Sport notes from London and area

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The London Beefeaters are the fifth-ranked team in the Canadian Junior Football League.

They have a chance to move higher Saturday night.

The Beefs (4-1) head to St. Clair to face the third-ranked Saints (5-0), the only unbeaten team left in the Ontario Football Conference. St. Clair pounded London 37-7 in the season opener last month, but the Beefeaters responded with four straight wins.

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The latest was a 56-0 demolition of the GTA Grizzlies last weekend.

London and St. Clair (previously Windsor) have met in the last four OFC finals. The Saints won the past two titles while the Beefs captured back-to-back crowns in 2019 and ’21 (the 2020 season was cancelled due to pandemic restrictions).

ROAD SUCCESS: Jayden McMullen is among eight junior riders who will represent Canada at the UCI road cycling and para-cycling world championships in Zurich, Switzerland, starting this weekend.

The 18-year-old from St. Thomas was the cyclocross junior national champion last year and earned his current international opportunity with another junior national title in the road race. Last month, he took part in the junior worlds held in Luoyang, China.

McMullen competes with the KW Cycling Academy and trains closer to home with the London Centennial Wheelers and also at the Forest City Velodrome.

REF ABUSE: The largest hockey association in the world is introducing new measures to combat referee and official abuse.

The Ontario Minor Hockey Association, with almost 90,000 participants, has mandated all on-ice officials younger than 18 will wear a green arm band as part of their uniform to remind parents and bench members to respect and protect young officials. Last year, there were 1,911 “disrespectful and abusive behaviour and physical harassment of officials” penalties called in OMHA contests.

A recent study in the United States revealed 55 per cent of officials ranked verbal abuse as the No. 1 reason for quitting.

“Officials are a crucial part of minor hockey and our game cannot happen without them,” OMHA president Peter Harmsen said. “We hope the green arm band initiative will reduce some of the challenges and barriers the younger officials will face.”

rpyette@postmedia.com
@RyanatLFPress

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