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