sweat
OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE OCAA
SPRING 2019
2019 HALL OF FAME
COACH’S CORNER On the OCAA’s 50 years of passion LINDA STAPLETON
Also inside: THE RISE OF THE DIGITAL ATHLETE I t’s probably a good thing to have coaching experience before writing an article for “Coach’s Corner”. Does my single victory with the Seneca Sting Women’s Soccer team count, as I stepped in as coach following the ejection of both my coaches? As we celebrate the OCAAs 50th season this year, I prefer to offer reflections gleaned over my 39 years of involvement in one of Canada’s leading sport conferences and the people that make it so. What has changed most significantly since the early days of the OCAA?
DUAL-SPORT ATHLETES
As an organization of college sport leaders that gathered around kitchen tables, the success of the OCAA began and continues with the exceptional leadership we have received from athletic directors, executive directors and college staff that volunteer as convenors and committee members. Over the span of 50 years, the passion demonstrated annually by college staff to support their athletes and coaches is unparalleled. Technology has changed the way we work. It is a major element that has significantly and positively impacted so many aspects of the game. In my rookie administrative year, the main tools
for communication were the telephone and the typewriter (which for me required an ample supply of carbon papers to duplicate copies and a pail of white out to correct all of those typos). As personal computers entered the scene, athletic departments and the OCAA office harnessed that power and that of the emerging software to communicate more effectively and instantaneously, to capture league results and expand the very data rich aspect of player statistics. More data supported coaches in player development and game preparation. It also allowed the OCAA to recognize their athletes based upon solid objective criteria and award them accordingly. Partnering with companies like Krossover provides a home for broadcasted games giving coaches and athletes unprecedented access to every team’s game film across the province. It has also revolutionized scouting. Instead of every coach travelling across the province with cameras to obtain video of their opponents for game prep, coaches can scout from their living rooms. Athletes today can receive individualized video isolating their performances and execution of skill within two days rather than the old standard of two weeks. Many member schools are also doing a tremendous job of webcasting their home games and we have seen several schools raising that bar each year: Humber’s first webcast of the OCAA Cross Country Championships; Seneca’s first of simultaneously webcasting multiple badminton courts at the OCAA Badminton Championships. Digital photography, video clips from cell phones combined with social media have provided a powerful mechanism to promote games and provide immediate results. It can also capture images of negative behaviors which reflect on that individual, the team, the school and the association. As our provincial laws, college policies and sport organization rules have become more defined with respect to harassment, dis-
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sweat contents
SPRING 2019
In Every Issue 4 5 6 11 38 42 46
Letter from the Editor President’s Note/sweat Roster Photo Contest Off the Bench Sweat it Out: 20 Minute Heart-Pumping HIIT Workout OCAA Champions Coach’s Corner
Core 8 12 16 19 20 21
Winding Down with Music OCAA Championship Player Profiles Life as a Dual-Sport Athlete Bouncing Back from Injury Soccer: Indoor vs. Outdoor Home-Field Advantage: Fact or Fiction?
Features 22 24 28 30 31 32 35 37 40 42 44 46
Hall of Fame 2019 From Hockey Hero to Indigenous Education Leader Huskies Rule Badminton Court Small School, Big Screen Sticking Together LOL: Risking it all with Laughing Yoga The Rise of the Digital Athlete Mohawks Embarassing Moments Nationals Preparations in Full Swing at Durham College OCAA Championships OCAA Continues to Succeed at National Level If You Build It They Will Come: A Tribute to OCAA Builders SPRING 2019 | 3
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS A Collaborative Effort
B
eing an athlete takes drive, perseverance and skill. But there is a special dedication required to be a student-athlete. In the classroom, in the gym and on the road, days off are few and far between. It takes motivation, focus and drive to balance the early mornings, late nights and days of travel with assignments and studying. But when your team wins, or when you finally nail a technique after months of practice, it seems worth it. The hours spent behind the
Caitrin Hodson, Humber
Rick Woodard, Algonquin
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Putting together this edition of sweat was challenging, exciting and eye-opening. The diversity of stories showcase the true diversity of experiences within the OCAA, from athletes to coaches to builders. From alumni to current athletes, it’s these people who make the OCAA a thriving organization. In this issue we touch on a multitude of stories, from overcoming injury, to team-building, to the story of a First Nations boy who dreamed of playing hockey. They are stories that make
It’s the people behind every sports team and athletic organization, that bring this spirit. And behind all of those people is a story. scenes, keeping your eye on the prize is the hardest part, but it’s the most essential. The consistent push and drive to do better is what makes an athlete and a team great. But as much as sport is about competition, performance and achievement, it’s about the human spirit and its ability to overcome obstacles, to learn from failure and most importantly, to keep going. It’s the people behind every sports team and athletic organization, that bring this spirit. And behind all of those people is a story. Stories that unite us, whether it’s on the field, on the court or in the stands. They provide us with excitement and joy, heartache and disappointment. Win or lose, the love of the game and the possibility of achieving greatness drives athletes, teams and fans forward. And it is consistent hard work that gets them there.
us smile, make us cheer and inspire us all to find our inner athlete, something our team channeled in the final days of writing, editing and design. Like sports, journalism requires perseverance. The best stories don’t come easily, but when they do, all of the early mornings, late nights and sacrificed sleep are validated. And like the stories that decorate the pages of this issue, the effort was most definitely worth the outcome. We are proud to give you this edition of sweat and hope you enjoy reading the stories, as much as we enjoyed telling them. q EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Caitrin Hodson Rick Woodard
sweat roster
SPRING 2019
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CAITRIN HODSON RICK WOODARD
PRESIDENT’S NOTE
SENIOR EDITORS DEVIN NGUYEN ILIYANA SHOUSHOUNOVA KEENAN SMITH-SORO HEAD OF DESIGN ASMITA MUNDE COPY EDITORS ALISHA MUGHAL STEFANIE UCCI PHOTO EDITOR LOLA WAHEED CONTRIBUTORS DANIELLE BLUMENTRATH, RODRIGO DÍAZ, SAI DURGA GONA, MARLEE GREIG, CAITRIN HODSON, DANIEL HOLLINGBERRY, RAFAEL INDYARTA, ABBIE JACK, TYLER KIDD, ALISHA MUGHAL, ZACH MULDER, ASMITA MUNDE, MARTYNA NOWORTYA, DEVIN NGUYEN, NATALIE OATTES, TREVOR OATTES, DARYNA SARHAN, ILIYANA SHOUSHOUNOVA, LOLA WAHEED, RICK WOODARD AND KAVAN YOUNG FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS RAY CHATEAU JIM BIALEK PASHA ORMEROD EDITORIAL ADVISER LARA KING, HUMBER JULIE MCCANN, ALGONQUIN ADVISORY BOARD JOSH BELL-WEBSTER JIM BIALEK JORDON HALL RYAN KELLY MICHAEL KOPINAK CONTACT US LARA.KING@HUMBER.CA 205 HUMBER COLLEGE BLVD. TORONTO, ON M9W 5L7 416-675-6622 EXT 4513
I
would like to welcome all of our readers to the Spring 2019 edition of the OCAA’s sweat magazine, the official magazine of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. In particular, on behalf of the Association’s 27 member institutions, I would like to extend our thanks to the Humber College and Algonquin College journalism programs for their continued support in the writing, editing and producing. The depth of talent and outstanding programs across the OCAA continues to grow and was evidenced with the success of our OCAA representatives at the CCAA National championships this winter. Thank you to our host institutions and congratulations to this year’s OCAA champions. On behalf of the OCAA, its central office and membership
institutions I would like to extend best wishes to all the studentathletes as they complete their academic year. Although this year has presented challenges, I applaud the commitment, perseverance and passion of student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators in succeeding both on the court and in the classroom. On a personal note, I would also like to extend my thanks to the commitment and contributions of our sport convenors, who have dedicated many hours to ensure the best competitive experience possible for our athletes.q Yours in sport, Ray Chateau PRESIDENT OCAA
SPRING 2019 | 5
Photo Contest
WINNER: RYAN MCCULLOUGH
CONGRATULATIONS TO RYAN MCCULLOUGH! ENTRIES FOR FALL 2019 PHOTO CONTEST DUE OCTOBER 25, 2019 PLEASE SEND YOUR TOP 3 SUBMISSIONS TO: SWEATOCAA@GMAIL.COM 6 | sweat
SPRING 2019 | 7
CORE SPORTS
WINDING DOWN WITH MUSIC By Sai Durga Gona
“Music is like routine and ritual for most of them. It helps you to relax and being able to focus on the sport when the stress is so high”
“I
listen to music while driving to the competition and our team usually gives sometime to music to get energized before the match begins,” said Jade Addai, Criminology student and basketball player from University of Toronto, Mississauga. The 21-year-old player has been part of the team for the past two years as a shooting guard. She has listened to ‘fergalicious by fergie’ before every game, since grade 9 to boost herself. Addai believes that music helps them to set the right mindset before the competition and stir up the confidence to win. Addai isn’t alone, many athletes feel that music plays an important role in every level. When they train, warm up and even during competition. They believe that music helps them to push the levels of anxiety and nervousness before the competition. Many studies show the benefits of music in every sport, however some experts believe there are some limitations too. They revealed the athletes should pay full attention to the use of music and it should be limited. “Music is like routine and ritual for most of them. It helps you to relax and being able to focus on the sport when the stress is so high,” said Sandra Trehub, Department
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(courtesy of Sheridan College)
of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga. Sandra Trehub stated that the music limits the personal emotions and divert the mind from negative thoughts such as pain and fatigue. “Music will keep people in a happy medium and distract the terrible thoughts from your mind and enhances the positive aspects like energy and happiness,” she said. Experts strongly believe that music is also helps to visualize the game before the competition begins. “Music increases the level of arousal and helps to visualize their game. It shows a great psychological affect on athletes,” said Trehub. Visualizing what they do, really shows an impact on the brain functioning and make you plan things before hand. Music can strengthen the bond between the athletes and while listening to music, it helps to arouse and excite the athletes in a positive way. “Athletes who have the same taste of music, feel connected to each other,” she says. The athletes are nicer, kinder and more co-operative with one another. Research shows that the playlist can really influence the mindsets of fellow athletes, if they don’t know really each other. “The music that you like often tells a
lot about your personality and not just your preferences,” she said. Athletic chants are quite normal behaviour in teams. Every team has different chants. Research shows that these chants before and after sport, increases the connection between the athletes. “These chants helps to build positive thoughts like happiness and confidence among the athletes and these chants can be a song or anything,” Trehub explained. Many athletes believe that music helps them to get ready before and after a competition. They listen to the faster tempo and strong beats to get warmed up, perform better and focus on the game. “I listen to very upbeat, high tempo music, it gets me really focused and prepared for the game...hip hop, rap, stuff like that,” said Theresa Brown, a 21-year-old, student and basketball player from Sheridan College in Brampton. Not only does music keep the athletes motivated, but it has numerous functions for them as well. Many studies show that music has a calming affect on them. It helps to calm the feelings of anger, anxiety and nerves that athletes experience after the game.
CORE SPORTS “If I lose, I listen to high tempoed music to calm myself . . . If we win, we will look for what went good and bad and also about our performances in the game,” said Camila Orellana Larach, a 21-year-old student and basketball player for Sheridan College in Brampton. Studies show that listening to self-selected music with faster beats helps to increase arousal, reaction speed while performing the sport and their emotional state. “Most of my athletes listen to music before the match to de-stress themselves and it has a huge impact on them,” said Jim Flack, Director of Athletics and Recreation, Men's Basketball Coach, Sheridan College. Many researchers have found that the power of music has definitely some limits. Costas I. Karageorghis from Brunel University, UK, who did a lot of research on music and sports psychology mentioned in his journals stated that the listening to music without limitations may leads to distraction in the sport. He stated that there are times when trainers and coaches should avoid the use of music. “When exercisers need to devote their full attention to a task, or when they are learning a demanding new skill, or when they are working at high intensity and need to pay full attention to their physical limits the use of music should be limited,” he said in his journal.
Karageorghis stated that the coaches and athletes must choose how selected tracks will be delivered before or during training or competition. “If others are training nearby and might be disturbed by one’s music, it should be delivered via an MP3 player. If distraction is an important consideration, the volume at which music is played should be set quite high, but not high enough to cause discomfort or leave a ringing in the ears,” he said. Sometimes, the coaches let the players to do meditation, sit silent and talk to their loved ones before the game, to calm down. “I never disturb my athletes for at least an hour before the game. I will give them their time, but keep an eye on everything,” said Flack. Some of the athletes give preference to the silence instead of loud music. “All of our girls listen to music! For me personally, as a coach I like to sit in complete silence to gather my thoughts,” said Sean Douglas, Women’s basketball head coach, Sheridan College. Instead of music, for some players, a really good hot shower will definitely improve their focus and helps them to recover if they lose the match. “It will make you feel good and will keep your mind calm, so that you can focus on next game and realize your mistakes from the match,” said Jade Addai. Some of the athletes prefer to eat their favourite food before the game begins to get the needed energy and to shift their focus to game.
Brown says she will eat her favourite foods including peanut butter, pasta, oranges to get the nutrition and energy needed to focus on her sport.
“I listen to hip hop and rap music for two hours before the match. It will keep me motivated and rather than the lyrics, the fast paced beats helps me to focus more on my game” Athletes do dynamic warm up with the team before the sport to keep the blood flowing and it really helps a lot and studies show that the athletes indulge themselves in having a conversation with the team before and after the match to reduce their stress levels. “I will just talk to myself in my head and get myself to calm down and prepare for the game,” said Orellana Larach. “My teammates will help me if I’m feeling down and will help them to give proper feedback from my game and maintain good communication with them.” Stress is one important factor that haunt the athletes on daily basis. Some athletes tries to control their stress levels with music and some opts for meditation, Netflix and yoga. “If they win, they go out for team dinners to relax themselves post match. If they lose, they just go home and watch Netflix or just have a conversation with their loved ones over phone,” Flack said. “We also have a lot of counselors and therapists with us especially for athletes who keep an eye on everyone and helps them to reduce stress and give support if they need,” he added. Researchers revealed that the athletes while listening to music during their training or before or after the competition should be careful and keep it limited. If the volume is above 75 or 100 dB during the physical activity especially exercise, when the blood pressure in the ear canal is elevated, it leads to minor temporary hearing loss. So, watch the volume! q
SPRING 2019 | 9
CORE SPORTS Tips for athletes to manage stress While everyone experiences stress at one time or another, athletes are no strangers. They usually experience double the stress and pressure while juggling with academic, heavy training and competition stress. According to Sandra Trehub from the department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, stress can hit athletes for many reasons and it is unavoidable. Athletes should be prepared to manage
stress. Trehub says that a small amount of stress is actually beneficial, but if the stress levels are unmanageably higher, then it causes problems for their game. Listening to music offers athletes a mind and body balance and can help them focus on the game rather than stressing out. Here, are five tips to manage stress and balance the rush of adrenalin to improve the performance.
Psychological support from coaches If a coach finds any athlete is facing severe stress due to academic and competitive pressure, the coach should reach out and try to talk to them and suggest a consultation with an available campus therapist. “The coach of team should track the physical and mental abilities of every player to help them effectively. A coach should maintain a cordial relationship with the players for better results in and out the game,” said Sean Douglas, Women’s basketball head coach at Sheridan College.
Meditation One of the best practices for stress management can be meditation. Even spending a little time in meditation helps the athletes to focus on their game. “If the player is actually paying attention to their breathing, they can restore the calm and inner peace. It generates a lot of positive thoughts that benefits the emotional wellbeing of them,” said Trehub. These benefits from meditation won’t end just for those few seconds, but carry throughout the competition and affects the performance in the competition in a more positive way.
Visualization Visualization is another effective stress buster for athletes. “Spending sometime by visualizing things before the game will have a great impact on performance of the players,” said Trehub. “Let their brain react spontaneously throughout the competition,” Trehub added.
Support from fellow athletes Getting adequate mental support from the athletes before the match will definitely improve their performance in the competition. “Talking to each other and spending some quality time with fellow athletes. . .but also boost their confidence. This can reduce the chances of mental health issues among athletes,” said Jim Flack, Director of Athletics and Recreation, Men’s Basketball Coach at Sheridan College.
Must be aware of resources One of the best ways to deal with anxiety is to get comfortable and stay relaxed in the situations that may lead to anxiousness. Athletes do not always handle stress or anxiety properly, nor do they know how to. So they should know when and where to seek outside help to manage it. “An athletic trainer should be aware of the resources available at the campus for athletes to reduce their stress and anxiety,” said Trehub.
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CORE SPORTS
BY PASHA ORMEROD DURHAM LORDS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
OFF THE BENCH
FROM WEST TO EAST My journey began in high school in British Columbia, in grade nine, playing school and club volleyball. This led to playing club volleyball for the Northwest Rage. Northwest Rage was a team of only six to eight girls. But even though we were a small team, we won provincials during club season, attended nationals every year, and played almost every weekend out of town, getting ready for the big city teams. We practiced five times a week, on top of school, and most of our team was getting tired of volleyball, with the number of weekends spent away. We also had to drive a minimum of six hours to find a good team to play. I thought my career with volleyball would be over after playing with the Rage, but at nationals in Edmonton I met Tony Clarke. He came up to my parents and I, and spoke to me about taking my volleyball to the next level with him and the Durham Lords. After a period of thinking I accepted the scholarship at Durham College and started my journey in Ontario that following September. Being in Ontario, our volleyball season began against New York. We slowly began winning game by game, over time. We trained through practice and with Elite Training Systems, as often as we could, which lead us to provincials at the end of the season. We came in third overall, not losing a game during the regular season. After provincials I headed home to British Columbia to collect the Premier’s Award for Indigenous Youth Excellence in Sport. I was also given a regional award in Ontario when I was named to the OCAA women’s volleyball all-rookie team. I have played at the North American Indigenous Games in 2017 for the B.C. volleyball team and on the basketball team for the Junior All Native Tournament in 2018, as well as in tournaments every weekend with my school and club team. Looking back on my journey here, with these experiences I have learned to be a leader and a teammate, when
both are needed to support my teammates during our games. As a first-year player everything was different for me, academically and sportswise. It was a great experience learning with a new team in a new part of the world, moving onward with my volleyball career
and academics. I am very happy that I changed my mind about playing sports at the next level, as it is an experience that not many people get to have. I would not change my decision on playing for anything and I am proud to be a Lord. q
SPRING 2019 | 11
CORE SPORTS
OCAA CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYER PROFILES
A
By Lola Waheed
nother year, and many champions. It’s every college athlete’s goal to make it to a championship game. In the case of the OCAA, players hope to dominate in their divisions, qualify, and take home gold at their championship game. Once that’s accomplished, they get to compete at the national level against teams across the country at the CCAA, The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association. This is the be all, end all of college sports in Canada.
This year, the OCAA is proud to have six sports going to nationals. sweat Magazine wanted to take a deeper look at what makes a champion. Better yet, what it takes to make a student athlete a champion. We interviewed a few athlete’s from each sport to find out how they were feeling about being OCAA champions and how other’s prepared for the CCAA.
CURLING
Nick Servant SCHOOL: SAULT COLLEGE PROGRAM: NATURAL ENVIRONMENT & RESOURCE LAW POSITION: SKIP HOMETOWN: SAULT STE. MARIE, ON
BASKETBALL Stefan Simpson is a student athlete who has learned the importance of responsibility, humility, organization and accountability. He’s quite prideful about his love for the sports culture at Sheridan. “We play with a chip on our shoulder and are out there doing it for each other every night, which is such a great feeling,” he said. Balancing being a student athlete is tough, Simpson admitted, but doable with the help of his coaches, “We have study hall available to us twice a week, and at times we are excused from practice to make sure we finish assignments,” he said. Part of a nine-time OCAA Basketball Championship team, the point guard helped the Sheridan Bruins win Gold at the men’s 2019 OCAA Basketball Championship. “Coaches told us we had a unique group of guys that they could see making a run for the title and to not settle for anything less,” Simpson said. Following their OCAA Championship win, Simpson and the Bruins competed at the 2019 CCAA Nationals at Langley Events Centre in Langley, BC in March. They finished in second place.
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In his first year competing with the Sault Cougars, Nick Servant won the silver medal at the 2018 OCAA Curling Championships, the 2017 Rookie of the Year, and a 2018 CCAA Academic AllCanadian award recipient. “The most rewarding part of playing for and representing Sault College is definitely the support you receive from the athletic department as well as other teams. They all make you feel like part of a big family,” said Servant. Finding a balance between school and sports can be difficult, he said, but his time management triumph his schedule. “Staying on top of assignments and having good relations with professors helps a lot with the balance of these two things,” he said. This past February, Servant and his team placed second again at the Men’s 2019 OCAA Curling Championships, with Fanshawe taking the gold, and qualifying for the CCAA. “I was most looking forward to the strong level of competition we would be facing and showing how well a small school like Sault College can compete with larger schools,” he said. He and the team finished their season at nationals this past March at the Willie O’Ree Place in Fredericton, NB.
Stefan Simpson SCHOOL: SHERIDAN COLLEGE PROGRAM: FUNDAMENTALS OF FITNESS LEADERSHIP POSITION: POINT GUARD HOMETOWN: BRAMPTON, ON
CORE SPORTS
Chuot Angou SCHOOL: FANSHAWE COLLEGE PROGRAM: POLICE FOUNDATIONS POSITION: SHOOTING GUARD HOMETOWN: LONDON, ON
This London native’s passion for basketball has helped her make a name for herself. This March, Chuot Angou and the Fanshawe Falcons took home the gold medal at the Women’s 2019 OCAA Basketball Championships, where she was also named the MVP. Angou knows what it means to be a student athlete. “My favourite part about being a student athlete would have to witnessing all the time and effort put in pay off at the end,” she said. She also explained the difficulty of managing a basketball and collegiate schedule and said, “I also try to make time to study in between classes and benefit from having a schedule that I follow when it comes to when to study, rest, practice, etc..” Even with all of the pressure of assignments and championship games, Angou strives for greatness. “I love being a part of not only a winning culture, but one that has a strong work ethic as well,” she said. The Falcons went to Sainte-Foy College in Quebec, QC for nationals, and finished their season in fifth place, tying with the Keyano Huskies. Win or lose, she adores the strength of her team.
VOLLEYBALL Serving as both a volleyball left side and soccer goal keeper, Linden Bontkes has proven to be an asset to the entire Redeemer Royals. He was the 2018-2019 OCAA Men’s Volleyball Award recipient in Men’s Volleyball West Division 2nd Team All-Stars. During this year’s OCAA Championship, Bontkes was faced with an athlete’s worst nightmare before his quarter-final game. “I was diagnosed with a concussion that morning. I hit my head during practice the night before the game,” he said. Bontkes was forced to sit out the rest for the rest of the championships, and watch his team compete while on the bench. “It was cool to see the team step up and play better volleyball than they have in the past. Different guys played different roles, and our goal was to succeed from the beginning of the year,” Bontkes said. This year, the team placed 3rd at the 2019 OCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship..
Linden Bontkes SCHOOL: REDEEMER UNIVERSITY COLLEGE PROGRAM: BUSINESS POSITION: LEFT SIDE HOMETOWN: LANGLEY, BC
Jordan Koslowski SCHOOL: NIAGARA COLLEGE PROGRAM: ADVANCED LAW ENFORCEMENT & INVESTIGATIONS POSITION: OUTSIDE HITTER HOMETOWN: HAMILTON, ON
Jordan Koslowski believes that her time as a Knight has made a huge impact on her college career as a student athlete. “For the last four years that I have been on Niagara College’s Women’s volleyball team it has honestly been a great experience,” said Koslowski. While playing for the team she’s won many awards including the OCAA West Division Scoring Champion, OCAA West Division First Team All Star and OCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship All-Star. Koslowski admitted that she struggled in her first year as a student-athlete. n“I have grown from my mistakes and it has taught me how important time management is between volleyball and most importantly academics,” she said. She said she believes that staying on top of classes and engaging in activities in school is important as well. Her team took home the silver medal at the 2019 OCAA Championships and placed seventh at the 2019 CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championships in March.
SPRING 2019 | 13
CORE SPORTS
BADMINTON
Ramnish Kumar SCHOOL: HUMBER COLLEGE PROGRAM: FITNESS AND HEALTH PROMOTION POSITION: SINGLE’S PLAYER HOMETOWN: PANJOKHARA, INDIA
In her second year with the George Brown Huskies, Anh Hoang has dominated college badminton by winning gold at the 2019 OCAA Badminton Women’s Singles. This is her second time being named an OCAA all-star. The international student said that her life in Vietnam was quite different than her life in Canada, “I started playing badminton in primary school. But I stopped playing when I was studying in high school. Then I continued playing again when coming to Canada 1.5 years ago,” Hoang said. Once she began competing nationally, she noticed a huge difference. “For CCAA, there are a lot of good players who I never met or played against before, it is different and also difficult to compete against new opponents,” she said. Even under pressure, Hoang brought the Huskies gold in the provincials two years in a row, and silver at the 2019 CCAA National Badminton Championships in women’s singles.
Fresh from winning gold at the 2019 OCAA Men’s Badminton Championship in men’s singles, Ramnish Kumar has continuously proven he is a force to be reckoned with. He’s been playing badminton since he was 12, and sometimes played in India for fun. “If I were to compare the badminton level in between India and Canada then I would say that India has many more players than here who are training full-time since they are very young,” said Kumar. In his first year playing for Humber Hawks, he has been awarded OCAA’s Player of the Year, named an OCAA All-Star and a CCAA All Canadian. With these accolades, his training regime is something he stands by. “I like to wake up early in the morning around 5-6 A.M., and do a training session before I start classes in morning. I trained about 5 to 6 days a week on and off court and whenever I get a chance to do some extra skill sessions in between my classes,” he said. He won gold in Men’s Singles at the 2019 CCAA Championship in Halifax in March.
Anh Hoang SCHOOL: GEORGE BROWN COLLEGE PROGRAM: BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION FOR HOSPITALITY POSITION: SINGLE’S PLAYER HOMETOWN: VIETNAM
INDOOR SOCCER
Luca Sirianni SCHOOL: SENECA COLLEGE STING (WOMEN’S TEAM) ROLE: COACH YEARS OF COACHING : 5 OCAA TITLES: 2
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After taking silver at the 2018 OCAA Championship, the Seneca Sting’s women’s indoor soccer team aimed to take first place this time around. Head coach Luca Siranni has led the team to two medals in his five years. “Heading into a championship game, I tend to be calmer in comparison to the games leading up to the finals,” Siranni said. The team took first place in 2015, and second in 2018. This year the team finished their season in the round robin tournament of the OCAA Championships. The Seneca alum played as a Sting in seven OCAA outdoor and indoor championships. He’s proven that he has the experience as both a coach and player. “While winning the OCAA Women’s Soccer Championship along with a CCAA National Bronze medal are obvious moments that stand out, the daily work as a coach are the most impactful,” he said. For Siranni, it’s never been about the championships solely, but a much bigger picture. “To see individuals and the team as a whole grow from the start of the season to the end on a yearly basis is the most satisfying and impactful for me.”
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CORE SPORTS
LIFE AS A DUAL-SPORT ATHLETE
RACHEL STREEKSTRA: SUCCESS DOESNT COME WITHOUT SACRIFICE
By Danielle Blumentrath
“This young student-athlete is learning that even though she is making personal sacrifices, she is still achieving her current and long term goals”
W
Rachel Streekstra carefully balances rugby and volleyball and academics at Loyalist
hen it comes to college athletes, it’s no secret they have a full plate. Committing to a college sport comes with the pressure of juggling classes, practices, workouts, often a job and maybe even fitting in a social life. Now, imagine playing another sport on top of it all. Although it is rare, some student athletes make the decision to take on a second sport at the college level. Rachel Streekstra is one of those rare dual-sport athletes from Loyalist college who has dedicated her time to playing two varsity sports, rugby and volleyball, while in postsecondary education. The first-year athlete has been playing both sports for over five years and her passion drives her to continue competing at the college level. Streekstra is from Toledo, Ontario, an hour north of Kingston, and said she has always loved playing competitive volleyball, but was inspired by her high school coach who introduced her to playing rugby. “I have never been pushed harder. He taught me the game, the meaning of being a
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student-athlete and the meaning of working hard,” she said. So, when it came to tryouts at Loyalist College, it was a no brainer that Rachel would pursue the two sports she loves. For most first-year students the pressure of navigating college includes finding balance between schoolwork, a new living arrangement and meeting new friends. However, for Streekstra, most of her time is dedicated to her academics and both rugby and volleyball. Coming into college she planned on trying out for both teams, and while Rachel said, “this has been an amazing year and I wouldn’t change playing two sports for anything,” the year didn’t come without the exhausting and sometimes overwhelming pressures many student-athletes experience at times. “I’m not even going to lie to you some nights I would just go home and not even make it to my bed. I’d just lay on the floor and not going to lie I cried. Because I’d either be so mentally and physically exhausted or stressed.” Streekstra said.
While the student-athlete admits there were some challenging times managing it all throughout the seasons, she could not imagine not playing both sports. “Honestly sometimes, I think every athlete has a point where they question if it’s worth it. But then when you’re running down a field and no one’s able to touch you, and you get that try (rugby) or get that kill or big
CORE SPORTS stuff (volleyball) you remember that this is why it’s worth it and why you love it. “ For Rachel it’s her passion for competition that drives her to play both sports while in school. “It’s very busy, which I absolutely love,” she said. She believes attending a smaller school has been a contributing factor towards the support she’s received throughout the year. “Because we’re a small school, we know everyone here and there’s a lot of support. Even the amount of people you know just from being a varsity athlete is pretty crazy,” Streekstra said. Not only does the help of fellow athletes play a role in a successful year for this dualsport athlete, she also attributes her success to the support received from both her rugby and volleyball coach. “Both were really great. They knew being a dual-sport athlete takes up so much time and dedication. I had to sacrifice a lot of
though she is making personal sacrifices, she is still achieving her current and long term goals. “I didn’t mind making sacrifices because I know my other teammates were making them and I wanted to get better and be better,” she said. “The school also really supported me.” In terms of the coach’s role in supporting dual-sport athletes, Dawes understands that some of the responsibility is on her to check in with the athletes. “Checking base with the other coach to see how she is doing was important. Sometimes there are those athletes that are really gung-hoe and want to give it 100 percent, but you really can’t. You will burn out. So, monitoring them is very important as a coach to these athletes and I like to think I took the pressure off for her,” Dawes said. While the life of a dual-sport athlete can come with sacrifices, there is no hesitation
“Not only does the help of fellow athletes play a role in a successful year for this dual-sport athlete”
things. Instead of hanging out with friends, I was at the gym training or at practice or I was studying because I didn’t have that time that other people had during the week nights,” Streekstra said. While the seasons for both sports are relatively separate, there is a month of overlap between the end of rugby season and the first few games of the volleyball season. Head volleyball coach, Dominique Dawes has coached many dual-sport athletes throughout her career and believes the way to set any athlete up for success is through clear communication from the start. “The number one thing is communication, it is extremely important not only with the athlete but with the coaches,” Dawes said. She also checked in on Streekstra’s health before practices and made sure all the other girls on the volleyball team knew Rachel was a dual-sport athlete. Dawes said the girls on her team were all extremely supportive. They even went out to most home rugby games as a group to support Streekstra. While Streekstra’s passion is for rugby and volleyball, she is also excited about the paramedic program she is taking in school. While her love for both sports gives her joy, she is also focused on her dream of being a flight paramedic. She is learning that even
from the coaches to allow these athletes to participate in both sports. “Think about athletes that battle so much worse things. If this is their outlet, I didn’t want to have to make her choose or stop her from pursuing her passions,” Dawes said. Being physically active is really good for students and she believes it is important to follow careers and sports you are passionate about. Therefore, Dawes said when it came to performance time, because Rachel knew she had a choice, she was able to take care of herself accordingly and, “she knew we had her back,” said Dawes. Now almost at the end of her first year, when asked if she would do it all again, Rachel said without hesitation, “even when I go back to school after my two-year program, I plan to play at least one sport. So, you’ll see me in the OCAA for a little bit!” Her volleyball coach has the same positivity and described this year as fantastic. “As a first-year athlete coming in, I would think she loved her first year. I supported her and I’m proud of her. She did a fantastic job,” Dawes said. Rachel’s passion was the driving force to compete on two sports teams. Although, at times, it was overwhelming this studentathlete would not change her experience and plans on doing it again next year! q
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CORE SPORTS
LIFE AS A DUAL-SPORT ATHLETE BOBBY BUCK: THE TRACK, THE COURT AND THE CLASSROOM
B
obby Buck starts his morning with stretching and a foam roller, digging into sore muscles so that he can put them through another punishing workout later in the day. The 18-year-old recreation and leisure services student then heads to an early morning class before a quick shift at his school’s gym, where he works part-time. From there, he heads to the track, where he can be routinely found doing 10, 12 and even 18-kilometre runs, alongside hill sprints or fast-paced 400-metre dashes. After a stop at home for a meal, he heads to the basketball court for a two-hour practice with the Loyalist Lancers, which ends at around 10 in the evening. Then he sleeps, letting his body rest so that he can do it all again the next day. The life of a college athlete is a constant struggle in time management, with a love of the game balanced alongside school, work, sleep and some form of a social life. Yet despite the stressful workload, there are some who choose to fill their busy schedule with not one sport, but two. “It’s been something I have had to do for a long time, as I’ve grown up kind of being good at a majority of things, I’ve never really specified in a single sport,” said Buck. “So coming to Loyalist gave me the perfect opportunity to have a cross-country season and a basketball season later on. It’s been the perfect balance to be able to do both. I have a love for both those sports and I couldn’t imagine giving one of them up.” Buck’s love of sport is more than just a personal
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By Trevor Oattes obsession, it’s in his blood. His father, Jim Buck, is the athletics director at Loyalist. On top of that, two of his three older siblings competed for Loyalist; one sister competed in basketball and the other sister – a dual sport athlete herself – played basketball and soccer. “To be honest, my involvement in sports goes back as far back as I can remember,” said Buck. “There’s a picture of me in the Loyalist gym from back when I was a newborn. I’ve been around Loyalist athletics and all kind of athletics my whole life. I guess I’ve just been around a family of athletes since I was born.” Though his love of athletics is unrivaled, Buck admits that the workload of a dualsport athlete can be very difficult to manage, especially on the social life. “Between practices in the afternoon and then an 8 a.m. class and working around noon, it’s a bit tough to manage your homework and your social life around everything else," said Buck. According to Kevin Beatty, Loyalist's cross-country coach,
Bobby Buck competes in both basketball and track
though he does have a saving grace that helps him manage the stress: his dad.“The one good thing is that I am pretty close with the family that I have in Belleville,” said Buck. “My dad is the athletic director, so where I work is literally right down the hall from him. He can pop in and ask me how my day is going and if I need anything whenever he wants. So that’s pretty helpful.”
“Yet despite the stressful workload, there are some who choose to fill their busy schedule with not one sport, but two”
Buck's success in sport is as much due to his time management skills as it is his athletic talents. "He makes being a high-level student athlete look easy even though his schedule is jam packed," said Beatty in an email. "His time management skills are impressive for a young person, especially through the fall when school is in full swing as well as both sports." Buck advocates strong time management skills to anybody willing to undertake such grueling labour,
While the life of a dual-sport athlete can be tough, it can also be incredibly fulfilling. For dedicated young athletes like Buck, the challenge and the physical exhaustion are their own reward. So while Buck sprints down the track and dons a Lancers jersey to take to the court, he can take pride in the knowledge that he is continuing a legacy in Loyalist athletics. “It’s been a great experience, my coaches have been wonderful to me,” said Buck. “They’ve both accommodated my schedule really well, they’ve talked to each and made it so I can have the best of both worlds in competing in both sports. It’s been a great time.” q
CORE SPORTS
BOUNCING BACK AFTER AN INJURY By Martyna Noworyta For an athlete, a sports injury can be unexpected and life-changing – a wrong turn, a slip, a fall, or even seemingly nothing at all. The focus changes from making sure to get to hockey practice for 6 a.m. five days a week, to going to physiotherapy twice a week. The Canadian Institute for Health Information states over 17,000 people in Ontario and Alberta emergency rooms were hospitalized for a sports-related brain injuries in 2016/2017. Of those, 94 per cent were concussion related. This statistic hits close to home for Conestoga College’s Alisha Glendinning. In grade four, one of Glendinning’s teachers told her she should try out for basketball because of her height. She decided she would and hasn’t stopped playing basketball since. Playing throughout high school, all of Glendinning’s hard work paid off when she was successfully recruited to play for the Ryerson Rams women’s basketball team. But in grade 11, she sustained a concussions without knowing it. “I fell off a horse and went head first into the ground and dislocated my vertebrae and was not told I had a concussion,” Glendinning said. She continued to play basketball for four months before realizing there was something serious going on. “I turned into a totally different person, I was so rude to my mom and my friends […]. I was like a three-year-old throwing temper tantrums. I was very irritable, I couldn’t focus on anything, I couldn’t do well in school because I couldn’t do my homework,” she said. After being restricted to a dark room for two months straight, she returned to basketball. But shortly after, Glendinning’s Ryerson coach called her into his office. He broke the news that she was suffering from post-concussion syndrome and that she might never be able to play again. At this moment, Glendinning said she felt truly heartbroken. “It was one of the worst things ever … not being able to play basketball broke my heart. When you love
something, you don’t ever want to lose it,” she said. Athletic therapist Kristen Bolliger at Conestoga said in the OCAA they typically see five to 10 season-ending injuries in a school year. With injury intensities ranging, t h e Canadian
“Not being able to play basketball broke my heart. When you love something you don’t ever want to lose it”
Physiotherapy Association conducted a study on what pain means to athletes and suggested that they face difficulty in identifying the fine line between being sore and being in pain. The study also found athletes admitting to hiding their pain from their coaches and specialists. The struggles and decisions that athletes face in a time of pain and need are what matter the most in terms of making smart decisions to avoid any possible longterm consequences. Bolliger said coaches and therapists are able to recognize what types of mechanisms commonly end up with an injury, but the most important is what is being communicated to staff from the athlete on things such as pain, swelling, weakness, and inability to play. Dealing with sports injuries first-hand, Glendinning said the best thing to do in this case is to not rush back into the sport. “If you do have a concussion or any serious injury, pushing it is the worst thing you can do even though you want to play. But
pushing it is going to make it worse … just wait it out,” she said. By listening to coaches, therapists, and getting professional insight, Glendinning took it easy, and that crucial recovery time paid off. “About halfway through third-year university, my grades started going up, I started feeling better, and I wasn’t so anxious all the time about everything,” she said. Being told that Glendinning would probably never play again, she thought it was all over until a specialist told her she seems to be heading in the right direction and hopefully, after a year or so, can get back to playing. Taking time off and taking it slow is pivotal in recovering from an injury. But after a while, Bolliger said they most commonly see psychological barriers to returning, rather than physical barriers. In terms of returning from an injury, the fear of reinjury is the most common struggle athletes face, Bolliger said. “Because they’ve been unable to be active, it’s been a year of a change in their lifestyle for the last nine to 12 months, a fear of that happening again,” she said. A lot of the time athletes will feel separation from their team and athletic environment, and distant from their athletic identity, Bolliger said. When dealing with these changes, Bolliger advises athletes to place themselves in a positive environment, recognize the support system around them and to set long term goals relating to their sports. While Glendinning remembers this as one of the hardest times in her life, the support she had from her teammates, family and friends, all helped her through this journey. After a slow but successful recovery, Glendinning’s advice to athletes is to play their hearts out because you never know when your career will end. “That’s one of the major things that I now focus on, because of everything that’s happened to me, because you never know what’s going to happen the next game,” she said. q
SPRING 2019 | 19
CORE SPORTS
SOCCER: INDOOR VS. OUTDOOR
T
he OCAA is unique in that it offers two variations of the world’s most popular sport, indoor soccer and outdoor soccer. Indoor soccer is quite prevalent in Canada, seeing as a typical soccer pitch is covered in snow for half the year. It is a good way to keep those soccer muscles active, when its -30 outside. Differences in the two sports lie in more than just where they are played. The size of the pitch, the specific rules, and even the cleats differ between outdoor and indoor soccer. The sizing alone results in multiple rule changes that make indoor soccer feel like a completely different sport. The pace of the game is quicker, and the tactics vary. In the 2018/2019 season Humber won the OCAA indoor soccer championship, while Durham College won the outdoor championship, a real testament to the difference between the two sports. The official size of an indoor field cannot exceed 65 metres in length or be smaller than 45 metres in length, with a width between 30 and 23.5 metres, while the typical outdoor pitch is 120 metres by 90 metres. The smaller pitch affects the number of players allowed
By Rafael Indyarta
for the OCAA is 3.5 metres wide and 2 metres high. There is also no offside, and no slide tackling. Defenders need to play with extra care, while attackers are given more freedom to move. Throw-ins are also not used in indoor soccer. Typically, in outdoor soccer, a throw-in is given when the goes out of play
“Indoor and Outdoor soccer have vastly different tactics. The main tactical differences come from the rule differences” on the field. The OCAA allows six players to be on the field at once, but different leagues will have different rules. Some leagues will allow up to eight, others may only allow five. Indoor soccer also plays with a different time frame. The OCAA plays with two periods of 20 minutes, and there is only a 2-minute break in between periods. Some leagues may play for longer periods, and some even play in quarters. Indoor soccer allows for unlimited substitutions, compared to outdoor soccer’s allowance of 3 substitutions. This leads to fresher bodies on the pitch, and more fastpaced action. The net in indoor soccer is also smaller. Players must be a lot more accurate when striking the ball. The official net size
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on the sideline, but in indoor soccer, those are replaced with free kicks. This is because some indoor facilities play with boards (like hockey), so there may not be room. Cleats also differ between the two sports. Outdoor cleats have the typical studs you associate with soccer. Indoor cleats are designed with smaller studs to play on turf, so their studs are a lot smaller. You may even see cleats with flat bottom, typically used for hard floor surfaces. The main tactical differences come from the rule variance. “The difference between the two is that you can play high-tempo, high pressure for an entire 40 minutes in indoor, whereas in [outdoor soccer] it’s impossible to do that,” Julian Carr, Centennial Indoor and
Outdoor Men’s soccer coach said. “You can run it like a hockey team… you can literally have guys out there for 45 seconds to a minute-and-a-half and just run them high tempo… you can run teams right off the park.” Seneca Women’s Indoor Coach, Luca Sirianni, said that his preparations involve more speed training, compared to practice for outdoor soccer. “Our training is more anaerobic in nature with more high intensity interval training requiring more sprinting over shorter distances,” Sirianni said. “At the end of the day it is still soccer with the same objective although the formats differ.” Sirianni said. Coach Carr, on the other hand, finds that the indoor season prepares players for tight space play, but hinders players in other ways. “The big issue we have in Canada is that we spend so much of the time with our kids playing in small spaces, that when they go in a large space in an 11 v. 11, everything gets played short,” He said. Coach Carr said that outdoor remains the more unpredictable of the two, because of the weather. “As soon as you add in the elements… it becomes about how tactically smart you are,” he said. “In indoor, it’s always dead wind, and the superior athletes and players will always win nine times out of ten.” q
CORE SPORTS
HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE: FACT OR FICTION?
T
he first time Hadeza Ismaila played a home game in the Algonquin Thunder gym, she was extremely anxious and had nervous jitters. Ismaila, a pre-health sciences student at Algonquin College, plays for the women's Thunder basketball team. Further into the season now, she feels more comfortable playing at home in the presence of all the Thunder fans. "It just feels more comfortable," Ismaila said. "It's an environment that I'm in three times out of the week, like it's not something new. I don't have to worry about the lines, I know where the out-of-bounds is and I know how much room I have between the out line and the three line." The idea of home field advantage and whether or not it impacts a team’s performance, has always been up for debate. Some teams excel playing at home, while others seem to thrive off of disappointing the crowd at away games. But it doesn't seem to matter to the Thunder women’s basketball team whether they play at home or not. The team has won many of their out of town games, proving that whatever their strategy is, it’s working. The team’s coach Jaime McLean does believe there are advantages to playing at home. "This season we have had great fan support at our games and that has definitely been felt," McLean said. "Having the fan
By Natalie Oattes
support behind you can help rattle the visiting team, as well as pick your team back up when they hit a slump." According to McLean, one of the biggest factors affecting home court advantage is the elimination of travel. "Visiting teams do not come in as fresh as they may like to be and have to get the road legs worked out quickly," McLean said. "It also means that these athletes are not sleeping
“The idea of home field advantage and whether or not it impacts a team’s performance, has always been up for debate”
in their own beds and probably not as well rested as the home team would be." Sometimes Algonquin travels as far as Durham College and Seneca College, both about four hours away, if traffic cooperates. Occasionally, the women's basketball team has weekend road trips out of town where they play on Friday night, followed by Saturday during the day. "Sometimes it's a bit draining because we do the, 'there and back' in one day," Ismaila said. "But the couple times we've traveled
with the guys' team has been really fun too because we all get to talk and listen to music." McLean focuses on planning out the small details so that the team can focus their energy on playing. He wants the away games to feel as similar to the home games as possible. He also ensures everyone is well nourished, arrives early to the gym and keeps their regular sleeping habits. "Every court has the same two baskets, executing the game-plan can not change because you are in a different gym," McLean said. Wayne Wilkins, head coach of the men's Humber volleyball team, strongly believes in home court advantage, and said the fans make a big difference. "Our home crowd is fantastic," he said. "I'm excited to see them go crazy during the provincial championships this year." The men's volleyball team were 16-2 overall this season, and they had a record of 8-1 at home and away. Wilkins said the men’s teams success both home and away is built on their ability to stay true to themselves and their training. Ismaila takes a similar approach and tries to stay focused on remaining positive when playing away games, no matter the crowd. "It's my job to know that I need to be in my own mental set and not listen to what they [away crowd] say, so it's mostly just mentally preparing myself to stay positive throughout the game," she said. q
SPRING 2019 | 21
OCAA HALL
FIFTY FEATURES
Colton Kalkanis
Dave Reinhart
Joanna Alexopulos
Eric Hanna
Kaitlyn McKenna
Kelly Nyhof
Pat Sewell
Rebecca Elliott
Renee Yip
Robert Malbasic
Ryan Talsma
Steve Case
Summer Bly
Tracy Wong
Tunde Reti
Early this spring the OCAA announced new members to the Hall of Fame. Among them are athletes, builders and coaches nominated for their skills, talents, extraordinary contributions and accomplishments within collegiate sports in Ontario. The OCAA’s awards committee includes the head of finances, a handful of athletic directors from colleges across the province and non-members such as retired athletes and previous Hall of Fame inductees. Every two years the committee picks 15 athletes and six coaches and builders. Athletes are selected based on their performance on the court or field, their success in championship wins and individual achievements. Coaches are judged based on their overall records and the accomplishments they have achieved in building sports and bringing new activities into the association. Builders are recognized for their achievements introducing new systems, structures, administrative procedures, and anything else that has helped advance the OCAA or collegiate sport.
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By Daryna Sarhan
David Touchette, vice president of finance and awards, has been working with the OCAA for the past 15 years, and says the organization has evolved in different areas. “What started as a small class of athletes, coaches and builders has advanced to now 15 athletes when it was only five when I joined, also the quality of the banquet and the experience that the inductees have and recognizing them has definitely increased by many times,” Touchette said. Touchette said the organization is happy with what they offer the inductees. “Of course, we’re going to try to get better,” he said. This year, 5 inductees have made it to the Hall of Fame, among them is Bob McArthur who coached at Seneca College from 1999 to 2015, but has been coaching since 1979. McArthur began coaching a women’s rugby team called the Calgary Renegades before moving to Toronto where he was a longtime member of the Toronto Scottish Rugby Club. McArthur has coached at clubs and junior
programs at various times over the years — he has also been a coach at the Pleasant Public School in Toronto where he coaches until this day. One of McArthur’s greatest memories is being defeated after years of victory. “We went five years at Seneca undefeated, we won the provincial championship, the eastern Canada championship, and I remember being asked ‘what is it like to have five seasons undefeated?’ I laughed and said ask me that question after my next game, and the next game we lost 20 points to 70,” said McArthur. He says athletes learn more from games that they lose than games that they win. “I never look at challenges and difficulties, as I tend not to dwell on the negative,” he said. Instead he views it as “opportunities to correct something that happened on the field.” When it comes to success “you have to be lucky and my definition of lucky is preparation meeting opportunity,” McArthur said. “Then you need good players, good athletes to develop their skills, guys who have
OF FAME
FEATURES
COACH’S CORNER On the OCAA’s 50 years of passion
Coach:Bill Smith
Builder: Jim Bialek
Coach: Bob McArthur
Builder: Linda Turcotte
played representative rugby are more skilled and you can perhaps take them to another level.” “Giving young athletes a plan and a bit of structure is a good thing,” said McArthur. “I'm there to provide information and answers and some direction.” “I believe that you know to treat a young man as an adult and you'll get somebody who's an adult dealing with you,” McArthur said he plans to continue coaching until his body gives up. “I say this with a great big smile on my face, as long as my mind is clear and my knees allow me to do some running around, I would love to continue to coach,” he said. Niagara College’s Ray Sarkis has been a builder for 26 years. He was surprised when he heard he was inducted to the Hall of Fame. “It’s really unexpected and a great honour to be recognized by my peers and to join incredible people I learned from,” said Sarkis. Sarkis says he works very hard to provide an equal career opportunity to all athletes. “The OCAA is about volunteers across the province, people working night and day to give an opportunity to student athletes and a privilege to play varsity sports to continue their athletic career, because I would say 99.9 percent of the athletes are competing at colleges in Canada are not going to go on to a pro career so we all work hard to provide that opportunity and that's really our contribution,” said Sarkis. The best memory Sarkis recalls is when
Coach: James Bradley
Builder: Ray Sarkis
LINDA STAPLETON Coach: John McDonald
Builder: Linda Stapleton
CCAA Hall of Fame member Peter Rylander, gave him an opportunity to work in athletics probably a good thing to have coachwhich opened the door fort’singhis 25 year career experience before writing an article for Corner”. Does my single victory with OCAA and CCAA.with“Coach’s the Seneca Sting Women’s Soccer team count, as I stepped in as coach following the ejection of bothto my coaches? “I will forever be grateful him, Peter As we celebrate the OCAAs 50th season this year, I prefer to offer reflections gleaned over passed away this past year, he was a great my 39 years of involvement in one of Canada’s leading sport conferences and the people that person to work with. That's really my fondest make it so. What has changed most significantly since memory because he gave medaysthe the early of theopportunity OCAA? sweat 2016 and recognized what 42 I |can bring to the position and what I can bring to Niagara college and OCAA,” he said. Throughout his time as a builder, Sarkis faced financial challenges, and making difficult decisions on programs and coaches. “We all have those decisions to make and they all are tough decisions,” said Sarkis. Sarkis first got into sports when he was in high-school after joining a volleyball team. When Sarkis moved to Wellington he got heavily involved in coaching baseball and volleyball — but says that was never his plan. “I wanted to [broadcast sports] but that didn't work out, and then an opportunity came along and I was very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time when a gentleman recognized what I could bring to Niagara college,” he said. Sarkis is now considering retirement even though he loves coaching and the athletes. “I love what I do, I enjoy being around the young student athletes, seeing them grow seeing mature and graduate and move on with their lives” said Sarkis. Six successful athletes were inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, among those
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Coach: Jim Henderson for communication were the telephone and the typewriter (which for me required an ample supply of carbon papers to duplicate copies and a pail of white out to correct all of those typos). As personal computers entered the scene, athletic departments and the OCAA office harnessed that power and that of the emerging software to communicate more effectively and instantaneously, to capture league results and expand the very data rich aspect of player statistics. More data supported coaches in player development and game preparation. It also allowed the OCAA to recognize their athletes based upon solid objective criteria and award them accordingly. Partnering with companies like Krossover provides a home for broadcasted games giving coaches and athletes unprecedented access to every team’s game film across the province. It has also revolutionized scouting. Instead of every coach travelling across the province with cameras to obtain video of their opponents for game prep, coaches can scout from their living rooms. Athletes today can receive individualized video isolating their performances and execution of skill within two days rather than the old standard of two weeks. Many member schools are also doing a tremendous job of webcasting their home games and we have seen several schools raising that bar each year: Humber’s first webcast of the OCAA Cross Country Championships; Seneca’s first of simultaneously webcasting multiple badminton courts at the OCAA Badminton Championships. Digital photography, video clips from cell phones combined with social media have provided a powerful mechanism to promote games and provide immediate results. It can also capture images of negative behaviors which reflect on that individual, the team, the school and the association. As our provincial laws, college policies and sport organization rules have become more defined with respect to harassment, dis-
Builder: Wayne Fish
is Ryan Talsma from Redeemer University College who lives to compete. As an organization of college sport leaders “I enjoyed being an athlete because I that gathered around kitchen tables, the success of the OCAA began and continues with the exenjoy being competitive and I enjoy pushing ceptional leadership we have received from athletic directors, executive directors and college staff that volunteer committee athlete,” said Talsma, myself toas convenors be a andbetter members. Over the span of 50 years, the passion demonstrated annually bythe college staff to sup- in 2006. who joined OCAA port their athletes and coaches is unparalleled. Technology has changed the way we work. It When Talsma was is a major element that has significantly and pos- at Redeemer he was itively impacted so many aspects of the game. named the OCAA Men's Volleyball Player of In my rookie administrative year, the main tools the Year, overall OCAA Athlete of the Year and was named All-Canadian three times during his varisty Volleyball career. Looking back on his collegiate days, he says his best memory is when Redeemer hosted the provincial championship game. “I thought it was my last block in my career, we were going for the provincial medal, the fans were just unbelievable and I liked my teammates, it was just all a good experience,” he said. To be successful Talsma says an athlete must first be coachable — some coaches are tougher than others and some athletes are more sensitive than others. Talsma says it’s a huge honour to be in the Hall of Fame and he thanks his coaches, teammates and the athletic directors that have helped him grow. “They all helped me develop in volleyball. I’m so grateful, the time that they spent in volunteer hours and time that they sacrificed to help train me and help me develop both as an athlete and as a person, I’ll forever be grateful for the time that they all spent on that,” said Talsma.
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Gerard Peltier at the Humber College Hall of Fame ceramony in October 2018. (Courtesy of Humber College)
FROM HOCKEY HERO TO EDUCATION LEADER
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t was winter 1970 when Gerard Peltier picked up his first stick and put on his first pair of skates, unaware of a future in hockey that would stretch far beyond his imagination and the backyard pond he learned to play on. “It started with dad yelling at the TV screen,” Peltier recalled. “That’s where I got introduced to it, was my dad watching hockey on a Saturday night.” And for his father, hockey meant the Toronto Maple Leafs. At just eight years old, Peltier was usually in bed, but one fateful Saturday night his dad let him stay up to watch the game. “I got to watch Bobby Orr beat up on the Toronto Maple Leafs. My dad was a big Leafs fan, and he was not too happy that day,” Peltier chuckled. But it was that game and that Saturday night that came to mark
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By Caitrin Hodson
the beginning of a storied hockey career that would send Peltier far from home, to break barriers, win championships and inspire a future generation of First Nations youth. “He was tall, lanky, could skate like the wind, had great moves. He was just smooth,” remembered Dana Shutt, Peltier’s former Humber Hawks coach and Humber Hall of Famer. “He had athletic ability that you just don’t find every day. There was nothing he couldn’t do. He could skate, he could shoot, he could pass, he could play defense.” “In sports, there’s great players and then there’s champions, and champions are different. And Gerard was definitely a champion. And that’s more than just a guy with an ability to play a game,” Shutt said of the former OCAA player. Peltier’s ascension to hockey greatness
began in his hometown, The Wiikwemkoong First Nation. And his success, he said, was due to his parents Sara and Albert “Hardy” Peltier, who pushed him toward his dream and gave him the opportunity to achieve it. “I mean, I was always taught when I was small, if you want it, you go get it. Nobody’s going to do it for you”, Peltier said. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here.” Peltier, who according to his wife Maxine, ,doesn’t do anything halfway, began refining his skills on the pond behind his grandparents’ house, sometimes practicing for six to eight hours a day. “Frozen toes and the whole bit,” he said. And by the time he was 11 or 12, he was good. Very good. It didn’t take for his ambitions to grow beyond the pond. “I was 12 or 13, and one day I just told my dad that I wanted to play professional
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“I was 12 or 13, and one day I just told my dad that I wanted to play professional hockey,” Peltier said. “He looked straight at me and he said, ‘you know what Gerard, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadians, the Boston Bruins, they will never come to Wiikwemkoong, so you’re going to have to do one thing. You’re going to have to leave. Gerard Peltier won two CCAA All-Canadian’s playing hockey for the Humber Hawks. (Courtesy of Humber College)
hockey,” Peltier said. “He looked straight at me and he said, ‘you know what Gerard, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins, they will never come to Wiikwemkoong, so you’re going to have to do one thing. You’re going to have to leave.’” And at just 14 years old, Peltier left home for North Bay, to chase his dream of playing professional hockey. His best man and long-time friend Kevin Wassegijig remembered when Peltier left. Wassegijig, who also grew up in Wiikwemkoong, but was five years Peltier’s junior, said he figured if he wanted to make it in hockey, and if Peltier went to North Bay, it would be a good place for him to go, too. “He was always a role model, somebody we looked up to you. Even when he’d just started, when he was playing at home. Just the way he carried himself,” Wassegijig said. “His commitment to the game and his
commitment to the community. So, a lot of us younger ones coming up behind him really looked up to him.” But it was a tough start for Peltier at Scollard Hall Catholic Boy’s High School, where he said he spent his first two weeks in tears. There were no cellphones in those days, and when you were allowed to call home on Sunday nights you had to wait in line, Peltier recalled, only to get about five minutes on the phone. Leaving home at such a young age isn’t easy for any small-town kid, but being a small-town First Nations kid came with its own set of challenges. Far from home and far from the familiarity of his tight-knit community, Peltier was distinctly aware that he was different from most of the kids at school. “I remember having to stand in front of a crowd, and of course they were all white kids.
A few of us were Indigenous. And you had to introduce yourself. So, I said, ‘my name’s Gerard and I’m from Wiky, and I’m here to get an education and I want to play hockey,’” Peltier said, recalling the snickering and laughing that followed in the background. “I knew who I was. I was a First Nations Indian,” he said. “I knew I was different.” His wife Maxine remembers hearing about the racism that occurred. “When I think about Gerard, some of the stories I heard, and my parents would tell the same stories,” she said. “Being spit at, having garbage thrown at you, being called names.” Peltier also recalled punches being thrown at him from the bench. It was trying and as much as he wanted to play hockey, he was ready to pack it in. But his parents told him to stick it out. “So, I did. And it worked out. Because guess who made the team?” Peltier said. It was fuel for the
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FIFTY FEATURES determined teenager. “I ate, slept, watched and I learned. I went to the rink and I watched the men play, I watched my competitors play, I watched my teammates play.” And in 1981, his tenacity payed off when he was drafted to the OHL’s Cornwall Royals. A team that included future NHL players like Doug Gilmour, Mark Crawford and Dale Hawerchuk. The team won the Memorial Cup that year, beating out the Kitchener Rangers 5 to 2. “We pulled into Cornwall the day after the championship game and there was probably five or six thousand people in our home arena waiting for us,” Peltier recalled. There’s nothing like the welcome-home of thousands of screaming fans, he said. And for a smalltown guy it was amazing. His hockey career was at an all-time high, making it hard to believe that just a year-and-a-half later he would throw his gear on a bonfire, believing it was all over. “I thought I’d hit the end of my life. And I said, ‘that’s it, I quit, I’m done,’” Peltier said. After two years of playing for Cornwall, he’d gone to Michigan to play semi-pro in the IHL for the Muskegon Mohawks but was released after just six months.
“When Shutt heard Peltier was attending Humber in Fall 1986, he wanted him on the team” Back home in Wiikwemkoong, frustrated and discouraged, Peltier decided to go back to North Bay and attend college. He didn’t know it yet, but his hockey career was far from over. And the moments he would identify as his best were yet to come. Peltier had no intention of playing college hockey upon his arrival at Canadore College in fall 1983, but word travelled fast, and eventually a coach tracked him down. “I didn’t want to play, but he made it sound so good,” Peltier said. Joining the team turned out to be a good decision: they made it to the 1984 provincials and Peltier took home is first CCAA All-Canadian and his first CCAA Championship All-Star. Shutt coached the Hawks at that time and
(courtesy of Humber College)
remembers Peltier. “The first time I saw him, he was playing against me for the Canadore College Panthers, and we put out a power play and I thought, ‘Wow this is gonna be good, they’re two men short and alls we’ve gotta do is score a goal in the game,’” he remembered, laughing at what happened next. Gerard, who was behind the net, deked out their power play, scoring for the Panthers. When Shutt heard Peltier was attending Humber in Fall 1986, he wanted him on the team. Peltier, who’d taken time off hockey to start a family with his wife Maxine, wasn’t sure if he could balance his commitment to his family with earning money, going to school, and playing hockey. But Shutt convinced him. “I hadn’t skated in two years, and I was going to play college hockey,” Peltier said. When Peltier stepped on the ice for the first time, Shutt said, “like anybody else, he was not quite the player he was when I saw him the year before, but I knew who he was.” And it was only a few weeks before Peltier took to the ice once again. “He’s a beautiful skater. He’s a smart hockey player, so it didn’t take him long,” Maxine recalled. Shutt remembers Peltier as a humble man and a terrific hockey player, who never carried an ego and was never above hard work. If the coach asked him to sweep out the dressing room, he would, Shutt said. He never yelled at the referees or his teammates. And with a quiet combination of skill, humility and the desire to take his team to the top, Shutt said Peltier carried himself like a champion. “It was magical from the moment he walked in.” He was unselfish, it wasn’t about him, Shutt said. He wanted the team to win and the players on his team and the other teams respected him because of that. He made an impression on everyone he Gerard Peltier (left), his grandson Koda Peltier and his son Jesse Peltier stand outside of the Meadowvale 4 ever played with, against, or for, Shutt said. Rinks arena in Mississauga, where Koda played in the Little Native Hockey League’s 48th tournament “Many people you forget, and I don’t forget
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Gerard Peltier with his family at the Humber College Hall of Fame ceremony in October 2018. (courtesy of Humber College) Courtesy of Gerard Peltier
anything about him.” “He just had that special quality about him, on and off the ice, and he made those Humber teams champions. We won five championships in a row and Gerard was definitely a huge part of those.” In addition to two championships at Humber, Peltier added two more CCAA All-Canadian honours to his roster. “A lot of superstars want to be treated special. He didn’t want any special treatment, he just wanted me to treat him as a player and he was truly — and I’ve always said this, I’ve had players tell me that they were honored to play for Humber or honored to play for me. And Gerard was a player I can honestly say, I’m honored to have coached him,” Shutt said. Reflecting on his hockey career, Peltier said he appreciated his college years most. “I enjoyed the All-Canadian a little bit more, because with those I participated a lot more, I excelled, I put numbers up. Whereas the first year I was in Cornwall, I didn’t see the ice as much. To tell you the truth, my butt saw a lot of slivers,” he laughed. “But I was still part of a great team, that had a lot of great players. I won’t sell that short.” And despite the milestones, awards and championships, his voice swells with pride the most when he talks about his family, his community and his work as a First Peoples
Recruitment and Retention Officer at Canadore College. Their four boys learned how to play hockey on the backyard rink, said Maxine. “We always had a rink in the backyard. Because he has this belief that a backyard rink is where you get some of your best skills, and where you have the most fun,” she said. Kids from all over the community would come to play, under one condition. “You had to have your homework done. So, everybody would get their homework done. And if one wasn’t done their homework, then nobody went on the rink,” she said, laughing. “I can’t believe the kids fell for it.” This strong belief in education and a passion for helping Indigenous youth succeed made Peltier a great candidate for his role at Canadore. “I will speak to the students about the importance of education. I will speak to the students about the importance of planning for their post-secondary, everything that goes on in between and what to expect when you’re leaving home,” Peltier explained. Because he knows first-hand how hard it can be. The culture shock isn’t easy and his office is there to ensure students have the support they need to transition. He knows how important representation is for First Nations students and credits the institutions for stepping up.
“Almost every institution in Ontario is being represented and that just goes to show you that those institutions understand the value of recruiters going out and speaking to those kids. Because we have a connection to them. And when they do get here, there’s a friendly face,” Peltier said. “My community helped me do the things I needed to do. They provided that support for education, they provided that support for my sport. So, I give back,” he said. Giving back to his community, putting himself before others and challenging First Nations youth to pursue their goals seems to come naturally to Peltier. He speaks with a humbleness that never brags or boasts, and with a gratitude for every achievement and every challenge in his life. And it’s evident that he leaves a mark on every person he encounters. Last year, 30 years after playing for the Humber Hawks, Peltier was inducted into the 2018 Humber Hall of Fame. The website describes him as “the best player on one of the top teams in the nation, and arguably the best to ever put on a Humber Jersey.” Referring to Peltier as an “exemplary human being,” Shutt said, “I don’t even think about him as hockey player. That’s a part of his life, but there’s so much more to that man.” q
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HUSKIES RULE THE BADMINTON COURT
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By Rick Woodard
or the better part of the last decade, one program in the OCAA has been synonymous with continued success in the sport of badminton. The George Brown Huskies have long been recognized as the gold standard in the game, not only in Ontario but at the national level as well, bringing numerous medals and banners back to Toronto. In an era of sports where parity has become the norm, and dynasties are less of a regular occurrence than they once were, it’s not as far-fetched as one might think to mention George Brown’s badminton program in the same breath as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots or Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. After so many years of sustained success, it’s impossible to ignore the juggernaut that the team has become. “My first year, we got a silver in men’s doubles and a bronze in mixed doubles at provincials,” says head coach Will Schram, now in his fourth year at the helm. “In my second year, we had developed the program much more, really got quite a few of our athletes playing at a much higher level. Then
good at instructing the players, teaching us the technique and the skills,” says Hoang. “Howard [Wong] is another coach, he’s really good at giving advice and talking about our
has been maintaining the team’s high level of play. No team is perfect and there is always room for improvement. Those silvers can be turned into golds and George Brown’s
last year, we got two golds and three silvers.” Succeeding on a regular basis is an impressive feat no matter how you look at it, but it’s even more remarkable at the collegiate level, where rosters change so drastically from year to year. For the Huskies, the secret may well lie in the diversity of the coaching staff. “George Brown has a pretty good badminton team, first of all, because of the coaches. So, we have four different coaches and each of them has different strengths,” says Anh Hoang, a second-year player who won gold at the provincial tournament in 2018, along with a silver at the national tournament. “For example, Coach Schram — he’s very aggressive, his observation is really good and his strategy is really good as well.” Schram is but one cog in the machine. “We have another coach, his name is Donnie [Tai], and he’s like a soft coach, he’s
strategies on the court, and motivating us. A new coach, her name is Yunji [Kim], is the only female coach on the team, which is really good for the female players on the team.” Training and coaching will only get you so far in team sports. That’s why it’s important to build a strong rapport with your teammates and ensure that each and every athlete is in a good place, something that Hoang stresses is key in the Huskies’ yearly run to nationals. “For the players, we not only focus on playing badminton, we also focus on studying and we know how to balance everything,” she says. “We get along well with each other to make the team strong, everyone cheers for each other when other people play. We’re really good friends, as well.” Schram came into a program that had already established itself as a powerhouse, so the focus for him and his assistant coaches
reputation in the badminton community can be solidified even more. “Basically, we’re working on consistency as a whole, just working on consistency drills. You know, footwork, high percentage shots,” says Schram, who goes on to mention that his team’s 2018 was the most successful year for any program in the history of George Brown athletics. As for what comes next for a team and a coaching staff that has seemingly done it all, staying on top would seem to be a pretty reasonable goal. After all, Huskies fans have come to expect a certain winning pedigree. “Our goal is to get as many medals and send as many teams as possible to nationals,” says Schram. “Last year, we sent four teams and lost by a few points, so obviously once again, three, four, five teams.” “Last year is going to be a tough year to beat, man,” he said laughing. q
“For the players, we not only focus on playing badminton, we also focus on studying and we know how to balance everything”
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SMALL SCHOOL, BIG SCREEN
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By Zach Mulder
estled away in the small community of Ancaster on the outskirts of Hamilton is the OCAA’s smallest member. With an enrollment of under 700 students, Redeemer University College is a private Christian college that competes in the OCAA against schools up to 10 times their size. But what they may lack in size is more than made up for in the heart shown by their fans, both in person as well as online, where their games are available live and on demand through Royals TV. Royals TV is the name of the streaming service provided by Redeemer, and they broadcast all the school’s home games live and on demand on the Royals’ website. They aren’t the only college to offer this service. Larger schools such as Mohawk and Niagara produce more intricate broadcasts that can
home games last year were on weekends, we were able to make it to watch Abby.” The Sluys live in Thamesville, Ont., which is a two-hour drive from Redeemer. It’s not always feasible to make the journey. However, with sports being such a big aspect of their family, it was important to her to be able to watch and support her daughter. “They have eight home games, we’ll probably be using it about 80 per cent of the time,” says Sluys. Marj Bergsma was in a similar situation to Sluys last year, using the service to watch her daughter play on Redeemer’s women’s soccer team. Though her daughter didn’t continue with varsity sports for the 2018-2019 season, Bergsma still uses Royals TV to support the school’s teams. “We just really enjoy it, especially the guys’
include commentary and multiple cameras. But it’s the enthusiasm shown by the Royals’ fans coupled with the simplicity of their broadcast that make them special. For many home games, the gym is standing room only. The dedication of their fans is something the Redeemer Royals take pride in, and it’s well known throughout the league. In the 2017-2018 season, the Royals set out to create an unofficial OCAA fan attendance record. The goal of 10,000 fans in the stands over the course of the year was a lofty one, and in the end, they finished with 9,502. But if you counted those who used Royals TV, that number would have been blown out of the water. It’s a service that gets a lot of use from students and parents alike as a way to watch games they can’t attend in person. Patricia Sluys is one of those parents, and uses Royals TV to watch her daughter Abby play on Redeemer’s women’s volleyball team. “We use [Royals TV] whenever we can’t make it to a home game which is typically this year frequently,” says Sluys. “Most of their home games are through the week, when their
basketball,” says Bergsma enthusiastically. “We started watching that last year and just thought it was fun to watch. We went to one of the games at Redeemer and thought that was a lot of fun and then we just realized if it worked out, if it was convenient, we could tune in and watch them on Royals TV.” The pride and support that Bergsma shows is something that’s uncharacteristic of most OCAA schools, yet is the standard for the Royals. Helana Mulder is a secondyear student at Redeemer and sells tickets at the games. (Full disclosure: Mulder is the writer’s cousin.) Guests pay $5 for a ticket, but students are admitted for free. “It’s so loud,” says Mulder. “Redeemer’s home crowd is crazy because all the student’s live on campus basically so the bleachers are filled and we cheer so loud. It’s so intense.” But being a small school means the ability to make Royals TV a grandiose production isn’t there, even if the demand is. They make do with what they have. “I’ve done the video once,” says Mulder. “It’s literally just a camcorder and then you set it up on a tripod and you record it. It’s
set up so it’s pointed down at the game and just moves as the action goes. There’s no commentary or anything, it’s just pure video footage.” After they’re broadcast, the games are available on demand. It’s something the athletes take advantage of as a way to enhance their training. “A lot of the athletes use it,” says Mulder. “Their team will watch the game film, but before that they usually go back and watch it right away. Sometimes we watch it if it was a really intense game.” If you ask members of the Redeemer community what inspires this support, they’ll give an answer along the same lines. It comes down to community. As a Christian college, faith is a big part of their lives, and with it comes a tight-knit bond. “I appreciate the community feeling over there,” says Bergsma fondly. “It’s very much community minded. Also, their effort at being present in the Hamilton community. They try and do a lot of good things in the city itself and I appreciate that.” Being a Royal isn’t just something you are when you go to Redeemer. It’s a mindset that the community has adopted. It means faith, it means enthusiastic support and it means watching the games even when you’re unable to make the two-hour drive to Ancaster and be there in person. q
“The pride and support that Bergsma shows is something that’s uncharacteristic of most OCAA schools, yet is the standard for the Royals”
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STICKING TOGETHER By Kavan Young
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uring an OCAA provincial championship tournament in 2017, the Centennial Colts men’s soccer team was staying at a hotel outside Toronto. They had just eaten dinner together and had gotten back to the hotel at a reasonable hour, so assistant coach Dave Lattavo thought he would have a little fun with the guys. He gathered the players in a common area of the hotel near the pool and gym, set up a big oval made of pylons and started taping their legs and wrists together. They were going to have a three-legged race. There was a small twist though. Lattavo grouped the players together in threes instead of the traditional two, making it a four-legged race. The increase in difficulty here cannot be understated. Inside, space was limited, so Lattavo actually organized a bracket and had the teams run their races in heats. At first it was a mess. Players were falling all over each other and struggling to get back to their feet as they worked out the kinks. Over the course of the mini tournament, Lattavo and head coach Julian Carr could see the players working together to find the most efficient way to run the race. At the end, everyone was smiling and laughing. The next day, the Colts were victorious and moved on to the next round of the tournament. These types of activities are a light-hearted way of helping the players get to know each other and create a bond off the field, court or rink. For Carr and Lattavo, that’s the key to creating a long-lasting, successful team. “I think by having good character off the field,” said Lattavo, now in his fifth year with the Colts, “people can give constructive criticism and receive constructive criticism without feeling any negative feelings towards that individual that’s criticizing them.” He says people with good character can identify their imperfections and improve upon them without taking feedback personally. That makes it easier for the players to like each other, and when the players like each other, they play harder for each other. This is something that Natasha Spaling, head coach of the Niagara Knights women’s volleyball team, really believes in.
“Off of the court, I think it’s really important to develop good people and not just people that can play volleyball,” she says. “Anybody can just play volleyball.” Spaling is in her first year as a head coach after graduating from the University of Alberta’s masters of coaching program in June. At just 25 years old, she is one of the youngest women’s volleyball head coaches in the entire OCAA. She brings a fresh, modern perspective to her team. “Her style is very self-driven,” said Tamara Edwards, a 19-year-old middle blocker for the Knights. “For the players that are on the court, she wants us to figure out how to solve the problems ourselves and she lets the athletes direct their own goals and stuff.” That kind of style has quickly earned Spaling the respect of her players, but she says she just tries to lead by example and earn her team’s trust. “If they leave here knowing that I worked as hard as I could for them and they worked as hard as they could for me, then that’s all I can really ask,” she said. Part of that trust comes from taking the players’ mind off volleyball for a while and focusing on developing connections. The Knights don’t do a lot of minute-to-win-it games, but instead do exercises that help the team get to know each other on a personal level instead of just competitively. One exercise Spaling likes to do is what she calls 7-5-3-1. Each athlete starts off talking about themselves for seven minutes. They are free to talk about whatever they like, so long as it pertains to them. Then they do the same for five minutes, then three minutes, then one minute. At the end, they need to sum themselves up in one sentence.
“The point of it is, what you talk about really turns out to be what’s the most important things to you,” she says. “Eventually as it’s getting whittled down more and more, you kind of learn that what this person is talking about is the most important thing.” She continued by saying that some people talk about their families, their academics or what they want to do in life. Their teammates learn a lot about them and, sometimes, people even learn some things about themselves. “It allows people to talk about things that normally maybe wouldn’t come up in a regular context,” she said. “You can do it on a bus, it only takes like 20 minutes and then you’re done, they can go back to sleep, they can go back to doing whatever they want to do.” Edwards says the connection you make on the court is different than the one off the court and training together every day in a competitive environment and having casual interactions makes for a stronger team morale. Edwards organized a team bonding gift card exchange party over the Christmas holidays and said that because the team has players from out of town, it was extra important to be there for each other at that time of year. “In those times where we do have practice and they don’t get to see their families,” Edwards said, “it’s really important to have that team aspect and family support around them so that they don’t feel like they’re missing out on things at home.” Being part of a sports team is so much more than just playing a game with one another. It’s about growing together and creating lasting relationships. It’s about building each other up and supporting each other through good times and bad. q
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LOL: THE RISK OF LAUGHING YOGA By Alisha Mughal
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ynn Himmelman’s yoga classes take place in The Pioneer Room of Riverdale Presbyterian Church, right off Danforth Avenue in Toronto. When Himmelman, first to arrive, flicked on the warm, pale yellow lights on Feb. 13 at 6:20 p.m., she revealed the bare room. The floor was covered in grey Berber carpet and in the corner stood stacks of chairs and a few trestle tables. The room was wheelchair accessible and the floors squeaked in that high-pitched way that old buildings have of squeaking. The air was warm, the heating hadn’t been turned off yet, and it was heavy with the scent of damp wood and history, like a preserved room from the 19th century — it was a mouldering churchy scent. Himmelman teaches laughter yoga class every Wednesday evening, at 6:30 p.m. On Himmelman’s website, she suggests attendees bring drinking water, as one might suggest for a workout class.
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“Laughter is a form of breathing,” Himmelman said earlier that evening in her home studio, where she teaches students how to be laughter yoga instructors. Old, stale air that gets left behind in the lungs through shallow breathing is exorcised through the laughter that Himmelman prescribes, she said. Exercise gets a person breathing more, allows them to push the stale air out. Through yoga, this exorcism of stale air is done consciously — in this case through laughter. Deep breathing is something that the yogi actively engages in, but with laughter yoga, this can be done without having to do downward-facing dog . Savage, Lujan, Thipparthi, and DiCarlo in 2017, in an article in American Physiological Society, write that William F. Fry, one of the first people to study laughter’s connection to healing, found that after three minutes of sustained laughter, “pulmonary secretions” would be removed from the body. In other words, the airways would be cleared because
of the deep outtakes of breath, the forced exhalation. Himmelman’s class on the snowy evening of Feb. 13 began with four students and Himmelman sitting in a circle on chairs. For our first exercise, we had to share a bad experience from that day, and then we had to laugh about it. The rest of the group would join in the laughter only after the storyteller had started to laugh at their unfortunate tale. The day had been stormy, the roads had been difficult — everything and everyone had been running late. Himmelman told of how frustrating it had been that morning for her to brush the thick snow off her car. And then she started to laugh. “I was almost T-boned,” I said, recounting the story from earlier in the day when I narrowly escaped colliding with a left-turning vehicle in an intersection. “I could’ve died.” Danny, a man in his sixties attending the class for the first time, gasped. And then I laughed.
FEATURES Everyone else started to laugh, and Himmelman exclaimed through laughter, “But you lived to tell the tale!” The idea behind the exercise was to laugh at something we don’t typically consider funny — it was a glass half-full kind of exercise. Himmelman is a certified laughter yoga teacher and a “Toronto Laughing Champion,” according to her website. She received her certification from Dr. Kataria’s School of Laughter Yoga. “Laughter yoga was started in 1995 by a medical doctor named Doctor Madan K a t a r i a , ” Himmelman said earlier that evening. Her voice was steady and clear, as of a professor lecturing. Kataria, based in Mumbai, India, had been writing a research paper at the time on the therapeutic potential of laughter, Himmelman said. Focused as he was on laughter, Kataria looked at the people around him and noticed just how much they were not laughing. “One morning at 4 a.m., he got this lightbulb idea. He thought, ‘Well, we need more laughter. I’m going to go out into the park and invite people to laugh with me,’” she said. Kataria, Himmelman said, approached about 100 people that morning, and “in the end, that first day, there were five people laughing together in a park in Mumbai.” It was Kataria, his wife, a friend, and then two other people “he managed to enlist.” But the following days would see more and more people joining Kataria’s group. Himmelman told this story in the way a practised storyteller tells her tale for the hundredth time. Her voice was unhesitant, wavering in tone only when she would laugh, which was often. But after laughing, her voice would resume the steady tone it always maintained in speech. She very well might have told her story 100 times — she began class later that evening retelling it to the attendees. One of the attendees, Anne, had been showing up to class for a long time and had become certified as a laughter yoga teacher by Himmelman. Another attendee, Bethany, had come to two previous classes, that Wednesday was her third, and she would soon herself become a laughter yoga teacher.
And then there was Danny. He came along with Bethany. Danny seemed skeptical. When Bethany told her glass half-full story — she’d returned to work after a few days off to find the cupboards in her office’s communal kitchen to be in disarray, after she’d left them in immaculate condition, she was frustrated and disheartened — Danny scoffed. Another woman came in during this warm-up exercise. She worked at a nursing home and had also become certified through Himmelman to be a laughter yoga teacher. She taught laughter yoga to the people at the
“I had a lot of knee-jerk negative response to the idea of making the laugh happen. Of purposefully making the laughter. I would say, interestingly enough, there aren’t as many people like me as there are people who will actually go along with the concept.” In the class, Danny’s glass half-full story was about his 25-year-old son. His son lived with him and commuted to work with him every morning. Danny had a difficult time getting his son to wake up. He would have to yell and yell every morning. Danny laughed after his tale, and we joined along. Like Danny, Himmelman was a skeptic at first. “I didn’t come back right away after my first experience,” Himmelman said earlier that day. “I was very resistant, but at the same time I knew I needed to be laughing more than I was. So laughter yoga, therefore, has become this discipline of coming together with others to laugh without jokes or humour, without really needing a reason to laugh. The only reason being, really, ‘I want to laugh more.’” We are beings of light by nature, Himmelman said. Laughter yoga encourages getting into a lighter place so that “we allow joy to erupt.” “Joy is part of our makeup. We were born joyful. Babies are these joyful little bundles of love. You can’t help but love them, because this quality of joy is programmed into us. Unfortunately, through life circumstances, through the hard knocks of life, maybe through difficult upbringing, hardships, we lose contact with the truth of who we really are. We are these bundles of light and joy, but we forget.” What laughter yoga allows her students to learn is “how to be light and playful.” Himmelman, through her laughter yoga classes, aims to allow a means by which her students may to rediscover who they used to be. “We’re going to just become like children,” she said, looking forward to her class that evening. “I was a professional opera singer for 12 years,” she said. “I took various theatre courses,” along with improv classes that would have her pretending to be a tree or a frog. In her laughter yoga classes, she brings elements of her past to the classes. Expect to
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re faking a laugh, or you are laughing wholeheartedly for real. Your body doesn’t know the difference” nursing home. A final woman came in during the second exercise. Back in her cosy home earlier that evening, Himmelman went on with Kataria’s story. On the tenth day, Kataria, laughing in the park in the ‘90s, was in danger of losing his laughter group. Different people found one joke or another offensive for one reason or another, Himmelman said, and they wanted to disband. Kataria did not want to lose his group. So he did some research and found the work of a gelotologist, the study of laughter and its effects on the human body. The term was invented by Fry. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re faking a laugh, or you are laughing wholeheartedly for real. Your body doesn’t know the difference,” Himmelman said of the research that Kataria found. “Through his [the gelotologist whose work Kataria found] scientific research, he had discovered that if somebody just ‘Ha ha ha he he he ho ho ho,’ even though it sounds very fake, it would still have the same physiological and psychological effect as if somebody had been laughing for real. As long as they did it wholeheartedly and willingly.” Kataria decided that he would apply this concept to his group. According to Himmelman’s story, the people in Kataria’s group the next day laughed more than they did on any other day “just with jokes.” “I was very uncomfortable with it when I was first introduced to it,” Himmelman said of her first encounter with forced laughter.
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FIFTY FEATURES laugh while pretending to be a tree. One of the exercises that evening had us looking at our wrist, pointing at it and then laughing. It was time to laugh. Oftentimes during our discussion earlier that day, Himmelman would lapse into laughter and it was difficult to tell whether this was a laughter exercise or genuine laughter — her real and fake laugh sounded identical to the ear. Himmelman taught yoga for twelve years before transitioning to teaching laughter yoga because she got “hooked” onto it. She is able to train and certify others to be laughter yoga instructors. Her training is linked with Laughter (Photo by Sai Durga Gona) Yoga International, whose certification is a hilarious, and they start laughing for real. “If you just keep listening to the instructor, world-recognized certification and is signed by Kataria and then by Himmelman, she said. and doing what is being asked of you, it kicks She feels that coming to a single class in naturally. It isn’t something you have to of laughter yoga is absurd, tantamount of think so much about. After a while, you find performing an exercise once in a lifetime. For yourself again.” It’s about taking risks, she Himmelman, laughter yoga is a lifestyle. She said. Of not being afraid to look like a fool. “I used to have what I referred to as the bemoaned those who come to only one of her classes, who pass judgement on her and them inhibited, backward laugh,” she said. She used to be shy. But laughter yoga is about and then never come back. Himmelman’s drop-in class costs $14, uninhibited laughter, laughing as yourself. There is a laughter yoga exercise that is and children under 12 are allowed in free of charge. For someone who has already been about laughing at yourself, literally. She certified as a “Laughter Yoga Leader” by asked me to try it with her. “Take two fingers, point to yourself, think Himmelman, a class is $7. “It’s like I’ve just put a candy in my about all those things that you’re hard on mouth,” she said while laughing. I tried to yourself for, and you just have a good laugh,” ask her a question, but she wouldn’t stop she said, noting that she and I needed to laughing. “It’s the next closest thing to maintain eye contact throughout. The things we’re hard on ourselves for, breathing,” she said eventually. “Try it,” she said. “It activates muscles like almost getting T-boned, are the things we here,” she said with her hands on her typically don’t laugh about. “Laughter has cured me of all of that,” abdomen. “Try it.” Her background in performing arts got she said of her anxieties. Letting go and in the way of laughter yoga at first, she said. laughing helped her get over the trauma of She wanted to be the best at everything, and losing her sister as a child, her tensions with she was not good at laughter yoga when she her mother, her mother’s death. “A lot of first tried it. And what’s more, laughter yoga things accumulated,” she said — melancholy needed her to push air out from a different and depression set in. She forgave, but was part of her, and it hurt her throat, which as an still in the habit of being serious. “Laughter yoga just really helps break through that old opera singer was her greatest asset. When I asked her about whether there encrustation of seriousness.” “We need to get serious about laughter,” was ever a day when she did not feel like laughing, she cited one of Kataria’s YouTube she said, laughing. At the end of our talk, she had me laugh videos that has him faking laughter. To the viewer, she said, this man faking laughter is with her for 15 seconds. Her sustained
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laughter sounded just the same as any time she laughed genuinely. The act of laughter itself can cause the heart rate to increase, along with the rate at which the laugher breathes, and how deep these breaths are — laughter tends to lead to deeper breaths, University of Alberta professor William B.Strean writes in a 2009 article from Canadian Family Physician. He notes a particular relaxed state that immediately follows laughter: the muscles relax, and the heart rate, breathing rate and depth that increased during laughter, all decrease. Himmelman continued to laugh for a bit after I had stopped, to demonstrate how much air left her without much coming in. “There’s this intense squeezing of muscles, but by the time you’re done, all the muscles relax. There’s this release of tension.” At the end of her class that evening, Himmelman had us lie down on a blue tarp that she had brought with her. It was time for 10 minutes of laughter. She dimmed the lights so that we wouldn’t look at each other as we laughed. The first couple of minutes went well. And then it got exhausting. If you hadn’t brought recommended bottle of water with you, you’d be regretting it at this point as your grinning mouth became dry. Earlier, Himmelman had told me that this sustained laughter is a skill, and she certainly spent the 10 minutes unwavering in her laughter. But Danny got up a couple of times. “Alright, that’s enough,” I heard him say at one point. At the end of the ten minutes, Himmelman had us assume a fetal position before rising to a seated position. Once seated, she asked us how we felt. Most all said they felt calmer. Anne said she felt the same way she usually feels after one of her more intense yoga classes. “Beats crying,” Danny said. Scientists still have a lot of work to do to determine exactly how laughter impacts the human body. Laughter is not being recommended by Himmelman as “the cure.” We can live our lives, she said, she just wants us to laugh more while doing it. q
FEATURES
(courtesy of St. Clair College)
P
THE RISE OF THE DIGITAL ATHLETE
laying videogames is considered by most people as a way to burn time and to have fun alone or with friends. It’s also commonly perceived as unproductive and for many years the media has used the videogame industry as a scapegoat for some of society’s problems. Who would have thought that playing videogames would be as profitable as it is today and that first world country educational facilities would be so eager to get involved? Geoffrey Lachapelle, the eSports coordinator and lecturer at the game development program at Humber College, was a professional gamer when he was younger, before he decided to enroll for secondary education. “At that time in the industry if you made it, you would be looking at 20 to 30 thousand dollars a year on income and you would be playing seven days a week for that and that’s if you were really lucky if you made it. There were few people that were making the kind of money we are seeing even now, let alone
By Rodrigo Díaz Maingon
making nearly enough to make it worthwhile. You had to get to the top one per cent to do that,” he says. He had the choice to continue trying to get to that elite group built he decided to keep aiming for the industry from another angle. He went to Ryerson University for media production and focused on doing videogames and eSports content. Humber College has been supporting eSports and in November 2018, opened a dedicated training room for the college’s esports teams and clubs. The eSports staff and students involved named the room “the dojo”. In efforts to keep this initiative going, Humber has been coordinating with its eSports staff to organize videogame tournaments on its premises almost every week. Lachapelle wanted to get into esports from the production side, he had to study a program related to what he wanted to do and then adjust what he learned and use it towards his goal. Post-secondary Students in 2019 can
now actually go through an academic program tailored towards the eSports industry. Shaun Byrne is the eSports director for Saints Gaming, at St. Clair College and the coordinator of a newly introduced academic program that aims to prepare students for a new industry that is growing each year at an exhilarating pace. “One of the questions that I hear more often when I attend eSports conferences is that lot of colleges and universities that are starting varsity programs don’t know where to hire talent, talented staff that work in this industry,” he explains. St. Clair college launched the eSports Business and Entrepreneurship program in January of this year after recently gaining approval from the education ministry and opening its registration period in October. The program currently has 27 students. “The students will be graduating in Spring of 2021 and they will be some of the first students in the world with a diploma focused
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FIFTY FEATURES
(courtesy of Durham College)
on the eSports industry,” Byrne says. According to a report from newzoo, the global eSports industry’s economy will go beyond the one billion-mark by the end of 2019, which represents an increment 26.7 per cent from last year’s revenues. Most of this revenue will come from sponsorship, which represents almost half of the total industry’s revenue. “On a pro level, the industry is blowing up right now. You have multiple leagues that have started franchising including a lot of traditional sports. Owners of teams moving into the eSports stage and spending a lot of money in doing so,” he says enthusiastically. The most notable example of what Byrne is talking about can be found back when the Overwatch League started, in 2017. Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, bought the Boston Uprising, a team that was going to take part in first league season of the popular Blizzard’s first-person shooter game, for a speculated sum of around $20 million and transformed it into a franchise. “Students can expect to apply for a wide variety of jobs after they graduate like a coach, analyst, on-air personality, broadcaster or eSports director at a college. Any job that currently exists in the traditional sports industry already exists or will exist in the near future in the eSports industry as well,” he explains. While beginning to stride in the academic area, St Clair College has been experiencing success with their 2017 established eSports
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team in the varsity sector, the Saints. “We have multiple of our teams on the top 12 best in North America which is a pretty amazing feat since we are a small college from Ontario and we go up against these gigantic universities in the US and still manage to get to that top 10-level,” Byrne says. Byrne also explained that an eSports team training regime isn’t that different from a traditional sports team. They have weekly practices, film reviews of previous matches and future opponents and they travel to tournaments on weekends as well. It’s no surprise then that the eSports disciple is being seriously considered for the list of Olympic sports and could make its debut during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games or that, for the first time ever, a famous Fortnite streamer, Ninja, was featured on ESPN’s magazine in September 2018. Byrne admits that the Saints achievements have the media’s eye’s on the college and that he wouldn’t be surprised if, in the near future, they get called to be on some of the biggest stages of eSports. “We’ve been just on the brink, we are close, almost ready to break through and be invited to some of these live events in California and that sort of thing. We are hoping that within the next year or two at least one of our teams will manage to do just that.” St. Clair is not the only College in Canada that is heavily investing in eSports, Durham College has decided to, literally, build a foundation for it at their campus.
“On a pro level, the industry is blowing up right now. You have multiple leagues that have started franchising including a lot of traditional sports. Owners of teams moving into de eSports stage and spending a lot of money in doing so” They started planning the construction of an eSports arena, similar to the ones in which professional matches take place and spectators can watch the matches, inside their installations. The official date of its launch will be on Apr. 2 of 2019 but there will have a soft launch at the college’s open house on March 23. Marianne Marando, executive dean of the School of Business, IT & Management at Durham College, explained that they started planning this project since early 2018 and that the construction began in summer of 2018. “We did some research and we found out that eSports is one of the fastest-growing industries in gaming. eSports and gaming are a huge opportunity in terms of programming and for the students, we also heard from students that they enjoy games, so part of it was to provide a service to our students that we know they would enjoy,” she explains. Marando admitted that Durham College also has plans of incorporating eSports into their academic curriculum in some form. While it’s not finalized as to whether this will mean the new program would be structured to fit the new infrastructure, she said that the now finished eSports arena will contribute to the formation of students from other current programs. “There are opportunities for event planning, sports, marketing programs. We think there are many opportunities in our current programs for students to get the most out of this arena and the events that will take place in it,” she says. q
FEATURES
MOHAWKS EMBARRASING MOMENTS By Iliyana Shoushounova
D
uring an embarrassing play, it’s the athlete’s responsibility to choose how to deal with it. If they get hit in the face with a soccer ball, slip on the ice or even fail to protect their net, they have the choice to learn from it or to let it affect how they are going to play.
Sweat spoke with several OCAA athletes and they shared their embarrassing moments. The athlete’s stressed that even though they had a funny story to share, what really matters is what they learned from it.
JESSICA HEIDBUURT,
JINIL PATEL, 20,
BENNETT CANDY, 24,
SECOND-YEAR HEALTH, WELLNESS AND FITNESS STUDENT:
SECOND-YEAR HEALTH, WELLNESS AND FITNESS STUDENT:
SECOND-YEAR POLICE FOUNDATIONS STUDENT:
Heidbuurt started playing volleyball at Mowhawk College two years ago and although she had fourteen years of experience she made a rookie mistake. “I know the rules of volleyball but I went up for a block and the ball came between me and the net – so usually you can just play it back up,” she explains. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to her she had caught the ball instead and instantly felt her face becoming red. Heidbuurt explains that as soon as that happened, the ref blew his whistle and gave her a funny look. To make matters more embarrassing she says everyone was laughing at her. Based on Heidbuurt’s experience she says she just laughs it off and to not let it get to her. “It happens to everybody and to not let it get to you and just fight back harder and work harder,” she advises.
Patel is a 5’6 international goalkeeper who struggled a lot during the beginning of his soccer career at Mohawk College due to his height. “People tell me that I’m short and cannot keep and everything,” he says. “[During] my first game I was so nervous. I couldn’t do anything, people were scoring on me, everyone was watching and everyone was laughing.” During a game at the University of Waterloo, Patel had saved a penalty kick but missed an easy goal.“At that point, I found out that people don’t remember that you saved a penalty, people only remember that you missed a goal that was easy to save,” he says. “Even if you don’t do well in a game, people talk bad about you, your only duty is to just shoot and let it go. I need to improve more [on my] skills and my position because height is just a privilege goalkeepers get, if they don’t have height they can still be in the game, it doesn’t matter if you’re tall or short.”
Candy has been playing volleyball for seven years and explains his most embarrassing moment as an athlete. “I went out for an attack, there was no block, no one was even close to me it should’ve been an easy kill,” he says. “[At] the big point in the game I just shot the ball at the back of the court. Everyone in the whole gym expected it to go into the court and I managed to shoot it way out [to] the sides.” The ball had limply rolled away across the gym floor, and that was when he realized he probably blew the easiest pass of his life. “The best athletes in the world, I would say, are the ones who turn mistakes into [something] positive and learn the most from them to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” he explains. “So when they are in that big moment or something happens that a mistake can be made, they have already experienced that [and] they know how to basically correct it so that mistake doesn’t happen again.” q
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FIFTY FEATURES
SWEAT IT OUT: HOME
HIIT WORKOUT
By Abbie Jack
W
hether you’ve lost your passion and drive for working out or maybe just don’t know where to start, quick home workouts are the best place to begin. Exercising at home works well for those who are new to fitness and those who have difficulty prioritizing time for the gym. Carving out thirty minutes in your hectic day can get your heart racing and blood pumping, in the comfort of your own home. Sarah Gerritsen who is a CSEP-CPT certified personal trainer loves at-home workouts because of their convenience and intensity. Gerritsen believes that doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a good workout for just about anyone because it is so customizable. HIIT workouts are typically shorter workouts that are very intense. The workouts are done in intervals of intense exercise into a rest. For a beginner, Gerritsen recommends starting with 30 seconds on 30 seconds off, but this can be adjusted according to the person, she said. “The major benefit of HIIT is that it raises your metabolic rate even when you aren’t working out. In layman’s terms, it helps you burn calories after you are done exercising,” Gerritsen said. Gerritsen notes that like all exercise, you should consult a health
care professional if you have any concerns. Because HIIT is intense, your heart rate is going to stay high throughout the workout. Someone who is not used to aerobic training may find that some workouts can be quite strenuous and may feel short of breath, she said. “A good way to see if you are working at the right intensity is by using the “talk test”. If you can speak comfortably you are not working hard enough and if you can’t talk at all you might want to take a longer break,” she said. This workout circuit is perfect for small spaces such as a dorm, living room, or basement. You don’t need any equipment; however, you can use weights to challenge yourself. All of these moves are able to be modified to fit your liking and to get the challenge that your body requires, she said. Gerritsen lives by the mantra “If it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you.”. She reminds those working out to know their limits but to not be afraid to push past them. “Your body is capable of more than you think, just remember to breathe,” Gerritsen said.
WARM UP 3-5 minutes of one of these or a combination of the following • High knees • Butt kicks • Jumping jack • Running on the spot or on the treadmill if accessible.
30 PULSING SQUATS
• • • • • •
Start with your feet shoulder width apart Bend your knees, sit your butt back like you are going to sit in a chair Lower hips until thighs are parallel to the ground Pulse two times Squeeze glutes to stand Repeat 30 times
Squats build strength and muscle in your glutes, hamstrings, and quads.
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FEATURES 30 SQUAT JUMPS • • • •
Start with your feet shoulder width apart Start by doing a regular squat When you are in squat position, jump explosively with legs straight Repeat 30 times
In addition, to building strength and muscle in your glutes, hamstrings, and quads, jump squats work to improve your explosive power.
JUMPING LUNGES, 15 ON EACH SIDE • • • •
Start standing with your feet staggered Push off the bottom of both feet into a jump, switching the position of your feet in midair, landing in a basic lunge with your right leg in front Alternate between which leg is in front 15 times on each leg
Jump lunges are a great lower body exercise, but also work to stabilize and engage your abdominal muscles.
BEAR CRAWLS FOR 30 SECONDS • • • • • •
Crouch down with hands in front of you shoulder width apart Feet behind you Hips in the air Eyes forward Crawl forward starting with your right hand and your left foot Following with the left hand and the right foot
Bear crawls are a great mobility and strength exercise. They also work to engage your core.
15 PUSH UPS • • • •
Begin on all fours with hands on the ground shoulder width apart Either have your legs straight out, or option to bend your knees on the ground Bend elbows 90 degrees, aiming to get your nose almost to touch the ground Straighten elbows to come back up and hold for 1 second
Push ups are a great upper body exercise. They work your chest muscles, shoulders, deltoids, and abdominals.
HOLD PLANK UPS FOR 30 SECONDS • • • •
Begin on all fours with forearms bent Elbows should be shoulder width apart aligned just below your shoulders Ground toes into the floor and squeeze glutes Neutralize your neck and spine so your body is in one line like a plank of wood
Plank is a great full body exercise. It works your abdominals, arms, and lower body. It also can help improve posture. (Photo by Devin Nguyen)
Repeat the entire circuit again. q
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FIFTY FEATURES
NATIONALS PREP IN FULL SWING AT DURHAM By Asmita Munde
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(Photo by Al Fournier – Durham College Athletics)
hat makes hosting a national tournament successful? Is it the sport? Is it the athletes? Is it the arena, or is it the host? Attending Nationals, is more than just a game, it’s an experience. Every tournament held by the OCAA and the CCAA has something new to offer. This year, Durham College will be hosting the Men’s Soccer National Championship after 20 years. The 15th CCAA championship will be held from November 6 to November 9. The college has a long history of successfully hosting the National’s at their facilities. This year will not be any different. Ken Babcock, Director of Athletics at Durham College said, “Our college has a strong tradition of hosting outstanding CCAA National Championships. We expect to continue that tradition in 2019.” To be able to bring the Nationals home,
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colleges have to go through a bidding process. “The CCAA votes who gets to host the Nationals for that sport that year,” said Dave Ashfield, head coach of the Durham Lords men’s soccer team. To host an event like Nationals flawlessly, planning began in October 2018. There’s a lot of time invested for a three-day championship. Planning includes everything from accommodating athletes to finding sponsors for the event. “We have been observing other hosts hosting nationals and based on that we planned every aspect for the upcoming men’s soccer nationals,” said Ashfield. To provide best in class facilities, Durham College has upgraded Vaso’s Field. The multi-sport facility, with the new upgrade, now includes press box, changing rooms and conversion of the field to FIFA certified standards.
“The Nationals will be played on one of the best artificial turf facilities in Canada and the only trionic root zone artificial turf field installed at a college in Canada,” said Babcock. The trionic root zone, costing over $2M, provides a softer surface for the athletes. Every model of AstroTurf differs and Durham College’s field is one-of-a-kind. “This turf was installed keeping the health of the athletes in mind. Most of the grass field surfaces are harder, that adds to severity of the injuries to the athletes,” Ashfield said. “A lot of it was possible because of the sponsors, their generous funding aided the construction of the facility.” Whether or not the home-field advantage proves beneficial for the Durham Lords in the upcoming Nationals remains to be seen. Along with the new turf, games will stream live on multiple platforms throughout the
FEATURES
(Photo by Chris Tanouye – Durham College Athletics)
competition. The committed host, Durham College, has made sure that their large committee and volunteers have left no stone unturned in planning and investing for the nationals. Unlike any other collegiate sport tournament, Durham has added official opening and closing ceremonies for the upcoming Nationals. “There will be an awards banquet and opening ceremony held on the day before the event begins. And an official closing ceremony and medal presentations after the final game,” Babcock said. The idea of having the ceremonies stems from national and international events that celebrate the sport and the athletes. “Playing the sport and winning medals is one thing but taking home the experience is completely
“Our college has a strong tradition of hosting outstanding CCAA National Championships. We expect to continue that tradition in 2019.”
a different thing. As the host, we want to ensure that we make these nationals the best nationals hosted ever for the athletes and audiences alike,” Ashfield said. About 11,000 students go to Durham College and with the upgrades for nationals, it’s an opportunity for Durham College to showcase their school and their facilities. “There is a phenomenal family atmosphere at Durham, and we want everyone who comes for the nationals to experience the same,” Ashfield said. Nationals is an event where everything is about the sport, but not limited to it. It is an opportunity for the college and the region to be in the spotlight, along with the best college soccer players in the country. “The nationals profiles Durham College
and the Durham Region from an economic sport tourism approach. It adds to the Durham College’s reputation by hosting such major events,” Babcock said. For Durham, it’s an opportunity to highlight the region, the facilities and the potential of smaller colleges who are constantly striving to compete with larger colleges, Ashfield said. The planning of a large sports tournament is one thing, but execution is another. Durham College successfully hosted the Golf Championships at Royal Ashburn Golf Club, reflecting their ability to execute seamlessly. “Win or lose, at the end of the day, sports is meant to bring people together. We will always have competitions but for a complete experience just not the sport,” Ashfield said. q
The upgraded Vaso’s Field (Photo by Al Fournier – Durham College Athletics)
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OCAA CHAM
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
MEN’S BASKETBALL
GOLD: FANSHAWE FALCONS
GOLD: SHERIDAN BRUINS
WOMEN’S CURLING
MEN’S CURLING
After finishing second last season, the Fanshawe Falcons won the gold in women’s basketball for the first time since 2003. The Falcons defeated the St. Clair Saints 78-72. q
GOLD: FANSHAWE FALCONS
The Sheridan Bruins returned to the top of men’s basketball winning the gold medal over the Humber Hawks 86-70. The Bruins last won the gold medal during the 2016-17 season. q
GOLD: FANSHAWE FALCONS
The Fanshawe Falcons and the Sault Cougars went to an extra end where the Falcons eventually prevailed. The match ended 6-4. q
The Fanshawe Falcons men’s curling team received the gold medal for a second straight year defeating the Humber Hawks in a tight gold medal match, 3-2.
MIXED CURLING
MEN’S/WOMEN’S BADMINTON
GOLD: HUMBER HAWKS
The Humber Hawks took gold in mixed team curling beating the Fanshawe Falcons 8-7 in the gold medal match. The Hawks were last gold medalists in the 2016-17 season. q
GOLD: HUMBER HAWKS RAMISH KUMAR 42 | sweat
GOLD: GEORGE BROWN HUSKIES ANN HOANG
MPIONSHIPS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
GOLD: FANSHAWE FALCONS
Fanshawe College won its first women’s volleyball gold medal this season since 1972. The Falcons ended the Humber Hawks’ prestigious run of 11 straight gold medals defeating the Niagara Knights in the final. q
WOMEN’S INDOOR SOCCER
GOLD: FANSHAWE FALCONS
The Fanshawe Falcons dominated their way to a second consecutive men’s volleyball gold medal going undefeated, defeating the Humber Hawks. Then they won the gold medal at the national championships. q
MEN’S INDOOR SOCCER
GOLD: HUMBER HAWKS
The Humber Hawks women’s indoor soccer team continue their dominance with a third straight OCAA gold medal. The Hawks had to come from behind twice to win the final 4-2 over the Fanshawe Falcons. q
GOLD: GEORGE BROWN HUSKIES The George Brown Huskies prevailed with the narrowest of margins 1-0 over the Fanshawe Falcons in the men’s indoor soccer final. q
MIXED/MEN’S/WOMEN’S DOUBLES BADMINTON
GOLD: CHLOE ROWE/VICTORIA DUONG
HUMBER HAWKS
GOLD: ARPIT TANEJA/AYUBA TOURAY
GOLD: MIKE RA/ANGELINE ALVIAR
HUMBER HAWKS
GEORGE BROWN HUSKIES
SPRING 2019 | 43
FIFTY FEATURES
OCAA SUCCESS By Tyler Kidd
S
ports and competition allow for the best to rise to the top. But becoming the best goes beyond trophies, awards or gold medals. Achievements and accolades are special, but they are the result of a journey. And a journey is what defines a true champion. The OCAA is filled with quality programs and athletes. In every team sport, the OCAA has enjoyed success at the national level. Since the year 2000 teams from the OCAA have won 139 medals at the Canadian Collegiate Athletics Association (CCAA). “We had a few runs at nationals, those experiences set the stage for us,” said Michael Aquino, head coach of the Humber Hawks men’s soccer team for the last decade. Aquino led the Hawks to a national title in 2018 defeating the Indiens d’Ahuntsic from the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) in the finals 1-0. To compete at the CCAA tournaments, teams need to first be successful at the OCAA level. Winning an OCAA gold medal guarantees qualification for the CCAA nationals. There are also the wild-card spots, determined by the results from the previous three CCAA tournaments. As the host school will participate in the tournament, their
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conference gets an extra slot. The two wildcard spots can only be awarded to teams outside of the host conference, thus allowing only two teams from each conference. Making it to the national competition is a great success in its own right, bringing home a medal is the icing on the cake. “In any good program, your coaches are only as good as your players. We brought in some very good players and put in a system we thought we could be successful with,” Aquino said. The Hawks shifted their focus toward being a more offensive minded, attacking team. Winning programs are difficult to establish. Many winning programs at the amateur and professional levels are successful because players return creating continuity. In collegiate sports, students have five years of eligibility. There is a catch though, programs range from one-year certificates to multi-year degrees and diplomas. “By ensuring that your players are willing to commit to certain standards on and off the field,” Aquino said. “Having quality staff, quality players and quality support at Humber really helped us achieve future success.” Once the players made it to the collegiate level and understood they could compete, it only fueled them further, Aquino explained.
“Success breeds success” and the Hawks under Aquino have continued to build on their program year after year. Nicolas Machado, a first-year midfielder on the Hawks roster, joined a team that had already won four national championships under coach Aquino. “It was a tough game and we had to grind it out,” said Machado. “But I think we had it in the bag from the first minute.” High-level competition requires confidence. Despite confidence or talent, champions are decided by who executes best on game day. “It was a long season and we had to overcome a lot of adversity together,” he said. “For us to even be in the final was a blessing. In the semi-final, we went through a crazy game, but we dug deep. I felt we deserved it.” Aquino spoke about the commitment that is required from his players if they want to become champions. Machado understands that an athlete’s lifespan is tenuous and wants to make the best of the time he has. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I’m in a two-year program, I have one year left,” Machado said. “Right now, the plan is to go back to back.” When asked about his emotions, Machado spoke about how special his teammates are.
FEATURES Discussing his plans for his soccer career, he shows respect for the community he joined at Humber. Like so many athletes he discusses the success of his team, not himself. “Obviously, I want to play as long as I can with Humber,” Machado said. “Everything has been such a smooth ride, the coaching staff, the team, the school, the facilities. I’m glad to be a part of this school.” “I truly believe that sport can bring people together like nothing else,” he said. “This squad with Humber was probably the closest team I have ever been a part of. I am proud to have played with those guys.” Teams from the OCAA continue to have success at the highest level. Golf has been the most lucrative producing 34 medals, 15 of those gold medals, the bulk of which won by Humber and Durham Collge. Soccer and cross-country were close behind the overall count, both with 28 medals. On the soccer pitch, Humber and Algonquin College have led the way. Humber’s 12 medals, six gold and six bronze, led the way. Algonquin’s eight medals is also impressive with five silver, two gold and a bronze. Fanshawe college has been a powerhouse when it comes to the cross-country team event. Their 14 medals made up half of the total 28 the OCAA has won since 2000, of those 14 medals eight are gold.
The Durham Lords women’s teams have brought home a total of six medals, slightly edging out the men’s teams who have brought home an impressive five medals themselves. “Relief that the hard work paid off,” said Machado, when asked how it felt to win the gold after a season with incredibly high expectations. “As an athlete, at the end of the day I want to make sure my hard work meant something – even if I fall short, it meant something. In this case, all the hard work meant something and we ended up the national champions.” Programs in the OCAA have been able to overcome factors from high-turnover rates complete with players graduating and landing jobs. The OCAA has to compete with prestigious university programs when recruiting the top athletes. But that hasn’t stopped the programs from being creative to find the balance they need for their rosters. Take the Algonquin Thunder men’s basketball team who, in the 2017-2018 season, recruited Dan Stoddard, who was 38 in his rookie
season. OCAA teams continue to develop their programs and produce championship teams. For the men and women of these teams, it’s more than just a game. “This title and the season meant a lot to the whole team because of how close we became,” Machado said. “At the start of the season we were pretty much an entirely new team. We all knew there were going to be some bumps and hurdles. When a team becomes so close as a group you can overcome anything together. Out on the pitch everyone worked hard for one another, someone falls you help them up, someone loses the ball you win it back for them. That made this victory so much sweeter and this season a special one.” q
SPRING 2019 | 45
FIFTY FEATURES
COACH’S CORNER
BY: JIM BIALEK HUMBER COLLEGE FORMER OCAA PRESIDENT
If you build it they will come
I
A TRIBUTE TO OCAA BUILDERS
n the most literal sense of the word, it is impossible to see and do everything. I have been so fortunate to attend thousands of incredible events, and be entertained by just as many outstanding team and individual performances in Canadian collegiate sport over my forty years at Humber College. When reflecting, the play on the court, field, pitch and rink would not have not taken place if not for the people who have made significant contributions to the development of the OCAA. It is these people and their efforts that needs to be explored and highlighted. I can vividly remember attending my first OCAA Athletic Directors meeting. It was a much smaller table back then, populated with many of the original builders that already have their names inscribed in the OCAA Hall of Fame, and rightfully so. The smoke filled rooms are now gone, and for the most part the suits and ties have been replaced by fashionable polo’s proudly displaying each schools logo’s. Change is inevitable, but the one thing that is not, is the passion of our leaders to deliver the best in programming and opportunities for studentathletes in the college system. It would be impossible to pay the proper homage to those who came before, but reading their bios on the Hall of Fame section on the OCAA website is a great start, and puts things in perspective about how influential they were. I would be remiss if I did not take the time to pay tribute to those builders being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. How proud I am of Wayne Fish, Linda Turcotte, Ray Sarkis and Linda Stapleton, and I am so pleased to join them on their sojourn to the Hall. As much as I would like to think I made
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a difference, there is no doubt in my mind that these four incredible people are responsible for touching the lives of student-athletes and colleagues. Change and challenges are expected, be it the introduction of new competitive structures, or financial based obstacles. But, credit leaders in the OCAA who embrace and welcome this by having a vision second to none in post-secondary sport. I have had the pleasure of sitting around the executive table for the last ten years, and have witnessed their efforts and passion, and most of all, how they do their business with an unending air of collegiality. It is said that upon leaving, one would hope that they have made a difference, and secondly, leave knowing that what they
helped build is in good hands. Looking around the room at the last Directors Meeting, I walk away assured that the OCAA unquestionably has the right people in place who will continue to grow and foster the association. Games and conferences have taken me coast to coast, from touching the shores in PEI to traveling through the mountains in Whistler, British Columbia. The memories of the trips, athletes, staff and victories will stay with me, just as my adoration for the people who helped shape the best post-secondary sport conference in the country. q Jim Bialek OCAA PAST PRESIDENT – 2019
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FEATURES
Fall 2019
Sports Photo Contest
Submit photos by October 25, 2019 sweat is holding its annual contest and we’re looking to you to capture all the action! Share your best images of OCAA athletes’ passion for the game – facing off, scoring wins, having fun. Send your top three 2019 sports pics to sweatocaa@gmail.com by October 25, 2019 for a chance to win. SPRING 2019 | 47
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