Another prominent organization has released a study denouncing body checking in minor hockey until at least the age of 14, reported The Daily News (Nanaimo) Feb. 11. York University and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto released a study (published in February issue of Pediatrics magazine) concluding that children who begin checking at age 10 are twice as likely to be injured as those who start at age 14. Those sentiments echo what Nanaimo lawyer Chuck Blanaru has been saying for the past four years. Blanaru, former president of Nanaimo Minor Hockey, has been campaigning for body checking to be introduced at age 14 (bantam) and not before. This recent study only reiterates what he’s been saying.
Late-night dodgeball a Friday night tradition
In the line outside the Underground bar on York University campus, dozens of students are ready and waiting for a Friday night of dancing and drinking, began a Toronto Star story Feb. 14. But Phil Hartman and his buddies have other ideas. Near the campus nightspot, in an indoor rotunda filled with nooks and crannies, dodgeball is afoot. This not-so-secret society of undergrads meets every Friday at midnight in Vari Hall for a couple hours of a-throwin’ and a-dodgin.’ The players have long had to er, dodge, security guards worried the students will damage not only property but also unsuspecting students trying to cross Vari Hall.