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CONTENTS

Spring 2017

In Every Issue 4 Presidentʼs Note 4 Editorʼs Note 5 Photo Contest 7 Coachʼs Corner 7 Off the Bench 34 OCAA Champions 43 Sweat it out

Fifty Years 8 50 years of OCAA 10 From Pittsburgh, With Love 12 The Fans, The Teams and the Holy Spirt 14 Heart and Sole 16 OCAA: Role models in the spotlight 18 What is Sport? 20 Time Capsule Collage

Core

21 Travelling with Cambrian 24 Smashing Records 27 Sideline Generals 29 The Come Up 31 Set for Greatness 32 Dancemakers

Life and health

36 Parkour 37 Down But Not Out 39 The ʻFoodieʼ Athlete 40 Dental Defence 41 The Invisible Opponent

Spring 2017 | 3

PRESIDENT’S NOTE

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would like to welcome all our readers to this edition of the OCAA’s premier source of the world of collegiate sport. A big thank you goes out to both Humber College journalism programs for continued support of athletics and academics with the publication of sweat magazine. As we celebrate our 50th season of sport we fondly look back to our past memories which included sports like table tennis, judo, flag football and many more to go with the portfolio we have today. It will be interesting to see which new sports the next 50 years will bring to the OCAA and its student athletes. The anniversary celebrations will continue this spring as we will induct new builders, coaches and athletes into the Hall of Fame at our Annual meetings in St. Catherines; forever immortalizing these individuals in the storied history of the association. The 50th season saw its share of successes and captured the pulse of collegiate sport across Ontario a true testament to the students who make up the OCAA in the halls and gyms of our schools. I would also like to recognize some great accomplishments of our schools on the National stage including Humber College Men’s Soccer, Fanshawe Men’s Curling and the OCAA Badminton team who all claimed the Canadian Championships. I would also like to extend our sincere thanks to all those schools that have played host to our respective Ontario and Canadian championships; these experiences will stay with all involved for the rest of their lives and further enhance the landscape of collegiate sport in Ontario. On behalf the OCAA, its central office, executive and member institutions I would like to extend best wishes to all the student-athletes as we celebrate our 50th season of OCAA sport. To those who are graduating and moving on to the next chapter in their lives good luck and to those returning in the fall we look forward to another great season of OCAA sport. Yours in sport

OCAA PRESIDENT SCOTT GRAY

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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ooking back at half a century of change you never know what you’ll find. Faded archival photos of past players give way to where are they now stories and old film hold stories of once upon a time. Boundaries were overcome and the black and white lines and rules give way to innovation and change. It wasn’t just the short shorts and jerseys that have changed. The players and the association changed. In this issue of sweat the team shed light to the obstacles beyond the stats and scores. Athletes coming back from serious injuries and small towns rallying behind their team. From teams travelling miles and days in a coach bus to travelling back in time to the beginning of OCAA. We look back at the fashion that surrounded sports and ahead to the safety available for athletes. Furthermore we look at individuals moving past their OCAA careers in celebration of 50 years of college sports. Just as the student athlete’s journey can be a challenge, the journey here wasn’t easy. The team endured countless hours across days and nights to bring you the magazine you hold in your hand.

The team would like to congratulate those who overcame their struggles and hurdles.. They have become champions in their own bout. From our team,

ERIAN AMOR DE LOS REYES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

sweat roster EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ERIAN AMOR DE LOS REYES

MANAGING EDITOR- PRODUCTION TYLER HEHN MANAGING EDITOR - ONLINE ASHLY JULY SECTION EDITORS JEFFERSON MARSHALL TYLER BLOOMFIELD LIA RICHARDSON HELENA SHLAPAK RESEARCH CHIEFS ROBERT WILLIAMSON SVETA SOLOVEVA PHOTO EDITOR JIMMY KAKISH ART DIRECTORS- PRINT ALLYYSSA SOUSA-KIRPAUL LAURA DART COREY EDISON ART DIRECTORS- ONLINE SUKH TOOR ARON ANTHONYMUTTU COPY EDITORS SHAUN FITL ALUEN NAVARRO-FENOY CONTRIBUTOR LUCIA YGLESIAS EDITORIAL ADVISER LARA KING, HUMBER ADVISORY BOARD DOUG GELLATLY JOSH BELL-WEBSTER RYAN KELLY RYAN PHIPPS CONTACT US LARA.KING@HUMBER.CA 205 HUMBER COLLEGE BLVD. TORONTO, ON M9W 5L7 416-675-6622 EXT 4513 FIND US ONLINE AT SWEATMAG.COM

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PHOTO CONTEST 1ST PLACE WINNER...

NICOLE RAQUINIO!

CONGRATULATIONS NICOLE RAQUINIO OF UTM FOR THIS EXTRAORDINARY MID SET SHOT.

Spring 2017 | 5

DARREN BECKLES BIDOUR AL-RAWI

Thank you for your submissions! This gallery shows some of the outstanding photos shot by talented photographers in the OCAA.

YVANO ANTONIA WICKHAM-EDWARDS

KYLE WHITE 6 | sweat

RYAN MCCULLOUGH

ROBERT ONG

COACH’S Courtesy Redeemer Athletics

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t wasn’t until early in the eighth grade when I started playing volleyball for my local club. Little did I know, a decade later volleyball would become one of the biggest parts of my everyday life. Throughout my 10 years of being involved in athletics I have come to learn and understand how much sport has to offer young athletes. As well as how much volleyball shaped my own life. Two of my three older sisters played volleyball at Redeemer University College. It was by watching them throughout their time at Redeemer that I came to realize that this is where I wanted to continue my volleyball career after high school, from 2011 – 2016. Walking into the

CORNER

BY CURTISS STRAATSMA

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY Redeemer gym, and anticipating the crowd of people that would form for each and every game day is still one of my favourite aspects of sports. It is something that opposing athlete’s even look forward to. The atmosphere and the community is simply hard to beat. The community for me was shaped largely by my family’s commitment and support throughout our collective volleyball careers. There was not a game, either home or away, that my parents were not sitting in the crowd for. If it was not for my parents attending every game of my sister’s, I would not have been exposed to the community that I have fallen so in love with. In the past, many people have asked why I chose Redeemer to continue my volleyball career instead of a bigger school, and the reason truly is because of the community that surrounds it. I still remember my very first home game, getting to experience the crowd from the volleyball court rather than the stands for the first time is something you do not forget. It was this

community and support that fueled my passion for volleyball further than it had ever been in the past. It gave me a drive and determination to make a difference in the Redeemer Women’s Volleyball program. Over my five years of being a varsity volleyball player I was pushed in so many ways that helped me to develop into the person I am today. Hours of practice, long games, work outs, game plans and so much more have provided me with countless opportunities to better myself. I was able to accomplish way more than I ever thought possible. It was these experiences that have shaped my life outside of volleyball as well. Volleyball has so much to offer the individuals that are a part of the sport and this is why I pursued the opportunity to become an assistant coach for the program. As an assistant coach, I will be able to share my love and passion for the sport, and help future Redeemer University College athletes experience the life changing opportunities I was lucky enough to have during my volleyball career.

OFF THE

BENCH ROAD ROOKIE’S BY KENDRA MUFFO

ting isn’t a piece of cake. I was one of the people who did underestimate it as well. I didn’t realize on how much your vision of the court had to change, how technical your form needed to be and how much of a leader you needed to be. I had a difficult time adapting to the new position but I didn’t give up. I kept pushing along with the help of my amazing teammates and coaches. As the season went on it eventually started to get easier and I eventually started falling in love with it. I didn’t think I would like setting as much as I did, even though I missed hitting and having that feeling of crushing a ball. I feel better as a player setting up my team mates. This season was one of the greatest

Courtesy OCAA

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oming into the OCAA this year I was pretty blind sided. Being a rookie is already hard enough but I was also given an opportunity at a new position as setter. I started playing volleyball in grade nine for my high school team then gradually worked my way into playing club volleyball in grade 10, 11 and 12 but the only position I’ve ever played was power. Being a setter for my first time ever and starting for a post secondary team my first year was very challenging. There are so many things people don’t know about setting. I wasn’t even aware of anything I learned this year prior to my season. What people underestimate is that set-

experiences of my life. I am very thankful that my coach Dale Beausoleil believed in me and put me up to this challenge.

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FIFTY FIFTY

50 YEARS OF OCAA BY TYLER BLOOMFIELD

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hort shorts, low sneakers, afro hairstyles and a bunch of players trying to emulate Wilt ‘The Stilt’ Chamberlain – 50 years ago this is what you might have encountered on a basketball court in the OCAA’s inaugural season. Today it’s much different. Over the last 50 years the OCAA has expanded and evolved with the times. When the league was formed in 1967 there were only seven post-secondary institutions that competed in eight sports. Today, that league has expanded to include more than four times the members they started with and twice as many sports to compete in. The OCAA’s membership encapsulates every person who contributes to it; whether that be the fans, players, coaches, referees, mascots or the people in the Athletic Department who handle all the logistics that make the league work. “We’ve come a long way from our humble beginnings, from a couple of schools in ‘67,” says the current OCAA President, Scott Gray. When Gray started in the league 11 years ago, he says he was surrounded by experienced people and soaked up any information he could get from them. He took every opportunity to learn about the inner workings and the history of the association so that he could be a part of the future. Now he is at the helm. The OCAA president manages the operations and provides leadership working closely with the other six members of the executive committee. The president sits for two years as president and two more years as past president, which is another seat in the committee. Over the last 50 years the OCAA has seen 25 presidents shailing from all over Ontario.

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The athletic directors act as the representatives for their respective schools for all things OCAA and vote on key matters that affect the association. Gray says that the OCAA is constantly adapting and part of that is finding the suitable replacements for many of the seasoned vets. “One of the challenges we are facing is that we have some long serving members around the table … some of them are moving on or retiring and [we are in the process of] replacing some of that history and some of that knowledge with newer, younger athletic directors.” Past president Jim Bialek is no greenhorn in the OCAA. He has been involved in the OCAA for 35 years and been a convener for multiple sports and has watched the league grow, adapt and change since he’s been involved. He says he has seen his fair share of sports come and go. “Back then it was not uncommon to see men’s and women’s hockey, flag football, [and] you even had football back in the day [in addition to] table tennis, archery, touch football things like that. Then [the OCAA] kind of scaled back to mainstream sports.” While it may be difficult to define sport (see What Is Sport, p. 18) there are some challeng-

Photos courtesy of OCAA

es that the OCAA faces that are much more straight forward. Bialek says that one of the things the OCAA is always looking at is leveling the playing field for different sized schools. The student population among the 29 members ranges from schools with nearly 30,000 students facing off against some schools that have fewer than a thousand. According to Bialek a lot goes into making the level of competition fair for everyone, and in doing so has created a camaraderie within the OCAA. “When you go to championships, your team is there, their team is there [and when] you’re hosting, It’s like ‘Oh come on in to the VIP,’ [and] you’re always welcomed with an extended hand. If there is anything I’m going to remember from the OCAA it’s that feeling,” Bialek says. The Board of Executives work closely with the Executive Director to hammer out all the details and create opportunities for student athletes. Doug Gellatly is a jack of all trades. As the Executive Director he works with the board to develop plans, work with the members on how to stage events, manage the final budget and oversee the staff to ensure the OCAA is always moving forward.

FIFTY The OCAA mission statement includes creating an environment which promotes academic success, provides a forum for personal development, complements the educational experience, and enhances student life. Gellatly says the introduction of the Hall of Fame in 2003 was a big step for the organization. “It really gave us an opportunity to capture the history of the organization and people who have contributed to the organization as builders or outstanding coaches or outstanding athletes. It really gave us the chance to recognize the history, create pride in the organization and recognize people who made contributions.” “There’s an opportunity to have dialogue outside the business of sport [and that] makes the OCAA special.” It’s not just the front office that feels the effects of the tight knit OCAA community. At the 2017 badminton finals, Tammy Do and Phillip Bruce echoed the sentiments of Bialek and Gray. “It’s amazing. It’s a family for sure. You see coaches walking around with babies and all the players from different schools trying to take care of [the baby],” says Georgian Grizzly Do. Her partner Bruce says that the relationships he’s made in the OCAA badminton community extends off of the court. Bruce and Do hangout with players from other teams in their free time. They even have friendly badminton matches in the summer. It’s not just inter-sport communities though, the OCAA provides a way for athletes from all different sports to socialize and to create bonds that traverse the sport. “We have badminton players going out supporting the rugby and basketball teams,” says Do as she extends her arm to gesture to the championship badminton tournament happening in front of her. “The rugby boys are even volunteering right now.” If there is one common denominator for OCAA officials and athletes it seems to be the sense of community that they feel when they are among their peers. The association provides a platform for student-athletes to not only compete but mingle and build memories with each other. For 50 years fans have been cheering on athletes from colleges across Ontario who have been lining up across from each other to compete. Coaches have been nurturing their players on and off the field of play and the association’s executives has been pulling the strings from behind the scenes to grow the league seamlessly.

THE NEXT 50 YEARS

Even as the OCAA executives who manage

“There’s an opportunity to have dialouge outside the business of sport [and that] makes the OCAA special” - Jim Bialek the association understand the importance of its past, they must have a vision for the future. The core values and guiding principles aimed to maintain the integrity as the league moves forward. Values and principles like: Promoting an active and healthy lifestyle, leadership and personal development, honest and transparent communication, equal opportunities for everyone and of course fair play. For Bialek he sees the association expanding into new sports and creating new opportunities for student-athletes. “Don’t be surprised if varsity cricket comes in to play in the near future [and] indoor track is probably going to come into play in the near future,” says Bialek. The OCAA mission statement includes creating an environment which promotes academic success, provides a forum for personal development, complements the educational experience, and enhances student life. Student athletes Do and Bruce both seemed to echo that sentiment saying that even though they are already integrated into the badminton world they say that they think the OCAA will keep expanding and growing like a community in the future. That community expands beyond the person, the team and it even goes beyond the sport. The OCAA community is a welcoming and warm environment and it remains to be seen what is in store for the future. “We’ve been around for fifty years and its our responsibility as leaders to make sure that it’s around for another fifty,” says Gray.

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FIFTY FIFTY

1966 Schenley Spartans Basketball Team. Snowden was number 24.

Courtesy Marv Snowden

From Pittsburgh, With Love Your neighbour may be a local legend

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Pittsburgh

Back in his original stomping ground of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marv Snowden recalls to me over the phone the strange path he took to suiting up for George Brown. He’s brief

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in is his recounting of a childhood long gone. For Snowden, only one event in his first stint in the city demands elaboration. In 1966, Schenley High School had an opportunity to end an embarrassing 29-year drought. “Usually the suburban schools used to win it,” says Snowden, “and we came along and we changed everything.” “SCHENLEY REVIVES CITY PRESTIGE,” read the headline sprawled across The Pittsburgh Press’ sports page on March 24, 1966. The Spartans had just punched their ticket to the state championship game after a grueling double overtime brawl with the rival Uniontown Red Raiders. Two days later, as over 20,000 gathered in Washington in protest of the Vietnam War, with thousands more protesting across the country, and globally in places like Ottawa and London, over 10,000 fans packed into the Pittsburgh Civic Arena for the finale of the 1966 season in Pennsylvania high school basketball.

“I didn’t even know I was elected to the Hall of Fame, no one had a way to find me” - Marv Snowden The Schenley Spartans matched up with the Chester Clippers out of the east. It was neck and neck. In the third, a worst-case scenario struck the Spartans. All-State star Ken Durrett hit his fourth foul in the third quarter and was benched. Snowden was quoted in the Pittsburgh Post

Gazette. “I was thinking I really had to hustle now,” he said on the exit of Durrett. “Before Ken left, I felt more secure.” Rather than shy away, Snowden stepped up, dropping 16 points and snagging a game-high 14 rebounds, leading Schenley High School to its first ever Pennsylvania state championship.

Snowden attempts a dunk.

Marv takes a second to himself after thinking back to those moments. “It was big news, city was ablaze, we had a lot of fun back then.”

On the Road

Regret is a curious beast. A driving urge to be able to change what is unchangeable seems like a redundant ambition to develop in the chain of evolution. What a useless feeling, to depress yourself with something that can’t be undone. Yet it strikes the best of us. Snowden was recruited to play for the West Virginia Mountaineers after the championship campaign with Schenley. During the Bucky Waters era, the Mountaineers were a middle of the pack team, made the National Invitational Tournament once, never making the NCAA D1 Tour-

Courtesy George Brown College Athletics

n Seattle, on a cold mid-January night in 1974, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, “Pistol” Pete Maravich and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar suited up for the NBA All-Star Game. The event was being held at the Seattle Centre Coliseum with a little over 14,000 eager fans in attendance. At home, thousands of basketball heads tuned into Pat Summerall and Rod Hundley calling the game on CBS. It was the kind of marquee event that would have any fan of the game buzzing. Marv Snowden had been looking forward to it himself. There was only one hitch, he had a game of his own to play. That didn’t stop Marv or the rest of the George Brown Huskies from trying to catch the action. Faced with an away game against Georgian College up in Barrie, the Huskies made a simple request. “The NBA All-Star game was on T.V. that night,” recalls Snowden, now a 68 year old man thinking long and hard about his days as a star ball player. “So we wanted to play at five o’clock instead of eight…and they refused. I felt a little bad afterwards.” The Huskies demolished Georgian 187 to 39. Snowden laughs, “We just wanted to run it up on them.” A little over 4,200 kilometres away, the Western Conference All-Stars edged out the East by a score of 134 to 123. And on a night when Walt Frazier went for 12 points, “Pistol” Pete put up 15 and Kareem finished with 14…Marv Snowden dropped 87 points. Before the 3-point line existed.

BY ROBERT WILLIAMSON

nament but the program had recently churned out NBA stars Jerry West and Rod Thorn. Snowden was quick to impress. Shooting a blazing 56.7 percent from the field, and averaging 19.5 points per game. After being sidelined with an ankle injury for two games, the Mountaineers travelled to Pittsburgh for a game and Snowden didn’t head back with them to Morgantown. Snowden takes a breath, “One of the biggest mistakes of my life.” He wouldn’t have much more to say about that. After playing some Division 2 ball at Oklahoma State, Snowden was invited up to play for the Harlem Diplomats, a comedic basketball team much like the now-famous Harlem Globetrotters, that operated north of the border. “The two owners of the team, they lived in Toronto so I ended up staying there,” Snowden remembered. “I love Toronto, beautiful people, beautiful city.” At the time, OCAA basketball was just coming into its own as a legitimate league for community colleges to compete amongst each other in Ontario. At George Brown, Vincent Drake, the long tenured athletic director and men’s basketball coach, now in the OCAA Hall of Fame, had begun to put together a super-team. Made up of both prime Canadian and American ball players that included an ex-Argo’s player (wrong sport, I’m aware), he wanted to put the Huskies program on the map. Drake’s next target? Marv Snowden. “I met Vince Drake in Toronto […] and they had just built a new campus, the Casa Loma campus and we were playing ball and they talked me into coming back to school,” said Snowden.

The Husky

It isn’t often that a community college’s basketball team gets weekly space in the sports section of a major publication. Though from 1973 ’75, the George Brown Huskies earned just that. “Marv would be in the dressing room putting on lip balm or whatever, never knew when the reporters would show up to cover the game.” said Val Pozzan, former guard for the Huskies, who was one of George Brown’s big three along with Snowden and Chicago native Mike Asque. Pozzan was inducted into the OCAA Hall of Fame in 2003 for his contributions to the team at point guard. The buzz started small. A few four inch reports occupying tight corners between features. ‘Brown cagers win’ November 8, 1973, ran in a tiny space between paragraphs of a feature on a junior hockey star. ‘Brown Cagers extend streak’, 5 days later. Both in the Toronto Star’s sports section. In January of ’74, four days after Snowden’s record breaking 87 point game, the feature story on the front page of the Star’s sports section was ‘George Brown’s Cagers will vie for national crown’. They almost went perfect in Marv’s first season north of the border, beating out St. Clair college for the OCAA crown. Snowden lead the way earning the first of his two OCAA M.V.P.

awards. “At the time, they didn’t have an official national championship,” Pozzan recalls. “Instead, we went out to Montreal and challenged Quebec’s champion, for a sort of unofficial title.” In the middle of March that year, after the finals sweep that landed them atop the Ontario Colleges throne, George Brown headed to Montreal to play Dawson College. Snowden drained a game high 25 that night in Montreal to lead the Huskies; and on March 18, 1974, George Brown College became the first ever (unofficial) national champion in Canadian college basketball. Over the course of that season, Snowden would amass 582 points, an OCAA record that stood for over 40 years. The team gained traction in the basketball community. Both Canadian and University teams invited the Huskies to play in invitational touraments.

1966 Schenley Spartans. Snowden is the third one on the bottom right.

“We got to play both the British and Chinese national teams,” Pozzan remembers. They beat the Brits, and lost to China. As the following season came and went, so did another bout of George Brown dominance. Almost every news clipping read, ‘Marv Snowden led the Huskies…’. It was Snowden’s league, and nobody could do a damn thing about it. Their winning became so commonplace, headlines were written when they lost. “George Brown loses a game!” reads a headline on the Star’s sports page in early 1975, after Buffalo State University snapped a 27 game streak. “A strange thing happened to the George Brown College Huskies yesterday…” In the spring of ’75, Marv Snowden and the Huskies captured their second consecutive Canadian College national championship. Handling Vancouver College 91-71 in the final game, both Val Pozzan and Herman Sheppard were named to the all tournament team… Snowden won his second M.V.P. title. Over the two seasons Marv Snowden played for the Huskies, the team amounted a record of 104 wins and four losses. One of the greatest sporting dynasties in the history of OCAA athletics.

There and Back Again

Snowden hasn’t been back to Toronto in over 20 years, he figures. After his time at George Brown, he headed back south of the border, “I lived in L.A. for about 10 years.” Completely off the grid. No indication that he continued to play on after such a wildly successful college campaign. A budding career cutoff. Left behind. He says softly, “You know how life is.” Retirement can hit a star athlete hard. “That

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planning and starting that second chapter in your life before it’s right in your face,” said Judy Goss, Ph. D and mental performance consultant for the Canadian Sport Institute, on how an athlete transitions to a average paced, dormant life. “Things usually unfold better if there is planning and preparation.”

It was big news, city was ablaze, we had a lot of fun back then” - Marv Snowden If there is one thing that is abundantly clear, it is that Snowden had planned almost none of it. Going with the flow, fixated on any court that called his name. Goss trains the athletes to look past the present, past the eventual end of glory. “You know there’s more to your life. All that life ahead of you…Is there a desire to go on and be something else?” Whatever that desire may be, he must have found it in California. A little while later he returned home to Pittsburgh, just up the road from Schenley High School. It has since been boarded up. “I don’t know why I got married again,” he chuckles. He reconnected with an old friend Myrna Johnson and found answers within the church. The OCAA would induct Marv into their Hall of Fame in 2003, though Snowden was none-the-wiser at the time. For almost 7 years, Marv Snowden had no clue his achievements were still being celebrated in Toronto. “I didn’t even know I was elected to the Hall of Fame, no one had a way to find me,” Snowden said “I went down to give him the hall of fame award [In Pittsburgh] and surprisingly enough he knew nothing about it,” said Pozzan. “I was on Facebook and my buddy found me and got in touch with me […] and saw me with Pozzan,” said Snowden. “They came to Pittsburgh and visited me and brought me my little crystal.” While his name may never have gone up in lights like a Frazier, Maravich or Abdul-Jabbar or never been chosen for an NBA All-Star team, there is no doubt that the game of basketball has cherished the memory of Marvin L. Snowden out of Pittsburgh. Selected to the OCAA All-Millennium team at the turn of the century, Marv’s accolades are still lauded in the circles that are aware of his achievements. He left behind a life connected to the game he once loved, never stopping to look back. Until now. “You know my knees are shot and I don’t have the energy,” Marv laughs. “I mean I haven’t touched the ball in 20 years!” “But in my mind, I can still play.”

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FIFTY FIFTY

HEART BY JJ KAKISH

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quick walk down Toronto’s Queen Street West shows that footwear–especially athletic footwear–has far outgrown its purpose as a necessity. Running shoes have transcended the realm of sports and in the last few decades, slowly trickled into the streetwear scene. Now, there are sneakerheads everywhere. Waves of young people swarm on sneaker stores like Livestock, Foot Locker and Adidas hoping to score Kanye West’s latest pair of Adidas Yeezys or a set of Air Jordans. “[The Yeezy trend] is certainly very dramatic, the fact that he worked with Louis Vuitton first, then he worked with Nike, then he switches gears and jumps over to Adidas. I think in part Adidas’s [current] moment [of fame] has been brought forward by the incredible popularity of Kanye West’s shoe,” says Elizabeth Semmelhack, the senior curator at the Bata Shoe Museum and author of Out of The Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture. Sneakers like this sell out fast. Like stupid fast. In February, Kanye West and Adidas’ much-coveted sneaker, the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 in its thennew zebra colourway sold out within seconds. The Yeezys retail at around $220 USD, but within a day or so, these rare sneakers popped up on sites like eBay for around $1,500 - $2,000 USD. With 4300 pairs released in Europe and 4100 pairs released in North America, the high prices that these sneakers resell for aren’t surprising. “The hype for [Yeezys] in general is ridiculous, due to how limited they are,” says Nico Magana, a sneaker collector and reseller of 5 years. “People, especially in this day and age, are willing to spend thousands to impress people they don’t even know. Millennials have this mindset that they have to look rich rather than be grateful for what they have.” It wasn’t always like this, though. A resurgence in running culture headed by the English in the 1800s yielded the need for a light shoe with traction. The first developments in athletic shoes were relatively minor, until Charles Goodyear accidentally founded the process of vulcanization, which allowed rubber and fabric to be mended together.

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SOLE

This led to the creation of Keds, made by Goodyear. At first, they were worn leisurely, until he realized he could make a lot more money marketing them as an athletic shoe. They were nicknamed “sneakers” on account of how quiet the shoes were when walking with them. Big brands started using the vulcanization process and sneakers have not been the same since. Notable developments after this include Nike’s collaboration with NASA to put airbags full of pressurized gas into the soles of shoes to absorb shock from running. By the 70s, athletic shoe design and technology was in full swing and with shoes being made specifically for certain types of feet. The future of athletic footwear was uncertain; excitement was high; possibilities were endless. Types of feet were now being broken down into three categories: Supinating feet, which supported a weight mainly on the outside of runner’s foot, pronating feet, the arch of which would go flat on impact and neutral feet that neither pronate nor supinate excessively. “Many people don’t have proper biomechanical or foot functioning and if they’re functioning isn’t good, then what’s going to happen is they’re going to have all sorts of muscular aches and pains,” says Paul Leszner, a practicing podiatrist of 36 years. “You can get a motion control [shoe], which would be good for a pronator, particularly for a big, heavy guy who is running. You can get a neutral shoe, for those who have a neutral stance and cushioned shoes are for those people who have that so-called supinator foot, which [requires] a lot of shock absorption,” says Leszner. Although doctors like Leszner recommend picking out a specific shoe for a certain type of foot, a lot of athletes just don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. “For support, in terms of ankles and stuff like that, it doesn’t really matter to me,” he says. “It just matters if it’s comfortable. If it’s not too heavy, or if it’s too light, or something like that,” says Gayle. In the 80’s, athletes like Tennis-star Ilie Nastase, as well as basketball players Kareem Abdul Jabaar and Michael Jordan started to get sponsored by big names like Nike and Adidas. “I didn’t really like the first couple of pairs [of

Jordans] that came out, but then I saw these [Jordan] fours I had to get them,” says John Sullivan, a sneaker collector of 26 years. “I’ve [sold jerseys] a couple of times. Get rid of them, get some cash and probably cop a pair of shoes.” The 80s drew to a close. All of the neon burnt out and Doc Martens were swapped for New Balances. Hegemonic masculinity started to be challenged. The image of authority was shifting from white businessman to entities much more human. “You have superstar athletes, you have a lot of musicians coming up at that time, but you also have Silicon Valley and all of the tech geniuses show up to board meetings with all of those suited, white men and they’re wearing playground clothing,” says Semmelhack. Business execs took this trend and ran with it, yielding a generation of CEOs rocking sneakers with their three-piece suits. Aaron Levie, the CEO of cloud storage company Box, who favours Pumas and Onitsuka Tigers, is an example. Fast forward to the modern age and people are lining up outside shops overnight with tents just to buy a pair of shoes. People now are buying gear just because their favourite athletes wear them. “My favourite basketball player is LeBron [James] and he’s signed to Nike, so most of the time I’ll go for a Nike shoe, or if not, his shoe,” says Teshayn Gayle, a second year point guard with George Brown. The life of shoes is kind of like that of a lobster, shedding its exoskeleton only to grow into something bigger, something better. It started with forward thinkers and a single idea, Now there are sneaker clubs, sneaker shops, sneaker collectors and sneaker dealers all coming together to form an entire culture devoted to sneakers. Today there are sneakers with their own suspension systems, some that lace themselves up. and some that even track heart rate data and calories burned. The future is endless, as are the possibilities of shoe technology. And with an unlimited amount of sneaker designers and the rate of tech advancement, there’s no telling what people will be wearing in 20 years.

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THE FANS, THE TEAMS, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

BY ARON ANTHONYMUTTU

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red bristol board at the main entrance of Redeemer University College reads ‘This Week in Ancaster’ in large hand-written bubble letters. Underneath that was blank space on the red bristol board. To the right of the sign, a hand-made display saying ‘What to do at Redeemer’ with cute laminated pictures and typed out descriptions suggests relaxing at the waterfront in Hamilton, hiking to the waterfall in Hamilton and savoring a great cup of coffee at one of Hamilton’s many local coffee shops. The school also suggests exploring on your own. It’s about 4:30 p.m. on the Friday before reading week for the majority of Ontario colleges and universities. The halls of Redeemer echo hollow chatter of trips to visit grandparents, friends and relatives in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. While many are planning a week of detox from school-life, there’s still many kids who are sticking in the area for that week. It’s the last regualr season game for Redeemers Royals men and womens’ basketball teams. Both of them already securing a position in the OCAA’s basketball playoffs; women for the first time. While the stands are half-filled by half-time during the women’s game, there’s a certain level of tension in the air between Redeemer women’s team and Mohawk’s. Most college campuses would likely be completely cleared by the time evening comes around but Redeemer went from a post-secondary education institution to a community hub by 7 p.m. It’s due to the community setting. The town is small; it’s population is a little over 40,000. The school was about a 15-20 minutes. Uber drive from the Hamilton GO station. On the drive down Garner Rd. E. There are a few houses spread out across the dimly lit road, a golf course, a gas station but not really much else. It has a boarding school-esque vibe to it where students must live on campus for the first

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year if they are 21 and under. For many the small-town community has its appeal. It’s how women’s basketball coach, Robert Hooper, recruited their star player, Jesseca Brown, to the Royals. “[The selling point to go to Redeemer was] the size, it’s really small and I’m used to the small community because I come from an island of 2,400 people,” says Brown. This past January, Brown topped the OCAA’s Record Book as the leagues all-time career points leader. A bar that was set a year prior from a women’s volleyball player from Redeemer, as well. During the game against Mohawk College, she was either being guarded by two players at once or she was guarding two players at a time.

“Whatever you do, work at it with your whole heart, as working for the lord” -Colossians 3:23

She’s had a major impact on Redeemer’s women’s basketball team. From a tiny island off of the east coast, she’s managed to bring a team with an 87-game losing streak to now, a team in the OCAA basketball playoffs. It was through another small community that Hooper scoped out the east coast talent. Both Hooper and Brown are originally from Grand Manan, N.B., a very small island in the Bay of Fundy. He’s from the part of the island where she’d take a ferry to her high school. He first arrived to Redeemer five years ago, a year before Brown. The women’s team at the time was not what it was today. According to students as well as other members of athletics department, there was no support for the women’s team until recently. He was faced with adversity while trying to recruit in Ontario. The school is relatively unknown, the team wasn’t the strongest and it’s in the middle of nowhere. It was a difficult pitch to

players within Ontario especially when recruiters from stronger teams had more to offer. His history as a basketball player in Grand Manan led him to connections with many of the coaches on the island. While looking for prospects, he was informed of a star player hidden in the Bay of Fundy. “We have a bit of an odd bond. People actually think she’s my child. She’s not my child.” Hooper says while breaking out into a joking smile. “We’ve just become very close. She’s from where I’m from and we sort of get it.” The population of their hometown is about .4 per cent of Brampton, Ont. and about three times the size of Redeemer College’s populace. Nonetheless, the small community on campus was familiar enough for her to turn down her offer to be closer to home at Memorial University and pursue basketball at Redeemer. The population of the college is roughly 800 and the actual school itself looks like a public elementary school in the suburbs. So yeah, it’s small. “[On Fridays] you’re either leaving the campus or if you’re here, sports are pretty much your thing,” Hooper says. “Lots of the rookie players live with non-athletes. their dorm mates will get on board and come with big cardboard signs.” Hooper says, “Even if the girl they live with isn’t a starter, they still come with their number on a board and a picture.” The players for the Royals are like local celebrities of sorts in that way. Coach Hooper even says the school’s community is so tightknit that everyone knows each other or knows of each other through a mutual friend. “If Jess went downtown Hamilton or Square One [in Mississauga], any of the 799 students would see her at the mall they would go talk to her. And they’d know each others name,” he says. It’s small gestures as recognizing each other that show the support the school gives its sports teams. Even with half-filled stands at the game, you could hear the crowd chanting ‘Jess’ when she

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Royals and Mountaineers fans anxiously waiting for the final men’s basketball season game to begin.

had the ball. Hooper says she’s used to it though. Growing up in Grand Manan draws parallels for Brown although she has witnessed the fandom get over the top. She says during last years’ men’s basketball playoff game, Royal fans filled the stands, singing an interpolation of ‘When the Saints come marching in’, banging large drums and even bringing out the school mascot. “This is the only fanbase I’ve ever seen that breaks out in song, ‘When the Saints Come Marching in.’” Jerome De Schiffert says. “I’ve never heard that in any other gym” The school spirit runs so high that the excitement surrounding the basketball games at Redeemer brings back alumnus parents to the gym. Jerome De Schiffert’s kids have already graduated from Redeemer. His three sons all played with the Royals for the basketball or soccer team. “The games here are just so exciting that now even though our son doesn’t play we still try to catch as many as we can. It’s electric in here every time.” says De Schiffert. His investment in the game showed when the women’s team were struggling in their last quarter and his face grew with intensity as he rubbed his face in stress. “It’s such a tight knit community. I mean, I’m a high school guidance counsellor, I get to see a lot of campus’ and stuff but I’ve never seen the kind of cohesiveness that you see here.” While the school’s spirit is definitely much higher than most even this kind of fandom is only brought out for special occasions. Colin Wouda, third year environmental studies and media communications student at Redeemer, says the fandom has changed since he first enrolled into Redeemer. The face-painting and fan merch at games have died down since his first year. “It’s more of a relationship with the team itself; getting to know the teams and be able to cheer for your friends and your acquaintances.” says Wouda. If you’re in your first year at Redeemer, the

OCAA’s women’s basketball all-time career point leader, Jesseca Brown, rushing down the court during her last season game as a Royal.

games are the ‘it’ spot, according to Wouda. “Back in my first year, if you were on campus and you didn’t show up to the games, that wasn’t the ‘cool’ thing to do,” Wouda says outside of the gym after the men’s game. More so than fitting in he says it’s really boils down to becoming a support system for the their teammates and friends on the court. “Being a smaller school, you get to know a lot of people on the team, which makes it all that more exciting when you get to see them make some big plays,” Wouda says. Today the support is more an emotional investment of each person in the stands. The chanting, the clapping, the screaming, the sighs and the overall energy from the crowd bounces off the walls. “Everyone knows everyone and everyone’s friends with everyone here so they’ll come to the games to support,” says Brown. Being a Christian Reform school is another factor that makes Redeemer unique. Although the school is not exclusively Christian, walking through there’s a lot of religious figures such as a life-size bronze replica of Jesus on the cross. It’s been argued by some writers that the etymology of the world ‘religion’ is derived from the Latin word religare, which means ‘to bind.’ So to bring it full circle, the argued definition itself parallels the way sports brings Redeemer’s community together as much as their faith. On the Royals website, it says they hope

their athletes play by a tagline, “Whatever you do” derived from Colossisans 3:23. Whatever you do, work at it with your whole heart, as working for the Lord. For Brown and the women’s basketball team, they have a group prayer in the locker room prior to games. “Being a Christian University, playing for God is the number one thing that we do,” says Shawn Brus, a fourth year math major and volleyball player for the Royals. But aside from bringing God with them every time they play, it boils down to the community formed at the school. “Also, it’s a sweet opportunity [playing for] a really small school [with] a tight knit community. You get to know all the players on all the teams. You’re watching your friends play.” says Brus. Despite where they rank and where they may lack in size compared to other schools in the province, they compensate in the attitude and compassion. Even Hooper realized this after he first started as coach at Redeemer five years a go. His history includes coaching shooting at the University of Guelph and Brock University. Both schools with much larger populations and much more athletic resources available. “My version is what you miss in sort of bricks-and-mortar is made up [by] people will go the extra mile, people who work hard.”

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GOING

PAST PAST PAST PAST BY SUKH TOOR ROLE MODELS WHO MADE A CAREER OUT OF THEIR OCAA YEARS

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ALEX BARBIER PRO HOCKEY PLAYER TO ATHLETIC DIRECTOR OCAA YEARS 1972-2002

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Courtesy George Brown Athletics

eorge Brown College intramural/recreation coordinator Alex Barbier in 1968, but left in ‘69 for a NHL career. While playing for the LA Kings, Barbier had a series of knee injuries that shortened his NHL career. He returned to George Brown in ‘72. He implemented alpine skiing, tennis, and cross-country running to the college. Later, he was promoted to athletic director in ‘76. Before retiring in 2002 he created the Athletics Alumni Association, and has been inducted in OCAA’s since 2005. “He was the best dad I could ever have; we call him our coach, best friend and hero,” says Jennifer Goheen, the youngest child of Barbier’s three. Goheen remembers many George Brown students looked up to him and even considered him a father figure. Often she says people reminded her of how lucky she was to have a father like Barbier. She bragged about her father in his pro days. “He played with some of the greats like Wayne Gretzky,” says Goheen. Barbier left a legacy for family and friends. Today Goheen works at George Brown as a Student Success & Industry Liaison Officer and says she practices what he taught before passing in 2011. “Putting students first: I inherited this passion where students come first.”

BRETT DAILEY OCAA VARSITY VOLLEYBALL TO PRO VOLLEYBALL OCAA YEARS 2005-2007

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Courtesy of Dailey

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efore pro volleyball, Brett Dailey played guard for Ligue Nationale de Volley (LNV). He went to Seneca College and played for the men’s varsity basketball team in 2005. It was there he had the chance to play for Seneca’s volleyball team championship. His growing passion for the sport prompted him to play both basketball and volleyball for a semester. But the following year Dailey made the decision to pursue volleyball at Algonquin College. It was 10 years ago during his last year at Algonquin when Dailey, in the middle of playing baseball with friends, received a call asking if he would play pro for SwitzVolley in 2007. He spent three years playing with his Switzerland team. Dailey says it was a challenge in the early days playing in the big leagues. Playing against some all-stars and with older, more experienced guys was a little bit scary at first, but he said he had a good team and a good coach. He has played two years in Finland and five years in France playing volleyball on a professional level. Dailey has just finished another season with France, and is looking at a new contract. “I’m making five times the money than my first contract. Every year I’ve gotten better and played for stronger teams. I don’t think I’ve taken many steps backwards,” says Dailey.

FIFTY DONOVAN BAILEY OCAA TO THE OLYMPICS OCAA YEARS 1986-1987

D Bailey is a board member of ParticipAction Canada. Courtesy Donovan Bailey Official Website

onovan Bailey stayed active while attending Sheridan College playing forward for the men’s basketball team from ‘86 to ‘87. The sprinter went on to become a two time Olympic champion, two time World Record holder, three time World champ, and was named Sprinter of the Decade for the ‘90s. Wayne Fish, Sheridan College varsity sport coordinator, has worked for the college’s athletic department for 13 years. “Students aren’t aware of Donovan’s legacy tracing back to Sheridan College,” says Fish. It’s been about 20 years since he won the gold medal. Fish recalls a time when Bailey was talk of the town, but decades later Sheridan College isn’t aware of the legacy he left behind on the college’s court. According to Bailey’s official site, Bailey became a two-time Olympic champion, threetime world champion and two-time world record holder. After retiring he commentated for CBC, CTV and Eurosport.

MICHAEL RIZZETTO OCAA TO CPGA OCAA YEARS 2013-2015

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Courtesy Mohawk College Athletics

ichael Rizzetto, golfer for Canadian Pro Golf Association’s (CPGA) Great Lakes, got his first golf membership at the age of eight, now has been playing for 26 years. He went to Mohawk College from Brock University and started to play golf again when he made the school team. He credits former coach Deborah Lee Eldridge for his success at Mohawk. He has been playing professional golf for two years with the CPGA. Although Rizzetto hasn’t placed first since his professional career began he did dominate his first and last year of Mohawk College as MVP. Also, bagging a win at the provincial championship during his college days. Eldridge says he deserved that MVP award first year. Rizzetto was dealing with excruciating back pains and was going to throw in the towel, but he pushed through. “He was able to dig deep and grind it out and play. He ended up being the best player on our team,” says Eldridge. He says it was more fun playing golf at the college level, in terms of teams. A bad day was no excuse to not push through the game to Rizzetto. As for other OCAA golfers he says “embrace the experience, it makes practicing better.” “It’s very exciting for me as a coach to have someone with such a passion and such a talent,” says Eldridge who has 10 years of pro tournament experience. Now, Rizzetto is going through a program to teach golf with CPGA while practicing and working at MontHill Golf and Company Club. The two owners had sponsored Rizzetto, which he says is one of his most memorable experiences. So, who did this golf enthusiast look up to? It would be “lefty” Phil Mickleson. Other than his skill and humbleness, Mickleson is infamous for being a left-handed golfer and this resonated with Rizzetto as he is as well.

SIMON WHITFIELD OCAA TO THE OLYMPICS OCAA YEAR 1996

S Courtesy Chris Strenberg

imon Whitfield only attended St. Lawrence College for the fall semester of 1996. Fast forward a couple years in Whitfield’s athletic career; the triathlete was Canada’s flag bearer at the 2012 London Olympics. He won gold in the 2000 Olympics and silver in 2008. Kevin Biggs, St. Lawrence sports information officer, is proud of the legacy Whitfield left at the Kingston campus. “Training and good ethic got him where he is,” says Biggs. Whitfield took advantage of what the school had, in terms of resources, and made it count with the training and good ethic every day. Biggs says they have Rob Asselstine, 2015 OCAA and CCAA cross country champion, at the same campus. “They both share passion and hard work.” Whitfield retired in 2013, but not before collecting a total of 12 Canadian championships and 14 world cup victories.

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BY SHAUN FITL 18 | sweat

Photo designed by Jimmy Kaksih

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port is a fluid, dynamic phenomenon. One moment is spent in defensive gear and in a split second the gear changes and the team shifts to their attack. A team member who excels in playmaking can often find themselves engaging in solo goal attempts. From this acknowledgement of changeability, it is very difficult to confine the elements of a sporting event to objective criteria. This description and essential nature applies equally to the game in motion and the game on paper. It is understood that to find the true core of what defines sport as a professional activity the search will have to address key elements of a single game. Physicality, population, organization and entertainment. These general guidelines will be used to answer the question of whether or not gaming or paintball is a sport, and why fencing and karate is, according to Sport Canada. The official Sport Canada definition available through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport is a tad too regimented and specific to overarch all activities and to properly organize them by criteria. Its usefulness is more bureaucratic than insightful. “Are you keeping score?” Ken Babcock, director of athletics and recreation at Durham College, gives a simplified, single inquiry definition that, while sharp and accurate, can be easily overlooked. Still, Babcock touches on other criteria such as institutional structure, funding and popularity. A sport has a league, which would include costs, revenues and the fans. He suggests that “[in sport] there is a skill ability applied to it [but] you have to think outside of the box.” Shawn Klein, a professor at Arizona State University and editor of the Defining Sport anthology, says “competitive activity is one key element [of sport], the other is physicality – the superior player of the game will have a superior set of the skills that are relevant.” He widens the discussion, philosophically, by commenting, “‘what counts as being physical?’ does [for example] the fine motor skills required to use a controller count as physical or not?” Professional video-gaming has leagues with a solid revenue and fan base, but falls

short on the physicality element. How important is one criteria than the other? For this reason, Klein implies that the traditional criteria are a bit nuanced and not so straightforward. Many people may assume publicized competitions denote sporting, however, OCAA executive director Doug Gellatly explains that just because an activity is shown on a sports television channel does not make it a sport. Although Gellatly points to factors such as agility, hand-eye coordination, fitness, strength, cardiovascular level, flexibility, etc., he also clarifies that “a huge part of sport that sometimes gets overlooked is how it contributes to the development of the person [athlete].” Sport, in a sense, also integrates factors such as social skills, respect, determination, or time management. This relates to the position of Heather Reid, sports philosophy specialist and professor at Morningside College in Iowa, which illustrates that a major value of sport is its “social value.”

“You definitely have to have the will to sacrifice… you have to sacrifice your social life and sometimes your own body and family life,” says Panchan. Panchan says the strength, determination and persistence of the athlete that can only come from a sportlust deep within the individual that blossoms, translating their love into passionate performance. Money talks, and with the modern evolution of competitive athleticism there is an undeniable economic aspect that is noted by University of Western Ontario’s professor of kinesiology Robert Barney. Barney says the commercialization and advertisement that fuels even the purest competitive platform, the Olympics, and observes that sport and business are definitely affiliated. Barney blames television for muddying the waters of sport with advertisement. “[T.V. is] one of the biggest commercial mechanisms reducing the old value claims of sport,” says barney. Devin Gray, communications coordinator with OFSAA, points to the core dimension of an activity’s popularity as criterion for its relevance to the sporting term. Gray says that there is a contrast between popularity in urban centres and interprovincial peripheries. For example, cricket is very popular in the GTA but not so much beyond that in Ontario. “You need to have province-wide representation in order for it to be an OFSAA provincial event,” says Gray. Simply, the audience for a sport cannot be concentrated in only one or two small areas. In conclusion, the criteria that has been discussed includes: personal development and excellence (the human level), physical skill in an individual or team environment, the competitive nature, the organizational structure (the league), the popularity, mental agility and skill, and of course the money. Of all the different opinions and definitions we use to make sense of our relationship with sport, the most important and widely-regarded ruling convention is the one that lies at the foundation of what makes a game or activity matter in any competitive sense - togetherness. Whether a sport brings people together with its competitive aspect, or because it is entertaining to watch, unities and rivalries are formed. From the young to the old, the one thing that remains constant while sport evolves naturally is that we enjoy it together.

“You definitely have to have the will to sacrifice… you have to sacrifice your social life and sometimes your own body and family life” “Sport is not a natural phenomenon… it is an invention of human beings,” says Reid. “In some ways it is an expression of our human nature but more than that sport expresses our desire to know because it is really set up like a scientific experiment.” Reid says sport is a construction of human nature, a mechanism for answering questions such as ‘who is fastest?’ or ‘who is strongest?’. “The validity of the results is extremely important… we try to set up our sports so that they reflect the kinds of success mechanisms we have in the real world,” says Reid. Lindsay Panchan, the starting point guard for the Durham College Lords women’s basketball team and back-to-back Female Athlete of the Year, points to the human-centric nature of competition.

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TIME CAPSULE

A look back at OCAA years

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his page features coaches, athletes and people throughout the 50 years in the OCAA. Although some of the games have changed, what hasn’t is its members’ dedication to sport.

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Photos courtesy of OCAA Collage by Ashly July

Photos by Erian Amor De Los Reyes, Sukh Tor and Tyler Hehn

CORE SPORTS

FROM NORTH, WEST AND BACK

CHALLENGES OF A TRAVELLING VARSITY TEAM BY LAURA DART

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ambrian is a college with over 11,000 full and part-time students in Sudbury. For athletes to compete against the rest of the province, the team travels thousands of kilometres by bus on a weekly basis. sweat travelled with the Cambrian Golden Shield men’s and women’s volleyball teams to St. Clair College in Windsor, then to Fanshawe College in London, then all the way back to Sudbury. Despite the long travel times ahead of them, the Cambrian Athletics bus is loud and electric. The women’s team needed to win both games against the evenly ranked St. Clair Saints and the Fanshawe Falcons to make it to the playoffs. The men’s team was having a tough season and were not going to make the playoffs, but could play spoiler against a St. Clair team in a three-way tie for the last playoff spot. The last weekend of the regular season promised exciting volleyball.

Saturday Feb.11, St.Clair College, Windsor

The Cambrian women’s game was scheduled for 2 p.m. after being on the road for over eight hours and not arriving at the hotel until

around 2 a.m. Jillian Vallier led Cambrian to a 3-1 win with 13 points. The men kept their game close, but with just a little over half of their squad making the road trip, they lost the last two sets and the match 3-1. Isaac Claveau was a beast, leading the team with 11 kills and 13 points. The women’s team waited on the bus after the men finished their game and got changed. Coach Dale Beausoleil, head coach of the women’s team, says he has loved coaching at Cambrian for the last 27 years because of their attitude. “They’re awesome. It’s always so fun,” says Beausoleil. He looked down the bus and laughed as the girls broke out singing a Britney Spears song. He credits the role of a coach as, “Making a difference in their lives. Making some changes and helping them enjoy college.” The men piled in about 20 minutes after the women. There was enough room on the bus for every player to have their own seat. Coaches made sure that every player was aboard so that no one gets left behind. The women’s energy

traveled through the bus, even to the men, feeling down from their loss. As the travelling begins the bus driver turns out the lights just past 6 p.m. after the sun set. This signaled the beginning of the twohour drive. It was quiet, every one focused in on the movie Neighbors, or had fallen asleep.

On the Road, Windsor Downtime

to

London,

The two teams travel together every weekend if they aren’t scheduled for games in Sudbury. They travel on one bus together, choosing movies, staying in the same hotels, eating together. The girls sat near the back of the bus, while the men sit closer to the front. Small TV screens are at almost every set of seats and blankets and pillows fill empty spots. Some athletes bring along snacks, or just wait for one of the many pit stops along the way between travels. Back-to-back games means the team just has to worry about travel on the weekend as opposed to during the week, when jobs, schoolwork and practice are juggled simultaneously.

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CORE SPORTS

“It’s worth it. It’s worth being broke,” Bastien says. “Sometimes it sucks really bad because you have no money, but you have something above other people. Everyone’s like ‘we went out partying, we went out shopping, yeah well we won volleyball,” she says.

Fanshawe College, London

The women celebrate after a point against St. Clair leading to their win.

“I have a full-time job,” says Kathryn Webb, a second-year player. “Half of my schooling is online, half of it’s in class so I work during day, do your school in the middle, and then you have your practice at night. Then the next day you have your class, work, then practice. And every weekend you’re gone,” she says. Webb’s from Whitefish, Ont. She’s one of the Liberos on the team because of her skills in the back court. Libero is a player that focuses on digging out spikes at the back of the court. “I work too,” says Hayley Chisholm, a fourthyear co-captain. “I go to class when I have to and work when I have free time. My boss is super good with my schedule,” she says. Chisholm, from Sudbury, Ont., plays left side with her powerful spikes and plays at the net. Fourth-year co-captain Kailey Bastien laughed and says, “I didn’t even try to get a job.” “The hardest part is that we always play double headers so we’re always playing back to back,” says Tim Yu, athletic manager at Cambrian College, “Whereas GTA schools can play one game on a Wednesday and a game on a Friday,” he says. “Where most students would have a job during the Saturday and Sunday when they have days off…unless [the athletes] find a job that works with their academic schedule during the day, sometimes in between their breaks, they don’t have a part time job,” Yu says. Although not having money is a hard way to live, the girls agree that being on the team is well worth it and ultimately more important.

The bus didn’t make any pit stops during the two hour drive from Windsor to London so everyone was starving. The teams decided to get dinner, so as we arrived the girls had called ahead booking a table for everyone on the bus at a Jack Astor’s close to the hotel. On the bus the lights turned on for the people who were sleeping and the movie ended for those who weren’t, which energized a team ready to stretch their legs and grab some dinner. Coach Beausoleil says the sudden increase in energy towards the end of the trip is normal. “You’ll see as soon as we get back to Sudbury the noise elevates, they’re amped, the movie is off and then they start talking and start having fun with each other,” he says. The bus arrived at a hotel, everyone hopped off the bus creating a log jam in the hotel lobby as they sorted out the room situations. The players dropped their stuff off in their room, climbed back into the bus and made their way to the restaurant. As 30 hungry people walk into the restaurant pure terror drew across the host’s face as he tried to figure out the seating. The team was directed towards the back where two long tables were beside eachother. As a table of four walked by they stopped and asked “Is this a hockey team?” the girls giggled and the coach says “No we’re actually volleyball.” As they smiled and walked away the girls wondered how they passed as hockey players. Coincidentally, Bastien played hockey for eight years. After eating the teams were full and exhausted, and wanted to get back to the hotels to rest. With a 1 p.m. game, 5:30 a.m. was not wake-up call they wanted. Especially since it wasn’t on any phone or clock, it was the hotel fire alarm. Both teams were forced outside the hotel in a cold February rain. After waiting for what felt like hours (but was only about 20 minutes), we were let back inside, with an alarm that still rang for at least another 15 minutes.

Cambrian men’s volleyball team show their support for the women’s game.

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Game Time Against Fanshawe

With the rude awakening, it was going to be a long second day of games for both teams. The women were hungry for a win to clinch the last playoff spot. In London, the men’s team climbed into the stands as the women went through warm-ups against Fanshawe. The men knew how important the game was for the women’s season. Cambrian scored the first point of the game when all of a sudden the men in the stands cheered loudly and ripped off their shirts which revealed what was written on their chests – GO CAMBRIAN. Each player had a letter on their stomach and smile on their face. Even the opposing players on the court couldn’t help but smile. By spending nearly every weekend together, staying in the same hotels, eating meals together, close relationships and support develop between players. For some who have had to move away from home and may not be close to their family, the teams bond strongly and quickly. After the ladies lost their first set to Fanshawe, they came back to win the next three to take the game 3-1. First-year setter Kendra Muffo tallied 40 assists in the game, all but three for the whole team. “It was such a huge weekend for our team,” says Beausoleil. “Win and we keep our playoff hopes alive, lose and were done for the season. We worked way too hard for it to be done. So, we had to beat St. Clair and we had to beat Fanshawe. We did. So, it was pretty impressive, I was pretty proud of them,” he says. The Fanshawe men’s volleyball team had only one loss all season, and was primed to compete in the CCAA nationals. The men’s team didn’t have much hope heading in, but still played passionately. Isaac Claveau and twin brother Lucas combined for 31 of the team’s 56 total attack attempts.

London to Sudbury (Home)

The travel back from London to Sudbury was perhaps the most harrowing, it takes a typical five maybe five and half-hours. In whiteout conditions, the bus passed four cars that had driven off of the road, and the trip took almost twice as long. At times, it felt as though the bus leaned from gusts of wind and it was driving on its

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KAILEY BASTIEN CAMBRIAN CO CAPTAIN

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Cambrian women’s team stand for the national anthem before the game.

three side wheels. The athletes seemed like they were happy to finally be back home. It was normal for them to be delayed on the way home, so the energy in the bus escalated the closer they got. Considering their drive to Windsor took a lot longer than expected, the drive home from London back home didn’t seem as bad. Eventually the Cambrian bus reached the Greyhound station for us sweat reporters, but it was too late, we missed our ride home. Most of the players weren’t too concerned about their drive home, they were concerned that we missed our bus to get home and had to stay in a nearby hotel – and make our way there in three feet of snow with baggage and cameras. But what it’s all really about for the team and their coach is having a great relationship that helps shape them as they continue with their lives. “I moved away from home and I hated it until I was friends with all them and I was on the team,” says Samantha Stewart, a first year at Cambrian, and grew up in Newmarket, Ont. “Now I love it.” At first, she says “I hated Sudbury and then I joined the team and I’m like I think I like it now. I’m making so many new friends now and it’s just such a good experience.” With almost 30 years of experience, coach Beausoleil says he loves to see bonds grow between teams before his eyes. “The friendships, how you can help shape some of their lives. There’s so many clichés, but it’s so true in sport. And I always remind them you’re in college have fun; you’re only young once. Live in that moment and appreciate it and have fun,” says Beausoleil. As for the travelling... well that’s not something that will change. “I think the biggest thing is that you get used to it. I like living up in the north. It’s just what you do, you travel… It’s not that there’s anything we can do to prepare for it. Other than eat well and sleep well and drink lots of water. There’s really nothing we can do other than you get accustomed to it and get used to it,” says Beausoleil.

Post Season

The ladies first post-season game was on Sunday February 19 at Georgian College. A cross over game that they took 3-1. The girls took the first set (25-16) then let one go for Georgian (25-17) before coming back for the last two sets (25-14, 25-22). The ladies were off

to the quarter-finals the following weekend on Friday February 24 where they took on Niagara. They started off strong winning the first set (25-18) then dropped the last three sets (22-25, 19-25, 15-25) for a final of 3-1 for Niagara. The final game was on Saturday February 25 against Fanshawe. This would end up being their last game in a consolation semifinal. The team lost in a tough 3-2 battle taking the first set (2624), losing the next two (15-25, 21-25), getting the fourth set (25-20), until Fanshawe took the final set (16-14). An impressive season for a team that didn’t think they would make it to the post-season a couple months before.

Kailey Bastien

How Far Do They Really Go?

5,995.5 km. The distance it would take if you were to drive through Canada from St. Johns, N.L. to Vancouver, B.C. They could’ve travelled across Canada with all their away games! That’s how many kilometres they travelled throughout their nine regular season away games and two post-season tournaments. The first regular season game was on October 29, but that was only at Collège Boréal, another college in Sudbury. Their first big travel was on November 18-19 when they went to Mohawk College and Redeemer University College. All their travelling works out to be about 62 straight hours of driving, and that’s all calculated without any traffic. That would be amazing wouldn’t it? Thinking back to the weekend of February 11 to 12 alone it took 10 hours

rowing up in the North end of Sudbury in Val Caron, Kailey Bastien hasn’t had to travel far to get to Cambrian. She still is lucky enough to grow up in Sudbury and stay at home with her parents and her dog. She even went to the same high school as her coach Dale Beausoleil. “Dale’s the most amazing coach, with quite the career behind him, so just to show the girls that, yes we’re here to have fun, but we’re also here to win and stay disciplined and try to make it to playoffs,” she said. 2017 is her final year at Cambrian finishing up a five-year nursing program. After a sports switch where she use to play hockey for 8 years and then deciding to start volleyball in grade 10 of high school she chose Cambrian to further her volleyball career. She said it’s a transition having new players come every year, but she likes to be one of the leaders of the team, fitting as she was named as one of the team captains for her final season. “The biggest thing for me was I tried to be a leader and be welcoming to the younger girls, show them what to expect and how the team rolls,” she said. After an unforgettable season, she said she will retire as a Golden Shield athlete, happy with how things went this year. “I’m pretty proud of how our team ended. At Christmas time, it wasn’t looking very good, we had to really work hard and pull some big plays off to make it to provincials which we did,” she said, “… as a retiring vet, I was really happy of the accomplishment we made to get to provincials and the fact that I got to retire at provincials.” Bastien concluded her career taking home Player of the Game for both matches at provincials, as well as being one of the winners of the second-team all-star award along with teammates Jillian Vallier, and Amanda Kring. on a drive that should’ve been seven, and to get from London to Sudbury it took about eight hours when it would’ve been about five and a half. That’s Canadian winters for you and living up north. You can never be sure what the weather will be like and have to be prepared for the worst.

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Photos by Ashly July and Tyler Hehn

“It was one of those no one could stop me and I was just focused on hitting a point and breaking that record” -Ceejay Nofuente

SMASHING RECORDS

BY ALLYYSSA SOUSA-KIRPAUL

HUMBER WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYER MAKING HISTORY

CEEJAY NOFUENTE OCAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2016, 2017 55- MOST POINTS IN A GAME 13- MOST THREE-POINTERS IN A GAME

LED OCAA IN STEALS AND ASISTS

CCAA ALL-CANADIAN 2016, 2017

CCAA CHAMPIONSHIP MVP 2016 CCAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2016, 2017 24 | sweat

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hree years ago I tore my ACL at a game at Humber playing against Fanshawe, it was, I think, in the third quarter. I did a move, a step back to get the shot off before the shot clock went off and I landed on a girl’s foot. I stepped on her foot while I was pushing off so I was off balance and all I heard was a pop in my knee as that happened I went down grabbing my knee crying, screaming. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt.” Ceejay Nofuente is a point guard on the Humber College women’s basketball team and she shares with sweat what she calls her most challenging experience she has overcome in basketball. This year she says she has come back stronger than ever. Nofuente has recently been making a buzz in the OCAA by breaking records and holding titles including all-time leading scorer at Humber, most points scored, the most three-pointers and two time championship MVP. “I didn’t think I would play basketball again or overcome that injury,” Nofuente says about her rookie year injury. “But then getting a surgery date quickly and with the help of therapy and support from our strength and conditioning staff I was able to come back within less than a year after my surgery and just be a better player mentally and physically.” Her determination and courage to come back and play led the Hawks to the provincial championships in the 2015-2016 season. In that year, she was also named CCAA championship all-star and OCAA championship and league all-star. She became the first OCAA women’s basketball player in history to be named player of the year and championship MVP both provincially and nationally. Humber’s women basketball team won the OCAA championship game on March 4th, 2017 against Mohawk College 76-40. In that game, Nofuente had 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Nofuente became all time leading scorder at Humber during this game against Niagara.

Nofuente breaks away from Niagara pointguard Brooke-Lyn Murdoch on Jan. 25. at a Humber home game.

“You need motivation and need to have a goal in mind to want to play again because if it wasn’t for my team, my team motivated me because I knew the impact I had on the team and I just wanted to go back and come back and help them and win so we did that the following year,” she says.

“You need motivation and need to have a goal in mind to want to play again” - Ceejay Nofuente As a toddler she followed her uncles around everytime they went to the gym, Nofuente says. They don’t live in the province anymore but they still stream all of her games online. Her uncles were the ones to teach her how to play and kept pushing her to be a better player. “When she was three or four years old we started bringing her to the gym with our two sons to play basketball and that’s where it started,” says her grandfather Rolando Nofuente while sporting his bright yellow Humber Hawks T-shirt before watching a home game in January. “She was just dribbling and I told her dribble the ball and start walking and then start running and she got good at it. Ever since that time she loved playing basketball.” Nofuente’s grandparents have supported her on and off the court her whole life says Nofuente. Calling them her number one supporters. By the time she was six Nofuente started playing in Filipino leagues and they brought her to every game. Her grandfather added that he trav-

els everywhere to watch her to this day including London all the way to Windsor. “Every weekend they’d be at least four games on a Saturday and Sunday,” Nofuente says they would drive her all over Southern Ontario to play. “They’d just bring me everywhere. If it wasn’t for them I don’t know how I would get to my games or be able to practice. They were always there, always supporting me even until this day and I thank them for that,” says Nofuente. According to Humber varsity coordinator James DePoe, Humber has been trying to recruit her ever since she was in high school. Humber wasn’t her first choice as she went to Ryerson University first for business management. She was named rookie of the year while she played there, but made a decision to come to Humber because she wanted a better academic fit. “Ceejay is a very good child, she’s humble and that’s what I keep telling her all the time, to be humble. Even though people always tell her she’s good I tell her ‘you always have a lot to learn’,” says her grandfather. sweat attended a Humber home game against Niagara College in January when the Hawks won 74-44 and Nofuente broke her third record of the month. She became the all-time scoring leader at Humber by scoring her 785th point of her career in the game. The previous record of 783 points hadn’t been broken in 15 years. After the game, Niagara coach Michael Beccaria explains to sweat how they tried to guard Nofuente on the court. “Humber’s a very very good basketball team and I think mentally we let them intimidate us,” says Beccaria. “We defended her quite well for the most part and that’s the thing, we really spend time making sure we know how to defend her.” After the game, Hawks forward Aleena Domingo, says Nofuente always goes out every game giving all of her effort on the court. “She’s not thinking about stats, she’s not thinking about breaking records, she’s just going out there and playing her best game,” says

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Domingo. Brooke-Lyn Murdoch, point guard for Niagara, was guarding Nofuente most of the game and explains her strategy for blocking her. “I just played as tough a defence as I could. My goal wasn’t to let her score a lot or get the ball and make her my primary focus. I’d like to think it worked, but she’s such a good player I give her so much props, but she’s tough to guard,” Murdoch says. “I like guarding her because she is really hard and gives me really good competition.” Nofuente broke two records earlier in a game in January against Redeemer University College with a win 92-62. She smashed the two records of the most points scored in a game with 55 points and 13 three-pointers. Although, her intention wasn’t to break a record in that game she says, she thought it was going to be “the worst game ever” because she had a bad warm up and kept missing shots. “I knew it was at the third quarter at the free throw line that I hit my fortieth point that I broke my record of most points scored in the game,” she says. “I know fifteen points is not far away ‘I’m going to break it’ I just told m y self. I had a feeling my coaches knew what I was

going for that’s why they kept me in and I was just hitting all my shots and it was just a dream. It was one of those no one could stop me and I was just focused on hitting a point and breaking that record.” It was an amazing atmosphere and a great moment to witness says

“Just keep playing. You have five years to play, use it” - Ceejay Nofuente

Kingsley Hudson, one of the Humber women’s basketball coaches. Nofuente is definitely a program changer in basketball and leads by example on and off the court he added. “Ceejay was fluently getting basket Nofuente warming up for a game against Niagara. after basket it was remarkable, like an atmosphere that you would love to be a part of and a night to remember,” he week and practices three to four times besays. fore a game, in addition she also works out She juggles work as varsity once a week. How does she handle her hectic operations staff at Humber, schedule? going to school for her “That’s the best question you could ask,” third year in sports she says. “It’s hard. It’s either you get no management and sleep, less sleep, you’re just tired and when playing basketball you have a game you have to get your workin her schedule. She outs in. You just have to push and suck it says one thing someup because it’s all going to be worth it in one may not know March.” is she makes time in Nofuente hopes in the future to play in the her busy schedule to WNBA or go to Europe and play basketball go to church twice a professionally. week. “We’re hoping she gets what she’s wishNofuente plays basing for,” says her grandfather. “She’s just ketball games looking for the best offer. We hope the best twice a for her.” She ended off her fourth season with a total of 905 points and 101 steals. From here on until the end of Nofuente’s Hawk’s career she continues to break records but also creates new ones. Nofuente says she will be returning for her fifth and last year to play. She’ll also finish off her program in September of 2017. Her advice to all young athletes is continue to play what you love. “Just keep playing. You have five years to play, use it. If you started, just finish. If you’re still in school, play. Be part of varsity, be part of a sport. It helps you get through the school year, it keeps you with a team that could potentially be long time friends and family. It’s a good network.”

Visit sweatmag.com for an exclusive interview with Ceejay Nofuente.

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Photos by Tyler Hehn

SIDELINE GENERALS

Sean Pellow, Fanshawe College women’s volleyball head coach.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD COACH?

BY COREY EDISON

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n sports, records and streaks are king. Emphasis is placed on the number of wins. A team’s true success is measured in time and numbers. Years and seconds can lead to immortality and fame. One could easily compare wins, but every coach loses. So, what makes a good coach…good? Judy Goss, a Mental Performance Consultant who works with coaches and athletes, believes that good habits can lay the groundwork for successful athletes. “There are many habits that a coach can adopt to get the most out of their players. They are first and foremost a role model, so when they arrive early, they are prepared, bring energy and positive attitude – this sets a tone with their athletes,” says Goss. “They communicate clearly and demonstrate their values and connect on a personal level with their athletes, this is a good start. This doesn’t even touch on using the mental skills that they could also demonstrate or encourage the athletes to use,” says Goss. Good habits can help lay the foundation for what a good athlete can do – be it mentally or physically. Perception is also another trait that

can help coaches assist their athletes overcome mental hurdles. “Dealing with failure and how to handle that will eat you up until you gain perspective on it. That’s one of the things, I think, is the hardest for young athletes to learn. It is a game of failure, but others look at it like a game of opportunity. You’re going to get ten shots, make the best of them,” says Sam Dempster, Durham Lords baseball coach and former MLB scout.

“They are first and foremost a role model” - Judy Goss

Methods to The Madness

No two sports are the same. This difference causes changes in styles. A baseball coach doesn’t use the same methods as a curling coach. Much like sports, no two players are the same either. A women’s coach may communicate or think differently than a male’s coach, but

age old perceptions of gender may actually hold players back. “I think I push harder than most coaches push their men’s teams,” Humber women’s volleyball coach Chris Wilkins told sweat. The Humber Hawks have recently won their 10th OCAA championship title in a row. He told sweat that he wasn’t always a women’s coach, starting off as an assistant coach for the men’s volleyball team for a few years before being offered a job as assistant coach for the women’s team by a friend. “The difference is, you know, women are very intelligent, and they need to know what they’re doing, how they’re doing it and why they’re doing it and you have to be a good communicator. I think in the women’s game there’s a lot more team oriented aspect to the game where you need to have a bunch of players that are willing to play well together, for each other. In a women’s game there has to be a cohesive unit working together or you’re not going to be successful. That’s for sure,” says Wilkins. Jordan Thin, the Niagara Knights women’s curling team head coach shares the idea that communication is different. “It’s very important for me to keep calm be-

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Keith Vassell, Niagara men’s basketball head coach.

cause my athlete’s sense that energy. I am not shy to tell them my feelings and behaviours so they do not mistake something they may see me do and have that add to the stress of the moment,”says Thin. “You still have the same focuses and same goals as well as same elements that you are always improving on in practice; technical and strategic. Men’s play can utilize a heavy weight shot more than the women’s game, but that says, even that gap is rapidly closing. The biggest difference can be the sweeping, but that varies based on the athlete of course.” says Thin. “Ultimately, each team, each player is different so my job focuses on pushing the right buttons to get my teams [and] players in the right state of mind and body to succeed,” says Thin.

Balancing Act

If pressures from work or outside life seep into a coach’s brain, it could cause stress and distract them, increasing the potential for loss.

Tom Sutton, Cambrian men’s volleyball coach.

A team represents a fully functioning machine and every player must perform their duty smoothly in order to be effective. “The weight room is a great place to face your limitations. It’s always good to get in there and push yourself against something you know is greater than you. Every coach, every manager has dealt with what ifs. You have to make a decision and live with it. Sometimes you have to say this is the best decision we have and we have to run with it and sometimes it pays off,” says Dempster. Vacations, hobbies and a gym membership can make the difference in letting out some on court steam. The hours associated with a coaching job are unpredictable and even when they’re off the clock, the phone can still ring. “Coaching does generally have different hours as do some other occupations. I think that it is just as hard for coaches to balance their life demands as with other occupations. It is more about a coach having the resources to meet the demands of his [and] her job. If you do not have or have access to the necessary

resources to meet the demands of the job, that is when it causes stress,” says Goss. A healthy lifestyle and even listening to ones athletes can help a coach find a balance between work and play and may even help a coach understand their children and players more. While the question of what makes a good coach is subjective. There are some key traits that can help make ones game better if they aren’t already being utilized.

▲ Positive attitude ▲ Healthy Lifestyle ▲ Ability to communicate emotions properly ▲ Ability to admit mistakes and apologies ▲ No grudges These are all examples that should be utilized daily to help avoid causing fatigue and bad attitudes. While one can argue that there are other things that make a coach good, these are certainly things that can help make any college coach tolerable.

“Every coach, every manager has dealt with what ifs. You have to make a decision and live with it.” - Sam Dempster

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Photos by Ashly July

CORE SPORTS

THE COME UP

STARTED FROM THE RECREATIONAL SYSTEM BY ASHLY JULY

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n the night of the 2015-2016 OCAA Men’s Basketball Awards banquet, Jaz Bains sat confidently waiting for his name to be called, and it was called more than any other. The St. Lawrence point guard was crowned OCAA Player of the Year and East Division Scoring Champion. He was also named a CCAA All-Canadian, and OCAA East Division First-Team All-Star, all while leading the OCAA in scoring, assists and steals. But Bains’ night of glory, and his season of dominance was the culmination of a basketball journey that began in the ranks of the recreational system. Prior to the 2015-2016 season, Bains spent two years as a member of the extramural basketball team at Humber College in Toronto, an experience he says helped him develop his game and be ready when his number was called. “It helped me understand the game a little bit more,” he says of his time with Humber’s extramural team. “I got some in-game experience with talented players, which is really helpful with basketball.” Many athletes at the recreation level as well as the varsity level, refer to the recreation league as rec, JV or junior varsity. Although the level of play is not quite the same as it is in varsity, it

is still very competitive. Now a two-time OCAA East Division First -Team All-Star Bains shares how his journey to success in the OCAA began. “My first year I came into college I was playing JV and we had a good team. We were basically undefeated [and] we didn’t really lose any games. We had a good experience, we won our first three tournaments. In the second half, a few of our players went up to varsity and we weren’t as good but we were still competitive.”

“The hard work pays off” - Jaz Bains

Bains, much like most of his teammates, had aspirations of playing varsity and he says that he always believed he could play, and possibly thrive at the varsity level. He also says that being cut only fueled his work ethic, making him commit to becoming a better all-around player and athlete, while biding his time and waiting for an opportunity to showcase his talent.

“I’ve been cut before and it’s not a big deal. It’s just working hard and getting to your goals.” He also says there came a point where he realized that the opportunity he was waiting for might come from where he least expected it. “Sometimes you’re just not in the right spot, and you gotta leave and go to a different area to make sure that your abilities are showcased and that’s basically what I did.” “Watching the games I always felt like ‘I should be playing’ but obviously I wasn’t meant for that system.” Bains’ search for a system he did fit into led to him transferring from Humber to St. Lawrence College in Kingston where the coaching staff gave him the confidence and freedom that is necessary to have the kind of breakout rookie season he did. “The program believed in my abilities to begin with,” he says. “The hard work pays off. I didn’t really think that I was as good before as I am now, but winning awards is a good feeling.” The rec sports governed by the Ontario Colleges Committee on Campus Recreation (OCCCR) hosts extramural tournaments for core sports including men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, as well as ice hockey, ultimate frisbee and indoor soccer.

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Bains is now a two time OCAA all-star after starting his sport career at the rec level.

According to the OCAA there are currently more than 4,000 student-athletes playing varsity sports in the province. Many of the highest level players are recruited by one or more schools, and their roster spots are all but guaranteed. At the more competitive schools the chances of being a walk-on are usually very slim. Being one of the top basketball programs in the country, Humber College’s men’s basketball team is no different. For players like 23-year-old Humber guard Patrick Falduti, his time playing rec helped him earn a spot on the varsity team, while staying in shape mentally and physically. “It was good, it got me back into the game because I had a little bit of a setback not playing. It was good though, it got me back into the flow of things and just got me comfortable on the court again.” he says. Playing at the varsity level at a program as storied as Humber is something that Falduti considers to be an honour, while crediting his time playing JV with his success. “I would definitely say I’m very proud of myself. It’s something that I’ve always wanted, and if I didn’t play junior varsity last year I probably wouldn’t have gotten to this level, which is the level I’ve wanted to play at ever since I was a little kid.” Though he is very happy about his accomplishment, Falduti says one of the toughest parts about the transition from playing recreational basketball to varsity, is having to accept a diminished role. “The transition it’s tough,” said the first-year guard. “I was coming from junior varsity, which is a level that was still competitive, but for me I was able to really hold my own, and I was kind of the go-to guy but now on varsity you have to own a role.” Some colleges have taken to using the recreation league as a sort of farm-team system similar to major league baseball, the NHL and now the NBA with the D-league. To build a sense of continuity, basketball

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programs like Centennial, Seneca, Sheridan and Humber, appoint a varsity assistant coach to be the head coach of their JV team, in hopes of making the transition as smooth as possible. This also gives the coaches a chance to thoroughly develop and evaluate a players for a half, or in some cases a full season. There are many advantages to this approach, the least of which is a chance for the players to build a rapport with a member of the varsity coaching staff, as well as familiarize themselves with much of the offensive and defensive concepts that will be used at the varsity level. Seneca College men’s basketball coach Darrell Glenn shares how his program has made use of the recreational system. “Our King campus team, our Newnham team and our Seneca-York teams are all coached by varsity coaches that are with our program, so the coaches will run the same things with the extramural teams that we’re running with our varsity teams. Coach Glenn explains how this builds a sense of comfort for his players. “If there’s ever a situation where we need to bring someone up they’re familiar with the language and they’re familiar with the system because they’re doing the same stuff. Falduti says that Humber’s approach is similar to Seneca’s.

“I would definitely say I’m very proud of myself” - Patrick Falduti “The offence and even a little bit of the defence is very similar, but there’s obviously new things that I learned.” The season for sports like volleyball and basketball spans both fall and winter semesters, so it is sometimes the case that players don’t make it through the entire season, whether it be due to injuries, academic reasons or other factors. Coach Glenn and the Seneca Sting found themselves in that position earlier this year. After going 7-1 in the first semester, his roster was depleted to only eight players heading into the crucial second half of the season. Coach Glenn says the decision to add players was necessary to bolster his team’s roster and keep them competitive. “We lost some players over the break, and then shortly after the break we lost three more players. So I asked them if there was anybody on any of their teams that we might be able to bring up that might be able to help us.” Any good team is a balance of not only talent, but personalities. When a team is clicking it’s always a risk adding new personalities to the mix. Chemistry on and off the floor is key factor in how well any team does, and Glenn says he was hesitant to add a new face to his team mid-season.

“I was very apprehensive about doing it initially, but we were in a situation where we only had eight guys and I just thought from a practice standpoint in case somebody gets hurt, we really have to potentially have another person.” Now in his second-year coaching Seneca’s team, Glenn says he and his staff took a long look at his potential call-ups. “I had a lot of discussions with the coaches and then when they gave me some names and we talked a little bit about their personalities, we just decided that certain guys just weren’t a good fit.” Glenn stressed that he and his staff are much more concerned with building positive locker room and team culture, than they are with simply winning games. The Seneca Sting eventually decided to bring just one player up to the varsity level, first-year guard Eric Landry. Glenn says it was important for him to give Eric a realistic sense of what his new addition’s varsity experience would be like. “I really painted a pretty gloomy picture for him. You’re probably never gonna play in the games. We’re gonna expect you to be at every practice. You’re gonna lose a year of eligibility, even though you’re gonna be with the team for a little over a month. Is this something that you really want to do?” This is often the reality being called up from the recreation level to varsity, but luckily for Jaz Bains he moved to a program that believed in his talent and gave him the opportunity to excel, and Bain’s journey is not over. He went from playing at the recreation level to becoming one of the best current players in the OCAA, and his journey is far from over. “Next year I’m going to the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) and I want to be successful at that level, so I’m just making sure I’m in shape and doing the best I can to be ready for that level.”

Darrell Glenn says team chemistry is equally important as skill level when considering a call-up. Courtesy Centennial Colts Sports Management Yvano Antonio, Darren Beckles and Khree Freeman

Courtesy of St.Clair College

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SET FOR GREATNESS A DECADE WINNING STREAK IN VOLLEYBALL

BY HELENA SHLAPAK

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he Mohawk women’s cross country team won eight straight titles from 1982 - ‘89. St. Clair has won four straight baseball championships dating back to the sport’s berth in 2013. Cambrian picked up seven gold medals in badminton from ‘99-‘06. No team has ever conquered a decade. Not until the Humber women’s volleyball team this year. These Hawks didn’t lose a game, regular season or playoff, going 130-0 for the last six seasons. It was the beginning of the last set when Taylor Hutchinson, assistant coach and former player turned to her girls on the bench. “We should just watch, not get caught up and just enjoy it,” she says. The Humber Hawks had nothing to fear. They had already won. Hutchinson smiles as she reminisces about the winning game on Feb. 26, 2017, “We’re constantly trying to be better all the time. It’s just nice to kind of sit back and watch it happen.” Head coach Chris Wilkins admits he shed a tear when the Hawks won. He knew all the hard work the girls and coaches had put in. He also knows that if there is an eleventh win, it wouldn’t mean as much as the tenth. “It just sort of, put a finality on everything,” says Wilkins. “I don’t think it will actually hit me until I’m done volleyball and I’m bored again with my life,” says Alexandra Newman, a fifth-year star who lead the team in sets played for the past two seasons. “It feels pretty amazing and I’m very proud of every person who has come through the pro-

gram and the girls I’m playing with today,” says Newman. The Hawks knew that nine-straight championships had put a target on their back. Some teams crumble under the expectation of perfection, but Wilkins says this team thrived on it. “Sometimes (as an athlete) maybe you only fall under pressure once or two times in your career. These girls are living the pressure every game,” says Wilkins, “We’ve built up such a reputation that, they don’t want to lose a game, they don’t want to play poorly, they want to play well for each other. It allows us to get through tough games and be able to truly be ready,”

“Enjoy every success, enjoy every failure” - Alexandra Newman “Every year we lose a couple of pieces but the core group tends to stay together. It helps groom the next core group that comes along,” says Wilkins, “the girls enjoy playing with each other, I think they enjoy playing with me and the school so it just creates an atmosphere where people want to come and be a part of something special like that.” Wilkins says he was happy to see great chemistry all-round, “the veterans really took on the rookies, and the rookies really pushed the veterans. It was fun to watch.” Despite Humber’s success there were hiccups along the way. Elizabeth Deakin-Poot, a third-year middle and most consistent player with hit percentages for the past two seasons north of .400, was out for three months with an

injury. Wilkins says Deakin-Poot was still able to be a positive for the team all year even only having played in 11 games. “She’s the person that says the right thing at the right time on the court when things are maybe not working,” says Wilkins. Celine Blanchette, first-year setter feels like her team and her school is like a second family and is a testament to the low turnover of the team. “There’s a family-like atmosphere. Everyone’s so supportive, even the fans and the workers here. I’m really enjoying it, I’m going to be here awhile,” says Blanchette. Winning provinicals meant the Hawks would be one of eight teams heading to Victoria, B.C. to play in the CCAA championship between March 9-10. Unfortunately, Humber finished in last place. Newman says that for future players, they should enjoy the time they have on the team, regardless of what happens. “Enjoy every success, enjoy every failure,” she says. While this may have been a blow to the Hawks, it doesn’t take away from all the hard work they have put in or talent that these players have. “There’s an illusion that you can’t push women athletes as hard as you can push men,” says Wilkins. “That’s completely an illusion. I think I push harder than most coaches push their men’s teams.” “We went out there to take what was ours,” says Newman. “We are a talented team but we also work very hard. We deserve all the success we’ve had because we worked for it.”

Spring 2017 | 31

Courtesy Alexandrea Aparicio

Humber Dance Company

DANCEMAKERS

All other photos by Sveta Soloveva

Seneca Sting Varsity Dance

Huskies Dance Pack

GETTING TO KNOW THE DANCE TEAMS IN THE OCAA

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he dancers gather in a circle on the floor and rise as one like a flower blooming. Without even looking at each other, the girls synchronously do battements, standing on one leg while extending the other leg behind their bodies, spinning cobwebs with their moves to Amber Run’s haunting I Found. For Seneca both team captain Nicole MacIsaac and coach Kalene Corcoran point to the time their team invests in dance. They rehearse at the York campus for six hours every Saturday and for three hours every Tuesday. “The more we work together, the more it comes together,” Corcoran says. During one of their marathon Saturday rehearsals the team was working on different choreographies for dance competitions, volleyball and basketball halftime performances in spring. MacIsaac says that the strong relationships between her dancers make even a long rehearsal enjoyable. “Once you’ve built that relationship, you feed off each others’ energy and then together you work as a team.”

Seneca Sting Varsity Dance

Seneca Sting Varsity Dance is only a year old. However, it has already grown from just

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seven to 18 dancers, which led Kalene Corcoran, the head coach, to split up the members into performance and competitive teams. The performance team dances at volleyball and basketball halftimes, while the competitive team dances at competitions. The performance team are taking a break, but they don’t leave the room. Some are stretching on the floor, others are working on their laptops, and some exhausted dancers are just lying on floormats. Once the lyrical music switches to hip hop beats, the performance team jumps up from the floor and start practicing their hip hop and dancehall moves- it’s a party Seneca Sting is the only team that competes against other schools. Corcoran says the team reaps the benefits of their varsity status. The dancers are provided with all-inclusive gear. Seneca pays for their rehearsal space as well as food and transportation when the team goes on their dance trips. They took fifth in Terpsichore University Dance Challenge and Flashdance University Dance Challenge, both of which took place at Guelph’s River Run Centre in March, 2016. “Everybody was so passionate and so able, so we all were just cheering each other on, and

it didn’t feel like a competition,” Corcoran says. Corcoran does 90 per cent of the choreography. She says their dance routines combine styles such as hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and tap, and although they may only last about two and a half minutes, it takes a long time to put them all together. Some pressure comes with the captain title by example in dance, decide on costume design, keep the team up to date, and take care of administrative work. MacIsaac says she feels responsible every time the dancers are in a bad mood or cannot perform particular moves. “If your team feels let down, you are the one who let them down,” she says. But seeing her team rehearsing and enjoying what they do is the most rewarding feeling for her. “It’s amazing to watch them dancing ‘cause they love it. They are happy and engaged. That means you are doing your job.” All members of Seneca Sting enjoyed dancing before they joined the team. However, performing in front of the crowds is new for many of them. Bailey Waukey — the skateboarder with big black ear spacers poking out of his long curly hair — studies Social Service Worker at Seneca, says he likes that his team can change

Bailey Waukey Greer, on the Seneca team breaking a move.

BY SVETA SOLOVEVA

the atmosphere during the games, making it more festive. “Whenever we perform on halftimes, it definitely provides a certain energy,” he says. “The atmosphere is rich.”

Huskies Dance Pack

At George Brown the Huskies Dance Pack runs onto the court every game. Hip-hop grooves, contemporary spins, and jazz-funk moves get cheers from the audience who continue to take pictures of the dancers while eating pizza. Smiling, the team says, is the thing that keeps the energy level up. “Just have fun with it,” says team member Siera Goldak. “Even if you messed up, it’s okay.” Choreographer Lindsay Aquin credits the success of Huskies to the fact that their entire team consists of dance students. They can pick up her choreography very quickly. “They learn our choreography in one rehearsal, which is amazing. Usually it takes two or three rehearsals,” says Aquin. Events supervisor at George Brown’s Athletics and Recreation, Federico Cortes Ortiz, says that the rehearsals are paying off. “They prepare so much that you can see on the court. Every time they are performing, they are super organized. They know what they are doing, and the audience is getting excited. So when I see it, I get excited too.” Ortiz says he came up with the idea of creating the team last fall for the students to practice their dance outside of school. “We are looking for them [students] to have a good experience. So when they graduate, they can put that in their resumes,” Ortiz says. Aquin, who graduated from two George

Brown’s programs, Commercial Dance and Performance Preparation, currently dances for Raptors 905. “Every time they go out and perform, I’m kind of looking at the audience and their reaction and how it’s working all together,” Aquin says. The team admitted that the combination of long hours at school, intense rehearsals and late night games are exhausting sometimes. “It’s very physical and very, very athletic,” says Aquin. “It involves a lot of cardio, multitasking and thinking. At the end of the day, you just want to go home and sleep and be ready for the next day.” On the court The Pack looks like they’ve barely exhausted. The girls all look organized and happy, which creates positive vibes in the games. “It’s really great to be involved in something which is not only dance,” says commercial dance student Celine Dimzon, who came to Toronto from Vancouver. “It’s a great way to connect with others who we may not have classes with all the time. And when people watch the game and say, hey, you did a really good job, you just feel happy.”

“It involves a lot of cardio, multitasking and thinking” - Lindsay Aquin Ortiz says the team might have even more work in the future. “There’s so much interest from from other departments of the college to have the dance team performing at their events,” he says. “We have some interest from Canada’s 150th anniversary. We might be a part of it.”

Bailey Waukey Greer, on the Seneca team breaking a move.

Humber Dance Company

The oldest of the three teams, Humber Dance Company, has been around for seven years. And some of the former dancers have known each other from elementary school. Captain Alexandrea Gordon and her assistant Stephanie Russo met when they were eight, when their parents brought them to the same dance studio. Russo says that their long dance relationship helped them build a strong dance team and feel more confident at school. “When you have people you can rely on, you have a strong bone of your team as in basketball or hockey. It makes all your school experiences more intimate,” says Russo. With a small budget that hasn’t increased since it first started in 2010, the team has since grown from seven to 55 members. The performance team is created for stu-

CORE SPORTS

dents with a dance background who wish to pursue their training at intermediate and advanced levels. They perform during halftimes and other school events. The team members are expected to practice for five hours every Tuesday evenings and be ready for extra Sunday rehearsals. If the students have no experience but want to train and perform, they can join the showcase team. The main requirement here is passion for dance! The members attend a one-hour class once a week and learn a routine that is later performed at the Humber Dance Company year -end showcase in March. Gordon, who is in her final year of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program, says that being a part of the performance or showcase team is a big commitment. “Our showcase and performance teams are committed members of the club and come every single week,” she says. “It’s more of an art, but I feel like [with the] amount of work at goes into it should be considered as sport.” Humber Dance Company is not part of OCAA, and they are not allowed to compete as a club. Meanwhile, they are free to choose any ‘cool’ game held on campus to perform in during the breaks. Their favourite performance was for the men’s basketball game between Humber Hawks and Redeemer Royals of Redeemer The dancers performed ‘80-’90s costumes, hip hop music and a choreographer who dances for Raptors. “It was a lot of fun,” says Gordon. “The players were not really there. It was their break. But the crowd appreciated that. It’s more exciting. And our parents and friends came. It’s nice.” Gordon says the success of their team lies in having a positive attitude. As the captain she’s trying to set the tone and mood when her team is rehearsing or performing on stage. “If you come in having a bad day, everyone can vibe off the way that you are feeling,” she says. Whether the costumes are too tight, or the choreography is too long, the team dances with smiles on their faces and beam with a positive energy. A black bodysuit, leggings and tops are some of the simple items that the girls wear. Sometimes they try to use them in different ways to fit different shows or spend weeks looking for the best deals. “We stare at the computers for three weeks to find it,” says Gordon. “When you have about $11 per costume, it’s kind of tricky.” Luckily, in seven years Humber Dance made a lot of friends who share their passion, and who are ready to help. The mother of one of the former dancers still makes costumes. Former dancers teach classes and choreograph sets when schedules become busy. Russo, who is going to be the next captain when Gordon graduates, says she wants to expand their dance community even more in 2017. “I just want to get us to grow and grow,” she says. “We started the team with just seven people, and now we are at 55. It’s a crazy improvement.”

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OCAA CHAMPIONS MENʼS AND WOMENʼS

Photo by Kyle White

VOLLEYBALL

Mohawk

The Humber Hawks women’s volleyball team capped off a magnificent season with a victory in straight sets over Durham College to capture the school’s tenth consecutive gold medal. The historic dynasty run is profiled on pg. 31.

MENʼS AND WOMENʼS Photo by Erian Amor De Los Reyes

BASKETBALL

Sheridan

The Sheridan Bruins men’s basketball team took the gold medal home. After a stellar campaign, going 16-0 through the regular season, the Bruins faced George Brown in the final. With 0.1 seconds left on the clock, guard Brian Owusu drained the go-ahead basket to secure the victory.

Humber The Humber Hawks women’s basketball team took home their third straight gold medal this year in convincing fashion. After a perfect season, the team capped off the run with a 36-point victory over Mohawk in the final.

MENʼS AND WOMENʼS SINGLES Redeemer

BADMINTON

Owen Kurvits of Redeemer won his third gold medal in four years in men’s badminton. After taking gold in 2014 and 2015, Kurvits reclaimed his throne over Seneca’s Nicky Aung.

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Humber

Olivia Lei of Humber won her third consecutive gold medal in women’s singles badminton. She beat out Conestoga’s Victoria Duong to capture her third gold medal.

All other photos courtesy of of OCAA

Humber

Congratulations to the Mohawk Mountaineers men’s volleyball team who this year defeated Durham in the championship match. Mohawk took the match in straight sets to secure the program’s ninth-ever Ontario championship.

MENʼS, MIXED AND WOMENʼS DOUBLES

BADMINTON

Humber Ryan Chow and Adam Dong of Humber continued their marvelous run as they took home the gold in men’s doubles badminton. They have back-to-back championships after 2016’s OCAA and CCAA wins.

Seneca

Humber

Vinson Wong and Yan Zhou of Seneca College took home the gold this year after a defeat over Christina Duong and Cameron Lai of Humber.

Congratulations to Phuthita Nilyok and Chloe Rowe of the Humber Hawks. They defeated Christine Nguyen and Rachel Nham of Seneca for the gold in women’s doubles badminton.

MENʼS AND WOMENʼS

INDOOR SOCCER

Humber

The Humber Hawks women claimed the gold medal in indoor soccer after shutting out St. Clair 1-0 at the OCAA Championships. Without letting a single goal in during the tournament, Hawks goalkeeper Venessa Fiore. was named the Championship MVP.

George Brown Congratulations go out to the George Brown Huskies men’s indoor soccer team for securing the gold medal over St. Clair in a tight final that finished 1-0.

MENʼS, WOMENʼS AND MIXED

CURLING

The Humber Hawks swept the curling championshionships this year winning men’s. women’s and mixed. The men’s team defeated defending champions, Fanshawe, for the gold medal. The draw went to 8 ends, finishing 6-4 in favor of the Hawks. The Hawks also took home this years women’s curling gold medal after a closely contested championship draw. This is the program’s first gold since the inaugural OCAA tournament back in 1969, snapping a 48-year drought.

Humber Spring 2017 | 35

LIFE/HEALTH

PARKOUR

BY JEFFERSON MARSHALL

Board member of the Greater Toronto Parkour vaulting over the railing outside the Jimmie Simpson recreation centre.

THE ART OF FREERUNNING

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reedom can be simple. It’s walking up to the edge of the rail and staring down the barrel of your next trick and knowing the only pre-requisite for freedom is a running start and the ingenuity to create. You aren’t going to catch free runners spending their Sunday’s on the couch unless they are vaulting over it. In fact, they can be found at the local rec centre, running, hopping and vaulting up and down the and concrete ledges. Some of the stunts being pulled off would even make JeanClaude Van Damme proud. For GTA parkour member Omari Elemanawi he says parkour was a passion of his before he even knew it. “When I was a kid I always used to climb walls and trees. There were mountains around my area, so I would always find myself going mountaineering,” says Elemanawi. “So I was always jumping things, and it was just natural to me,” he says. Parkour is essentially moving creatively through an area. Running, jumping, climbing, and vaulting are the fundamental skills. Usually urban atmospheres are an ideal location because of all the different buildings, walls, ledges, and railings that free runners can use as obstacles. In most sports, there is an opponent that you spend the entire game trying to beat, or there’s a star player that needs to be in the middle of every play to maximize their team’s chance of winning. In parkour there isn’t any of that. Everybody is there to improve themselves and the people around them with no opposition on the other side. The documented origins of this sport dates back to the first World War when French naval officer, Georges Hébert, admired the athleticism of the native tribes he met in Africa. A Swiss architect was so inspired by Hébert’s work that he developed an obstacle course where soldier’s physical capabilities could be

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tested which is now the globally standard procedure for military training. Fast forward about 30 years later when David Belle was born. Son of French army veteran Raymond Belle, David was exposed to the way army personnel were trained at a very young age. After completing his military service David would continue his parkour training and would film his sessions which he would later turn into a news feature about parkour. The video gained traction and made people aware of the sport. Today David is known as the godfather of parkour. In 2010 Greater Toronto Parkour started as a non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting mindful parkour, freerunning and L’Art Du Deplacement around the city. “It started off with the website meetup.com where people would organize sessions and meet together and over the years of building up it was officially turned into a non-profit organization with the goal of promoting safe and mindful parkour practice in and around Toronto,” says Greater Toronto Parkour board member Iliya Begic, 24, who is also is attending York University for anthropology. Now with almost 200 members on their Facebook page the GTA parkour are a vast group from the Philippines to Scarborough but welcome newcomers with varying levels of skills Despite diversity it’s easy to see that the parkour community has a tight-knit culture and no matter what skill level that is brought to the table there will never be a time when someone will feel like an outlier. “Everyone I meet is very different but it’s good because we get together and learn from each other,” says Begic. “So, either with movement or technique there’s always something you can learn. You can talk to people to form these great relationships. I think it’s one of the biggest drawing

factors for parkour. It’s not even the sport itself, it’s the community it creates.” For one member of the GTA parkour group the sport means a little more than just a social atmosphere. Chantelle Flores moved to Canada from the Philippines three years ago, and has found solace in parkour. “Parkour helps me with my self-esteem because in the Philippines your height even effects your job opportunities.” says the 30-yearold Philippine native. The 4’9” Flores says she was unable to be a cashier in her home country due to the height requirement which is 5’0” for that position. In contrast, the average female in Canada is 5’4”. In the Philippines the average female is 4’11”. Despite being one of the smaller countries in the world, it still doesn’t change these height regulations. “It was tough for me, because I know I’m capable but I can’t help it because it’s the culture. So, when I came here [Canada] I tried parkour and when I hurdle over the obstacles it makes me feel capable,” says Flores. “The relationships I’ve made here are something more distinctive I know my group members on a different level because I’ve seen them face fears,” says GTA parkour member Smiley Jammer. “There’s really a strong emphasis on individual choice and if I were to push someone and say ‘oh come on you should do it’ and then they fall and hurt themselves then that’s really on me. So we don’t do that and we really respect each other and our choices and that’s really something beautiful about the relationships I’ve built here,” says Jammer. The parkour collective is unique and growing. The UK has become the first country to recognize parkour as an official sport as of this past January. Sport or not parkour brings people together on an expansive playing field where nobody wants to see anybody fail.

LIFE/HEALTH

DOWN BUT NOT

COMING BACK FROM AN INJURY ISN’T EASY

OUT

BY ERIAN AMOR DE LOS REYES Spring 2017 | 37

LIFE/HEALTH

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he final year. The final season. One last time for the athlete to make or break. Statistics aside the year can be full of gripping moments. One soccer season could hold ten matches for a team. Ten times an athlete takes to the field or court. Ten times to fight for a win. Ten chances to come toe to toe to possible injuries. “I just remember dropping and screaming in pain,” says Ali Palmer. Injuries can turn any career upside down. Palmer was the sweeper for the women’s soccer team at Sheridan for two years from 2013 - ‘15. Her position as the sweeper forces her mostly to defend her net by “sweeping away” any moves that passes other defenders. Having played since the age of nine she was familiar with the balancing act of training, study and games. Her position of having to stifle skilled opposing attackers often leaves her susceptible to injury—always hoping to come out on top. But in one of her ten routine match-ups, it all goes downhill in ten minutes. Her first match of her second season landed her in the hospital. “It was supposed to be my last year of soccer at Sheridan and ten minutes into the game—I just planted my foot and my knee gave out,” says Palmer. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common to physically demanding sports such as soccer, football and basketball. In addition, a greater number of men reported serious injury requiring significant medical treatment compared to women. According to a study done by Statistics Canada, playing or training for a sport by far outweighs other forms of activity

that lead to an injury. When seconds felt like hours and time stood still, in one of Palmer’s most fearful moments the Bruins first line of defence against athlete injuries came to the rescue. “My athletic therapist ran on the field right away and I think if she didn’t then I would have gone into shock.” Seneca Sting’s award-winning athletic sports therapist, Steve Kopas, says each season will have injuries, and the degree of seriousness can differ greatly.

to see a sport’s psychiatrist—cause it was very scary,” says Palmer. For many athletes this marked the end of their sports career. It’s more than just a hobby or a past time, more than meeting friends and playing alongside them, more than trainings and games. To Kopas, it is their identity on the line when they are unable to compete in their sport. “You take that away from an athlete that identifies themselves as being a basketball player or whatever—and now they’re unable to do that it takes a toll on them mentally… when they [athletes] do have stress or anxieties or anything like that, they play their sport—now they can’t,” says Kopas. Keeping athletes interested and contributing to their sport is best for when athletes are no longer able to play for their team. However, for some it is too late. Kopas says their approach to athletes with injuries varies but some do fall through the cracks. “Each person is different, some athletes don’t want anything to do with the sport once they’re injured. They don’t want to be there because it’s harder on them mentally showing up to practice and not being able to do anything.” Palmer isn’t one of those athletes. “I was determined to come back and play one more year… I knew that was gonna be my last year of soccer and that’s not how I wanted to go out,” says Palmer. Palmer graduated from Sheridan’s Early Childhood Education program during her season with the ACL injury. However, she came back to don the Bruin’s jersey for one more year enrolling in the educational support program. With her on their side, the Bruins went on to win five out of their ten matches.

“It was supposed to be my last year of soccer at Sheridan and ten minutes in to the game—I just planted my foot and my knee gave out” - Ali Palmer “You see a gambit of everything, from sprained ankles to concussions to fractures to dislocations… no one real injury trumps [other injuries],” says Kopas. Having seen and catered to a number of injuries in his career, Kopas says that there is much more than the surface when it comes to a physical injury. “I mean—when you have an injury like an ACL injury, they’re out for the season and often times…. part of the next season as well.” “When I woke up the next day, my knee was three times its size,” says Palmer. After several visits to the doctor that the Bruin’s recommended she was soon on her way to the MRI. Palmer was then set to go to a surgeon. “I was crushed when it happened and coming back to play but still have a torn ACL I went

Along with ACL injuries, wrist and joint injuries are one of the most common among athletes.

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LIFE/HEALTH Photos by Erian Amor De Los Reyes

THE ʻFOODIE’ ATHLETE A

n article in Men’s Health once claimed, Michael Phelps often eats three cheesy fried egg sandwiches, lettuce, mayonnaise, fried onions, two cups of coffee, a bowl of grits and last but not least, three chocolatey chip pancakes to top it off. Olympic swimmer Phelps has since debunked the rumour on a Facebook live session last year with a statement that the crazy diet was in fact, a myth, however, he did admit that he eats what he pleases-healthy or junk in moderation. This begs the question, what is an athletic diet? Some may think dieting is part of being an athlete, however, 20-year-old first year child and youth Fleming student, Mark Pereira, says dieting at first was no easy task, especially with his go-to snack-chocolate chip muffins. “In the beginning, it was super hard. And even still it’s hard not to act on cheat days from time to time,” says Pereira. However, the basketball player says it’s more of a mental factor when it comes to working out and dieting. Gariba Ibrahim, fitness trainer for the City of Mississauga, says the challenges of working with athletes varies depending on the sports they play or what their goals are. He says, “Not a lot of people adhere to the program right off the bat. It’s a lot of mixing and matching in terms of food selection and the right workouts.” It’s making sure his clients know there is a life after a test or workout, so keeping up with a

healthy lifestyle becomes easier. “Maintenance starts with your desire to take care of yourself, you have to want it.” “Once you start making it a daily routine, it gets easier,” says Ibrahim. “Three days out the week, I’ll take in just protein. The other days, it’s just protein and carbs.” Dr. Joel Kerr, sports chiropractor, agrees. “Food acts as fuel for our body.” He compares our bodies to a luxury car and when he hears someone saying that they can eat whatever they want and it doesn’t affect their play, He says, “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think that he’s truthful (Phelps), because if you consume a diet that is heavily based off of fat, salt, sugar and no water, our bodies will have effects. Our muscles need nutrients to perform.” Kerr says he definitely does not believe in dieting as he feels it should just be a lifestyle. “Back in the day, they used to have these crazy carb diets. It’s nonsense. You don’t eat a diet; you simply eat healthy foods: green vegetables, higher cut meat and low fat products,” he says. Humber varsity basketball player, Stephanie Antwi, says it is sometimes harder for her to play when she is without a diet. “I feel like I should follow a strict diet but it’s actually very hard and it’s time consuming which is also why I don’t do it as much,” says Antwi. Although she loves food from Wendy’s, keeping a diet doesn’t necessarily tie in with her having a fuller physique. She says, “I don’t feel as stressed being a bigger player because I feel it’s actually better to be bigger for my position but it’s important to be mobile as well.” York University kinesiology and concurrent education student Stacy Austin, says the worst thing she can do as an athlete is eat junk food right before a game. “I get sluggish, tired, and play nowhere near to my full potential,” says Austin. Like Antwi, Austin says she certainly feels the effects of eating fast food and admits there is

BY LIA RICHARDSON

a setback in her athletic performances. Dr. Kerr says when it comes to heavier athletes, it’s just a matter of being healthy and checking for medical issues—no real difference from a leaner player. “We just need to determine health no matter the size. We have to admit something that when someone is overweight, there may be stress on the organs. It could be hormonal. We need to make sure for example, thyroid levels are where they need to be.” Brandon Halliburton, a basketball player in his first year of emergency services at Durham College says eating healthy is crucial to be the best player you can be, but it can get expensive. “One box of chicken or fish can add up to $16 for the week. You could get one meal that’s really expensive, but to keep that up every single day is a challenge,” says Halliburton. Coach Julian Carr of Centennial College soccer says he tries to get his players to make healthy choices prior to a game whether it’s bananas or chewy bars and proper liquids. “We are a society—especially in North America–that mass consumes sugar. Most things are genetically engineered. The main thing is, just define what works for you. Fast food is a great pick-me-up, but in the long run it’s just empty calories.” Carr says if you don’t eat right, you simply cannot perform well during the day, let alone during a game. “A lot of students aren’t taught to eat properly. After grade nine, you don’t have to physical education and it’s the reason why Canada is not too far behind the States for obesity,” Carr says. According to a sports nutrition article on Eat Right Ontario, most athletes should aim for a lower fat diet and eat more carbohydrates for fuel and protein, for muscle growth and repair. Each expert recognizes that it can be difficult, especially for students, to make healthy eating choices all the time. One thing they all agree on is stay in moderation but everybody deserves a cheat day.

Spring 2017 | 39

THE

IN OPPONENT

Photo by Sveta Soloveva

VISIBLE

LIFE/HEALTH

BY ALUEN NAVARRO-FENOY

L

ucia Kalmeyer, a volleyball player at Durham College, suffers from anxiety and depression, and says that being a student-athlete takes a toll on her, and it isn’t something that she would recommend for everyone. “I think a lot of people underestimate what it takes to be a student-athlete because not only are you worrying about your sport and school. Sometimes other people have jobs that they have to take into account – trying to find a common ground can be hard sometimes,” says Kalmeyer. Having problems with your mental health can push you to act in indescribable ways. Many students feel stressed juggling school work, a part-time job and their everyday social lives. There have been moments where former Humber student, Cece Girma, would have a full-blown breakdown over things she couldn’t control. “There was a time where I let it (mental health issues) consume me, to the point where I was missing weeks of class and I was constantly feeling bad for myself. Even the thought of going to class pushed me to several breakdowns,” says Girma. Girma suffers from anxiety and major depressive disorder, which pushed her to drop out of school. Girma made the decision to defer from school to get her mind together. Young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness and/or substance use disorders than any other age group, according to CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) A lot of pressure comes with being a student, a heavy course load is just the start. College athletes also deal with the added pressure of being present for games, practices and maintaining a high average in their courses to secure a spot on the sports team. “It was always stressed to me that I was a student-athlete and not the other way around,” says a former hockey player at Amherst Col-

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lege in Massachusetts, Kasia Henley. Most of these students live their everyday lives with mental health issues in silence. Many feel ashamed and burdensome. Henley felt those emotions firsthand before realizing that talking about it would actually help her. “I started playing poorly because I was depressed and I felt like I owed my coaches an explanation,” says Henley. Henley says she felt silly for keeping her depression bottled up. Kalmeyer still finds it difficult telling people that she has anxiety and depression because she doesn’t want special treatment from anyone, or to be viewed differently. However, some don’t feel the same way. Some stop playing, which affects their mental health and causes more problems for them. Although, attitudes are changing, the stigma remains. People struggling with their mental health face prejudice and discrimination. With campaigns such as Bell Lets Talk, people are becoming more informed. According to CAMH, in any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental health or addiction problem. You might know someone who seems perfectly fine on the outside, but inside, they’re battling their darkest demons. Psychiatrists suggest attending events to create more awareness on the severity of mental illness. Henley explained that going with a friend as a support system could help and be beneficial. A former hockey player and student at Amherst College, Rebecca Johnson, says one thing that helped her feel better was playing hockey. Hockey took her mind off stress and put her in a world of its own. “When I play hockey my mind is on the game, I usually don’t think of whats going on in the outside world,” says Johnson. Johnson’s problems with social anxiety and bulimia are almost invisible when sports occupy her mind. “My mind felt like a constant battle and

there was no way to win. I always felt like I needed to be perfect, do better, be better and be the absolute best. It was mentally and physically exhausting,” says Johnson. Johnson found help through speaking to friends, family and therapists. Johnson works part-time at a children’s hospital and says working alongside people who cope with mental illness is empowering. She also describes herself as the same person, despite having these mental health issues. Mental performance consultant, Jocelyn Poirier who works for the CSPA (Canadian Sports Psychology Association) helps athletes one-on-one with their mental health and performance. She says it’s easy for athletes to look at the negatives. “Remember all the strengths that you do have, take a minute to think of all the positives, how far you’ve come, all the accomplishments you have, because people find it a lot easier to look a the negatives when theres a lot of positives as well,” says Poirier. Poirier helps athletes that she works with calm down by reminding them to put things into perspective and look at the bigger picture, take three big breaths and to remember that it’s not the end of the world if you lose a game. Poirier also thinks it’s good to give people the benefit of the doubt because many issues lie under the surface. “Trusting those people, whether it be, friends, family, teammates, coaches, they care about you and they want to help,” Poirier added. A common therapy is feeling the comfort in speaking to others. According to CAMH, people with mental illness and addictions are more likely to die prematurely than the general population. Mental illness can cut 10 to 20 years from a person’s life expectancy. Poirier says it’s healthy and important to speak to others. Colleges and Universities in Ontario offer on campus counselling services for those who feel overwhelmed and looking for support.

DEFENCE

Photo by Jimmy Kakish

DENTAL

BASKETBALL PLAYERS DON’T WEAR A LOT OF EQUIPMENT, AND

ALMOST NO PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT BY TYLER HEHN

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emember back to the days of riding a 5-speed full throttle down the street. Legs pedaling faster than the tires would spin, shoulders down and above the handlebars for maximum aerodynamics, hair flowing in the wind unprotected by a helmet. Although helmet use was mandated in 1995 in Ontario, initially there was very little buy-in. Bike helmets were not cool, but over time their importance was obvious. Helmets slowly became (relatively) cool. A similar movement is happening within the world of sport with mouthguards. A 1997 Stat Can study examined percentages of bike riders that wear helmets. The study found that “only a minority of teenage and adult cyclists were helmet users.” The study found that only 16 per cent of riders aged 12-14 wore a helmet, while only 8 per cent of the older, cool-seeking teens at 15-19 years old wore helmets. Comparing these stats to a similar Stat Can study conducted 11 years later, helmet use more than doubled in many cases. Those aged 12-19 skyrocketed to 30 per cent, while riders of all ages averaged more than 35 per cent helmet-usage. One third of all bike riders wearing helmets is still very low considering how important all cyclists (hopefully) understand helmets to be. Mouthguards face the same skepticism as bicycle helmets. According to Dr. Viraj Vora, a registered Endodontic Specialist in Canada, whose area of expertise is the tissues surrounding teeth, mouthguards are important pieces of equipment for basketball players. Similar to a bike helmet, mouthguards are inexpensive, easy to use, and can prevent potential catastrophes. Nobody plans to fall off a bike, just like nobody plans to get hit in the face, but it happens. The game of basketball requires players to be within elbow-striking range of another player for the entirety of the game. Whether it is taking a contested jumper, diving for a loose ball, fighting for a rebound or even running around a screen, there is a possibility for injury with every dribble. When teeth get knocked out or displaced, the surrounding tissues are disturbed and an endodontist is required more-so than a family dentist. Dr. Vora says mouthguards could be potentially tooth-saving. “A mouthguard would probably lessen the traumatic injury,” Dr. Vora says, “meaning that if you didn’t have a mouthguard the tooth would probably get knocked out, but if you did have a mouthguard then the tooth

LIFE/HEALTH may not get knocked out, it may be another injury that might be better manageable.” Concussion prevention with mouthguard use is still largely up for debate, but the dental protection is undeniable. In 2005 the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association released an article addressing the importance of mouthguards in sport. A selection from the article reads: “Dentists can certainly confirm the beneficial effects of mouthguards in reducing dental trauma but should be extremely cautious in making any unsubstantiated claims regarding prevention of concussion.” “Every once in awhile you might catch an elbow and might chip a tooth or something but I haven’t seen tons in basketball,” says George Brown men’s basketball head coach Jonathan Smith.

and I had to have a root canal,” says Smith. A mouthguard would have probably helped young coach Smith avoid a root canal, but there is a reason mouthguards aren’t more popular among basketball players - they are annoying. Basketball is naturally a very vocal sport. Players constantly have to communicate with teammates for positioning queues and on-the-fly coaching. A player will shout “iso” when they want their team to play in isolation, which instructs teammates to disperse and create a one-on-one situation. Often times ‘right’ or ‘left’ is shouted when a defender is about to be blocked, alerting the teammate to a potential play forming to that side. Muffled communication is a main concern with mouthguards. “A lot of them don’t like wearing it because in terms of communication, unless it’s a specially molded one, some guys find it hard talking and don’t like using them,” says Smith. Under Armour is among the leaders of the mouthguard movement, especially for basketball players. They work to address the issues of price and communication. Troy Stephens, director of national accounts for U.S. and Canada says that they are confident in their product. So much so that each mouthguard has a $32,000 dental protection policy and a one year warranty. Although any mouthguard can be used to protect the teeth of a basketball player, Under Armour has developed one specifically for them. Currently only available online from the United States the UA Hoops mouthguards caters to the specific needs and concerns of a hardwood warrior. “It is a lower profile mouthguard enabling the athlete to speak and breathe properly during action. But it is also made of the ArmourFit material that is microwaveable or boilable, it is refittable and highly chew-resistant,” says Stephens. With the exception of maybe one player for a small amount of time on the George Brown men’s basketball team, according to coach Smith, nobody wears a mouthguard. This would be a very low league-wide indicator if the same can be says for the rest of OCAA basketball. While it was crazy to think that only 8 per cent of kids wore a bike helmet, think that even less wear a mouthguard in the OCAA. It may be tough to shout ‘iso!’, or ‘left!’, with a mouthguard in, but it would be even more difficult to shout after an elbow to the face.

“...I just happened to be behind a fellow teammate and he moved his head and he knocked my two front teeth backward and I had to have a root canal” -Jonathan Smith

“Usually what happens is if somebody gets hit and maybe a tooth is a little bit sensitive or something they might wear one for a while, then they forget all about it,” says Smith. “Then they forget it in the changeroom and then they lose it and they don’t bother.” Smith has coached a lot of basketball, having coached basketball all over Toronto for more than a quarter of a century. Early in his coaching career he earned a Volunteer of the Year Award from the Mayor of Toronto at the time for his work with inner city youth at the Driftwood Community Centre. Smith also excelled as a player, earning the Athlete of the Year award at Boylen Collegiate. He has seen his fair share of basketball, and although he says injuries are rare, Smith shared his own basketball horror story. “When I was in middle school we were trapping, I just happened to be behind a fellow teammate and he moved his head and he knocked my two front teeth backward

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SWEAT IT OUT BY LUCIA YGLESIAS

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WEIGHT TRAINING

hen it comes to exercise and working out our bodies, options can go from heavy machinery to load-handling inexpensive barbells. Regardless if you are an elite athlete or a beginner in fitness, the benefits of barbells is that they allow small increases in weight based on the level of comfort and training goals. Wayne Boucher, Fitness and wellness coordinator at Algonquin College says that “(with barbells) you are not limited to the range of motion of a machine, for example. It activates the body, psychically and mentally is very stimulating.” Going online and finding YouTube tutorials on how to perform fitness exercises is becoming more popular, but strength and training coaches as Boucher and Rob Maggio from St. Clair College believe looking for certified trainers to correct bad postures and habits would

THE EXPERTS:

Algonquin’s fitness and wellness coordinator Wayne Boucher advices stability and to start with light weight and gradually increase it. Boucher explains his shoulder width apart position. “If you want to do something right, you need somebody to teach you. A lot of gyms have a free orientation with membership. At Algonquin College, all students are entitled to a free hour with us where we will show them how to do the exercises correctly,” he says.

potentially decrease the risk of injury. Both professional trainers at St. Clair and Algonquin colleges agree that deciding how much weight you can lift is the first step. The longest repetition is equal to the lowest weight. If you feel capable of perform easily two more reps, the bar is the right one for you; however, if the exercise feels really challenge or easy when completing the rep, the bar is to heavy or to light, respectively. Adjustability and limited space are great reasons to consider barbells for work out, but it isn’t a tool for everybody. While Boucher urges students to define their training goals, and choose the right tool depending on experience, coordination, comfort and preference; Maggio suggests barbells will help athletes to grow and strengthen muscles. St. Clair College Strength and Conditioning Coach Rob Maggio recommends students be cautious if they are feeling pain in the joints while performing exercises, because all exercises are muscle body strengthened. St. Clair also offers a free initial consultation for students and it comes with affordable packages available for students. * sweat put Peter Almeida and Allyyssa Sousa-Kirpaul through the paces to demonstrate proper form of the exercises.

1

OVERHEAD PRESS ▲ Experts say it’s a good starter exercise.

▲ Boucher says “Everything in line. When we press straight up, the wrist over the elbows, elbows over the shoulders, shoulders over the hips.” ▲ There should not be pain in the hips and back. Gradually increase weight in accordance to difficulty felt on the shoulder area. ▲ For better results, Coach Maggio advises to add more weight and do reps of four to six to improve strength results.

2

CHEST PRESS

▲ Boucher highlights on position: Feet flat on the ground, body, shoulders and head on the bench, with two hands on the bar. Avoid arching in the low back. Lift the bar over slightly wider than shoulder width. Boucher warns risk of injury at the shoulders. ▲ St. Clair’s Maggio advises advanced athletes to add more weight and do repetitions faster and more explosive. Lift faster on the way up, and slow on the way down.

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3

BEND OVER ROW ▲ Boucher says when arching, or bending the back, there is a potential risk for injury. He recommends to do the repetition in a full rage of motion starting from the knees to the chest. ▲ Keep feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent and straight back. Pull the barbell to your waist by bending your elbows. Let the bar rest in the floor between repetitions.

4

BACK SQUATS ▲ Maggio says this exercise “works as a multilink system. We have three things flexing into the lower body (ankles, knees and hips) while maintaining a neutral spine.” ▲ Hands as close as possible to shoulders while holding the bar. Elbows underneath the bar pulling straight up and pointing backwards. Once the posture is comfortable, pretend you’re sitting on a chair to pick the bar.

5

STRAIGHT-LEG DEADLIFTS ▲ Boucher does not recommend it for beginners.

▲ Lift the bar forward to a stand-up position and then back down, while bending the knees slightly on the way down. ▲ Algonquin’s coach says that if there is a discomfort in the lower back, the exercise is not being performed correctly. The workout should be felt in the hamstring.

WATCH THE FULL WORKOUT VIDEO EXCLUSIVELY AT SWEATMAG.COM Spring 2017 | 45

HOW FAR WE’LL GO

BY TYLER HEHN

TO WINDSOR, SUDBURY AND BACK HOME. SWEAT’S RECOUNT OF THE ROAD TRIP THAT TOOK A VOLLEYBALL TEAM 1500 KM.

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ravelling with and documenting an OCAA team was an ambitious idea from the get-go. There wasn’t an easy way to go about it. Cambrian said they would be happy to take a few of us along for one of their volleyball team road trips. Cambrian is a team based in Sudbury whose road trip extended to Windsor, then to London, a trip nearing 1,500 km. Our trip was not as strenuous as Cambrian’s, so we were able to enjoy the sights and not have to focus. St. Clair in Windsor was tucked away in a small residential neighbourhood just outside of downtown. With Detroit only a stone’s throw away, what we saw was unexpected. St Clair is a beautiful campus with a brand new, state of the art gymnasium. The volleyball games between the Cambrian Golden Shield and the St. Clair Saints were exciting and close. The five of us were able to capture the games from all angles – above from an indoor track, court level from the bleachers, balcony seating above the benches. From Windsor we moved on to London, some with the team while others followed in an SUV. Once in London the team asked if we would like to go to dinner at a nearby Jack Astor’s with them. After dinner we were finally able to relax in the hotel room for the

night, look over what we captured from Windsor and unwind. At the crack of dawn the next morning we were all awoken by a startlingly loud alarm. There was a flood in the laundry room that triggered alarms and had the entire hotel residence standing in the rain. Everybody was very unimpressed. Cambrian had games later that day despite the interruption they all had from the night before. The Golden Shield women put on an amazing display of teamwork to defeat the Fanshawe Falcons and earn a place in the OCAA playoffs. The men were in a tough spot against the eventual bronze medal winning Fanshawe men’s team. After the Fanshawe games, we packed up and headed for home. One half drove in the SUV on a path straight home through a snow storm, and the other half with the team to Sudbury that was Sudburied in snow. Stepping into class the following morning was when it truly sank in how great of an experience this was. Working, and living (for a short time) with the team of classmates that embarked on the trip created memories we all will value for years to come. We would all like to thank the players, coaching staff, and OCAA for giving us the oppourtunity to do this.

The Cambrian crew enjoy a quick break in action between games at Fanshawe College. From left to right: Laura Dart, Tyler Hehn, Erian Amor De Los Reyees, Helena Shlapak, and Sukh Toor

CHECK US OUT ONLINE TO CONTINUE THE JOURNEY... SWEATMAG.COM

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