The official magazine of the ocaa
sweat
fall 2010
THE FUTURE
OF ALCOHOL IN THE
GOING FOR THE RECORD WITH
ROBERT
MALBASIC
OCAA
2 fall 2010
SWEAT MAGAZINE 3
sweat
R ROSTE
Letter
Editor in Chief JONATHON BRODIE
from the
Executive Editor GURPREET GHAG Managing Editors BRANDI DOUCETT LANCE HOLDFORTH
president... Welcome readers to another great issue of SWEAT Magazine. It has been an exciting past few months in the OCAA.
Online Team ANDREW SUTHERLAND JASON RAUCH ALICIA CONDARCURI
Jay Shew
felt
OCAA Pre
sident
The OCAA continues to investigate new sports and opportunities for all of its members. Women’s Rugby was started this year and just finished its first successful season as a trial sport. After next season it will become a fully sanctioned OCAA Varsity sport. We anticipate launching some new varsity sports and possibly the return of some old ones in the next few years. Two of our member institutions are going to be hosting CCAA National Championships this winter. Durham College will be hosting the Men’s Basketball Nationals and Niagara College will be hosting the Women’s Basketball Nationals from March 17-19, 2011. I know both of these prestigious events will be run in a first class manner by the staff at these colleges and I encourage you all to attend them and watch some of the best basketball players from across Canada take part. I would like to welcome a new staff member to the OCAA office. Josh Bell-Webster has taken over the role of Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator, replacing Lindsay Bax who has moved on to pursue other opportunities. Lindsay was a valuable member of the OCAA staff and we wish her the best in her future endeavors. Josh joins us after working with the OUA and before that the CFL. Josh has many projects on his plate including developing a new website (www.ocaa.com) with an anticipated launch date of May 2011. Congratulations to all of our medalists and participants in the fall semester of the varsity and campus recreation season. Once again OCAA student-athletes have performed extremely well at the National Level. Humber won men’s team golf and Durham won women’s team golf gold. Georgian also won team bronze for men’s golf. Humber won bronze in men’s and women’s soccer and Fanshawe won team gold for the men and women and brought home two individual bronze medals at the Cross Country Nationals. I would like to once again thank the Humber College Journalism students and faculty who produce this amazing publication. Their time and effort is greatly appreciated by all of the student athletes, fans, and college staff members of the OCAA. Finally and most importantly, I would like to acknowledge three individuals who have recently retired from the OCAA and made huge contributions over the past 30 years. We will all miss Laurie Cahill from Mohawk College, Ron Fearon from Confederation College and Bob Piche from Cambrian College. All three have served in several roles on the OCAA. Their insight, opinions and expertise will be dearly missed. It is people like them who have been invaluable in bringing the OCAA to where it is today. We wish them the best in their retirements and a huge thank you for everything they have done.
4 fall fall2010 2010
Copy Chief CATHERINE LABELLE MALORIE GILBERT Art Director KYLA SERGEJEW Photo Editor JUSTIN MILLERSON Research & Fact Checking JOHNNA RUOCCO AMANDA GRAHAM TAI DUONG Section Editors BRONWYN ROWSELL RYAN CHARKOW JON HEMBREY TESSIE SANCI LINDSAY BELFORD MELANIE KERR Contributing Editor EMMANUEL SAMOGLOU Publisher CAREY FRENCH Editorial Advisor TERRI ARNOTT OCAA Advisory Board BLAIR WEBSTER JOSH BELL-WEBSTER DOUG FOX JIM FLACK LINDA TURCOTTE JIM BIALEK www.sweatmag.com sweat@humber.ca School of Media Studes & Information Technology Humber Institue of Technology & Advanced Learning 205 Humber College Blvd. Toronto, ON M9W 5L7 mediastudies.humber.ca (416) 675 - 6622 ext. 4518
WAR ON VUVU’S
Is there a place for vuvuzelas in the OCAA?
sweat
www.sweatmag.com
contents
09
PROFILE: ROBERT MALBASIC
YOGA JOCKS
St. Clair athlete goes from Bosnian refugee to OCAA soccer phenom
Athletes using alternative methods to get ready for game time
15
12
CLEAN CUPS
DAMAGED DIGITS
What exactly the Waterloo scandal means for the OCAA and its athletes
Finger injuries can cost you the season
20
23 WHERE’S THE BEER TENT?
Why Ontario colleges aren’t selling alcohol at sporting events
25 CHEER TOWN
The gaps between cheerleaders and dance teams are closing in as both perform at sporting events
MMA HITS THE MATS IN ONTARIO Mixed Martial Arts tries to find a place in the province
30 WHO’S ON FIRST? Humber Hawks suit up for their
28
inaugural baseball season
44
THE ATHLETE MODEL
The Long Term Athlete Development model is gradually being implemented in the OCAA
38
GOLF LESSONS A history of the clubs in your golf bag
50 THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY AXE-MEN
Toronto’s axe throwing league is coming to a backyard near you
56
THE SCENES 14 BEHIND What you didn’t know about the
OF THE CONDORS 37 RETURN Conestoga volleyball teams come
VS. GOLIATH 48 DAVID Comparing school spirit between
work that goes into an event
back after a 16-year hiatus
small and large colleges
HELPING HAND 18 AAthletic therapists make the rounds
FACILITY 41 FANCY A peek into Algonquin College’s $5
FUN FITNESS 49 Video games to get you off the
in helping teams out
5 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER 33 Staying in school doesn’t just mean making the grade
million soccer complex
VEGGING OUT 46 Using a vegan lifestyle to become a better althete
couch and work up a sweat
HARD, STUDY HARDER 53 PLAY Student athletes balance school and sports on the road to success SWEAT MAGAZINE 5
PHOTO CONTEST WINNer photo by anthony chang
FANSHAWE’S Milos Janikic gets airborne
Runner- up PHOTO BY matt stetson FLEMING & TRENT Battle it out
THIRD PLACE PHOTO BY JES RAYMOND FLEMING & HUMBER Fleming with a flying tackle
SWEAT MAGAZINE 7
8 fall 2010
vuvuzela
wars
is there a place for vuvuzelas in ocaa sports?
Photo by GURPREET GHAG
By GURPREET GHAG In the art of war, the element of surprise can mean the difference between slaughtering the enemy and being slaughtered yourself, especially when you are as out numbered as we were. Carefully, the five of us tried to press the leaves down, rather than crunching them. We communicated in whispers and hand signals – most of them being the ol’ ‘shhhhhh!’ and a finger to the lips. Suddenly one of us discharges and a giant shot roars through the leaves and resonates in the tree canopy. Squirrels follow the sound, shooting through leaves and up into what-
ever branches they could find. Our cover was blown; they had surely heard us; the element of surprise was dead. We all just crouched, looking at each other as if to ask, “What now?” It was the rookie of the squad who was the first to speak. “Stomp the grass to startle the snake,” he said as he began discharging like a madman. None of us really understood, but perhaps because of the shock, we all began following his lead – stomping through the woods, yelling, screaming, and firing as many shots into the air as possible.
As we ripped through the last wall of trees and saw the enemy, we froze. Some of them were already looking our way. A few of us put our vuvuzelas to the side, while the rest tried to bellow out against the sea of scowling faces at Humber College’s soccer pitch. According to a recent addition to the Oxford Dictionary, the vuvuzela or /vu¦vә'zєlә/ is a long horn blown by fans at soccer matches in South Africa. Nowhere does this entry hint at the negative image of the horn. Nowhere does it mention how stars like Cristiano Rinaldo told sports reporters that they couldn’t concentrate or hear SWEAT MAGAZINE 9
the referees, or how many English and European teams have banned the horns from their stadiums, and nowhere does it mention how fans grew so weary of the sound that television broadcasters began offering audio-filtering for their telecasts. The negativity has even trickled over to Ontario. At Toronto FC soccer games, the vuvus have been banned from Bank of Montreal field, even while there is a designated area for musical instruments. One of these ‘designated musicians’ is drummer Mike Langevin of the ‘red-patch-boys’, and he explains that, vuvuzelas, unlike their band instruments, are seen as nothing but a nuisance. “There are two kinds of noise that fans create at BMO field,” Langevin says, and the vuvuzela does not create an “attractive” one that supports the home team or is part of the cheer, but tries to annoy the guests.
For players, it puts the game in a different dimension. It makes us rowdy and it can be really enjoyable. - Andrew DaSilva OCAA & CCAA men’s soccer player of the year
All that said, it would probably be a given that the horn would be banned from all OCAA venues and that we should not have come to this game. In fact, section 13, article 20 of the OCAA policies and procedures manual reads: ”The host shall prohibit the use of air horns, loud-speakers (megaphones) and laser pointers at OCAA events. The host team shall limit the use of artificial noisemakers including blow horns to confined seating areas.” But somehow, some way, regardless of all the above, vuvuzelas are actually allowed at OCAA games. OCAA executive director Blair Webster explains that since vuvuzelas are such a recent phenomenon, they will be allowed in games under the discretion of the host team, and that they do not interfere with any of the play. “Noise is going to be a part of sporting events,” explained Webster, “but, if [noise] gets to the point of impeding the safety of the event, it’s up to the managers to do something.” So there we were, face to face with the enemy, some of us blowing and some of us having second thoughts. Then, somewhere among all the lowered eyebrows and disapproving looks, there was a familiar smile. It was Andrew DaSilva, the Hawks captain and OCAA and CCAA player of the year. Surprisingly enough, he wasn’t a supporter of the war being fought. “Sometimes, for fans, it can be really annoying,” says DaSilva who was one of the first to be in the direct path of our buzzing. “But, for 10 fall 2010
COURTESY Michael Parkinson and Loyalist College (top)
players, it puts the game in a different dimension. It makes us rowdy and it can be really enjoyable.” DaSilva noticed a few vuvuzelas in one league game, but since they were only a few, and quite far from him, he said that they did not factor into his play. DaSilva also says that he would not mind seeing more of them at OCAA games. With that said, the blows continued for every pass, every free kick, every referee call and everything in between: there was scarcely a moment of silence. At times, disapproval was very obvious in the spectator’s faces, slightly distasteful grimaces from the referee could be caught here and there, but the players played on. In this game, the Humber Hawks beat the Niagara Knights by a score of five to one. The Knights’ goaltender, Lindsey Colwell, who was scorched for five goals, was probably the most likely to contest the horns, but surprisingly, she neither blamed them or even hated their presence, instead, she says that
like any other ‘noise’ or ‘distraction’ in a game, soccer players should be able to cope. “If you’re a focused soccer player, like most players are, like I am, you can tune it out,” she says. On the other side of the pitch, Hawks’ forward, Connie Tamburello, who was responsible for one of her team’s five goals and several other great chances, also did not mind the low-pitched buzz throughout the game. “I love it actually. It makes me more motivated. Just hearing the noise from the crowd gets me motivated and it gets the team going too.” So what did this all mean? Did this mean we had won the war? Was there ever a war at all? If there ever was, it was officially over with Tamburello’s next statement: “I would like to see every member of the crowd with one in their hands.” As the teams shook hands and fans cheered and talked about the game, we pursed our tired lips for the final trumpets. The war, if there ever was one, was over.
SWEAT MAGAZINE 11
Joga! Jocks using yoga to find their inner chakra By EMMANUEL SAMOGLOU Jana Webb, yoga instructor, walks between her students who are evenly spread out across the floor on individual mats. She instructs them on how to settle into the next pose. Breathing consciously, they all begin to hold the position. The wincing is almost audible. In the front row, someone grunts out a string of vitriol. “This shit is hard.” This isn’t your average yoga class. This is Joga with Jana, yoga for jocks, and the students are the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. It’s the tail end of the season and with the players showing significant signs of wear and tear, Webb is there to offer her own brand of yoga specifically designed for highlevel athletes. “You have to be able to talk the talk. I’m not there to talk about butterflies soaring and mysticism,” Webb says with an air of authority while discussing the methods and techniques she’s developed by working with three National Hockey League goalies, as well as the Calgary Stampeders. The end of class nears and Webb gets the players to come to a final resting position. After an hour-long practice that seems to catch the players by surprise with its intensity, it is now time for Shavasana. Shavasana, a Sanskrit word meaning “corpse pose” is an apt description for what this yoga posture involves. To assume the position, one lies down on the floor; head up, with arms to the side. Basically, the same position they would be in if they were in a casket. Shavasana, relaxes by bringing the body, mind, and breath together, according to Nathania Bron, Humber College’s version of Jana Webb. Bron teaches at a studio in the college’s recently renovated athletic facilities with well-polished wooden floors and full-length mirrors. Throughout her hour-long classes, she takes her students through a complete series of postures, also known as “asanas”. Lately, she is seeing more and more varsity athletes coming to her classes. One of those players is Adrian Tucker – a forward for the 12 fall 2010
Humber Hawks men’s basketball team. Upon learning about the physical benefits that yoga can bring, the second year Scarborough native gave it a try and says he immediately noticed increased core strength, improved flexibility, as well as an unexpected benefit – improved mental stamina. Bron expected these results. “Yoga helps develop the mind-body connection, and helps them focus on the task at hand,” she says. “It keeps their minds calm.” Bron believes it all comes down to “focus”, and she says this goes hand in hand with the way coaches approach the game with their players: being in the moment. All of this may sound great for an athlete looking for that edge, but she acknowledges it can be a leap of faith for many players to make the decision to enter the world of Lycra, fire breathing and meditation. “It takes them a couple times before they buy in,” Bron says, admitting that the yoga studio can be an intimidating environment where men and women, mostly women, contort their bodies into apparently awkward shapes while they move through the asanas. Adding to the potentially nerve-racking experience is an athlete’s natural thirst for competition. Watching experienced yoga practitioners flowing easily into various postures, it’s only natural that athletes will attempt the same feat, often with negative results, she says. “I try to tell them it’s not a competition, even though it’s in their veins. They’re naturally competitive.” Bron advises her students to work at their own pace, and relax when they need to. “I find athletes have so much emotion, and they let it get the best of them sometimes.” Getting the athlete off the court and into the yoga studio could be a daunting task, but if there is someone that the player will listen to, it’s coach. “Playing sports at a high level, what it does is it causes your muscles to become tight. In order to prevent injury, you need to have a balanced level of flexibility in your muscles,” says Jamine Aponte, manager for a Toronto-based chain of upscale fitness clubs and owner of Flying Geese – a professional fitness coaching business. A firm believer in the practice of yoga, she considers it a staple in her training programs for clients and athletes. “It is an amazing method to use to help my athletes become more flexible,” she says. Originally from the United States, Aponte practiced regularly with a yoga guru while living in Florida. Upon moving to Toronto in 2006, she sought out training in Hatha yoga, one of many different systems of the ancient physical and mental discipline, which originated in India. “There are different levels of practicing yoga. You can practice yoga as religion, or as a complement to your fitness program,” she says. Putting this belief into practice, she has integrated yoga’s fitness benefits into another passion: coaching. A dedicated lacrosse player and coach, Aponte brought her experience coaching a Division 1 team north, where she took a position with the University of Toronto women’s varsity team.
She says she would conclude every game and practice with a “sun salutation,” a series of yoga asanas that includes forward bends, lunges, the infamous “downward dog” and plank – a pushup-like pose that targets the core. Some players say they found Aponte’s techniques a sharp departure from traditional coaching methods. Aponte, however, says if she could successfully communicate the perceived benefits of practicing yoga, she would easily win her players over. “When you’re a coach, you’re the one in charge of creating and implementing the program,” she says. “Whether they are receptive to that or not, that depends on you.” After practice, Adrian Tucker leaves his teammates as they begin their standard cool-down procedures. Instead of engaging in the traditional post-game stretching, he opts for some of the asanas he’s learned by attending Bron’s yoga classes.
These guys are in full exertion all the time, their bodies need a break. Their minds need to be fine-tuned, their breathing needs to be finetuned. That’s what yoga does. - Janna Webb Yoga instructor, Toronto Argonauts
Off to the side, Tucker settles into Namaskar Parsvakonasana, also known as the “prayer twist,” a lung position with palms together at heart level, followed by a deep twist with an alternate elbow against the opposite knee. This is designed to open the chest and hips, lengthen the muscles of the back, and enforce the integrity of the spine. “It really, really helps,” Tucker says For Tucker, Wednesdays can be particularly dreadful. The computer-engineering student begins his day at 8 a.m. with classes, and doesn’t end till later that night after an 8 p.m. practice. Ignoring the occasional taunt from wags on the team, he continues attending Bron’s Tuesday evening yoga class, something he says helps him cope with a demanding schedule. “You feel a lot more relaxed, you’re not as mentally fatigued,” he says, looking energized two hours before the 8 p.m. practice. “Meditation helps relax the body and the mind.” Not quite the words you would expect from a 6-foot-4 ball player with bass-heavy hip-hop beats belting out of a set of ear buds that hang from his neck. Being supportive and open-minded, Humber Hawks men’s basketball coach Shawn Collins, has no reservations with Tucker’s approach to stepping up his game. “If it’s increasing his confidence on the court, puts him in a positive mind frame, I’m all for it,” he says. “They need this stuff, it should just be a part of their training. It should be mandatory,” Jana Webb says of yoga, after being asked whether this may just be the latest fitness fad. Webb has plans to continue to bring her Joga to serious athletes from the college/university level to professionals. And from the feedback she receives directly from members of the Argos, she is convinced of the benefits. “These guys are in full exertion all the time; their bodies need a break. Their minds need to be fine-tuned; their breathing needs to be fine-tuned. That’s what yoga does.” SWEAT MAGAZINE 13
BEHIND THE SCENES You can’t make a mistake, everyone is watching your every move. - Colin March Sports services co-ordinator, Seneca
Score board technicians and stats recorders sit on the sidelines, ready to watch every move in the game.
Photo by KYLA SERGEJEW
By AMANDA GRAHAM There are just five minutes left before the first pitch. The bleachers are quickly filled. Spectators check their programs as the announcer introduces the athletes now jumping up and down to keep limber. The scoreboard brightens and players take their place. While the spotlight has constantly shone on those on the field, beyond the white chalk lines are those who diligently work to get the athletes to their positions and ready to roll. “Those are the unsung heroes; the ones that set up the bleachers, score tables, clocks, just about everything,” says Colin March, sports services co-ordinator at Seneca College. With the height of a basketball player and the muscles of a gym rat, Marc Siren sits quietly for a moment, remembering his time on the sidelines and awaiting the first whistle. “You can’t make a mistake,” he says. “Everyone is watching your every move, if you make an error, they all see.” Siren graduated from Cambrian College last year, where he had dedicated countless hours to keeping time at varsity games. Before the athletes hit the field, a group of students are responsible for making sure things run as smoothly as possible. The role of a timekeeper is more than just plugging numbers into a scoreboard; it takes hours of preparation. Siren says he remembers the anxiety he felt when preparing for game day. 14 fall 2010
”It was quite a hustle, involving numerous steps,” says Siren. The timekeeper’s job begins two hours before the start of a game. First, the timekeeper must load the opposing and home teams’ last names and jersey numbers into the digital software to keep track of fouls and points during the game. Second, the timekeeper hooks up the cables to the clock. If all is done properly, the clock turns on, lighting up the centre court. Once all things are lit, the names programmed earlier are loaded into the clock. To finish off, the timekeeper sets up the 30-second clock and checks the foul panels. “If everything works, I just leave it on the table,” says Siren. Though the equipment has been prepared, it’s more than just a simple click of start and pause for a timekeeper. A prerequisite for the position is a vast knowledge in the particular sport, fortunately, Siren had been playing basketball for as long as he can remember. A basketball flies high in the air, slams the backboard, rounds the rim, and falls off to the side as the crowd shouts in disappointment. Kyle Large sits high in the bleachers documenting each player’s shots and movements. Large is a third-year sports management intern at Durham College. Prior to taking on his position, he spent two years on the varsity
game staff at the college as a statistic recorder working with the computer program CyberSports, that keeps track of everything in the given game. Setting up the computer statistics software can take several days, says Large. “For a single game, it can take two to three days of preparation. You have to get everything ready, stats sheets, score sheets, rosters, everything.” To the casual viewer the job appears simple to sit among fans and click whether or not a player made a shot. But Large says it can become stressful and tedious at times. “All the preparations can come as a huge rush, it can seem crazy but once everything is done, we get down to crunch time,” says Large with a hesitant laugh. That’s when the real job comes into play. Keeping an eye on the ball, at all times, which can become quite difficult with the number of people attending varsity athletic games. “You never know who you are going to get at a varsity game, you just have to be mindful of that. Keeping focus is the hardest thing,” says Large. The game has finished, the clock’s buzzer announces the end of the game. The laptop carrying the statistics is closed, discarded programs cover the once polished gymnasium floor. After days of preparation, it’s time for the final game; the clean-up.
ROBERT
MALBASIC from humble begininngs to soccer stardom
By JUSTIN MILLERSON
MALBASIC MALBASIC MALBASIC MALBASIC MALBASIC MALB It all started in the unsightly suburbs of a war bitten Bosnia where a young boy spent hours of his childhood kicking a tattered, almost mouldy looking soccer ball in games that were nothing more than imagination. From the mud floor he called a back yard to artificial turf, the young boy named Robbie has grown into a thick-chested, 205-pound soccer prodigy who now goes by a manlier name. Still the 22-year-old remembers the horrors of his homeland, the devastating sights engraved in his soul, but the very sport he has lived for was his escape from the realities of his day-to-day life. Rob did not reveal much about his past life, but did mention that in 1997 at the age of nine, he came to Canada leaving behind the only life he knew; his love for soccer is perhaps the only thing he brought along. Fast forward to about three months ago, when Rob stepped on the soccer pitch to start the St. Clair Saints’ season for the fourth time. He rolled up his fresh white Umbro socks over a
seasoned pair of shin guards; the shoes on his feet had already scored 39 goals in his career at the Windsor school. It was 26 years ago when former Fleming Knight Mike Everson scored an OCAA record breaking 47 career goals. But at season’s start, St. Clair’s gem, Malbasic had a golden opportunity appearing certain to break the record only trailing the former Knight’s sniper by 8 goals. “Not too many people get that opportunity. The record hasn’t been touched in years, it’s definitely an awesome feeling,” said the confident fourth-year forward at the start of the 2010 campaign. It’s a little surprising the strong legged, six-footone forward was so close to Everson’s mark. He’s put on the green and yellow for just three years for the roller coaster ride that is Saints’ soccer, but while the team has had many ups and downs in recent years, Malbasic’s pure dominance has perhaps remained the only constant for St. Clair coach Mike Baraslievski. “The goals speak for themselves,” says the veteran OCAA bench boss who calls Malbasic as the best player he’s ever coached. Those 39 goals scored by Malbasic were in just 30 games, giving him a goals per game average well over 1.00. And just to show the non-socCOURTESY St. Clair Athletics SWEAT MAGAZINE 15
cer world how dominating that is, have a look at these stats: In 28 games the leading scorer for Major League Soccer (MLS), Chris Wondolowski scored 18 goals this season; Didier Drogba, the leader in the English Premier League last year had scored 29 in 38; and on a larger scale, the all time leader in the same league scored an amazing 434 goals, but in 619 matches. To have more than a goal per game is rare, most soccer experts will tell you, but defying that notion Malbasic happily sat with a goals per game average of 1.30 and even the best in the world can’t relate to that kind of dominance. Yes, it looked like a well-deserved year of monumental proportions for the 22-year-old. The first chance to watch the star forward this season was a contest against the hungry beast that is the Humber Hawks. Scoring just two goals in his previous four games, he was playing injured, cutting his playing time in half. Malbasic said before the game he had something to prove against the first place team, but he was falling off pace and that bothered him.
oh yeah, i’m definitely coming back. I want to go way past the record. - Robert Malbasic St. Clair men’s soccer forward
That injury was a slight groin pull he experienced that he had been nursing for the first couple weeks of the season. Before making the trip up the 401 to Toronto on Oct. 2, he said his groin felt good, “it’s at about 75 per cent.” He was slated to start against the Hawks. Malbasic has a quiet explosiveness to him – if that’s even possible. It’s like he’s invisible, hiding from his defenders when he doesn’t have the ball, and when he does he becomes a predator, instantly attacking his prey, the offensive zone and everyone in it. # 9 Coach Baraslievski said he has a knack for getting in the right spots and that became very evident early in the match. The ball seemed to gravitate to him and once gravity took its course, ball control, which seemed virtually impossible for anyone else on St. Clair, was effortless for Malbasic. It was easy to see that the Bosnian native was truly an extraordinary force in the OCAA. Ten minutes into the match Malbasic had his best scoring chance; it was still zeros on the board. Receiving a pass just outside of the goal box, he turned, contorted his body and fired a bullet shot into one of the Humber defenders, sending the ball upward. Perhaps it was this shot, but just seconds after he started hobbling, looking at the bench with a grimace. “I don’t know what it was, it could have been a quick pass or quick movement, but I knew [my groin] was hurt again; I had to come out,” said Malbasic. And that he did, without retuning. He helplessly witnessed a 5-0 loss from the sidelines. “It sucks, I really want to be in there,” said the hobbling Malbasic after the loss. “It’s pretty sore right now, I’ll rest it tonight and we will see about tomorrow.” 16 fall 2010
Photo by JUSTIN MILLERSON
Tomorrow was a match against a sound Sheridan College team and another chance for Rob to get back on track. After the Humber loss, he had three games to net six with a lingering groin injury to worry about. Even the OCAA all-star had his doubts. His chances fell even further after he spent the entire 90 minutes against Sheridan trying to keep warm in his bulky, black team jacket sitting on an almost empty bench. Barring some miracle, it appeared the chase was over, Malbasic acknowledged. On October 13, on a cool afternoon, the Saints traveled north to Sarnia for their final game of the season against the win-less Lambton College Lions. A finally healthy Malbasic was loose in his final game and while any outsider would think that scoring six goals and breaking Everson’s mark of 47 was impossible, Malbasic and his teammates believed against a team that has allowed 28 goals this season, anything was possible. With this in mind teammates tried vigorously to get the ball to Robert for the entire 90 minutes, to everyone it was clear what was on the line. St. Clair won the game 5-0 with Malbasic scoring four of the goals; things finally started to click against the 0-8 Lions. “Always,” laughed Malbasic who finished two goals shy of 47. “All my teammates were trying to get the ball to me so that definitely helped as well.” Today, the nursing graduate’s name still sits below Mike Everson on the all-time goals list, but now only two goals behind. Will he be returning for his final year of eligibility? For the first time he was quick to answer. “Oh yeah, I’m definitely coming back,” says Malbasic in a very determined tone of voice. “I want to go way past the record.”
SWEAT MAGAZINE 17
Between Bumps n’ Bruises BEING AN ATHLETIC THERAPIST IS MORE THAN JUST
a BANDAGE JOB. If they don’t have [a therapist] they can’t play at 100 per cent, if they can’t play at 100 per cent they may not win. - Chris Walsh Student therapist, Sheridan
Photo by JASON RAUCH
By JASON RAUCH On a typical mid-October day, Evan Minshall joined his volleyball teammates, honing their skill on the hardwood of the Seneca gym. It was a drill they had done before. It was a drill that ended much differently for Minshall. “I can’t really remember the play, but I think I went up to block,” says Minshall. On the way down Minshall landed on a teammate’s foot and rolled his ankle. “It was very painful. I knew what happened [and it] wasn’t too good and our team therapist, Chris
18 fall 2010
Walsh was there within seconds,” says Minshall. He gave credit to Walsh, a student therapist from Sheridan on his placement at Seneca, for getting him through those initial moments of confusion and pain. Playing it safe and on the recommendation of Walsh, Minshall went to the hospital for a further look. No broken bones, the doctor confirmed, but there was some ligament and muscle damage, which can be a bigger and more long-term problem.
Broken bones heal fairly quickly, but tissue injuries can be tedious to rehabilitate as they It would seem that Walsh made the right call. “You’re part of the team, basically because you’re a necessity to the welfare of the team.” That is how Walsh explained it. “If they don’t have [a therapist] they can’t play at 100 per cent, if they can’t play at 100 per cent they may not win. At this level that’s the name of the game.” Making those tough decisions can be difficult, but it’s the therapist’s job to take out an
Athletic therapist, Emma Wright from Sheridan College, tends to Seneca College soccer player, Brittney Norman before a match.
injured player regardless of how much the team needs him or her to win. “You’re not trying to be their buddy. You’re not trying to be a parent. It can’t be either one of those two,” says Dr. Frances Flint, co-ordinator of the athletic therapy course at York University. “You’re trying to be somebody who is really going to be really looking at what their needs are.” Dr. Flint tells her therapy students the best way to do their job, gain the athlete’s trust, and keep a level head in the heat of any moment, is to be professional.
“If [the athletes] see that you are there to help them with any injuries and help them perform better, then that’s automatically something that says this person is here to make me play better,” reasoned Dr. Flint. Seneca’s head athletic therapist, Steve Kopas, helps his student therapists realize they are in a difficult situation. “We’re in a little bit of an interesting position as far as our role on the team as a therapist, because technically we’re on the coaching staff, but we spend most of our time with the
athletes,” Kopas says. “We kind of sit right on that fence of where we’re with the athletes… They have to have that rapport with the therapist and trust with them.” With the help of the Seneca therapists, Minshall was ready to play after only six weeks off. His first game since the injury was November 23, with visiting Durham. In the end the Sting lost, but Minshall was just happy to be back playing the game he loves. “That was a pretty big moment for me. I was really excited to get playing again.”
SWEAT MAGAZINE 19
Hold the
applause Sometimes the worst
injuries are the
small ones
By CATHERINE LABELLE Rosie Ormeno, goalkeeper for the Humber women’s soccer team knows how easily a finger can be brutalized in a matter of a split second. During a co-ed soccer game this past summer she tried catching a ball fired toward the net. “I ended up punching it. It hit my hand hard and my knuckles went in.” She didn’t think much of it at the time, but Ormeno awoke the next morning with her whole hand purple and swollen. “I couldn’t move my finger.” The small finger seems prone to misadventure, says Rob Werstine, a physiotherapist at the Fowler-Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic and an adjunct professor at the University of Western Ontario’s School of Graduate Studies. Not only is it the finger with the greatest flexibility, but it also tends to migrate away from the others, making it more vulnerable. In his clinic, Werstine is no stranger to hand injuries. He treats a range of injuries, from simple mallet fingers in basketball players who have had fast moving passes strike the end of their fingers to more complex metacarpal (long bone) fractures in volleyball players who dive into the floor trailing after a ball. Imagining her small finger was only jammed, Ormeno says she went on with life for six weeks before seeing the doctor. X-rays ruled out a fracture and Ormeno was told a tendon was partially torn. She was sent home with an aluminum splint that completely stopped her from using her finger. Werstein says hand injuries that seem small are often underappreciated by family and emergency room doctors. He says, these injuries, particularly nagging ones, have a way of changing the way people go about living. He says too often, people stop playing 20 fall fall2010 2010
sports that bother their hands and become less active in other parts of their lives. With a determined spirit Ormeno did not let her injury slow her down. She says she continued working out by lifting weights using her other fingers and continued playing soccer. After toughing it out with the splint for several weeks, Ormeno says she started taping her small finger to her ring finger for protection and to prevent it from getting caught on things like her steering wheel. Reflecting on her experience, Ormeno says she is frustrated that her recovery is taking so long. After four months, she says she is left with a finger that is still crooked and has less than full flexibility and strength. “It does not feel like it is getting any better, it feels like it is getting worse.” Ormeno has recently gone back to wearing a splint full-time off the field. The new one is much larger, covering most of her hand, and hides the swelling along the edge of her hand and her small finger. She does not like to complain, but says the pain, especially around the base knuckle, is increasing when she catches or dives for a ball. Ormeno is not out of the woods yet. She says she has recently been referred for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to take a closer look at what is happening inside her hand. Like Ormeno, Bobby Anderson understands how hand injuries can linger. Towering over most people at six feet 4 inches, Anderson is a veteran volleyball player for Humber and can recount in vivid detail his ordeal after breaking the ring and small fingers on his dominant hand early in the season. He says it was over three months before he returned to the game.
Photo CATHERINE LABELLE Rosie Ormeno in action, stopping a ball (top).
Photo JUSTIN MILLERSON Rugby players tape up their hands to avoid injury during a game (left & background).
Anderson says the recovery was tough, not because of pain, but from losing his independence and having to just watch games he could not play in. “It was a learning experience to say the least.” He says his injury affected all parts of his life. Having his hand in a cast for several weeks, Anderson says he couldn’t write, so he had to resort to taking tests orally and relying on the good nature of friends to email class notes. Anderson pauses to lift up his baseball cap to run his hand through his dark hair threaded with white as he continues to describe the impact of his injury on his school life. He says he could not spot anyone lifting weights and as a result had to drop a Health and Fitness class. Back at home, Anderson says even the small things that are often taken for granted became a chore. He is quick to give credit to his roommate who Anderson says helped him with a lot of the day-to-day living tasks. He says everything from cooking and cleaning to simply making a bed seemed impossible. “Even eating soup; trying to get the spoon in without dipping the cast.” Once his cast was removed, Anderson’s right hand was appreciably smaller than his left. To help with recovery, Anderson says he fit in therapy three times a week on top of his full-time studies, work and practice sessions. “Therapy helped a lot.” Anderson says his absence was hard on the team. “For the leadership and what I brought to the table to be gone instantly was a bit of a shock to the guys.” He says he sat down and spoke to them all in a team meeting, promising them he would “work his tail off” to return in January. Anderson says when he returned the guys were playing really well and the team went on to win the provincials, finishing fourth in the country.
Jeremy Cross of the Coaches Association of Ontario, says when a player is injured the focus should be more on the team. “It should never really be about one person.” He says, while players have roles to play, they are also part of a team for which they are willing to sacrifice and commit to an ultimate goal. “So you may lose one, but you all get stronger.” Drew Laskoski, an athletic therapist and president of the Ontario Athletic Therapists Association, has seen his fair share of hand injuries on the field. He says the worst are the finger joint dislocations. “They come running up to you and they are holding their hand up for you — and either the baby finger or one of their other fingers is pointing at right angles to their hand.” Laskoski says when athletes are hurt, and they are going to experience some pain but no long-term injury, then it’s important that the coaching and training staff sit down together to make informed decisions. “Because ultimately it is the athlete’s body, so they have to have as much input as us and the coaching staff.” Laskoski says that, as a therapist, he not only tries to provide the best medical advice, but he carefully considers how he would want his own son to be treated. Looking toward the future, he says therapists must consider whether “it is going to be a long-term injury that can affect him or her from picking up their children when they are 40 or 50.” Werstine says athletes who participate in sports long enough, regardless of their talent, will inevitably end up with some sort of injury. “Risk is an inherent part of sport, there’s no way around it.” He says, as a therapist, he is powerless unless an athlete tells them they have been hurt. Ormeno says she thought she had just jammed her finger and if she had known otherwise, she would have done things differently. “I would have seen the doctor right away or said something.” SWEAT SWEAT MAGAZINE MAGAZINE 21
22 fall 2010
Keeping it Clean
By JON HEMBREY
Following the recent steroids scandal at the university of waterloo, coaches and athletes may be wondering what it means for the ocaa
Photo by JON HEMBREY
Mike Dvorak has been sitting in his smelly, sweat-drenched clothes for the last 40 minutes, waiting for something that is not the sort of thing that can be forced. His name was selected for drug testing and ever since his basketball practice ended he has not been out of sight of his chaperone, an official whose job it is to make sure he does not cheat his urine test. Dvorak admits that he was worried . . . well not entirely. “The only thing I was nervous about was peeing in front of someone,” says the OCAA guard as he reflects back on the random test
conducted three years ago. Otherwise, he had nothing to fear. “I knew I was on the straight and narrow and have always been,” he says. The summer steroids scandal at the University of Waterloo has put the issue of drugs in sports back in the minds of many athletes and coaches, including those in the OCAA. Many may be wondering what impact those events will have on the college athletic world. Following the arrest of one of its players for drug trafficking in June, and in a Canadian first, the entire Waterloo football team was given blood and urine tests to check for drugs.
Storm clouds gathered as the story spread throughout Canada and the rest of the world. Tests conducted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports [CCES], a non-profit organization that strives to foster drug-free sport, revealed that nine members of the team tested positive for steroids. In a more ominous, and this time North American first, one member of the team tested positive for human growth hormone [HGH]. Bob Copeland, athletic director at Waterloo, says the results were shocking to coaches and staff. “It was gut wrenching,” he explains. Even more so, Copeland says, because the SWEAT MAGAZINE 23
players who tested positive for steroids were not on the radar of coaches and staff. “Had I, with my knowledge at the time and the knowledge of others, tried to pick out 20 people, let’s say a target test, I suspect we would have only come up with two or three of the nine,” he admits. For Copeland, this is the insidious nature of a problem that cannot easily be detected but casts a shadow on all athletes based on rumours and suspicions. But at the OCAA the issue of performance enhancements doesn’t seem to be an issue. Blair Webster, executive director of the OCAA, says steroids are not a concern. Mostly because there is no football, a sport that attracts most of the attention, and in terms of sheer numbers, most of the CCES testing. Jim Flack, athletic director and men’s basketball coach at Sheridan College, agrees, saying that the type of sport changes the risks and probabilities of steroid usage. “It might just be that it’s not the most useful thing in the world for a basketball player to get jacked up on human growth hormone and other drugs, nor a volleyball player nor a soccer player,” he says. However, college athletes still undergo random drug testing, also through the CCES. In September a member of Fanshawe College’s basketball team tested positive for marijuana, receiving a one-month suspension. The CCES can randomly test any player at any time during practices or games. However, most of the testing is limited to Nationals, where a handful of athletes from each team are tested. Eric Collins, athletic program officer at Fanshawe, says the school draws a clear line on clean sport. “Although that is considered by most to be a minor infraction, it is something that as a college we are taking very, very seriously,” he explains. Flack says it is these types of drugs that are of primary concern to coaches and staff at the OCAA. Regardless, he says the number of violations does not constitute a drug problem. “If you want to get into performance detracting drugs like marijuana or cocaine or anything like that, that’s an entirely different issue. But, still, our positive findings have been very small, if any,” he says. The CCES publishes an annual report with statistics on the number of tests and violations from all sports organizations under its purview. Over the last five years around 100 athletes from the Canadian College Athletics Association, the national body of which the OCAA is a part, have been tested. There have been no more than three violations a year, sometimes none, and most of these have been for marijuana. Also, college football, which is played in Quebec, makes up for the majority of tests. Jennifer Bell, head athletic therapist at Humber who has helped the CCES conduct tests, says the other concern is simply accidental violations. “For us it’s always monitoring things like 24 fall 2010
Ontario college athletes are subject to random testing at both practices and games.
cough and cold medications, allergy medication, all over-the-counter. There is a list of what they can and cannot take and most of them don’t always pay attention to that,” she says. Flack says the events at Waterloo will have no impact on OCAA policies or approaches to drugs.
We felt that there would be a cloud of suspicion over every player for the rest of their career and well beyond Waterloo. - Bob Copeland Waterloo University athletic director
“I don’t think a number of football players at Waterloo University doing HGH or steroids is, in any way shape or form, reflective of anything we’re experiencing at the OCAA so I don’t think it behooves us to change our approach one bit,” he says. Part of that approach involves a mandatory education program that all college athletes must complete. The 45-minute online course provides information on banned substances and the harmful effects of drug abuse through a series of slides and quizzes. Most of the education is designed to get athletes thinking about what sort of legal substances athletes are putting into their bodies, explains Bell. She says many athletes are un-
Photo by JON HEMBREY
aware of the ill effects of caffeine drinks, protein drinks and even over-the-counter medication. Bell says there has been a change, as a result of Waterloo, in the way college athletes think about drugs. “I’ve noticed a lot more athletes are checking in and checking medications and being a little bit more responsible than they may have in the past,” she says. According to Flack, the two-fold drug policy of random testing and educational programs combined with the small number of infractions is enough for the OCAA. At a certain point, he says, individual responsibility takes over. “When you’ve laid out the rules and you’ve laid out the parameters around which the testing will happen and you’ve laid out the consequences and they still choose to violate, then that’s on them.” Back in Waterloo, Copeland is dealing with the fallout of a few individuals. Only nine of the 62-player team tested positive for steroids but the 53 who were clean shared in the publicity misery. And much of his work will now go towards rebuilding the team image. “The primary purpose of that test was to exonerate the vast majority whom we presumed would not be using these substances,” he says. “We felt that there would be a cloud of suspicion over every player for the rest of their career and well beyond Waterloo.”
NO ALCOHOL BEYOND THIS
POINT
an examination of why colleges aren’t selling alcohol at varsity sporting events Photo by KYLA SERGEJEW
By JONATHON BRODIE It was halftime at my college’s basketball game and I decided to get a tasty alcoholic beverage to rid myself of the aftertaste of stale, pregame popcorn. I walked over to the concession stand and asked the woman working the counter for two of her finest draft beers. “I’m sorry but we don’t sell beer here. Actually, we don’t serve any alcohol here,” she replied. I was completely heartbroken and hadn’t felt such pain since grade seven when my first love, Lyndsey Schneider, broke up with me right before social studies. I slinked back to my seat with another bag of stale popcorn. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Does this mean my educational institute wants me to be unhappy while watching my school’s athletes? The game ended and after going across campus to get a drink at the pub, I quickly got on the horn. Are my school’s fans the only (upon legal age limit) crowd watching our games without any option between staying sober or getting mildly inebriated? Intoxicated enough to have the courage to dance along with the cheerleaders at halftime? Or even so drunk that the heckling becomes so loud and obnoxious that security has to use forceful tactics?
Upon further investigation, only four schools out of the 27 that are registered to the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association sell any alcoholic beverages during sports. For the most part, the schools that do sell alcohol sell it only for one game. Trent University, which is part of the OCAA and the Ontario University Athletics Association, confessed that they don’t normally sell alcohol at their varsity games with one exception. “As part of our annual homecoming, the Conferences section of the university operates a beer garden on campus for returning alumni and students,” says Bill Byrick, director of athletics for the Peterborough university. “It is not adjacent to any sporting events, but proceeds go toward funding our varsity rowing program. This operates concurrently with the Head of the Trent, the largest single day rowing event in the country.” At the university level, beer gardens are plentiful at sporting events. In fact, the final tally came to just more than half of Ontario universities selling alcohol during athletic events. Most of the universities that sell alcohol offer it during hockey and football games exclusively. “We have many alumni at our football games and there is a demand for the service so our food services department took the service over,” says Peter Baxter, director of athletics and recreation for Wilfred Laurier University. “At hockey games the City of Waterloo sells beer at our games. SWEAT MAGAZINE 25
The Core Pub at Niagra College is attached to the school gym, allowing students to drink while watching varsity sports.
Since we use a city facility they offer the service and keep the profit.” This scenario is common, with most universities hiring a company’s service to control alcohol. McMaster’s athletic director, Jeff Giles, put it more bluntly as to why his school offers alcohol at football, basketball, and volleyball games. “Why do we sell it? Because people want it and it drives attendance,” says Giles. When I spoke with college athletic directors whose schools don’t sell alcohol at sporting events, I asked each one of them if they would consider selling alcohol if they knew it would bring in a few hundred more fans. To my surprise, all but one athletic director said that they still wouldn’t consider it. Most cited potential hassles over licensing issues and alcohol laws, for their collective thumbs down.
I think having this area makes it more social in a controlled environment. - Scott Grey Sault College athletic director “Some of our athletic directors talk offline and talk from time-to-time in our meetings casually about it,” says Ken Babcock, athletic director at Durham College. “If you’re not set up for it properly then it’s pretty difficult to manage... It does create more work, more liability, and they relate to an institution’s insurance as well. “Do I think it can be successful? I think so if it’s managed properly but it would take some other resources that departments often don’t have like time and staff,” says Babcock. There’s a lot of red tape to go through in getting a permit to sell alcohol at a college sporting event, unless it’s held under the authority of a caterer’s endorsement, which is why most universities have other companies deal with the problem. “You need to get a special occasion permit and that usually covers your grandpa’s 90th birthday or a bar mitzvah,” says Lisa Murray, a spokesperson for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. “You wouldn’t be allowed to have people drinking any alcohol in tiered seating like bleachers for obvious safety reasons. You would need a separate drinking area to make it at all possible.” The holder of a liquor sales licensce, which most colleges have, may apply for a special occasion permit provided the event is not advertised to the general public, it doesn’t have any intention of making a profit from the event, and intoxication is not permitted.“I don’t know if a lot of schools would feel comfortable handling something like this because there’s a lot of liability issues on the line,” says Murray. 26 fall 2010
COURTESY Lindsay Costello
“No one will sue you personally. Suing the school is a whole different kettle of fish.” Is it so crazy to think that schools should sell alcohol at sporting events? All but seven colleges boast pubs on at least one of their campuses in Ontario. Niagara and Sault College though, have come up with a creative way to incorporate the school’s pub with athletics. This year Niagara opened a pub that has a glass wall that looks into the gym next door to accommodate imbibing patrons who want to catch a live game. “Our hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. unless there is a varsity game, we will stay open an hour after the last game,” says Jennifer Marasco, student centre manager for Niagara. “We were completely sold out on our opening day, and there was probably about 30 to 50 people along the window which sort of made it hard to see if you were farther back. People just come through, have a drink, and then leave. We’ve never had any problems with anyone.” Sault College has plans to break ground this year on a new athletic facility that will give the school an opportunity to sell alcohol, something their facility now doesn’t allow. “Right now our size and age of our facility is not conducive to an environment where we can safely serve alcohol. In the new place that is part of the design element, to have a cornered off area because it seems to be the trend right now,” says Scott Grey, athletic director for Sault College. “I think having this area makes it more social in a controlled environment.” The new facility is planned to open in 2013. I may never get to sip a cold beer while slurring a school-spirited chant in my college’s gymnasium, but I’m going to make a bold prediction right now, and say that in 2013 Sault College will see the biggest jump in their school’s enrollment history. I know I already have my enrollment papers filled out . . . go Cougars go!
SWEAT MAGAZINE 27
MMA NOT
TAPPING OUT
By LANCE HOLDFORTH
One eye is closed and sweat stings the other as the fighter dodges takedown attempts and wild punches from his opponent. The roar of a blood-thirsty crowd drives him to keep going when a knee to the face puts everything in slow motion. He shakes it off, circles his opponent and lunges. Putting his shoulder into the opponent’s waist and lifting his legs, the fighter takes his opponent down. In a split second on the ground he positions one leg across his opponent’s chest and the other over his face. The opponent’s arm is exposed until the fighter pries it over his leg and the sound of cracking bone is louder than the crowd. The referee breaks the men apart and hoists the fighter’s hand in the air announcing the win of his first mixed martial arts (MMA) fight by an arm-bar submission.
There’s way more technique than people think there is. It’s more like a chess match. - Vyron Phillips Basketball coack, Algoma University
This is a scenario that Algoma Univeristy’s basketball coach Vyron Phillips is all too familiar with. Phillips fought, and won, his first MMA fight at the King of the Cage event in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan where the crowd roared as he defeated his opponent in 1:22 of the first round by a technical knockout. “It (MMA) has been really really amazing, and very different than basketball,” says Phillips. “MMA alone is a different feeling, dif28 fall 2010
Photo LANCE HOLDFORTH
ferent training and different cardio.” Even though the Canadian Medical Association recommended a nation-wide ban on the sport, fighters such as Phillips have devoted their lives to getting into Canadian octagons. “When I was younger I did a bit of boxing growing up, but boxing wasn’t the type of thing you do in high school,” he says. “After college I had the chance to go overseas to play basketball, or pursue
what I always wanted to do, and that is to be a fighter.” Every time Phillips trains he takes a beating. He spars with trainers who hit him, grapple him and bend bones with the intent of causing him COURTESY Mike Durst pain, but he does it because it makes him better, it gives him the skill he used to win his 2-0 professional record. “It was my first fight, but I trained like I was a pro. When I came into that fight I came in over prepared,” he says. “I have a really great Mauy Thai guy who fought in Thailand, a jui jitsu guy, and a semi pro boxing guy. Having one of the best camps around has really helped.” Phillips began boxing while growing up in Minneapolis and later pursued an education in sociology at Algoma University, but never lost the desire to be an ultimate fighter. “There’s way more technique than people think there is. It’s more like a chess match. Boxing is worse to me than an MMA fight,” he says. “Playing basketball guys get clipped going up for a rebound, guys in hockey get split open. If you’re going to ban MMA you should ban every contact sport. It’s not as brutal as people make it out to be.” Under section 83 of the Canadian Criminal Code MMA was deemed illegal because the goal is to incapacitate the opponent by force, which puts the sport in the “prize fighting” category. In Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, the code has variations which sanction the sport and allow professional and amateur fights. The future of the sport in Ontario, and now the country, has been shrouded with petitions from fans demanding the sport be legal, litigation issues with politicians and doctors recommending a nation-wide ban. In early August, the Ontario government amended the code to allow live Ultimate Fighting Championships in
the province, but later that month at the CMA’s 143rd annual general council meeting, an overwhelming 84 per cent of doctors voted to have the sport banned across the country. CMA president Dr. Jeff Turnbull said the federal government will have the final say. “The next step will be the CMA board, probably through me as the president, to make clear our position to the government through writing, or presentations,” says Turnbull. “We feel, and felt, it’s very important that as physicians we speak out when we see significant risk to the wellbeing of our population.” The CMA stands outside the octagon because of the high risk of brain damage caused from repeated blows to the head. “Not only do we have the acute problems of immediate damage to the brain, or blood on the brain, but we see chronic damage to the brain, and that results in illnesses like dementia and Parkinson’s syndrome,” he says. Mike Durst has taken kicks to the head, the shins, the abdomen and everywhere else a person can be hit training in Muay Thai kick boxing. The 22-year-old studies film production at Humber College, but he trains in the art of hurting opponents. “I like striking, but Muay Thai is like a cultural thing too. It’s a really big sport. In Thailand it’s like Canada’s hockey, everyone does it,” he says. “There’s a whole different aspect even in training for fights.” For more than two years Durst has left training sessions bruised and sore from elbows to the face and kicks to the stomach from sparing partners eager to toughen him up, but that didn’t stop the novice from going to Thailand to fight a professional. “I was there for four months and trained twice a day for six days a week. It was pretty intense,” Durst says. “My first fight was against a Thai who had 80 fights. I lost, but it went five rounds and it was everything: elbows, knees and no padding.” Durst says squaring off with a seasoned fighter was worth every bloodletting-hit he took. “It was intense. I was pretty beat up, but it was good. I thought I won the fight.” Durst has tried to take his love for the sport to a professional level in Ontario, but has felt the limitations. “I’ve had a fight or two here, but it doesn’t go on your record because it’s kind of underground, so even if you do fight here, it doesn’t go on your professional record,” he says. “We have to travel to Calgary or wherever it’s legal.” Durst started training when a Muay Thai class was offered York University, where he was a student. If the same opportunity came up at college, he would jump at the chance, he said. “If Humber were to start a Muay Thai program it would be great, and I’m sure it would explode,” he says. “I would be involved, and I would maybe even teach.” Although the proposed ban could again ring the bell on MMA in the province, the sport is technically legal until a revision of the Criminal Code states otherwise. The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) official website has no listings of future events in Ontario, but officials have stated they hope to organize the province’s first live UFC event by early 2011. In the meantime, Phillips and Durst say they will continue to train with hopes of showcasing their skill on home turf. SWEAT MAGAZINE 29
HOW DO
YOU
Photo by GURPREET GHAG 30 fall 2010
SPELL
?
By Tai Duong The buzzer goes off and there’s a shuffling in the crowd. They look restless and ready to take a break from the game. The sound system crackles to life and the announcer presents the team through a cacophony of the crowd’s conversations. A pack of young woman dressed in skin-tight leggings, and shiny belly cut tank tops run to the centre of the gymnasium. The crowd turns into a hush as the arms swing in unison to an echo of noise. After a brief moment, the team members run back onto the sidelines and a minute into the game they begin to chant and rap with so much ferocity it throws off the opposing sides’ game. Brad Greenwood, athletic director of St. Lawrence, says that he was looking for a way to increase school spirit and found the appeal was stronger for dance packs. “It seemed to come back loud and clear that it was dance pack that people wanted to be involved with.” Katie Hagan, coach of the Humber Hype dance team says the
interest in dance is a growing craze. “In terms of entertainment, just the types of shows that you have on TV now and movies that are coming out now are all dance related where in the past you had a lot of cheerleading movies,” Hagan says. For Hagan, dance came to Humber first. “In the Humber world, we were here first.” Hagan says the Humber Hype is in its 10th season and while acrobatic cheering in the United States is huge, in Canada dance dominates. Hagan says she sees dance and cheer in college as different forms of entertainment. “They do from the outside look very similar but from a dance perspective and cheer perspective they’re very different.” Coach David-Lee Tracey, also known as “Trace”, who led the back-to-back championship team at Fanshawe with 3 wins and also led the Western University cheer team with 24 victories, says dance packs have very different roles. “They don’t call themselves SWEAT MAGAZINE 31 31
Wilfrid Laurier’s Golden Hawks in action.
COURTESY Andrea Senyk
Fanshawe cheer team in competition.
COURTESY Andrea Senyk
cheerleaders… They are synchronized dance, ” says Trace. At Fanshawe, the team does not perform at games like dance packs do. “We only cheer, we only are on the sidelines.” Cheerleaders have two forms says Tracey, “There’s cheerleading and really being an organized extension of the crowd… A true collegiate cheerleader acts as an link between cheering and the game.” The other role, on the competitive side, involves stunts, tumbling and throwing people in the air. “It’s purely for the enjoyment of doing the tricks and performance,” says Tracey. Rubelyn Ubando, manager of the Mighty Falcon Dancers, says her team tries to get the crowd rolling and involved in the game. Although Fanshawe’s Ubando leads the team to cheer and dance she says the dancers did not want to be considered cheerleaders. “I started it to get more people out at home games and more involved in school activities.” Candice McPhail, a member of the Fanshawe Falcon dance team is enthusiastic about doing both to increase school spirit but says dancing and cheering on the team is something new and unfamiliar. “It’s new for me to kind of combine the two together. I’m not used to it. I think this year it’s more like a stepping stone to combine the two together,” McPhail says. Kristina McCahon, Humber Hawks cheer coach, says the competitive spirit of the cheering is what’s taking over for the team at Humber College. “I’m taking a more competitive route,” McCahon says. At Humber and Fanshawe the challenge is the short length of time the students are in the sport. “For a university student I’ll have them for four to five years. For a College I`ll have them for one or two. Three if I`m super dooper lucky,” says Tracey. But that’s not the only problem for cheer teams. McCahon, says “the problem is you don’t know what’s really going to happen year to year. There really isn’t a long term carry over.” Tracey says that’s a challenge that’s universal to all college teams. Tracey says a cheer teams’ goal is to collect the yelling power of the crowd and make an impact on the game. “If you can make one person say one word once during a game then you have achieved the objective.”
Fanshawe dance team COURTESY Andrea Senyk
Humber Hype dance team in practice 32 fall 2010
Photo by Tai Duong
EXTENDED
OVERTIME
By Brandi Doucett
Photo by GURPREET GHAG
It’s game day, Morgan Kelly is decked out from head to toe in the Durham Lords’ green and gold. Even her backpack is colour-coordinated and boasts the Lords logo. At first glance it’s clear – Kelly is a dedicated member of the women’s soccer team. Her commitment isn’t surprising since this is her fifth year as the goalie for the team. “I think a lot of the older girls take a leading role because they know the skill level of the teams we’ll be playing, so we can pass on our expertise to the younger ones,” says Kelly. Until recently, college athletes were eligible to play on varsity teams for only four years. That changed two years ago when the OCAA added a fifth year, says OCAA executive director Blair Webster. But with most college programs running for two or three years, the eligibility cap continues to create a disconnect between athletics and academics. Kelly began her varsity career in 2004 when she enrolled in a three-year computer animation program. She played on the soccer team for each of those three years. After she graduated she found a job working in her new field, but two years later she found her way back to Durham. “Taking time off was important,” she says. “because I was an animator for two years and it allowed me to see if I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. It’s sort of shockSWEAT MAGAZINE 33
ing when you get out there. ‘Can I really do this? ” The answer, for Kelly, was no. “It was too much spending 10 hours a day on the computer. My love of sports was so great, that I thought, ‘I think I should go into something more athletic, something more physical.’” And knowing she could come back to college and still play soccer made the decision to enroll in another program, fitness and health promotion, that much easier.
I think most definitely people finish programs and then just take random things to keep playing, and that’s just the love of the sport. - Morgan Kelly Durham college soccer player
“I maybe wouldn’t have wanted to come back to school as much if I knew that I couldn’t play soccer.” Since re-upping, Kelly has managed to carry a full course load and complete each of her courses in the standard amount of time. While she did achieve high grades she says it can be extremely difficult, particularly with the time commitment demanded by a varsity team. Teresa George, who plays on the women’s volleyball team at Humber College, agrees that some athletes find it hard to take on a full course load and still attend all of the practices and games. The price has been taking an extra couple of months to complete the two-year law clerk program. After graduation this spring, she will consider taking the emergency telecommunications program, since she still has one more year of athletic eligibility. George says volleyball is a really important part of her life. “If we
34 fall 2010
don’t medal at Nationals it might drag me back because I’ll be thinking ‘what if’ in the coming year.” She is quick to add, she wouldn’t enroll in any program just to play on the team. She says that school comes first for her, so she would only take a program that would benefit her future career. But, Durham’s Kelly recognizes that not all athletes are as levelheaded. “I think most definitely people [sometimes] finish programs and then just take random things to keep playing, and that’s just the love of the sport.” George isn’t sure how she feels about the eligibility cap. On one hand she says, “I don’t think it should be unlimited because then people would just be coming here for sports . . . [but] the one thing I dislike about the five-year eligibility is that after you’ve played a certain number of season games then you’ve used your eligibility.” And that can be a particular headache when injury time is factored into the equation. According to the rules, if a student is injured and can’t play for the rest of the season, they have still used a year of their eligibility. However, if an athlete is hurt “typically within the first five games you can apply to have your eligibility reinstated,” but it all depends on the season, the sport and the athletic director at the specific college says OCAA’s Webster. It’s up to the athletic director to apply on behalf of the athlete. George says the five-year eligibility rule does take the stress out of worshipping the twin shrines of the lab and the gym. “It gets hectic, you miss class because of games and you have practice late.” Kelly says she, “hopes people use the five year [eligibility limit] to find out what they really want to do, I hope that girls don’t use the five years to just play soccer and decrease their course load. “I’d rather take a program and finish it in the normal amount of time, rather than to stretch a three-year program into four or five years.” But for some that’s easier said than done, she says.
SWEAT MAGAZINE 35
36 fall 2010
BACK
IN THE
GAME By BRONWYN ROWSELL Like nails on a chalkboard, the players’ shoes screech across the gymnasium floor. Sweat glistens under the intense lighting as the players leap at the coach’s command. After a 16year drought, volleyball is finally back at Conestoga College. Marlene Ford, varsity athletic co-ordinator at Conestoga, says she was just a final-year student when both the men and women’s volleyball program was cut in 1993 for financial reasons. “The crowd attendance was very low,” she says. The college decided to reinstate the program Ford adds, because nothing brings a school together like sport. The impetus for the revival was pushed along by a couple of players who were on a mission to bring the game back. Matt Dicks, 24, was one of those players. He began his volleyball career in high school and then went on to play on Humber College’s varsity team. Dicks is now back at school studying business at Conestoga and says he was determined to see a volleyball team there. “It took a lot of effort and there were tons of emails sent out, but it was all about dedication and how badly we wanted to it to happen.” Ford says they felt it was something they needed to do for the students and the college. “I think it’s great Conestoga has added a team,” says Christine Lamey the coach of the women’s team. “Colleges that are cutting sports teams don’t realize what they are cutting. Being on a sports team is such an invaluable part of being a student.” Ariel Castromayor, the men’s coach, says the secret to motivating the men’s team was to treat the sport as if it never went away. “I have been running it as if we have been around for 20 years.” “Coaching volleyball was one of those things that I just fell into,” Castromayor says. A former centre for Sheridan in 2002 and 2003, he says he realized he wasn’t keeping up with the others in terms of height, power and strength. “I was the oldest guy in the OCAA,” he laughs. What he lacked in stature, he says, he made up in volume and smarts. Castromayor discovered he had a knack for identifying strengths and weaknesses and was able to communicate. “We are investing in people; we are investing in time in the gym and outside of the gym with plyometric workouts and sports psychologists.” he says. The goal: “We want to make the top four,” he says. He knows that this is a lofty goal as the Condors are in pool with powerhouses from Humber, Seneca, Mohawk, Fanshawe and Sheridan. “Our secondary goal is to have a better than 500 season, which means we will win more than we lose.” For Lamey the goal is to establish a solid program that will draw students to Conestoga to play volleyball in addition to studies. “Conestoga has a great academic record,” she says. “If we combine that with a winning volleyball team then we are going to get the best student athletes.” Castromayor says varsity volleyball has helped put the spotlight on the Kitchener-based college. “Volleyball is very high profile, especially in large communities,” he says. “Volleyball opens Conestoga up enormously because it is the only college in the area.” As November drew to a close, the Condors were 10th in the men’s division, and the women’s team was ninth. COURTESY Conestoga Athletics SWEAT MAGAZINE 37
the bionic athlete
The long-term developmen
way athletes train from early child
By TESSIE SANCI It’s a sunny but brisk autumn day at Fletcher’s Fields in Markham. Far removed from the suburban sprawl of identical homes and big box stores is this vast open space. Except for some faint traffic noise, it’s hard to believe the city is so close. Twenty-five Ontario high school rugby teams have gathered to play a tournament and the focus today is the game – not the competition. Dan Kunanec is watching his junior boys team play. The Don Mills Collegiate Institute coach is strangely silent among the cheering and yelling people on the sidelines. He stays silent, he says, to help students learn to make their own decisions. “As coaches, we talk about trying to help them bec o m e decisionmakers and then, if we just tell them what to do, we’ve defeated our own purpose.” For Kunanec screaming sideline platitudes about “winning” is not an option. “If you focus on winning and not development, you’re going to skip some steps.” Athletes may win more games, but that is not going to help them develop fundamental sports skills along the way, he says. That’s a philosophy that rings a lot of bells with Richard Way, who is involved in Canadian Sport for Life, which he describes as a guide to help athletic organizations deliver a higher quality of sport. It is also the driving force behind the long-term athlete development model, also known as LTAD. LTAD signifies a shift in how sport is taught and how athletes are trained across Canada. It takes the lifespan of a person and details step-by-step 38 fall 2010
how physical activity should be applied through life. Though it uses age to separate the levels, the model emphasizes maturation in size, emotional and mental preparedness. That’s a complicated way of saying that younger athletes need to be taken out of skills-specific silos and allowed to develop across a wide swathe of sport-specific skills. The plan, funded by federal government department Sport Canada, calls for age-appropriate strategies in all sports and across all age groups. If it works, Canada will boast an engaged population of athletes who are not threatened with burnout and who can transition between sports. Way, LTAD’s Victoria-based project leader, says this is the first time a single, cohesive system for sport has been introduced at all federal, provincial and territorial levels. He also says LTAD is not just a high performance plan. “This is to improve the physical literacy of the country, this is to improve lifelong participation.”
We’ll have better athletes, better-trained athletes and better-prepared athletes. - Blair Webster OCAA executive director
Blair Webster, executive director of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association says his organization buys the philosophy behind LTAD. The problem with the existing sports structure “is that everyone wants to get that great kid at six, seven, eight years old and have them only play their own sport.” Way uses the example of a tall 12-year-old basketball player to help explain what needs to change in the Canadian sports system. “The way our system has been operating is that the coach goes: ‘Well, you know what, if I put that tall kid under the basket, I have a better chance of winning.” The shorter players will always dribble the ball to the athlete lurking beneath the basket, says Way. That pattern continues in high school. “Now they go to college and the tall kid is not the tall kid anymore because there’s a taller kid,” says Way, “and for all of his or her development that tall kid has never dribbled the ball up the floor. So, they didn’t develop a whole bunch of basketball skills.”
M/F 0-6
Active Start Fitness and movement skills development as a FUN part of daily life
nt model is changing the dhood to adults
M 6-9 F 6-8
FUNdamentals Learn all FUNdamental movement skills and build overall motor skills Play many sports Focus on the ABCs of Athleticism: ability, balance, coordination, and speed
Way describes this as “systematic over-strategizing” that results in “poor performance in the end because these kids do not have the skills.” Coming up with a better strategy doesn’t mean that it’s a slam dunk to implement. The LTAD wagon was first rolled out 2005 and sports organizations are slowly picking up the reins. Some, like Ontario’s rugby and basketball associations, are well on their way while the OCAA is still at the early stages of implementing the philosophy. Webster says the college sports body still has to come to grips with what it means for specific sport. Webster says there are currently 4,000 varsity athletes and between 45,000 and 50,000 students in recreational college programs in Ontario. As a multisport organization, the OCAA has to develop an LTAD strategy for each sport and implement it at two different stages. The first “Training to Compete” follows athletes in their late teens while the second “Training to Win” follows those in their early twenties For youngsters, the LTAD focus is on fundamental movement skills such as balance co-ordination and speed, and overall sport skills such as jumping and throwing. As they progress, a young athlete can focus on one sport but must still be involved in others. It isn’t until the athletes are heading into college that they can focus solely on one sport. However, that doesn’t mean the OCAA won’t make changes to its system. To thrash out a strategy, the OCAA is working closely with other provincial sports organizations. “We have a very good relationship with basketball, with soccer, with volleyball provincial organizations,” says Webster. “We’re already talking and they’re more developed in terms of their LTAD program so it’s just a matter of making sure what we’re doing aligns with what their philosophies are.” In Ontario, the provincial ministry of health promotion and sport is monitoring the process. Webster says the province has not set a deadline for implementation. “You just have to show progression” and that “you’re working towards implementing it within your organization. That’s where the government’s at right now,” he says. Webster sees the LTAD as something that will help college sports. He is optimistic that as the process evolves, “we’ll have better athletes, better-trained athletes and better-prepared athletes.”
M 9-12 F 8-11
Learning to train Learn overall sport skills Acquire sport skills that will be the cornerstone of athletic development Play a variety of sports focusing on developing skills in three sports in particular Growth-spurt dependent: M 12-16 F 11-15
Training to train Build an endurance base, develop speed and strength towards the end of the stage, and further develop and consolidate sport specific skills Select two favourite sports based on predisposition Depending on sport: M 16-23 F 15-21
Training to compete Optimize fitness preparation and sport, individual, and position specific skills and learn to compete internationally Sport specific: M 19+/- F 18+/-
Training to win Podium Performances
Any age
Active for life A smooth transition from an athlete’s competitve career to lifelong physical activity and participation in sport
Provided by Citius Performance & Canadian Sport for Life
SWEAT MAGAZINE 39
40 fall 2010
The house that
Thunder built
by ryan charko w
ility algonquin college boasts new state of the art fac
COURTESY Algonquin Athletics Department
A brisk fall wind cuts across the perfectly manicured emerald turf. It’s a perfect night for soccer. The Algonquin Thunder comes trotting on to the field to a raucous welcome from its crowd, some of whom have been waiting in the stands for upwards of an hour. There’s tension in the air as the Thunder’s cross-town rivals, the La Cité Coyotes, eye their opponents from the other side of the pitch, going over last-minute strategies in their heads. Within minutes, the game is on. The home team is hungry; hungry for that elusive first win of the season in these familiar confines. Suddenly, two players jump to head the ball and come crashing down to the field with a thud. The referee runs over, stands at
attention and displays a red card. The home spectators are unrelenting; this does not bode well for their squad. Algonquin College athletic director Ron Port says this sort of atmosphere is very much the norm around here. “The fans are always incredible for these games,” he says through a smile during a break in play. “I don’t think you see this kind of support at just any college campus.” A lot of that support, says Port, has to be credited to Thunder Yards, a $5 million soccer complex unlike any other in the Canadian college athletics system, complete with private dressing rooms, a physiotherapy centre and top-notch artificial turf. Since Algonquin played its first game there in September, 2005, the
Thunder have posted a record of 47-6-1 and have captured six straight OCAA championships, along with one CCAA championship in 2007. They have fared so well at home that they only suffered their first loss at Thunder Yards on Sept. 25 of this year, and only by one goal. Jimmy Zito, in his first year as head coach of the Thunder, says visiting teams quickly learn the ropes when they arrive. “Most teams are pretty amazed when they walk in here,” he says, referring to the first class nature of the facility. “They definitely don’t like it when they walk out though because there aren’t too many teams who come in here and win.” Port is quick to point out that soccer has alSWEAT MAGAZINE 41
ways been a popular sport at Algonquin but the program had suffered in the past due to the lack of a proper practice space. “We felt we had a good program, but without a field on campus, we had to take things elsewhere, which definitely had an impact on our roster,” he says. “Unless you really love the sport, you’re not coming out to Lansdowne Park at nine at night to practice for two hours.” And, he says the new field has been a blessing for the school. “Every kid now has the chance to play,” he says. Before the game, field attendant Ryan Bennison looks out at the pitch with the gaze of a proud father. He has been looking after the nuts and bolts of Thunder Yards since 2007 and it’s hard not to notice his pride seep through when he talks about outsiders’ responses to the field. “I think people love it,” he says. “As soon as they step on the turf, it’s something different. They may be used to playing on uneven grass but here it’s not like that. We have a perfectly flat field and you get a true roll of the ball.” Zito says the facility is invaluable to a coaching staff because it introduces a much-needed sense of consistency in practices and in working on in-game philosophy and strategy. “There’s nothing like it in the whole city,” he says. “When you don’t need to worry about the conditions for a practice, you can get down to businesses much faster and really have a chance to work on the finer points of the game.” Along with being the home of the Thunder, the pitch also acts as the main field for the La Cité College’s Coyotes. On this day, however, Algonquin is the home team and the stands are teeming with Thunder faithful. Emily Selst, 23, has been volunteering all season long to whip the crowd into a frenzy during home games. Her efforts really make the audience feel like they are at a professional soccer game. “The spectators always feel like they’re making a difference,” she shouts over a clamor of cheers. “And in turn it really gets the players going on the field.” Team announcer Vikta Paulo, who has been here since his first year at Algonquin in 2007 and has since graduated, says he hasn’t experienced anything like it at any other college. “It’s hard not to come out and support such a stellar program,” he says. As the soccer season winds down and winter descends upon the Ottawa area, it will soon be time to close down the field for another busy off-season. In late October, Bennison says 50 students will come in to erect a giant dome over the turf so Port can begin to rent out the facility through the winter months. “When you pay $5 million for something, you definitely don’t want it sitting dormant for a good chunk of the year,” he says with a laugh. “I’ll have the field booked every weekend during the off-season and throughout most of the week too.” Bennison says while putting up the dome is one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, it definitely adds a cache to the field and shows students their extra fees are being put to good use. The field is rented out each weekend to the Ottawa Fury, a local professional development club that works closely with Algonquin and shares its coaching staff. During the week, the field is home to various intramural sports from indoor soccer to rugby and cricket. “The [soccer] season is so short now, you start and it’s finished before you know it,” says Port. “So we welcome having activity here year round.” In their quest for one home win this season, the Thunder comes up short against La Cité, albeit by one goal. The fans file out of the stands for one last time but are quick to give the team an ovation as it heads off the field. That’s the only reception you would expect from such a devoted group. As far as the Thunder’s season goes this year, everyone involved realizes they’re in a rebuilding stage, so it goes without saying there will be lean times. “We’re a very young team and we’ve had a very injury-prone season but we’re starting to come together,” Zito says with optimism in his voice. The team went out of the 2010 competition in the quarter finals —but with their tails up. With facilities like the Thunder Yards at their disposal, it’s not difficult to see why. 42 fall 2010
SWEAT MAGAZINE 43
BATTER UP! The first year ever with a bunch of guys who don’t really know each other, we did a really good job. - Joe Jiminez Hawks catcher
By ALICIA CONDARCURI The catcher for the Humber Hawks baseball team reclined on a chair in the Athletic Centre clinic, icing his shoulder the day before the big game. The last practice of the season was over and the athletes were facing their first ever Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association [CIBA] finals against the unbeaten Durham Lords. Catcher Joe Jiminez said nerves hadn’t gotten the best of the new team, otherwise known as “The Last-Minute Club.” Instead, the atmosphere at practise was loose: teammates cracking jokes, acting like the easy going “little family ready to play baseball” that they’d been for the past two months since forming Humber College’s first ever baseball team. Jiminez was adamant that staying mellow was Humber’s strategy going into the finals. After all, he reassured, “we’ve proved that we can beat the previous champs (St Clair) and we’re going to prove this weekend how we can do that against an unbeaten team, against adversity, against a team that’s beaten us however many times we’ve played them.” 44 fall 2010
But it wasn’t to be. The 18-year-old program at Durham helped give the Lords the edge they needed to take the title. For Humber newbies though, reaching the finals in the first year is a victory no other team in the CIBA has ever accomplished, said Jiminez. Many in college sports hope it will spur the other colleges to review baseball as an option that could someday turn into an OCAA varsity league of its own. That could soon be a reality, says Ken Babcock, athletic director at Durham College. Babcock did not expect his championship team to meet Humber in the finals, but he’s not surprised that the college has put together such a good program in a short period of time. “Now, we’re only two teams shy of having the potential to offer an OCAA conference,” says Babcock, referencing the five teams minimum needed to start a varsity league. “And that’s exciting.” Humber College assistant coach James DePoe thinks the addition of the sport in the OCAA would be “good for Ontario and good for baseball”. DePoe laments the historic drain of skilled Ontario players to the baseball hungry United States, and increasingly to baseball-friendly British Columbia where, he notes, about half
of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds’ ball players hail from Ontario. And most of them, he says, come from the Toronto region. Some have gone on to Major League Baseball training camps. UBC is the only Canadian school to play in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics [NAIA]. Why not Ontario too? “At the post secondary level, there’s not a competitive enough level of baseball that’s going to keep the elite kids here, like in B.C.,” says DePoe. And while the OCAA forming a formal league is a step in the right direction, there’s a long, long way to go. “It will take a while because you’re going to have to show how competitive the league is and bring the level of play up,” DePoe said. Doing that requires recruiting experienced players and coaches, and that’s exactly what the Hawks found in coach Denny Berni. The ex minor league player coaches with the Etobicoke Rangers 18 and under midget organization and owns Pro Teach, a baseball teaching facility in Etobicoke. Humber players get an advantage by using the facilities during the six-week season and throughout the winter, enjoying year-round practices that will help pave the way for a successful future. For a while it was touch and go whether Humber would field a team, but when the last-minute call for talent went out last summer, selectors were faced with rich pickings. More than 90 players tried out for just 18 spots. DePoe said he’s confident the new team will be good for Humber. “There will be a lot of attention paid and a lot of students will come here for baseball because of the location,” says DePoe. As for finding two more teams to make the OCAA league fly, DePoe said it’s a reasonable goal. “I know George Brown College had a team, but they folded so I’m not sure what the other colleges will do,” says DePoe. “London is a great baseball town so I think they’d be a natural fit for the OCAA [...] Hamilton also has a good tradition for baseball.” London’s Fanshawe has been looking at baseball for a while, said manager of athletics Mike Lindsay. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Fanshawe College Athletics could field a very competitive team,” Linsday said in a statement. “London region is a hotbed for both (men’s baseball and women’s fastball) and there is significant interest from both current Fanshawe students and prospective students in both programs.” Humber is living proof that it’s possible to field a competitive team right off the bat. “I think there are bigger and better things to come with that program,” says Durham’s Babcock, “They’ve done all the right things, they look good, they’re in good shape, they bring in good people and it won’t be long before that program solidifies itself as a regular contender.” Although the team finished second, they’re still proud. “The first year ever with a bunch of guys you don’t really know and the amount of time you had to get ready and how short of a season it was, an 8 and 8 record is actually really good,” said catcher Jiminez. “So, .500 for guys who literally got thrown together in a couple weeks for a four week season, we did a really good job.” SWEAT MAGAZINE 45
How to live a healthy lifestyle on a vegan diet by malorie gilbert Recipe prov ided by Debra Basc h
Cameron Blake, vegan athlete.
Ask NHL afficionados what they recall about Bob Halkidis and most will say his willingness to drop the gloves. “He played with a lot of heart, for sure, but he was actually a big fighter,” says Nick Malezis, a Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL) referee, recalling the aggression of the former Toronto Maple Leaf and Detroit Red Wing. A guy like that? He has to have a diet one step short of that of the cro-magnon man. Meat, meat and… more meat. Right? Wrong. Halkidis will take tofu over tartare any day. Halkidis decided to stop eating meat after he saw an advertisement on the news about the slaughter of cows. “I’ve always been a healthy eater, and I always wanted to stay healthy,” he says. So now he is a vegan. Cameron Blake is another vegan athlete-a runner. The 19-year-old from Richmond Hill has never eaten meat in his life. He was born a vegetarian and decided to go vegan about three years ago when he turned 16 – and he has never looked back. “My body, in every way, functions so much better when I’m eating clean food. It has helped me in so many ways, and with my runs too,” he says. “Any diet where it is plant based is associated with greater health. There are lower risks of cancer and heart disease, arthritis and inflammation, because you are having a fibre and 46 fall 2010
Photo by MALORIE GILBERT
nutrient rich diet,” says Debra Basch, registered holistic nutritionist and certified personal trainer. “There is nothing weird or freaky or dumb about a vegan diet,” says Basch. “Actually, we really try to push eating more of your food from plantbased sources.” Basch says vegans take in, compared to meat eaters, “significantly higher dosages of fibre, potassium, magnesium, Vitamin B6 and folate.” However, Basch says that with a vegan diet, you have to be very particular about what you are eating, ensuring that you are getting all of the proper nutrients. “Lots of thought and prep has to go into the meals, but it’s okay,” she says. “I really endorse it. If you are mature enough to take this on and take care of your body, it might be fun.” According to Kyle Byron, a sports nutrition expert and certified personal trainer, veganism is healthy if it is done correctly, though most people do not. In order to be sure you are getting an appro-
priate amount of necessary foods on a vegan diet regimen Byron recommends this system: “Put your hands together and make the shape of a bowl. In that, you would put different coloured vegetables and leafy greens,” he says. “Make a fist. Three quarters of your fist will be legumes, like black beans, lentils, chickpeas, things like that. Now with your
get a lot of You actually based your plant in n ei ot pr nt etes that wa foods. Athl ing go rd, they’re to train ha ey’re make sure th to have to nts of equate amou ad in ng ki ta nutrients. those macro
other hand make a fist, and a quarter of that is going to be a grain, like quinoa or rice. And then if you waggle your thumbs in the air, you make those nuts or seeds, and you’ve got a balanced meal.” This meal, notes Byron, contains anywhere from 15-25 grams of protein. Basch says the average woman requires a minimum of about 46 grams of protein per day; the average male, 56 grams. However, these numbers are just a guideline, as weight training, or an increased body weight will force those numbers to go up. Basch cautions that failure to take in the required amount of nutrients could cause the body to go into a catabolic state, which means muscle is being broken down to use for energy. This can happen especially in endurance athletes – like runners – who do not take in adequate amounts of protein. However, Basch says getting enough protein
is very easy to do. “You actually get a lot of protein in your plant based foods,” she says. “Athletes that want to train hard, they’re going to have to make sure they’re taking in adequate amounts of those macro nutrients – then they will get their protein needs as well.” “Macro nutrients are carbohydrates, proteins and fats,” says Basch. Also essential for the body are micro nutrients like vitamins and trace minerals, she says. Without these, Basch says, a vegan could run the risk of becoming anemic. “Anemia doesn’t just happen when you don’t get enough iron, you can be anemic in any of the minerals that you need,” she says. “So, if you’re eating a diet that is really high in plantbased calcium and iron, but you’re not eating foods in the right combinations, or your body has a problem with absorption, you could still become anemic.” In order to make sure you are eating the correct combinations of food and preventing absorption issues, Basch recommends that vegans eat their plant-based source of iron at the same time as Vitamin C, so the body is then able to “unlock” the iron and make it absorbable. For example, Basch says a vegan could eat strawberries, which contain Vitamin C, at the same time as cream of wheat breakfast cereal, which contains iron, to promote the greatest absorption of nutrients. In terms of iron, “the easiest kind for the body
to absorb is called heme iron, but that is only found in animal sources,” Basch says. For this reason, eating foods in the correct combinations is extremely vital for a vegan athlete. Besides iron, important nutrients that vegans must pay attention to are calcium, zinc and iodine, says Basch. Athletes in particular must ensure they are getting Vitamin B12, as it helps to metabolize carbohydrates and fats used by the body for energy. “The vitamin B12 that is found in tempeh, greens, legumes, things like that – it is a different form than our bodies actually use and need. So, B12, we tell vegans, they’ve got to supplement it.” Basch suggests taking B12 in a liquid form, because it is the most absorbable. Another benefit of going vegan to enhance training or performance, notes Basch, is that vegans take in much less unhealthy fats, since saturated fat is found in animal products. As a result, it is much easier for a vegan to maintain a low body weight. “The fat in soy products, if you look at what a soy product has – whether it is tofu or liquid soy – it will have a lot of fat, but it’s healthy fat. Your body needs that,” says Basch. Of course, veganism is a personal decision. But for those ready to embark on this lifestyle or for those who already follow a similar regimen, when done correctly, veganism can be very beneficial to overall health. “It’s just science,” says Blake. “If you’re eating right and you’re eating well, your body will thank you for it.”
SWEAT MAGAZINE 47
COMMUNITY COLLEGES By LINDSAY BELFORD It’s a sea of blue and gold. The roar of the big city diehard fans hits you in the face like a blast of hot air. The smell of the freshly popped corn mixes uncomfortably with the slight sniff of stale sweat. Change the colours to blue and white as you move from a big school to a smaller and more remote Niagara College. What changes? Certainly not the enthusiasm. From college athletics in the big city, to the rural Ontario colleges, the differences in the stands or on the field are few. Steve McLaughlin, the current athletic director for Centennial College and former Athletic Director of Fleming College, agrees. He knows what it’s like at both a small rural campus and a large urban campus. “I don’t see a difference in the calibre in a small institution versus a large one,” McLaughlin says. McLaughlin does believe that the big schools rely on recruitment, while smaller schools rely on dedication. “Smaller institutions do not recruit nearly as actively as the larger ones do smaller institutions rely more on walks ons,” McLaughlin says. That’s counter-balanced by the dedication of not only the players but of the staff of a competitive athletic program. Given the travelling that smaller schools have to do to get to games and exhibition. “Their [smaller institutions] travel budgets are astronomical... You not only have to have that dedicated student athlete but also a dedicated coaching staff,” McLaughlin says. Ray Sarkis, director of athletics and recreation
Community involvement is big to us and our athletes. at Niagara College agrees with McLaughlin. “It all depends what [the school’s] administration is prepared to do to support their programs,” Sarkis says. But the differences between GTA schools and small rural schools are that small schools are more subtle. The colleges located in the smaller communities means being closer to the community that surrounds them. Niagara receives requests from the community to come attend events or help out. “We encourage our athletes to go out into the community, within reason,” Sarkis says. Jim Buck, the athletic director for Loyalist College also encourages his athletes to interact with the community. Loyalist even encourages its athletes and students to go out and get involved in sports, like figure skating, rock climbing and hockey, which the community offers but Loyalist does not. “Community involvement is big to us and our athletes... we have game nights where different groups come in to see our games and meet the athletes,” Buck says. Some students are Big Brothers and Big Sisters within the Belleville community. Melanie Rose, who works at a local pub in Belleville called the Winchester Arms notices a difference in business when school is in session at Loyalist. “We find, in the summer, it’s slower and you see them coming back in September,” Rose says. “It’s mostly evenings. They like the atmo-
- Jim Buck Athletic director Loyalist
sphere because it’s a nice quiet pub, they can sit and chat.” Niagara took part in fundraising for United Way through the first ever basketball game between Brock University and Niagara. The game helped raise $4000. “It wasn’t about the teams, it was more about the community,” Sarkis says. The drawback for smaller schools is that they just don’t have the operating budget that the larger schools have. That’s due to the smaller student population, but smaller schools like Niagara are catching up. “Our programs and numbers have grown immensely in the last four or five years. We’ve gone from 5400 students to 8000,” Sarkis says. This massive growth has caused Niagara College to expand drastically, putting millions of dollars into a new athletic centre and a new student centre among other things. “It’s like building a brand new campus,” says Sarkis. The enrolment rate for Loyalist College last year increased as well, rising 19.7 per cent for full time first-year students. Last year in the 24 public colleges there were more than 102,000 students enrolled in firstyear full-time programs. The stands at small colleges, like Loyalist, are not quiet. They’re just as loud and full of anticipation and excitement as the GTA colleges like Humber. They paint their faces and show their support for their athletes and their school, no matter what colours they are wearing.
COURTESY Terry Tingchaleum
48 fall 2010
the wii fit:
a hop, skip and a by John
jump in the right direction
na Ruocco
Photos by GURPREET GHAG
Video games are top of mind for many college students, but probably not when thinking about getting into shape. The motion control concept of the Nintendo Wii, and now the Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move, has brought the idea of fitness to mainstream video games. Whether these are just another level of interactive game or a viable fitness tool has been hotly debated. They’re “exer-games” — a video game combined with physical movements to promote action says Dr. Brandon Vantorre, a London chiropractor and certified strength and conditioning specialist. The Wii Fit, he says, “offers physical benefits associated with increased muscular endurance, strength, flexibility, balance and co-ordination.” But in terms of health-related fitness and weight loss, Vantorre says that only, “about one-third of the exercises in the game meet the recommended physical activitiy guideline of moderate-intensity and the actual number of gaming hours is directly related to energy expenditure.” He says The American College of Sports Medicine [ACSM] recommends that adults who wanted to shed significant amounts of weight, participate in more than 250 minutes every week of moderate-intensity physical activity. To prevent significant weight gain, he says, ACSM recommends that adults participate in at least 150 minutes every week of moderate intensity physical activity. “The fun factor is there, but it doesn’t provide a high enough stimulus,” Vantorre claims. EA Sports Active 2 is another fitness video game, with different versions designed for the Wii, the Kinect and the Move. Gerard Recio, an associate producer and a strength and conditioning specialist at the Vancouver location, where Electronic Arts [EA] Sports Active was developed, says “[The game] helps people achieve health benefits and weight loss goals.” EA Sports Active was designed in consultation with certified personal trainers, and is scheduled in a way where users won’t plateau, said Recio.
He points to a study that was commissioned by EA Sports Active and conducted by the University of Wisconsin. The study tested 16 physically active adults aged 25 to 45 to determine the intensity and caloric expenditure of two of the pre-set workouts on EA Sports Active. The study found that the two workouts tested met the ACSM guidelines for an effective workout. These guidelines state that reaching an intensity between 64 and 94 per cent of maximal heart rate or 40 to 85 per cent of maximal oxygen consumption, as well as burning minimum of 200 to 300 calories per session, five days per week, are needed to maintain proper health and to aid in weight control. Although the EA game might be useful as a supplement for athletes, it is not yet at a level to be used for training. “The fact is that nothing’s going to beat one-on-one training sessions,” says Recio, “but [the game] breaks down barriers, it’s a cost-effective workout, and it might build motivation and esteem to try things outside the living room.” And it could have longer term benefits as well. “It’s a gateway to a new lifestyle mashing gaming and fitness,” he says. Although there are traditional exercises, there are also mini-games to combine fitness and fun, competition and play, says Recio. “That gaming element is engaging — you’re doing squats but you’re not thinking about it. You’re concentrating on the activity in the game.” Jennifer Lau, a personal trainer for the Toronto-based personal training company Fit Squad, has clients who also use the Wii Fit as a supplement. “It is a good workout, but it depends on what you put in to it,” she says. “You can’t just shake the remote around, you have to put into it the same effort as what you would put into a normal workout.” The gaming factor is motivating and it is convenient for users, says Lau, “because they can do this from the comfort of their own home and no one’s watching them so they can sweat and scream as much as they want and not feel the pressure of an audience.” SWEAT MAGAZINE 49
tech 101 by kyla sergejew
Humber and Durham dominated at the 2010 PING/CCA golf national
championship Oct. 15 in Kamloops, B.C., Humber taking the men’s team title
and Durham the women’s. History was also made as all three individual medals were acquired by Humber golfers with David Lang stealing gold, Mark Hoffman sweeping silver, and Adrian Cord grabbing bronze.
history lesson: “What makes golf different is that you hit your own ball across course with the objective of putting it in a hole,” says Karen Hewson, director of membership and heritage services at Golf Canada. “As far as we can tell, it could have been influenced by many of the games that were played at the time,” she says. There was a game played in Holland that had similar equipment, but was played on ice with the objective of striking the ball against a post using a metal club. Hewson says it is believed each golfer played his own ball. The first golf balls – used in the unnamed Dutch forebear – were odd affairs, made of soggy feathers stuffed into wet leather bags. When dried, the feathers expanded in the ball and the leather contracted. Hewson says the ball would fly about 140 yards when walloped in its dry state. But any kind of moisture in the air would give it all the flight characteristics of a wet sock. Which makes it all the more surprising that the leather-feather contraptions were able to make the flight from the frozen canals of Holland’s flatlands to verdant hillsides of Scotland – the birthplace of the modern game.
“The trade routes were fairly strong between Holland and Scotland, which carried the game over,” says Hewson. “It made more sense to play it on grass because they didn’t actually have ice.” Or at least they did – but the balls tended to stick on grassy slopes and slide on ice. The Scots, it seems, had figured out both friction and gravity. “The earliest clubs we know of are from the late 18th century [with a narrow] wooden head and wooden shaft,” Hewson says. “We know that was played with through the middle of the 19th century and then, when they introduced a new style of ball, they began to change the shape of the head of the club into the modern, condensed, solid round head.” The more heavy duty models also lent themselves to mass manufacturing, unlike their more delicate, hand-crafted antecedents. Which, in turn, helped make the equipment more affordable. Gutta Percha, the magical tree sap integral to the modern game, was discovered in 1850 in Malaysia, and was first used to insulate underground telegraph wires. It was discovered that when heated it could be molded into a ball and
used on the golf course. Dimples were introduced after the 1930s. “That material was somewhat malleable, so the more they hit it the better it flew, and that’s really why they developed the dimples,” says Hewson. “They marked the ball so that it had some aerodynamic powers.” Hewson says engineers are always looking for new materials and design that will improve a player’s game; and the advances in golf equipment are happening much faster. “These were massive leaps and bounds when they went from feathers to the gutta percha, or the idea of having a central core,” says Hewson. “It’s much more incremental now – it’s little improvements over and over, which ultimately add up to a big improvement. “There’s certainly an ongoing concern that courses are going to be out-driven, but I think the biggest influence in the change of equipment for the game is that it’s made it more accessible for more people,” Hewson says.
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1895 The United States Open is instituted
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50 fall 2010
Big Bertha golf , club is launched crafted entirely s out of stainles steel
“It’s one-third the density of titanium, yet it features a greater load carrying capacity per unit mass and bending, which . . . allows (engineers) to do some pretty awesome things with the club,” says Goryl. As the technology evolves, the sport has become the centre of some exotic partnerships. Callaway, for example, has teamed up with Automobili Lamborghini in research and development of the product. Goryl says Lamborghini recognized Callaway’s exploration of lighter, stronger, more precise materials and understood these characteristics could benefit their concept cars too. “Because the lighter the body of the car, the more power they get out of the engine,” says Goryl. “That’s where the sort of natural collaboration began.” The first golf club that will use this technology is the Diablo Octane driver. It contains forged composite in the crown – compared to all-titanium drivers it provides a greater distribution of mass in the club head, says Goryl. “It’s exciting for us because typically the golf industry trails are super cars and aerospace in terms of leading materials, so this is really the first time we are neck and neck with these industries. That’s pretty exciting stuff,” says Goryl.
Forged Composite
Wood drivers were the standard up until just 20 years ago when Callaway Golf Company introduced a stainless steel driver called Big Bertha. “That 20 years was really the first step in the evolution of clubs,” says Scott Goryl, communications manager at Callaway Golf Company in California. “In the years that followed, steel drivers took over the game until golf engineers began employing lighter, exotic materials – eventually titanium, to improve performance characteristics and make club heads lighter so the shaft could be [longer] and faster club speeds led to faster and longer flight.” Bob Breen, a Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association golfer who lives in Brampton has been playing professional golf for more than 50 years and has played in two U.S. Opens. Breen plays Callaway iron, which he considers the top clubs in the business. “These are the clubs that fit my swing, fit my game: in weight and in size and in the loft. I feel confident that they work for me,” says Breen. Today, about 90 per cent of the golf driver market is all-titanium drivers. “The Ben Hogan club was a big club for years and years and years,” says Breen. “The Callaway club came on the scene and they made a real change in the game- and they try to better it all the time. The newest material in golf club technology, Forged Composite, features over ten million high strength carbon fibers, or turbostratic fibers, per cubic inch – which creates a lighter and stronger material than titanium.
COURTESY Callaway
innovations in golf:
Sometimes the technology is certainly going to make you a winner. - Bob Breen CPGA golfer
2007
Durh and Oam gradu Will CAA cha ates TylerMitchell a mpions for th Martin q nd Profe e 2008 Caualify ssion al Gonadian lf Tou r
SWEAT MAGAZINE 51
52 fall 2010
Ontario College Academic Athletes
managing studies on an
athlete’s schedule By MELANIE KERR College athletes have a challenge when it comes to balancing both school and sports, and sometimes it’s not so easy. For Humber College’s badminton player Renee Yip, the idea of competing in a tournament and then racing home to pull an all-nighter for a late night study session is nothing out of the ordinary. With Renee’s double role as a student and an athlete she often finds herself studying in between her time on the court. “I found myself struggling with school last year around nationals. It was during midterms and I had four midterms and had to change the days and ended up doing three in one day just to catch up,” says Yip, 19. “By the time I was doing my midterms my class was already beginning new lectures.” The fitness and health promotion student says now that she’s in her second year playing at Humber, things are starting to get easier. “This semester I have class from eight to four and then badminton starts from five to seven. I also commute from Markham so I wake up at six, leave by seven, and usually don’t get home until eight thirty or nine at night.” Although school and athletics share a top priority for Yip, her job is necessary too. “I also work part-time at a dental office so it’s hard to find time to study, but I need to make money for school.” Pile all of this on and Yip says she has to really manage her time to be able to keep a social life and have time for her friends. “Having Fridays off of school really helps because during the day I’ll study and then at night I’m able to go out with friends, but that could change when tournaments start rolling in.” Yip says Monique Haan, Humber’s athletic academic advisor, is very helpful and she’s thankful the school provides free tutoring to athletes. Every school deals with varsity academics differently. “We have an academic monitoring program. The way it works is that every athlete, in the beginning of October, is given a monitoring form that they have to take to all of their teachers to fill out and the form is brought back to us,” says John Sharpe, senior varsity sports co-ordinator at Seneca College. “We do a 15 minute monitoring session where we go through each of their classes and see how they’re progressing, and we speak directly with the faculty to get feedback on their in-class work.” SWEAT MAGAZINE 53
The freshman academic sessions are all a half hour and can vary depending on how big the team is and how many new rookie players have joined. At Humber, athletes have until midterms to prove they are able to get their work done and achieve passing grades, says Haan. “Last year we had mandatory study hall for the first time. Not all of the coaches or athletes bought into it, but it’s important that the athletes know that if they aren’t meeting those requirements there will be disciplinary actions.” If an athlete is failing any classes after midterms, they will be asked to come in for mandatory study hall and will be set up with a tutor. Although mandatory study hall is not required for all athletes, some coaches have asked for it. “The basketball team does have mandatory study hall. It’s really all up to the coach and their preference. They come to the academic centre and sign in and then I report back to their coach to say ‘Hey, your player has been here,’ and then at the end of the week we tally it up and report back to the coach making sure all players have attended,” says Haan. “When it comes to college sports, you are a student first and an athlete second,” says Haan. At Humber the sport/study dilemma has been addressed in a more formal way. Humber’s varsity academic centre is located above the gym and looks like a regular classroom but is reserved for athletes. It is used before and after classes and during gaps between class to ensure that high scores are not only on the court but also in the grades. “I meet with all of the freshman athletes for an academic session at the beginning of a semester. We want to make sure that they are starting off on the right foot and have their textbooks, OSAP money and tuition paid for,” says Haan. Like Humber, Seneca does not have mandatory study sessions for their athletes but provides a room much like the Humber varsity academic centre, desk space and extra computers where athletes can do group or individual work.
54 fall 2010
According to OCAA rules and regulations, students have to pass a minimum of three classes to be eligible for the next semester. “At Seneca if a student only passes two or three classes or anything below 50 per cent of their total course load they go into the monitoring program where they meet on a weekly basis with their varsity co-ordinator,” says Sharpe. she says that the ultimate goal is for the athlete to graduate and “if we’re not helping them proceed to that, what are we doing?” Ryan Talsma, a former Redeemer University College student and volleyball player is now learning what it’s like to have mandatory study sessions. “At Redeemer there were tutors available, but that was for any student, not specifically for athletes,” he says. Things have changed now that Talsma is attending Thompson Rivers University, in Kamloops B.C. “This year my volleyball team has a two hour study session once a week to ensure that the emphasis is also on academics and not just athletics.” Talsma found it stressful to balance his schoolwork load with scheduled games. “We had weekend trips near the end of the first semester. That was when a lot of papers were due for school and it was extremely hard to write a paper or research while on a weekend trip.” Humber’s head basketball coach, Shawn Collins, says he meets with the athletes regularly to see they are organized both on and off the court. “I meet with them individually once a week to make sure they’re up to date with their school work.” The mandatory study sessions began about three years ago when Collins was an assistant coach. “We started this because we were losing too many athletes come Christmas time,” he says. The basketball team meets every Wednesday from six to seven thirty for a study session before practice. “We went on a weekend tournament to Montreal and had two study sessions while we were there. Any opportunity we get as a team, we make sure everyone’s on track,” says Collins.
SWEAT MAGAZINE 55
HATCHET MEN
Backyard axe throwing league chops its way into extreme sports By ANDREW SUTHERLAND Tucked away in a modest and unsuspecting downtown neighbourhood, The Toronto Backyard Axe Throwing League lies just beyond an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. On this particular evening, the shop is teeming with families sitting outside and enjoying what might be the last cone of the season. As I get closer to axe league founder Matt Wilson’s house, the unmistakable thud of metal hitting wood can be heard, followed immediately by the roar of the crowd. Someone must have made a great throw. The roar is a simultaneous mixture of cheering, heckling, and screaming. No one at the ice cream shop or strolling down the street seems to take notice; to them it’s just the sounds of a normal Tuesday night. Stepping into Wilson’s backyard I finally see what all the commotion is about. The energy is palpable; one could almost reach out and touch the excitement in the air. Beyond that is the physical spectacle of seeing a massive axe throwing court set up in a residential backyard. Four huge targets are set up at the farthest end of two lawns. There is an eclectic sea of people, many adorned in red, green, or blue, B.A.T.L. [Back yard Axe Throwing League] t-shirts. An onlooker points me to a man in a red t-shirt, loudly orchestrating the set up and co-ordination of the evening’s matches, replacing the worn out wood, and ensuring everyone is having a good time, this is Matt Wilson. “It started at a cottage with a couple of friends, just hanging out, and it was not really cottage season so there wasn’t a whole lot to do,” says Wilson. “The first night in, one of the guys pulled out a hatchet and started throwing it at a tree, We started coming up with point systems and ways to get more points.” Wilson had such a good time throwing axes that when he got back to Toronto he decided to share his newfound love. “I told my roommate just how satisfying it was to throw an axe and he didn’t really believe me,” jokes Wilson. “So I threw together some scrap wood, using duct tape, and leaned it against the wall and made him throw axes until he figured out how much fun it was.” Wilson thought he could probably convince eight or ten friends to participate, and now four years later the league has grown to 60 players meeting over two nights during the week. There are also dozens of latercomers on a waiting list, says Wilson but at the moment the current facilities can’t reasonably contain everyone. “We have to move out of the backyard. We expanded this year to a second night, we did it without checking with anybody. We just did it,” says Wilson. “But it’s at the point now where I feel bad about the neighbours, who are really great, they’re really generous with us, they’re really patient with us, and I make sure we’re done at ten o’clock every night or nine-thirty if possible, just to be considerate, because I know we are loud.” The boisterous noise of the crowd, combined with the blaring stereo and the thump of axes does make for a formidable sound, which leads me to 56 fall 2010
Matt Wilson’s backyard
Photo by ANDREW SUTHERLAND
wonder if the commotion has ever attracted the attention of the law. “When we first started the cops came and told us it was illegal,” says Wilson. But he did his homework and with the help of a lawyer and a business savvy friend he found out that the league wasn’t in any way illegal. To ensure the future of the league, Wilson went down to city hall and spent some time at the events department. He met with the organizers of Toronto events and asked them about all the logistics of what he was doing and whether or not they were in violation of any bylaws. The only issue they could come up with was that the boisterous crowd could break the city’s noise bylaws. Wilson says that at that point it really just depends on the police that show up. “Some police show up and are like ‘that’s really cool, that’s really great, you’re obviously organized and doing something that’s legit,’ so they let us go,” says Wilson. Any debate about the athleticism of the sport is moot the second you see how accurately and expertly league members are able to hurl their axes. Trapped in the woods, or in a post apocalyptic world where humans are once again forced to hunt for meals, there is no doubt that this crew would be more than capable of taking down a deer from 30 paces. For some players the accuracy is genetic. Five-time tournament winner Jari Salovaara’s forebears picked up the skills pillaging half of Europe a thousand years ago.
“I’m a Finlander, I’m a Viking, I love swords and sharp things, it came naturally,” says Salovaara whose intimidating presence is over-shadowed by his warmth and welcoming tone. “I didn’t win the first season, but after that, I cleaned house. I won three in a row. Then two in a row.” “Most people get into it pretty quickly,” says Christian “Wally” Walden in his thick Irish accent. Wally is one of the league’s better throwers, and says that it takes some people a while to figure it out. “Everyone’s got their own technique and style, whatever works for you. Some people throw off their left, some people throw off their right foot, some people run through it. I almost run right through to the target. Some people stay completely still, it varies from person to person.” As the creator of the game, Wilson would appear to have an unfair advantage, but he admits that after four years and 16 seasons, he’s only won once. “I actually just won recently. When we started on another night, we started on Wednesday night and so the whole Wednesday night crew was 26 rookies and me, so I won that one,” says Wilson. “I’ve been getting shit for it ever since. Well I’m not going to be there and run it and not throw, so now I’m the bad guy,” says Wilson. “Now it’s the second season and all those guys are awesome now, so it’s not even a given for me anymore, the only win I ever got was on rookie night.” As a crowd pleaser, Axe Throwing is a winner. “There’s energy from the crowd, you hear them chanting, and the heckling that goes on when someone is going for a perfect game, everyone is into it,” says Salovaara. “When there’s a really close match you get a silence, and that means everyone is involved whether they are watching or playing.” “It’s a really nice way to hang out with friends and you meet a mad cross-section of people here,” says B.A.T.L. regular Walden. “Bartenders, plumbers, there’s even a guy who turns up in a suit with a
change of clothes on a Monday night. It’s all ages, all everything.” Walden even brought his girlfriend along to a few nights, and now she’s an enthusiast competing right along beside him. “This is my third season,” says Sophie Ibbett, Wally’s girlfriend. “The girls have to try a lot harder to meet the expectations that the guys have, but we’re getting there. “For me I was a little slower, this is the first season that I’ve actually been doing decently. It took me about three seasons.” To add to the level of camaraderie, Wilson even created a credo that is recited in unison at the beginning of every night.
remember primal man, who only had his hands. Who forged in fire and steel, the tools to kill his meal. we honour him this day, and pray our axe to stay. “Everyone is into it, no one is embarrassed to say the oath, everyone is saying it with gusto,” says Salovaara. “There’s no other sport out there like this one now,” says Salovaara. Thus far, the sport has received media coverage on CBC, MTV and in VICE magazine. And with the prospect of a larger audience, Wilson has plans to move it out of the backyard, and into a bigger venue. “All the ducks are in a row now legally,” he says. “So we can try to move it indoors where there is a legitimate space, where I can do it four nights a week,” says Wilson. “You can look at videos and you can look at pictures online or whatever, but the minute you . . . throw an axe yourself and stick it in the wood, then you’re mine.”
GAME RULES: Here’s how the game works: Two players face off, they line up on embedded blocks roughly 15 feet away from the targets. A bull’s-eye is five points, the middle ring is three points, and the outer ring is one point. Each round is five axes; players throw three rounds of five axes in one match. Similar to tennis, players have to win two out of three rounds to win a match. In the top corners of the targets are small green dots, about the size of the bottom of a beer bottle, called clutch shots, they are worth seven points and you can only go for those as your fifth axe of any one round. In the case of a tie, things get interesting. If a person wins one round each and then ties in the third round, the tie breaker involves hurling a 27-inch axe, over the
head, from around 20 feet away. The round is like a sudden death shoot out in hockey. Every season is eight weeks long, seven weeks of regular play, and the eighth week is a big double elimination tournament. Everybody throws four matches a week for seven weeks, so a player throws 28 matches in a regular season, at 2 points for a win, 1 point for an overtime loss, 0 points for a loss. At the end of the seven weeks, all the stats are tallied, and the top 16 players out of 30 make the playoffs. In tournament play you have to be eliminated twice to be out of the tournament. The whole thing takes about three hours, slightly longer than a normal night.
Photos by ANDREW SUTHERLAND SWEAT MAGAZINE 57
OCAA
SCOREBOARD FALL 2010 MEN &WOMEN’S GOLF Men's 2010 provincial championship SCORE TOTAL
MEN’S TEAM
GOLD Humber SILVER Durham BRONZE Georgian
881 915 922
+17 +51 +58
MEN’S INDIVIDUAL
SCORE TOTAL
GOLD Mark Hoffman Humber SILVER Adrian Cord Humber BRONZE Ryan Curran Niagara
-2
214
+2
218
+5
221
Women's 2010 provincial championship WOMEN’S TEAM SCORE TOTAL
WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL SCORE TOTAL
GOLD Durham SILVER Humber BRONZE Georgian
GOLD Kayleigh Kraemer Durham SILVER Tiffany Albath Durham BRONZE Jasmine Paton Georgian
445 526 550
+13 +94 +118
MEN’S RUGBY DIVISION 1 EAST
DIVISION 1 WEST
W
L
T
PTS
7 7 7
4 4 0
3 3 7
0 0 0
20 19 1
GP
W
L
T
PTS
7 7 7
7 4 2
0 3 5
0 0 0
33 22 10
GP
W
L
T
PTS
6 6 6 6
4 3 2 6
0 1 2 6
2 2 2 0
24 18 15 1
Mohawk Humber Conestoga DIVISION 2
Loyalist Georgian St. Lawrence K Fleming L
PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION 1 DIVISION 2
GOLD Humber SILVER Mohawk BRONZE Seneca
58 fall 2010
219
+10
226
+45
261
WOMEN’S RUGBY
GP
Seneca Trent Fleming P
+3
GOLD Loyalist SILVER Georgian
Humber Seneca St. Lawrence K Fleming L Loyalist
GP
W
L
T
PTS
4 4 4 4 4
4 3 1 1 1
0 1 3 3 3
0 0 0 0 0
19 13 6 6 5
PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
GOLD Humber SILVER Seneca
WOMEN’S FASTBALL Durham St. Clair Seneca Mohawk Conestoga
W
L
PTS
10 7 6 2 2
0 1 6 8 10
20 14 12 4 4
PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
GOLD Durham SILVER St. Clair BRONZE Mohawk
MEN’S SOCCER EAST
GP
Seneca La Cite Algonquin Durham George Brown Cambrian St. Lawrence K Fleming P Centennial
WEST
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
GP
Humber Sheridan Mohawk Fanshawe Redeemer Niagara Conestoga St. Clair Lambton
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
W
6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 0
W
6 6 4 4 3 3 1 1 0
L
0 2 3 3 3 3 4 5 6
L
0 1 1 2 3 4 4 5 8
WOMEN’S SOCCER PTS
T
2 1 0 1 2 2 2 2 2
20 16 15 13 11 11 8 5 2
PTS
T
2 1 3 2 2 1 3 2 0
20 19 15 14 11 10 6 5 0
PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
EAST
GP
Algonquin Seneca Durham Fleming P Cambrian La Cite Loyalist Centennial St. Lawrence K
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
WEST
GP
Humber Fanshawe Conestoga Mohawk Niagara Sheridan Redeemer St. Clair Lambton
W
8 6 5 4 3 2 2 0 0
9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
8
W
8 6 4 4 3 2 2 1 0
L
0 2 1 2 3 3 6 6 7
L
0 0 2 3 4 4 4 4 8
T
0 0 2 2 2 3 0 2 1
T
1 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 0
PTS
24 18 17 14 11 9 6 2 1
PTS
25 20 14 13 10 8 8 6 0
PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
GOLD Humber SILVER Fanshawe BRONZE Algonquin
GOLD Humber SILVER Sheridan BRONZE Seneca
MEN &WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Men's 2010 provincial championship MEN’S TEAM
MEN’S INDIVIDUAL
GOLD Fanshawe, 1:49:17 SILVER George Brown, 1:53:58 BRONZE Flemming P, 1:55:44
GOLD Jason Smith, 26:01 Conestoga SILVER Clint Smith, 26:14 Fanshawe BRONZE Sean Sweeney, 26:19 George Brown
Women's 2010 provincial championship WOMEN’S TEAM
WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL
GOLD Fanshawe, 1:16:41 SILVER Humber, 1:23:29 BRONZE Flemming P, 1:25:19
GOLD Liliane Sparkes, 18:53 Fanshawe SILVER Richelle Moore, 18:58 St. Lawrence K BRONZE Erika Houde-Pearce, 19:04 Fanshawe SWEAT MAGAZINE 59
COACH'S CORNER Many people think running is simple – just run in a straight line and keep going until you reach the finish line. However, after six seasons of coaching the Humber crosscountry team I can’t stress how hard it really is. As coaches, we must constantly change the workout plan at least 7 times throughout the course of the season in order to accommodate individual athletes – there is no ‘one size fits all’ type of plan when it comes to this sport. Throughout the season our workouts changed from fewer hills to more intervals and speed endurance to accommodate the type of courses the athletes would be running on at provincials and nationals. For each athlete the number of repeats or total distance would vary from workout to workout depending on how they felt that day, their injuries and if they had eaten before the practice. As coaches, we really needed to “know” our athletes full circle (academics, health history, nutrition, sleeping patterns, etc.) in order to determine what was best for our athletes that particular day. The challenge for us coaches becomes easier with each passing week as we begin to understand our athletes needs better, and we felt that towards the end of the season our team dynamic became better and the workouts more focused. It took all of us to buy into the training plan that would result in a successful, healthy team finish, not as individuals but as a team. The following quote applies well to our team atmosphere and how we bonded as a group this past season - “When we become a part of anything, it becomes a part of us.” – David H. Fink
Monique H
aan
OFF THE BENCH It is my fourth year on Seneca’s soccer team and I have enjoyed every single year. The highlight of my career here was last year when we won the National championships in front of our home crowd. This year however, has been a difficult year for the team. It is very tough going into a year as defending champions and having the opponents step up and play that much harder to beat you every game. It was something we had to really be ready for. We have also gone through a lot of changes, adding many new faces to our squad and added to these challenges, was the team also having to deal with the unexpected passing of a team mate, Jason Arnone. He passed away early in the season. A couple of the guys on the team were close with him and his family and having to deal with something like that is just devastating. So as a team we had to come together very quickly and support each other in dealing with the situation. We decided to dedicate the season to Jason and do our best to fight as hard as we could every game because that’s what Jay would have done and that what he would have wanted us to do. As a team we were somewhat disappointed with the outcome of the year because we felt we had the talent to go all the way, but at the same time we were very happy as well. We were pleased with the strength, emotionally and on the field, of our team. We fought hard and came out with a third place bronze medal finish in the Ontario finals, which is still a great accomplishment. Consdering we only lost one game all year, it is something to build on for next year, for sure.
Kailen Murphy
We owe our success to the hard work and dedication of both the players and the coaches. The coaches put in so much work and speaking on behalf of the team we would like to say thank you for all you have done for us. I was also very happy and surprised with the OCAA awards that were handed out this year. I received All Canadian All-star and Ontario Player of the Year awards. This was not something I had in mind when I set out goals for myself, and the team, at the beginning of the season. As for now, I am looking forward to finishing up this school year by playing Extramural Men’s Hockey and possibly Men’s Indoor Soccer, as well as completing my studies of course. I would also like to wish the rest of the Seneca Sting Varsity teams good luck in their seasons. Go Sting Go! 60 fall 2010
a brief look at FALL 2010 Hawks soar in rugby finals
Humber grabs GOOOAL-D Humber college’s men’s and women’s teams matched success this year by capturing bronze medals at Nationals. The women’s team won its third place game by beating the defending champs, the Concordia Thunder, in a shootout for a 3-2 final. The men’s team took home the same medal, but in a more convincing manner, beating the Concordia men’s squad 2-0. Both teams advanced to the Nationals after the women beat Fanshawe and the men beat Sheridan for the OCAA championships on October 30th. It is the first time in nine years that one school represented the OCAA at Nationals. Humber did it last back in 2001.
It was an historic season for Humber rugby, with both the men’s and women’s team taking gold in the provincial champiopnships. The Hawks women’s team struck first by winning the first-ever Ontario championship, beating Seneca 15-7 in front of a home crowd November 13. Humber’s Lesley Swan scored a pair of tries to lead the Hawks to victory. Humber finished the season with an undefeated record, winning seven straight straight games against OCAA competition. The next day, the Hawks men’s team won its third provincial gold medal in four years after beating Mohawk 25-13. “Anytime Mohawk and Humber play in a game, especially a final, it’s always a very high impact game and very highly contested,” said Mohawk rugby head coach Alex Paris. Five different Hawks scored a try in the win, payback for Humber after last year’s OCAA championship when Mohawk won 16-15 on a last-second try. “I have never seen a game as ferocious as this in college rugby,” said Humber rugby head coach Carey French. “Even going into the semifinals it was clear that we had another gear to go up, and we were able to click into that gear in the final.” For French, it may be his last title with the Hawks after he has announced that he is contemplating stepping down from the rugby team after nine years. “In between now and February sometime, I will come to some kind of decision as to what the future holds for me,” said French. “There’s a time in any sport and any kind of relationship, especially if you’re the boss, when you should perhaps move on to something else and let the fresh blood come in or otherwise things get a little stale.”
Fanshawe, ahead of the rest OCAA drives the competiton Ontario colleges faired well at the National Golf Championships by winning both men’s and women’s team titles. On the women’s side, Durham College won it’s first ever title with a combined score of 468 strokes over three days, which was 25 better than second place University of British Columbia Okanagan. On the men’s side it was Humber with a dominating three-day score of 848, which was 38 strokes better than second place University of Fraser Valley to capture its eighth title in the last ten years. More impressively, Humber’s men’s team swept the medals for individual scores, something that has never been done before.
Compiled by Jonathon Brodie & Gurpreet Ghag
The Duggan touch One week after being named the OCAA’s inaugural golf coach of the year, Durham’s Michael Duggan was also awarded the CCAA’s first ever coach of the year award. Duggan’s men’s and women’s golf squads have enjoyed major success this year in both team and individual competition. At the Fleming Invitational, both men’s and women’s teams took first place, while taking first and second place individually in women’s and two players tying for second in the mens. At Durham’s open tournament, the women took first place as a team with first and second place individually and a first place for the men’s side as well. Duggan has been head coach at Durham for 12 seasons and during that time his team has participated in nine straight National championships.
Fanshawe College led the pack at the national cross-country championships that took first place at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B. during the November 13th weekend. Two-time defending OCAA women’s individual champion Liliane Sparkes of Fanshawe finished the women’s five-kilometer individual race with a time of 18:13, trailing the leader by only 12 seconds to secure the third spot. Fanshawe’s Clint Smith finished the eight-kilometer individual race with a time of 25:41 to bring a bronze medal back to London. Two-time OCAA men’s individual champion Jason Smith of Conestoga College finished the race in fifth place. Team rankings saw Fanshawe top the leader board in the women’s category, followed by Grant MacEwan University in second place and Red Deer College in third; both teams represent the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. Fanshawe’s men’s team also took home the gold, followed by CEGEP Sainte-Foy and College Ahuntsic; both teams hail from Quebec. The OCAA was named the top conference for both the men and women races. A total of 273 cross country runners competed in the event, representing 30 schools across Canada.
SWEAT MAGAZINE 61
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62 fall 2010
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