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Show B-4 The Park Record Calendar High School Sports Baseball South Summit @ Union March 6 3:00 p.m. North Summit vs. Morgan March 7 3:30 p.m. Park City vs. Highland March 8 8:30 p.m. Park City @ St. George Tourney March 9-10 TBA North Summit @ Ben Lomond March 9 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Parowan March 9 3:30 p.m. North Summit @ Rockwell March 10 3:00 p.m. Wasatch @ Juab March 12 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Timpview March 13 3:30 p.m. Wasatch @ Grantsville March 13 4:00 p.m. Wasatch @ Olympus March 15 8:00 p.m. Softball South Summit @ Duchesne March 6 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Mountain View March 7 3:30 p.m. North Summit @ St. Joseph March 9 4:00 p.m. South Summit @ Millard March 9 3:00 p.m. Park City @ Skyline March 12 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ North Sevier March 14 3:30 p.m. Park City @ Judge Memorial March 15 3:30 p.m. South Summit @ Beaver March 15 3:30 p.m. Boys Soccer Park City @ Hillcrest March 6 3:30 p.m. Park City @ Morgan March 14 3:30 p.m. North Summit vs. Layton Christian March 14 4:00 p.m. Park City @ Ben Lomond March 15 3:30 p.m. Park City Ice Arena Track & Field Park City @ Snow Canyon March 10 TBA Boys Tennis Park City @ Ben Lomond March 13 3:00 p.m. Park City @ Rowland Hall March 14 4:00 p.m. Associated Press Drop-in Sports NORFOLK, Conn. — Steve Emt was rolling himself up a hill to a pie shop in Falmouth, Massachusetts, when the coach of a wheelchair curling team noticed the former UConn basketball player. The shop’s name was Pie in the Sky. An interesting coincidence, Emt thought, when Tony Colacchio approached him and suggested that within a year he could turn Emt into a Paralympic athlete in a sport he’d never heard of. It took a few years, but next month, Emt will compete in the Paralympic Games in South Korea as the vice skip of the United States curling team. “The sport just bit me,” he said. ”With everything that has happened to me in life, I’ve learned to stop asking why. Everything happens for a reason.” He was a student at the U.S. Military Academy in when he lost his father, a man he says was his best friend, mentor and coach. His dad’s death, he said, led to falling grades at West Point and a decision to come home to Hebron, Connecticut, where he was a basketball and soccer star in high school. Jim Calhoun said he learned from his players about this big, tough kid playing intramural games at UConn. Calhoun, who also had lost his father at a young age, gave the 6-foot-4, Emt him a chance to walk on to the Huskies. He played with the likes of Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall and current coach Kevin Ollie from 1992 to 1994. “Coach Calhoun stepped right in as a father figure,” Emt said. “He became a person I could TBA TBA Winter Sports Alpine Skiing TBA TBA Recreation Sports Park City Recreation Services (615-5401) Basketball (age 16 ) Tues/Thurs Noon-2:00 p.m. Basketball (age 16 +) Tues. 8:30-10:00 p.m. Basketball (age 16 +) Sat/Sun 8:00-10:00 a.m. Pickleball (age 16 +) Mon/Wed/Fri 2:00-4:30 p.m. Pickleball (age 16 +) Sun–Friday 8:30 a.m. Noon Volleyball (age 16 +) Thurs. 8:00-10:00 p.m. Soccer (age 16 +) Wed. 9:00-11:00 p.m. Drop-in Soccer (age 30 +) Tues 9:00-11:00 p.m. Masters Swim Tues/Thurs Noon-1:00 p.m. South Summit Aquatics & Fitness Center (783-2423) Adult Basketball Thursday Rock Wall Saturday Adult Coed League Wednesday 6:00-9:00 p.m. Weather Hotline (cancellations) 615-5432 PAT EATON-ROBB TBA Park City @ Ben Lomond March 15 1:00 p.m. Volleyball 8:00 p.m. After a drunk driving accident, a new way forward (655-0999) Girls Golf David Wright Memorial March 2-4 Youth Ski League March 10-11 6:30 p.m. From basketball to curling TBA Boys Lacrosse Park City @ Brighton March 9 Park City @ American Fork March 15 Gold League Sunday Silver League Wed/Thurs/Sun Basin Recreation Fieldhouse Girls Lacrosse Park City @ Alta March 7 Park City @ Riverton March 15 Ice Hockey 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Pickleball Open Gym Wed. – Fri 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. To include an upcoming sports event in the calendar, please send an email to Joe Lair at scoreboard@parkrecord.com BE A LOCAL HERO Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, March 3-6, 2018 talk to, a person who demanded the most out of me, showed me what it was to never give up, to give 100 percent every day.” Emt said he needed those values, instilled by his dad and drilled home by Calhoun to help him survive what came next. A year removed from UConn, Emt lost his ability to walk when he decided to get into his truck after a night of watching basketball and drinking with friends at a bar in East Hartford. He drove off Interstate 84, flipped five times into a bridge abutment going about 80 mph. He broke most of his ribs and his back, severing his spinal cord. What followed were surgeries and months of rehab, learning to open a door by himself, put clothes on, make toast. “There were two days at the beginning I couldn’t get out of bed. I hit bottom. I was questioning a lot of things,” he said. “I was 25. I could have played professional basketball in Europe. I could have played professional soccer. All that was gone. I messed up. What now?” Calhoun gave him some advice. “I didn’t want people telling him how tough he had it,” Calhoun said. “I told him, no, you’re not going to play in the NBA, but you weren’t going to do that anyway. So, why not put those good things you do have, your mind, your toughness, into something positive.” A while later a friend asked Emt to mentor a troubled teen. That gave him some direction. He wanted to work with kids; he wanted to be an example. Emt eventually went back to school, became a math teacher and for 20 years, a high school basketball coach. He said he never had the desire to play wheelchair basketball. He has tried several other adaptive sports, even racing a hand cycle in the 2010 New York marathon. But then in July 2012 he went on vacation to Cape Cod, and decided to get some pie. About a week after their meeting at the pie shop, Colacchio convinced Emt to come watch an international tournament, called a bonspiel, which was being held on the cape. During that tournament, the coach called to say a Canadian team was missing a player and asked if Emt would be willing to drive from his home in Connecticut to fill in. He’d have to learn the game between midnight and 4 a.m., after the curling tournament had ended for the day. No problem. The math teacher fell in love with the angles of the game, figuring out how hard to throw the stone down the ice and how much curl was needed to make a shot. Colacchio said he was immediately impressed by Emt’s dedication. His star pupil now practices about 20 hours a week, either making the five-hour round-trip drive to Cape Cod or two hours to clubs in Norfolk, Connecticut or Bridgeport. “The day they put that USA jacket on him, he cried,” Colacchio said, choking up himself. “I still get emotional thinking about it.” Emt’s team leaves this week. They will spend some time in Japan practicing before the games. The curling begins March 10. Calhoun said he’s convinced Emt can help bring home a medal. “When things don’t always go your way, it takes more than the average person to overcome it,” Calhoun said. “Steve’s always done that. So, I think he can help his teammates, who have all been through similar things, realize, maybe when the times get tougher, ‘Hey, we can do this.’ You know how people ask, ‘Who would you want in your foxhole? I would like to have Steve Emt in my foxhole.” Volunteer for a local non-profit BEN RAMSEY/PARK RECORD Members of the 128th Mobile Public Affairs detachment interview the Utah National Guard’s women’s team. From left: Samantha Miller, Rebeca Doucette, Barbara Blanke and Stefanie Puro. Continued from B-1 National Guard biathlon 2001, this was a very competitive program. And you can see guys like Jeremy that are here, and there’s several that are all prior Olympians. They are left over from the days when the program was very competitive. Starting in 2001 — we’re soldiers first — so we spent time on other priorities.” Also, because women make up a smaller percentage of the National Guard overall and have fewer biathletes, the complication is compounded for them. There were three all-female teams competing at the CNGBBC. “It’s hard to put together four, especially in the military, because many of our members deploy,” Blanke said. “Two of our members of our team are going next week, and we have other women that come out and train with us, but they are either deployed or have other assignments at this time, so it’s kind of hard to pull together four.” She said in that regard, the Utah team has been lucky to be remain so strong — it won the CNGBBC last year, too. Both the men and the women said they are actively recruiting. And while deployment may not be beneficial to the National PHOTO BY LT. COL. STEVEN FAIRBOURN/UTAH NATIONAL GUARD Samantha Miller from the Utah National Guard competes in the relay race of the Chief National Guard Bureau Biathlon Championship at Soldier Hollow on Tuesday. Guard’s biathlon program, the biathlon program helps prepare soldiers for deployment. Teela, who served as the captain of the men’s patrol team, said biathlon helps soldiers hone their basic skills — shooting, moving and communicating. “All the fundamentals we do in biathlon are building blocks for a great soldier,” he said. Staff Sargent Ty’Lene Puro of the Utah women’s team said the biathlon competitions made her feel more ready for deployment, and with a deployment to the Middle East upcoming, she said the CNGBBC was timely for her. “It was really awesome that we got to host it this year, because I got to be on home turf, on home snow, and see my family every night before I leave, and plus I get to see the team one last time before I go,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a better way to prep for a (deployment) than to be out doing something that’s physically and mentally tough, so it’s a great last hurrah for me.” Those that place highly at the CNGBBC are named to the All-Guard team, which competes internationally in Europe and South America. Puro said seeing her teammate, Blanke, make the AllGuard team last year gave her a goal to train for, and Blanke said making the team exposes soldiers to how different nations compete, and soldier. “You get to make friends,” she said. “When we were (in Germany) people wanted to know about different training, deployments, they wanted to know a lot of military information and we share that as well, because it is still a military sport with those groups. It’s kind of cool to go and compete with the 10th Pan- |