Bantam spring training

New Athletics head coach Mark Kosturik talks to players during the Bantam AAA spring tryouts held last week. Photo by Chris Dawson.

When you think of spring training the first sport you probably think of is baseball. But in North Bay spring training was in full swing for a sport involving sticks and pucks not bats and balls.

The North Bay Bantam AAA Athletics, fresh off a disappointing five regular season wins and a playoff sweep against the league champions from Sault Ste. Marie, were back on the ice early last week.

Hockey season may be over for many, but the interest certainly was there. More than 55 kids enrolled for the spring tryouts and by Wednesday they had the group widdled down to 24 skaters and four goalies. That’s a far cry from last fall when the team struggled to simply find enough interested players to tryout.

Jamie Olivier played Minor Bantam AA in North Bay last season. He likes the idea of spring tryouts.

“We didn’t just take three months off, we just got out of the league. “ said the young forward hoping to make the team.

“It’s good because not everyone has just come out to camp, like rusty,” Olivier said.

New Athletics head coach Mark Kosturik brings years of experience playing professionally in Europe to the team. The North Bay native moved back home two years ago and has coached Peewee the last two seasons.

“Basically our idea’s were to get an early start on the competition and hopefully have an idea where we are for August and see a different group of kids that are going to be ready for the season and close a little bit of a gap in the other competing teams, Sudbury, the Soo, Onaping falls and Timmins, “ said Kosturik.

However the spring tryout idea isn’t a new one. Hockey programs in places like Sault Ste. Marie have been running Spring tryouts for years – from Peewee all the way to Midget. Still Kosturik hopes it will help them ice a more competitive team in 2005-2006.

“I think the whole idea for the program is to develop these guys for the fall, have them on a program for the summer, get a head start and in the physical aspect, it’s a big league, tough league and the kids got to be ready for the fall, starting August we are pretty tight on time and not going to build a lot of stamina in that short period so this might give us a chance to get them prepared a little better,” Kosturik said.

The spring training doesn’t end with the Bantams. The North Bay Trappers are running a similar spring camp in early May. So we may not see the intensity of NHL playoff hockey but at least for youngsters between 13 and 17 they at least have the playoff intensity of trying to make the cut.