— NCAA eyes our local girls Whitecaps FC’s youth girls in San Diego this week for NCAA Final Four By SIMONE PFEIFFER neouver’s Whitecaps FC Girls Vor soccer team is in good spirits heading to San Diego for the NCAA Final Four Showcase Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. Sixteen players from grades 10 and 11 will be going to the tournament where the best four U.S. colleges will scout them, said coach Jesse Symons. While the Grade 12 girls will not be going because they’ve already commit- ted to universities, they have played an important mentoring role. “The older players have the younger ones under their wing,” said Symons. This will help them compete against the 50 teams participating in the event. Vancouver players participating are from the Whitecaps development pro- gram, whose goal is to develop young players to compete nationally. It does this by providing full time training for the most promising play- ers, who are selected from community clubs throughout the province. The program is successful in promoting B.C.’s most talented players to the na- tional ranks. There are now 27 players in the program. One challenge the team faces: its players are actually younger by a year than the teams they’ll be competing against, said Symons. The elites will be facing off against top ranking U.S. teams. The last game of the tournament will be against the state champions from Texas, who are considered the best American team. The elite team’s training program has been intense. Since September, they’ve played five times a week. They also play in the Metro Women’s Premier League which is “a very good level of competition for them,” said Sy- mons. Currently, the team ranks first in the league. As for the talent of individual mem- bers, Symons won’t pick favourites. “It’s a great mix of players, we can’t single one out,” he said. The elite program has given a huge boost to promoting women’s soccer in the province and in Canada said Sy- mons, adding that the national U-17 team has recently returned from play- ing in the World Cup in Azerbaijan. For now, his players are feeling good. “They’re excited. Anytime you get to go to San Diego in December,” he said, laughing. HANDOUT photo Marcus Sandhu lands a left on his foe at the national championships. EDITOR FIRST LEV JACKSON THE DAILY VOICE, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012 8 \ 4 —. PNG photo Vancouver Giants’ Jackson Houck causes havoc in front of the net at the Pacific Coliseum ealier this season. Houch and the Giants will do battle with the Moose Jaw Warriors this evening. Giants look to snap 4-game skid against Moose Jaw Vancouver Giants will host Moose Jaw Warriors at the Coliseum. The Giants will be facing fellow basement dwellers tonight at 8 p.m. By KEVIN HAMPSON Ihe WHL’s Vancouver Giants will face the Moose Jaw Warriors to- night at Pacific Coliseum in an attempt to snap a four-game los- ing streak. The G-men have a history of being a strong team but have been stuck in a rut this season. “We haven’t gotten off to the kind of start we’re accustomed to,” said head coach Don Hay. The Giants so far boast a 7-17 record, the worst in the league. Their last game against Kamloops ended a road trip with a 2-1 loss. The Warriors have also seen their share of early season woes, with a re- cord of 8-11-3-4, though they are in a three-way tie for third place in their di- vision. The Giants have home ice advantage against the Warriors tonight. Their opponents will also tired from travel and are currently 0-3-1 in the last four games. The Warriors had a 16-hour bus ride from Red Deer to Victoria last weekend after a 2-1 loss against the Red Deer Rebels. Before that they took a 5-1 drubbing from Edmonton. For the Warriors, tonight’s game fol- lows on the heels of a Tuesday night match against the Royals. Despite the teams’ recent lackluster performances, Hay says the game should deliver high-quality hockey. He noted Moose Jaw’s defenceman Morgan Rielly, a draft pick for the Leafs, Giants right-winger Jackson Houck and defenceman Mason Geertsen, have been rated highly in re- cent NHL rankings. Hay also pointed out the Giants’ Lan- gara connection. About 12 of the Vancouver players are taking Langara courses, through funding that the team offers to players who are not still in high school, Hay said. The Giants play the Warriors to- night at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Coliseum. 66 We haven’t gotten off to the kind of start we're accustomed to. Don Hay, Giants head coach Olympic hopes for student pugilist Langara student Marcus Sandhu is already training for 2016 or 2020 Olympic Games By BRONWYN SCOTT pic athletes get their start, look no further than your first-year history class. Amateur boxer Marcus Sandhu was disqualified in the semifinal of Febru- ary’s national championships, but these days he’s gearing up for the Olympics. Sandhu’s going to try for the 2016 Olympics but admits that a more realis- tic goal would be the 2020 Olympics. “Tll be 25 years old... you’re in your athletic prime around 25, so that would be the best age for me to go,” he said. The soft-spoken 18-year-old, a Langa- ra arts student, started boxing at 12, but when he signed up at Astoria Boxing Club he wasn’t interested in the sport. I: you’ve ever wondered where Olym- “T didn’t think I would want to be a boxer until I went there,” he said. Sandhu was put in a match just three-months into training. This past February Sandhu was com- peting in his second national champi- onships in Montreal. During a semifi- nal bout, he was losing going into the final round but gained a solid lead into last 30-seconds of the fight. “T threw a body shot that apparently hit him on the belt and he went down,” Sandhu said. Sandhu was disqualified for hitting below the belt although he remembers it as being a beltline blow. “After the fight I found out that I was winning by eight points,” he said. The win would have punched Sandhu’s tick- et to the finals. “T think I probably would have won the Canadian championship.” Being 18, Sandhu is now a “senior,” where there are no age limits, and he will likely be matched against full- grown men. Though his brain says no, his heart is set on the Olympics and he and his conditioning coach have made a plan. “Me and my conditioning coach came up with a plan to wait about a year and just focus on building my body and building my strength before I start fighting adults, men,” he said. But he wasn’t always motivated by the prospect of Olympic glory. He want- ed to be a coach instead of fighting be- yond the youth category. “After the past national champion- ships I said I was going to have one more fight, a rematch with the kid that I lost to and then stop .. . it’s just, I love