The Birth of Team London for the Masters Games
By SEAN MEYER ,The Londoner

Hubert Van Niekerk (left), Juergen Belle and Taryn Marcotte are trying to bring together local senior athletes to form a London team at the 2005 World Masters Games being held next July in Edmonton. SEAN MEYER PHOTO



When Juergen Belle saw his first email advertisement for the 2005 World Masters Games, being held in Edmonton this coming July, he knew he had to take part. Juergen, chairperson of the Middlesex Masters Soccer League, realized that with 24 teams in the league it would be relatively easy to put together a team for the event. Soon Juergen found himself working with fellow masters soccer player Hubert Van Niekerk on achieving that goal. “I knew if we couldn’t put together a team I’d be very disappointed,” Juergen says. “I thought it was something we had to take a shot at. So we started looking at an over age 45 team. It would be too much work to put together three teams (soccer has three age categories – 30-36, 37-44 and 45 and over – at the World Masters level) so we decided to concentrate on this age, because it was our age group. This would give a last shot to a lot of guys to take part in this kind of competition.” The pair would soon find themselves talking with Taryn Marcotte of the London Area Women’s Masters Soccer team who is working on sending a team of women ages 38 and up to the games. “I wanted to get women from the area in that age group together. London has a lot of players who played in the past and are now getting back into sports. I thought it was just an amazing opportunity.” So, two weeks ago, and after hearing about other local master’s athletes planning on going to the games, the group got together for a brain-storming session which led them to the same conclusion – they could help create a Team London to participate in some, or all, of the 40-events. “The three of us had been looking at doing something in a bigger scope. So we started looking at going as a group, regardless of the sport you were competing in. Having a London team,” Juergen says. “We are still ironing out a lot of details, but we thought we’d appeal to every athlete from London going to the World Masters. We thought with all the people going from the city, it would be great to say we had the biggest contingent at the games. That would be something to be really proud of.” Hubert agrees. “To go as a group, as say the London and Area World Masters Team, it would really be a boost for London athletes. Whether its team sports or the individual sports, we could all go as a group of people. I think that would be tremendous.” The 2005 World Masters Games takes place in Edmonton from July 22-31 and includes some 40 events ranging from soccer and basketball to table tennis and clay target shooting. Locally, Juergen says he knows of athletes heading to Edmonton to compete in basketball, badminton, rowing and soccer events and, he expects, once the word gets out he will find even more. “Even if it was just our team, Taryn’s team and some others, it would be a success,” Juergen says. “But we are really hoping to make it something really big, something that could go beyond this year. With the athletes available in London, we think it’s something that can continue on even if we weren’t still competing.” The idea of gathering a local team, Taryn says it not just to share resources (something the group is looking into), but also to provide a team atmosphere for all those Londoners taking part. “If we can pool together, that would make everything easier. We’d be together, stay in the same hotels, get together on the bus, be there to support each other,” Taryn says. “Cheaper prices are one thing, but this about being part of a team. I think that’s the best part of this, the support that can come from being a part of a team.” As any athlete knows, training is a very necessary part of preparing for an event such as the World Masters Games. Fortunately, training is something Alethea Grigg knows a great deal about. Alethea is president of Velocity Sports Performance and is making the training facility available to those looking to take advantage of what her relatively new business has to offer. Competing herself in Edmonton in rowing, Alethea says a London team makes a great deal of sense to her. “I’m a master myself. I’m going for rowing and I’m going to train for cycling too. I’m passionate about sports and that’s why this business is so great. To be able to share that passion with people of a common interest,” Alethea says. “So we can provide coaching experience for athletes training for the masters. Injury prevent, speed, power, agility. We have this facility to make available for Londoners who want to train for the games and I’m really looking forward to it.” 
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For more information about:
Team London contact Juergen Belle at 686-5904 or juergen.belle@sympatico.ca. __________________________________________________________________
About the 2005 World Masters Games visit           
www.2005worldmasters.com.
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About Velocity Sports Performance phone 432-4653 or visit  www.velocitysp.com/london.