Hang on a minute. Not so quick, the gang out in Paradise are saying today.
Contrary to earlier reports, the Paradise senior men’s team will be playing soccer this season in the Challenge Cup circuit.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer Association said this week Challenge Cup would see only four teams competing this summer — three-time defending champion Holy Cross, Feildians, St. Lawrence and C.B.S.
Paradise, after two years in the league, would be stepping aside.
However, Paul North, the NLSA regional director for Paradise and Paradise soccer board member, said the squad is “good to go” with a core group of 18 committed players.
School and work commitments later in the season could pose some problems, but North said the team is, “still actively looking over the next week or two to find a few more players to add some depth to the system.”
The Paradise captain, Daniel Crewe, for example, will be teaching outside the Avalon Peninsula in September, meaning he will be unavailable for some games at that point in the year. Others will be attending universities elsewhere in September.
Paradise managed only one draw in 20 games last season, its second in Challenge Cup play.
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St. John’s Edge co-owners Irwin Simon and Rob Sabbagh are telling anyone and everyone who will listen the team isn’t going anywhere.
The two maintain the Edge will be back in St. John’s to play another season – assuming there is one — in the National Basketball League of Canada.
But let’s put it this way: it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest the Edge could be relocated.
Simon is busy piecing together a little entertainment empire in his native Sydney, N.S.
A couple of years ago, he purchased the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
This month, he signed off on a deal to buy a downtown Sydney hotel.
So now Simon can make money off teams visiting Sydney to play the Eagles by booking them into his waterfront digs, the Cambridge Suites.
With the NBL Canada’s Cape Breton Highlanders suspending operations last year, now there’s a window of opportunity for basketball returning to Simon’s hometown.
And, if you’re Simon, making a few dollars on visiting basketball teams staying at his hotel.
It only makes sense.
Nobody asked me, but …
There’s still no word on whether some sort of agreement is in place in the dispute between Irwin Simon’s Atlantic Sports Enterprises Ltd., the company which owns the Edge, Dean MacDonald’s Deacon Sports and Entertainment Ltd., owners of the ECHL's Newfoundland Growlers, and the City of St. John’s. E.C. Boone is suing the three groups for what it says is money owed following the installation of an LED advertising ring inside Mile One. E.C. Boone billed Atlantic Sports and Deacon S&E $939,050 for the LED ring, and it was supposed to be split evenly between the two groups. Deacon reportedly has paid its share of the $469,525 for the ring. According to court documents, E.C. Boone received only $178,250 from Atlantic Sports … Why doesn’t Mount Pearl have teams on the field in Challenge Cup men’s and Jubilee Trophy women’s senior soccer every year? It’s not like the sport is new to the city. What’s going on out there? … See where a pair of Newfoundland Growlers were getting some love from the Toronto media last week, with a couple of write-ups in the Sun newspaper on Justin Brazeau and Joe Duszak. Both will almost certainly play with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies next season. Don’t overlook Giorgio Estephan, either. It says here the Edmonton native will play in the American league next year as well … If there’s nothing else on TV (and despite the million channels at our disposal, there probably won’t be), we’ll probably tune into a hockey game in August. But is there anybody out there who will be saying some evening at 7 they have to get home to see the game? It’s hard getting our heads wrapped around this whole idea of hockey in the summer …I have this sickly feeling a huge impact of COVID-19 won’t be felt by sports groups until the fall. That’s when local leagues and teams will be hustling to nail down some sponsorship to operate for the 2020-21 season. And the problem is every business out there will be reciting from the same book: “We don’t have any money to give you because we never sold a (insert product name here) last year because of the snow and pandemic.” …
Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor. Email him at [email protected]. On Twitter: @telyrobinshort
