Wolves return home from OFSAA with antique bronze medal

By Ron Giofu

The North Star Wolves senior girls volleyball team returned home with an antique bronze medal from OFSAA.

The Wolves went undefeated during the first two days of the provincial “AA” volleyball tournament but ran into some difficulty and lost two matches, which meant they ended up in fourth place. Sir Winston Churchill, based out of the host city of St. Catharines, defeated North Star to win the bronze medal match 25-21, 26-24, 22-25 and 25-17 last Wednesday afternoon.

North Star head coach Jeff Miller, who coached the Wolves this past season with Mary Ewer, said they had to play Sir Winston Churchill in their home gym in front of their fans.

“They were probably the most physical team we played all season,” said Miller. “We fought them as much as we could with what we had left. It was a tough four-setter.”

The Wolves lost to ESC BéatriceDesloges (Orleans) 25-17, 23-25, 21-25, 25-20 and 12-15 in the championship semi-final earlier in the day Wednesday. Miller called that match “a bit of a heartbreaker.”

“We came out flying on all cylinders and won the first set,” he said.

The semi-final match went backand-forth the rest of the way with Béatrice-Desloges making the close plays in the second set with the third set being “a game of runs.”

The Wolves couldn’t close out the third set but won the fourth. In the fifth and deciding set, North Star was up 10-7 but Béatrice-Desloges clawed back to tie it and eventually win it.

Miller said there were at least three points that could have changed the outcome of the match but the Wolves couldn’t win any of them.

It was tough to overcome losing the second and third sets he added.

“We made some good plays,” said Miller. “We couldn’t get the right break at the right time.”

The Wolves beats Henry Street H.S. out of Whitby 28-26, 25-13, 23-25 and 25-13 in the OFSAA quarterfinals in

St. Catharines.

“We struggled with them,” said Miller. “We fought ourselves and it wasn’t easy.”

North Star was able to defeat Henry Street convincingly in the second and fourth sets but the first one was close, with Miller stating it could have been a different outcome had they lost that set.

“We just didn’t play well,” said Miller.

Miller believed at the time that was going to be a good thing, thinking they could improve from there. While they did, they still ran into difficulties on the third day.

“I was hoping it was out of our system,” he said. “We did play a lot better in the semis.”

The Wolves were undefeated in pool play, knocking off Mentor College 25-9 and 25-12, Bishop Marrocco/ Thomas Merton 25-11 and 25-8 and Kingston 25-13 and 25-19 on the first day. Kingston was the sixth seed while North Star entered as the top seed and Miller said they beat Kingston quite handily.

On Day 2, they beat E.L. Crossley 20-25, 25-18 and 15-10 in their final pool play match of the tournament.

The General Amherst Lady Gens won antique bronze in 2020, the last time OFSAA was played.

“It was a good season,” said Miller.

Corporation Of The Town Of Amherstburg

“With us, it comes down to one day. We were dominant around here all season.”

Four members of this year’s Wolves team will graduate, including three starters, and eight players are scheduled to return. Their style may change based on who comes back, including Lillian Mereszak who missed this year with an ACL injury.

“They did their best,” he added of this year’s team.

Some years they got all the breaks but didn’t get as many of them this year, he added.

“You have to stay with it,” said Miller. “You have to put yourself in a position to win games.”

NOTICE OF STATUTORY PUBLIC MEETING TO CONSIDER AN OFFICAL PLAN AMENDMENT & A ZONING BY-LAW AMENDMENT

STATUTORY PUBLIC MEETING:

TAKE NOTICE that the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Amherstburg will hold a public meeting on Monday, April 11, 2023 commencing at 5:00 p.m. in the Town of Amherstburg Council Chambers, 271 Sandwich Street South, Amherstburg, Ontario. The purpose of this meeting is to consider a proposed amendment to the Town of Amherstburg Official Plan and Zoning By-law 1999-52.

ANY PERSON seeking to attend meetings in-person should follow all public health guidance to ensure the safety of themselves and others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ANY PERSON who wishes to attend and address Council by electronic means, must register with the Clerk’s Office no later than 4:00 pm on Thursday, April 6, 2023. To register for electronic participation please email the Clerk at clerk@ amherstburg.ca Once you register, you will be given information on how to make your submission at the electronic meeting by electronic participation. To participate, you will need access to a computer or tablet with internet service or a telephone.

ANY PERSON who wishes watch the meeting proceedings only, please visit http://video.islive.ca/amherstburg/ live.html

This Official Plan and Rezoning application will affect approximately 1672.25 sq m of land (municipally known as a portion of 320 Richmond Street) located on the east side of Victoria Street South between Military Street and Richmond Street. (see map below).

This Official Plan Amendment, if approved, will change the existing Institutional designation to the Low Density Residential designation. The Rezoning, if approved, will change the zoning from Institutional (I) Zone to Residential First Density (R1) Zone to permit the creation of two residential building lots on the subject lands being 60 ft by 120 ft with an area of 9000 sq ft each.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

ANY PERSON may make written representation in support of or in opposition to the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment by email to the Clerk at clerk@amherstburg.ca or in person by appointment for drop-off at the Libro Centre located at 3295 Meloche Road. Comments must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 6, 2023 before the meeting and will be read aloud prior to the application being heard by Council.

NO PERSON OR PUBLIC BODY shall be added as a party to the hearing of the appeal unless, before the bylaw was passed, the person or public body made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the Council or, in the opinion of the Ontario Land Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to add the person or public body as a party.

IF A PERSON OR PUBLIC BODY does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to the Town of Amherstburg before the proposed Official Plan Amendment is adopted, the person or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision of the County of Essex to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

IF A PERSON OR PUBLIC BODY does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to the Town of Amherstburg before the proposed Official Plan Amendment/ Zoning By-Law Amendment is adopted, the person or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Ontario Land Tribunal unless, in the opinion of the Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to add the person or public body as a party.

Further information relating to the proposed ZFurther information relating to the proposed Official Plan Amendment (File OPA #22) and Zoning By-law Amendment (File# ZBA/08/23) is available for inspection by calling or emailing the Planning Department Office during normal office hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments are also available for review on the Town of Amherstburg Website: www. amherstburg.ca. If you wish to be notified of the adoption of the proposed Official Plan Amendment, or the refusal of a request to amend the official plan, and/or passage of the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment, you must make a written request to the Town at the address below.

DATED at the Town of Amherstburg this 15th day of March, 2023.