Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2021)
Cottage Grove Sentinel Sports & Recreation B1 THURSDAY | JULY 15, 2021 SVA summer camps return to the Grove By Daniel Friis/for The Sentinel ODFW R ECREATION AND F ISHING R EPORT myodfw.com/recreation-report Best Bets for Fishing Updated July 8 Summer steelhead fishing is an option in the Nestucca, Three Rivers, Wilson, Siletz and upper Roque rivers. The first summer steelhead should be hitting the Deschutes any time now. Anglers have been catching resident cutthroat trout in most coastal rivers and streams. And look for the larger, more aggressive sea-run cutts to start entering the rivers later this month. Lost and Hemlock lakes offer trout anglers reasonable fishing throughout the summer. Eel and Selmac lakes have been fishing well for warmwater species such as bass and bluegill. Salmon anglers fishing the Coos between the jetties may be able to pick up a Chinook salmon following baitfish into the Coos estuary. Spearfish anglers have been reporting some success harvesting smallmouth bass in the South Fork Coquille River. Quartzville Creek and North Santiam above Detroit have been stocked recently and are in excellent shape. Fishing for trout and warmwater fish at Lake of the Woods should be good. The lake is getting additional stocked trout originally intended for Fourmile Lake. Trout fishing has been good at Unity and Thief Valley reservoirs, where water levels remain good. Upper Deep Creek and tributaries in Lake County should be great right now. The streams should be cool and there are a lot of average-size redbands and brook- ies to be caught. July and August are the time to for bass in the lower reaches of the Grande Ronde and Imnaha rivers. Wallowa Lake has been stocked with trout. Fishing for both trout and kokanee has been good. Register for shotgun skills, pheasant hunting workshops ODFW is offering several of its popu- lar shotgun skills and pheasant hunting workshops beginning in June. A shotgun skills class is a prerequisite to a pheasant hunting workshop. These classes fill quickly, so sign up soon at myodfw.com/workshops-and- events. Youth Pheasant Hunts give young hunters a chance to hunt in a controlled setting with a focus safety and success. Here are five reasons they’re so popular: • No adult competition. Youth hunts happen before the official pheasant sea- son begins. • Emphasis on safety. A review of safety procedures, controlled access and a defined hunting area characterize many of the hunts. • Increased chance of success. ODFW releases pen-raised pheasants for each hunt, because early success can help build lifetime hunters. • Available statewide. There are hunt locations from Ontario to the Willamette Valley to the Rogue. • They’re free! Athlete of the Week A year ago at this time, the coronavirus pandemic put a screeching halt on many people’s summer plans, including South Valley Athletics’ (SVA) yearly camps and tournaments. “It was disappointing,” Dewey Epperson, the SVA board pres- ident said. “I always like to have programs for the kids and com- munity to do, but just not having that was sad.” Fast forward to just under a year later in late April, SVA was finally approved to put on a soc- cer season for young kids with the mask mandate still in effect. This marked a huge step in the right direction for the kids and see CHEER on B2 SOPHIA EDELBLUTE/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL South Valley Athletics held a cheerleading camp session on Tuesday in Coiner Park, prepar- ing kids for their spot in the Bohemia Mining Days Grand Miners Parade. Speedway names ‘Ladies Night’ winners By Stephanie Deatherage KENDRICK MURPHY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Pickleball has seen a steep rise in popularity over the past several years, growing even through the pandemic last year. Game, set, pickleball! By Kendrick Murphy /for The Sentinel Over the past five years, a sport that many people still have never heard of has seen a giant soar in popularity: pick- leball. Pickleball dates back to 1965, and since then has gained traction from its birth- place on Bainbridge Island, Washington to Australia. If you’ve driven down Main Street in Cottage Grove, you’re sure to have seen a large group playing what looks like a life- size game of ping pong. Christine Payne, a board of directors member of Emerald Valley Pickleball Club, excit- edly shared that this group is diverse in both skill and age. “We have enough players we can divide into skill lev- el groups from beginner to highly skilled,” she said. “Also we’re seeing a large increase of younger members playing at our courts in Springfield and West Eugene. While see- ing some small increases in younger members here in Cot- tage Grove. With the majority of our members still being 65 or older.” A pickleball court is much smaller than a normal ten- nis court with dimensions of 44 feet in length and 20 feet wide, compared to tennis courts being 78 feet in length and 36 feet in width, it allows an opportunity for the retired communities to participate in a game very similar to tennis with less running and still get an effective workout. Pickleball saw its recent rise in popularity start in the southern states and has start- ed to pick up significant steam with the younger crowds as another form of serious com- petition throughout the world. With the Summer Olympics this year (after the delay due to COVID-19) the International Olympic Committee (IOC) added new sports such as surf- ing, baseball, softball and kara- te. Communities soon became curious if they’d see pickleball in the near future. The short answer? Possibly. But according to the IOC, to be eligible to play in the Olym- pics, a new potential sport has to reach an international pres- ence that spans across 75 coun- tries in 4 continents. Pickleball has doubled its international presence in the last 18 months, currently in 37 countries, and saw a 21.6 percent increase in participation through the pan- demic. Seeing this sport in up- coming Olympics isn’t outside the realm of possibility. Locally, pickleball grows by word of mouth and watching players in action. Payne men- tioned that she got started from viewing a demonstration at a summer festival. “This is my sixth year play- This week’s athletes of the week are members of the pickleball community in Cottage Grove and the greater Emerald Valley Pickleball Club for helping popularize this growing sport. ing and how I got started was when they did a demonstra- tion at Bohemia Mining Days that year (2015),” she said. “Back then they had about eight members and now we have more than 60; and have seen an increase in numbers every year.” As these numbers continue to grow through the Cottage Grove, Eugene and Springfield areas, the sport is gradually earning a spot for itself in the mainstream. Those curious about the game of pickleball can sim- ply drop by a morning of play as everyone is welcome. The group plays on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 9 a.m. at the Coiner Park courts and there are courts at the Riv- erside Church used in the win- ter season. Payne extended a sincere thank you to the City of Cot- tage Grove for putting in the courts and investing in their quality in order to see contin- ued growth in both the local numbers and court locations. With growing interest in the sport from the communi- ty, there could be a “Learn to Play” clinic later this summer which would allow more vis- ibility to the already engaged club. Those interested are invited to reach out to rowriverdogs@ gmail.com for more informa- tion. Pickleball games can regularly be found in Coiner Park courts. PHOTO BY KENDRICK MURPHY/CG SENTINEL Saturday, July 10, was Ladies Night at Cottage Grove Speedway. The historical quarter-mile clay oval had six divisions on hand, includ- ing three Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing program classes. They included the Todd’s Auto Body Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, Late Models, Royalty Core IMCA North- ern Sport Mods, Street Stocks, and IMCA Sport Compacts. In the Todd’s Auto Body Sprint Car feature, Tyler Thompson took control on the opening start. The Harrisburg pilot, racing for car own- er Brian Crockett, stayed there until mechanical problems sidelined him on lap three. Sutherlin’s Pat Desbiens took over control of the top place position. Desbiens remained there until the sixth trip past the flag stand. The leader of lap six was Junc- tion City veteran Shane Forte. Forte checked out from the rest of the field and went on to win his first feature of 2021 at CGS. He is the ninth win- ner in 11 shows at the track. Pat Desbiens was a respectable second, followed by Roseburg teen- ager Brenden McMaster in the Vern Scevers owned mount, in third. Tim Minter, from Cottage Grove, was scored fourth while fifth went to Dundee’s Justen McConville. Steven Sturdevant paced the field for the majority of the IMCA Modified main event. The Spring- field chauffeur paced the field by a healthy margin until a late caution bunched everyone up. Sturdevant came under some heavy fire on the restart and eventually was overtaken by Jesse Williamson on lap eighteen. Williamson ran off into the sunset the rest of the distance to scored his second win of the 2021 campaign. It is also his second consecutive vic- tory in Cottage Grove, KMJ Perfor- mance Oregon State, and Shaw Race Cars Western Region competition. Otis teenager Eston Whisler came across the wire in second over third, finishing Steven Sturdevant. Al- bany’s Matthew Drager and Jake Mayden, from Springfield, were fourth and fifth. The Late Model class went into Saturday night with there yet to be a repeat winner in feature action. Scio’s Rob Campos paraded the field around on lap one only to be passed the second circuit by Preston Luck- man. Luckman, from Coos Bay, re- ceived pressure late in the race with just a few laps to go, only for a cau- tion to come out. Preston would master the restart and collected his first win at Cottage Grove this season. He makes it sev- en different drivers in as many Late Model races that have won at CGS in 2021. Jimmy Whisler, from Otis, was see LADIES on B2
