thats where a national curriculum comes into play

MONTREAL -- It was supposed to be another quick win for light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson, but Andrzej Fonfara had other plans. Stevenson was forced to go 12 full rounds and pick himself off the canvas to win for the first time in his career by the iron-jawed Fonfara as he pounded out a highly entertaining unanimous decision before 6,432 at Bell Centre on Saturday night. The Laval, Que. fighter (24-1) defended his World Boxing Council title for the third time, but it wasnt easy for the power puncher who had ended his 14 previous fights before the limit. "Fonfaras a good fighter and he was ready," said the 36-year-old Stevenson, who knocked his Polish opponent down in the first round with a left to the head and put him down again with a body shot in the fifth, only to see him get back up and keep battling. "A lot of people thought I couldnt go 12 rounds, but I finished 12 and I dominated." Some were calling it a fight of the year candidate, as the heavy underdog Fonfara stayed on his feet and kept trading blows until the final bell. Two ringside judges had it 115-110 and the other 116-109, all for Stevenson. The Canadian Press had it 115-110, giving Fonfara the fourth, eighth, ninth and 12th rounds. The southpaw Stevenson said he injured his left hand in the second round and didnt have full power the rest of the way, even if he kept using his main weapon. A shiver went through the arena in the ninth when Fonfara used two jabs and a right to knock Stevenson down, and the local favourite clinched and finessed his way through the rest of the round. He switched tactics to fight in closer to his opponent and won the next two rounds. "I wasnt worried," he said. "I was moving, clinching, being smart, but I wasnt worrying about it." Fonfara came in a highly ranked but mostly unknown light heavyweight and looked to have made a name for himself by standing up to the 2013 fighter of the year and one of the most dangerous punchers in the sport. "I proved tonight he is not Superman," said 26-year-old Fonfara, referring to Stevensons nickname. "He went down. "Stevenson was better tonight, but Ill be back. My mistake was that I should have thrown more punches and combinations. I want to train more and be a world champion in the future." Asked what he was most proud of, Fonfara said "Im proud I survived." The Fonfara bout was arranged amid controversy for Stevenson, who most expected would have a showdown with hard-hitting Russian Sergey Kovalev. The two fought together on a card in Quebec City in January, with an eye on a bout this year on the HBO specialty channel. But then Stevenson hired U.S. manager Al Haymon, who arranged the Fonfara bout on HBOs rival Showtime, with plans for a fight later this year with ring legend Bernard Hopkins. Kovalevs management has taken legal action to try to get Stevenson to honour what it said was an a done deal. Stevenson said he wants the 49-year-old Hopkins, a wily fighter who is a master of slipping punches and scoring just enough points to win. In the co-feature, middleweight David Lemieux took a step toward title contention with an impressive third-round knockout of Roberto Guerrero. Lemieux (32-2) knocked down Guerrero (26-3) in the first and second rounds. After Guerrero took a voluntary knee in the third to have his bleeding right eye cleared, Lemieux attacked and knocked him out with a right uppercut. It was the 25-year-old Montreal fighters seventh win in a row since a pair of losses in 2011 derailed his title bout hopes. And it was the fifth time in five fights the crowd-pleasing knockout artist won inside three rounds. "Im on a new chapter now," said Lemieux, saying he has renewed dedication to training towards winning a world title. The 27-year-old Guerrero, a Dominican Republic native living in Salisbury, Md., was in his second fight since losing a bid for the World Boxing Organization belt last year to Peter Quillan. A light-middleweight bout between top-10 contenders saw Jermell Charlo (24-0) of Houston dominate Charlie Belamy Ohta (24-2-1) of Japan in a 12-rounder. The five-foot-11 Charlo, who had a five-inch height advantage, was knocked down by a left-right combination early in the third and was deducted a point in the ninth for a second low blow, but still earned scores of 115-111, 118-109 and 118-109 from the judges. Eleider Alvarez (15-0), one of promoter Yvon Michels top prospects, must have thought it strange to be put in the first fight on the card, but he pulled out a workmanlike unanimous 10-round decision over Alexander Johnson (15-2). Alvarez was a knockout artist early in his career, but since he has been given a better class of opponents, he has gone the distance in three straight fights. A knockdown in the third against the left-handed Johnson gave him 97-92 scores on three judges cards for the win. Welterweight Junior Ulysse (2-0) of Montreal was impressive in his second pro bout, putting Argentinas Carlos Alberto Olivera (6-7) down twice before their scheduled four-rounder was stopped at 1:38 of the first. Philadelphia prospect Julian (J Rock) Williams (16-0-1) battered Michael Medina of Los Angeles through seven rounds before flooring him with a right in the eighth of their super-middleweight bout. Kevin Mitchell Jersey . - Henrik Samuelsson and Curtis Lazar each had two goals and two assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings secured top spot in the Eastern Conference by defeating the host Red Deer Rebels 7-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. Edgar Martinez Mariners Jersey . Scrivens stopped 48 shots and captain Andrew Ference scored in overtime as the Oilers pulled off a 4-3 upset of the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. https://www.cheapmariners.com/1015k-kevi...y-mariners.html. - After spending the morning in the hospital, Logan Couture gave the San Jose Sharks the spark they needed. J. P. Crawford Mariners Jersey . With Washington teammate Nene drawing double-teams coming off his big game against the Lakers, Gortat scored 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Wizards to a 100-92 win in overtime over Milwaukee on Wednesday night. Fake Mariners Jerseys . "Last year we were in a ton of situations, late-game situations we couldnt pull out. Wed kind of fold under the pressure, get frustrated or let a big shot frustrate us," guard DeMar DeRozan said.This week, I flew out to Saint John, New Brunswick to speak at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association mens soccer championships. There are eight teams from across the country contesting the nationals, with games taking place from Wednesday to Saturday. You can watch the action live by clicking this link. While I was in Saint John, I also had the chance to speak to coaches and volunteers from the Fundy Soccer Association. We often focus our attention on the top of the pyramid in Canadian soccer - professional teams in MLS or our mens and womens national teams. While many fans are keen to follow the stories at the highest level of the game, there are also some great stories to tell about the people who are the real lifeblood of the game in Canada - the volunteers who run grassroots clubs. The Fundy Soccer Association is a great example. Their organization is full of volunteer administrators, referees and coaches, all trying their hardest to give the kids in their community a great experience with the game of soccer. It isnt about developing professional or national team players for them (although doing so would be icing on the cake); it is about ensuring that every child that comes into their club falls in love with the game, has fun, and stays involved in soccer for the rest of their life. It is about teaching them life lessons through the game of soccer. They are implementing the principles of long-term player development (LTPD) at their club because they understand the reasoning and research behind it. It isnt always an easy sell - there are parents that reject small-sided games and age-appropriate competition because it "doesnt look like real soccer" - but they continue to preach the gospel of LTPD in the hopes that it will soon become the norm. What organizations like Fundy need more than anything, is support. There are two major areas where that support would make a major difference - the first being coach education. When a club is reliant upon volunteer coaches (the vast majority of non-profit grassroots clubs in Canada would not exist if not for volunteer coaches), attracting aand retaining coaches is paramount.dddddddddddd. That is very difficult to do when the cost of training and certifying those coaches is taken into consideration. It is one thing to ask a parent or volunteer to give up their time for their club. It is quite another to then ask them to pay for the privilege. While many clubs across the country pick up the cost of coach education (which they offset through higher registration fees or hard-earned sponsorship money that needs to be generated year after year), many of them cannot. In those situations, the cost of coach education is passed on to the volunteer coach - making it even more difficult to attract and retain coaches. Ive said it before (and Im sure Ill be saying it again in the future) but our governing bodies need to find revenue sources that completely offset the cost of coach education. Making coach education free to volunteer coaches across the country removes a massive barrier to grassroots coach education, making it far easier for organizations like Fundy to develop coaches. The second area that requires support is curriculum. Volunteer coaches often find themselves rushing home from work, collecting their kids and dashing off to practice. They keep a bag of balls, their boots and assorted coaching equipment in their cars, because they are out on the field three or sometimes four nights a week. They simply dont have time to sit down on their computers after work to look for training ideas on the internet. Shouldnt it be easier than that? Shouldnt those volunteer coaches have a document that they can use, a blueprint for the development of young soccer players they can refer to when stretched for time? Of course they should. And thats where a national curriculum comes into play. That we dont have one is a problem that the CSA needs to rectify immediately. Work is being done on that right now, but until such time as we have our own national curriculum, volunteer coaches across the country will be left to fend for themselves. The Fundy Soccer Association and those like it that exist across the country deserve better than that. ' ' '