about.”

John Buis, who played for North Delta and then went on to a long career with the RCMP that included a stretch in Coquitlam, said the Huskies knew to repeat as champions they had to stop Hansen.

“He was a pretty big guy,” said Buis of the 6’10” star. “He was the key guy.”

As the Centaurs and Huskies careened through the AA tournament’s preliminary rounds on a collision course with each other, anticipation for the showdown grew.

Hoskins said Centennial’s crowded halls were abuzz with excitement that spread throughout Coquitlam as everyone got behind the team from the city’s only high school at the time.

A big deal

Buis said the high school basketball championship was a focal point of the Lower Mainland’s winter sporting scene, commanding pages of attention in all three of Vancouver’s daily newspapers — the Province, Sun and Columbian.

“That was the event to go to,” he said, adding the Huskies’ status as defending champions brought with it its own pressure.

Centennial jumped out to a 12–9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the teams were tied at 24 when they retreated to their dressing rooms at half time.

Hansen accounted for 21 of the Centaurs’ points.

“With a guy like Lars, you just had to get him the ball and he would take over,” said Hoskins.

“We just couldn’t stop Lars,” recalled Buis. “He had one of those nights.”

By the final whistle, Hansen had scored 39 points, the most that had ever been scored in the championship to that point.

He was named the tournament’s most valuable player, reprising the honour he’d also earned the year before when the Centaurs made it to the semifinals.

Hansen said despite appearances on the score sheet, he didn’t win the provincial title alone.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way the guys played,” he said, pointing out while his teammates crashed the boards and fought for rebounds. “They just left the scoring to me.”

Bond endures

Hoskins said the bond between the players transcended their roles on the basketball court.

“There was a lot of friendships amongst the team,” he said.

Hansen added, “I thoroughly enjoyed the way everyone accepted their roles. There was no animosity.”

Fifty years later, the bond remains strong.

In addition to the players and coach Gordon Betcher, who’s still alive and spry at 87 years old, several of the school’s cheerleading squad also attended the reunion.

“People don’t really change that much,” said Hoskins. “We just get old.”

For Buis, the experience of two consecutive appearances in the provincial championship launched a lifelong passion to pass that opportunity on to subsequent generations as the tournament’s director for many years.

“The experience was one I’ll never forget,” he said. “It took me into the next phase of my life.”

The 1972 Centennial Centaurs

  • Rob Davidson, guard
  • Terry Uotuk, guard
  • Mitchell Dudoward, guard
  • Art Abram, guard
  • Gary Holte, guard
  • George Musseau, forward
  • Dave Bedwell, guard
  • Greg Hoskins, forward
  • Al Godin, guard
  • Brian Fulton, forward
  • rnold Anderson, centre
  • Lars Hansen, centre
  • Gordon Betcher, coach
  • Scott McNab, manager
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Coquitlam player signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins

A Coquitlam hockey player with a soccer pedigree is now a Pittsburgh Penguin.

Ben Kindel signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL team on Tuesday, July 8, after the Penguins selected the 18-year-old forward 11th overall in June’s 2025 Entry Draft.

Kindel’s dad, Steve, is a former Canadian national soccer team player who also played eight seasons with the Vancouver Whitecaps and two seasons with the old Vancouver 86ers of the A-League.

Kindel’s mother is Sara Maglio, who played for the women’s Whitecaps from 2001-05 and made four appearances with Canada’s national women’s team, including at the 1999 FIFA women’s World Cup.

His younger sister, Lacey, is an accomplished soccer player with the Vancouver Rise FC’s academy program. She also represented Canada at a qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup that will be played in Morocco Oct. 17-Nov. 8.

Ben Kindel, a right winger, spent the past two seasons with the Calgary Hitmen in the Western Hockey League where he amassed 159 points in 133 games, including a franchise-record 23-game point streak that spanned more than two months from Nov.8 to Jan. 12.

Not to be outdone on the international stage by the rest of his family, Kindel also played five games for Canada’s gold medal-winning team at the 2025 IIHF U-18 World Championship in Texas in the spring. He scored a goal and added six assists.

“You see the hockey sense, you see the playmaking ability,” said Pittsburgh’s director of player development, Tom Kotsopoulos, of Kindel’s performance at the team’s recent development camp. “I think he’s a kid who’s willing to put in the work, and he knows what he has to do.”

Kindel said he’s excited to be part of a team that’s built around veteran superstar Sydney Crosby.

“Obviously, they have a player such as Sidney Crosby and a lot of other great players that have been here for a long time,” he said of the Penguins’ longtime captain. “But I think like looking up to a guy like Sid for his passion for the game, his loyalty to the Penguins, and his hockey sense and the way he plays the game the right way.”

Kindel told Penguins’ team reporter Michelle Crechiolo while he grew up in a soccer household, his dad was a big hockey fan and he fell in love with the game as soon as he started playing.

Still, Kindel added, he gleaned valuable lessons from his parents’ soccer passion.

“Do everything 100 per cent, no matter what you’re doing, Then, play with passion every time you step out on the field or the rink.”

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Coquitlam student follows a new path through running

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News on Oct. 31, 2021

Cycling’s loss is running’s gain.

Adam Crespi, a senior at Gleneagle Secondary, was trying to figure out an activity he could immerse himself in for four months as part of the school’s Talons outdoor leadership program; he wanted to do cycling, but getting a road bike would be an expensive investment.

To run, though, all he needed was a pair of shoes.

Less than two years later, he’s the Fraser North District senior boy’s cross-country champion and, on Saturday (Nov. 6), he’ll be competing at the provincial championships in Vancouver’s Jericho Park.

Crespi’s also had success running middle distances on the track, including winning gold medals in the U15 provincial championships for the 1500m and 800m races, and a victory at the BC Endurance Challenge last July in Victoria.

Crespi said until economics set him on a running path, he’d never considered the sport.

Now it’s his passion that’s even opened up some unexpected post-secondary possibilities.

“I just really enjoy it,” Crespi said of the initial challenge he set himself to train for a half marathon.

That was just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As his school and life routines were disrupted by closures and public health restrictions, heading up to Coquitlam’s Mundy Park or out to Bert Flinn Park in Port Moody for a run amidst the trees proved a balm in uncertain times.

“Running provided consistency,” Crespi said. “It made me feel better every day.”

In fact, Crespi added, he loved running so much, when the school year ended he kept going.

He joined the Coquitlam Cheetahs to connect with other runners his age who shared his passion. “Everyone is so driven,” he said of his teammates at the track club. “It pushes you to the next level.”

But where that level was remained largely a mystery through Crespi’s first season as a competitive runner. The pandemic resulted in the cancellation of all meets in 2020. His only measure of progress was against the clock in virtual competitions.

Still, the results were encouraging.

Crespi ramped up his training, running six or seven days a week. He started going to the gym to increase his strength and refined his diet to boost his energy. He hiked up mountains, including the rugged 47-kilometre Juan de Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island that he completed in eight hours.

Crespi said his natural inclination to run comes from his years playing youth soccer.

“Each game you’re running,” he said. “It really builds your leg muscles.”

But, Crespi said, the team sport never really provided the community he’s found in running.

“If someone you meet is a runner, you can instantly start a conversation,” he said. “You’re on the same page.”

Crespi said he’s not sure what to expect at his first provincials. Most of his competitors will be unfamiliar, as will the grassy route at Jericho — the majority of the trails he runs competitively at Mundy Park are gravel or dirt.

He said.his strategy will be to sprint to the front and then try to control the race from there.

“You have to be aware of your pace. In cross-country, the race can easily get away from you.”

No matter where Crespi places though, he’s thankful for the course his decision to start running has taken him. Next fall, that could even mean heading south of the border.

Crespi said his academic aspirations had him eyeing the engineering program at the University of British Columbia. But some encouraging feedback from American schools with well-regarded cross-country and middle distance running programs, like Brown University and MIT, have expanded his educational options.

“It’s really opened up some possibilities,” Crespi said. “If I told myself a year ago what I was going to be doing now, I wouldn’t have believed me.”

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Port Moody player plucked in first round of PWHL draft

Port Moody hockey fans won’t have to travel far to see one of the city’s own make her debut in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Jenna Buglioni, who was also a top field hockey player when she attended Gleneagle Secondary School in Coquitlam, was selected eighth overall by the new Seattle team in the league’s 2025 entry draft.

That’s seven places higher than the Hockey News’ assessment of top prospects last February.

Buglioni, who scored 164 points in 167 games during her five seasons at Ohio State University, said she’s looking forward to the next step in her hockey career.

“I’m so excited to see the fans rockin’ it at Climate Pledge Arena,” Buglioni said on Instagram, adding she “can’t wait to get to work in November.”

Buglioni was actually eligible to be selected in the PWHL’s 2024 entry draft, but she opted instead to play a fifth season at Ohio State while earning a Master’s degree in sport management.

Buglioni said the additional season would also better prepare her for the rigours of turning pro.

“I have gotten that extra time to work on skills and get more game experience,” she said.

Buglioni won two conference and two national championships at Ohio State, although her final season ended in heartbreak when the Buckeyes were defeated in overtime by the University of Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA Frozen Four championship final on March 30.

“We were so close to getting that outcome we wanted and it almost felt stripped away,” Buglioni said of the result that came after the Badgers tied the game on a penalty shot with less than 19 seconds left in the third period.

Individually, Buglioni set school records for career and single-season game-winning goals and she tied the program’s record for career short-handed goals.

Buglioni was also the Buckeyes’ captain in her final season and she even sang the national anthem prior to her final regular season game at Ohio State.

Seattle joins Vancouver as the PWHL’s first expansion teams. Neither has yet to announce a nickname.

Vancouver selected veteran Finnish national team forward Michelle Karvinen seventh overall in the entry draft, which took place in Ottawa.

The PWHL is expected to release its schedule later in the summer.

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Massive Anmore development proposal put on hold at the last minute

A proposed development that would almost triple Anmore’s population has been put on hold.

Less than 15 minutes prior to Monday’s scheduled public hearing into an application by Icona Properties to amend the village’s official community plan so its proposal could proceed, Greg Moore, the company’s CEO, announced on social media it’s taking a break.

“We’ve made the decision to withdraw our current application for Anmore South,” said Moore on Facebook. “This break will allow us to explore a path forward that brings more unity than discord.”

cona was seeking approval to construct 1,750 new townhouses, low-rise apartments and single-family homes on 150 acres of property the company owns near the corner of 1st Avenue and Sunnyside Road.

On June 10, Anmore council voted 5-1 to send the proposal to a public hearing that was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., Monday, June 23.

The development plan has drawn consternation from residents of the bucolic village of 2,200 residents, as well as the neighbouring communities of Port Moody and Belcarra.

A group called the Anmore Neighbours Community Association (ANCA) said Icona’s plan poses “significant financial risks” to the village.

ANCA’s Rod Rempel and Harriette Chang said a consulting company’s estimate it would cost the developer $30 million to construct services like water, sewer and storm drainage could end up leaving Anmore taxpayers on the hook.

Residents also expressed concerns about increased traffic, higher costs for policing and fire services, as well as public safety because the two access roads into and out of the village could become blocked or overwhelmed in an emergency like a wildfire.

Port Moody and Belcarra shared similar trepidation.

In a letter sent to Anmore council in May, Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti said neither the village nor developer had yet to initiative discussions about utility upgrades, most of which would be routed through its urban neighbour.

“If the village is interested in partnering on this infrastructure, time is of the essence,” she said.

Belcarra Mayor Jamie Ross said traffic and construction activity during the development’s 25-year built-out would also be a hardship on his village.

Anmore councillor Doug Richardson, who cast the only dissenting vote to move Icona’s proposal forward, said the project “is not needed.”

But supporters on council countered the village needs to do its part to address Metro Vancouver’s housing crisis by providing “more affordable” options.

Anmore Mayor John McEwen said development of the property is inevitable.

“Change is happening and we want to have a say in how it gets developed.”

In his statement, Moore acknowledged the division his company’s plan has incited.

“This was never our intent,” he said. “In fact, it’s the opposite of what we set out to do.”

Moore said Icona wants to create “a people-first community” that’s “more connected and more compassionate.”

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Chris Wilson wants you to buy his balls

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News on Feb. 25, 2023

Chris Wilson has balls.

Many balls. In a variety of sizes, shapes and textures.

But before this story descends any further into a classic Saturday Night Live sketch, it might be helpful to note Wilson wants to sell you his balls – cheap.

In fact, balls are among the least costly items you’ll find at the annual spring KidSport used equipment sale that runs Saturday (March 4), from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Riverside Secondary (2215 Reeve St.).

For instance, you can get 10 golf balls that went astray from their owners for $1.

Wilson, the chair of KidSport Tri-Cities who’s been running the twice-yearly sale since 2007, said there will be lots of great, gently-used gear from virtually every sport available at bargain basement prices. Proceeds help pay registration fees for the athletic activities for kids whose families might not be otherwise able to afford them.

Many of those activities centre around a ball.

Over the years, Wilson said he’s seen pretty much every kind of ball come through the sale, from football and rugby, soccer and cricket, bocce and basketball, to lacrosse and croquet, bowling and beach.

There’s been buckets of golf balls, boxes of baseballs, bags of tennis balls and laundry baskets filled with softballs.

But Wilson couldn’t say if he’s ever sold a round football that’s used in Gaelic football or a sliotar from the Irish sport of hurling.

One year, a local business donated 1,500 soccer balls commemorating a World Cup tournament and there’s still a few left.

In fact, Wilson said, so many balls have been part of the sale, sometimes he just ends up donating them to local associations to free up storage space.

While most shoppers are on the hunt for bargains on big-ticket items like bicycles and hockey equipment, Wilson said it’s important not to overlook the value of the humble ball.

“It’s the fundamental tool of a lot of sports,” he said.

Even athletes who play sports that don’t involve balls often develop a relationship with them. During Wilson’s wrestling days, he said, he incorporated balls into his training for strength and reflexes.

Wilson said balls are often the entry point into a sport.

Just the simple act of kicking, chasing, throwing or catching one can lead to a lifelong affinity.

“It all starts with the ball,” he said. “It’s the starting point for so many good things that come out of sport.”

Well, the student volunteers from Riverside who will be tasked to inflate the balls the day before the sale to ensure they’re looking their most enticing may have a different take.

Fortunately, said Wilson, they have an air compressor.

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