SS ports EDITOR BRONWYN SCOTT THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013 8 Falcons rank 1st going into nationals The men’s basketball team is going into the national championships with high hopes and top ranking By KRISTEN HARPULA ball team is heading to Quebec this week to compete in the CCAA Na- tional Championships after winning the PacWest Provincial Championship for the first time since 1999. After a record-breaking season of 20-1, they were the favourites going into the provincials and although the final game was very close, they pulled through with a win. Now heading into the nationals they are ranked as the top team in Canada. To prepare the Falcons intend to study their competition. “TThey] haven’t really seen any of the teams play from outside this prov- ince, so we'll probably be looking at some tape, watching how teams play,” said Falcons forward Manpreet Par- mar. Falcons guard Jeff Chu agreed that the team will do its homework. “We need to figure out all the play- ers and teams’ tendencies and how we're going to adjust to play certain teams and form our different strate- gies,” Chu said. “You don’t get the opportunity to go to nationals very often, so we’re just looking forward to it,” he said. Coach Paul Eberhardt, who took home the award for coach of the year, said that going into the provincials the team had the pressure of high expecta- tions to deal with. “We went in there as a heavy favou- rite, expected to win it,” said Eber- hardt. “Sometimes that pressure is tough to overcome, but the boys han- dled that really well.” They managed to take the win over Vancouver Island University Mariners, with a final score of 78-74, but he said they knew it was going to be a tough game. Falcons forward Manpreet Parmar said that the tight-knit relationship of the team really made the difference in the end. “Tt’s not just a team, we’re a family,” Parmar said. “That’s how we ended up winning, we didn’t get down on our- selves .... We just got together and we got the job done.” The Falcons head to John Abbott College in Sainte Anne de Bellevue, Quebec to compete in the national championship from March 14-16. Their first game is Thursday, March 14 against hosting team the Islanders. T: Langara Falcons men’s basket- FACEBOOK photo Falcons forward Manpreet Parmar proudly holds his team’s trophy. PATRICK COLVIN photo Former Langara student and boxer Lev Jackson stands on the corner of Commercial and Pender streets in Vancouver near the location of Eastside Boxing Club, set to open next month. The fight for a venue When the Astoria Boxing Club closed its doors local members fought hard for a new club By PATRICK COLVIN hen the Astoria Boxing Club went under in March 2012, businesses in the Down- town Eastside banded to- gether and raised over $100,000 to fi- nance a new gym to keep the legacy of Astoria alive. The boxing club was one of Vancou- ver’s historical icons, known for pro- ducing nine Canadian champions and Olympians Dale Walters and Manuel Sobral. The new gym, Eastside Boxing Club, is scheduled to open in April. It will op- erate as a non-profit and hopes to con- tinue helping troubled youth in the area just like the Astoria Club had been known for since it opened in 1977. Helping to coach these young ath- letes are Arezki Belaidi, a second year Langara student and former Langara student Lev Jackson. For many the closing of Astoria came as a surprise. “T grew up at that gym,” said Belaidi. “It was a really sad time, the gym had been around for so long, it had been kept together since the ‘70s,” he said. Many staff at the neighbouring res- taurants, cafe’s and barber shops of Gastown spent their spare time train- ing at Astoria. After it shut down they decided they try to open a new gym. They formed an organization called Aprons for Gloves and hosted a pay- per-view event last July that raised over $100,000. The hostesses, bartend- ers and baristas were the fighters. “They were a godsend, I can’t thank them enough, they funded our gym single-handedly just through the hard work they put in,” said Jackson. “We hosted the card in the Woodward build- ing downtown, it was filled to the brim,” said Jackson. A second Apron for Gloves fundrais- ing event is scheduled for July. Belaidi, Jackson and the other coaching staff at the Eastside Boxing Club will not be getting paid for their time spent helping members of the sym. “We're doing this out of the good- ness of our hearts,” Jackson said. BOXING locations 1 Contenders Van- couver Boxing Gym and Training Studio at 1055 Dunsmuit Street, Bentall 4 lower plaza, Vancouver 2 Sugarrays Boxing Fitness at 1132 Granville Street, Vancouver 3 Sparta Boxing and Fitness at 2916 Graveley Street, Vancouver 4 Beyond Boxing at 1261 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver Source: Xop 6 on 6 xop xop xop Badminton player from Langara goes to nationals next month First-year student Jason Sun will is headed for the nationals next month in Saskatchewan By HAILEY MCDONALD Jason Sun is off to the nationals next month but even after winning 29 of 31 games this season he still gets the jitters when he thinks about play- ing nationally. Sun will travel to Saskatoon on April 29 to compete in the Yonex Canadian Junior & U23 National Championships. “’m quite uncomfortable,” he said. “When you’re playing so many good players, you really feel the pressure.” Sun recently returned from Barrie, Ontario, where he won the silver medal in men’s singles at the Canadian Colle- giate Athletic Association’s national championships at Georgian College. He said that his advantage in the championships was his energy level. “My opponents got tired, so that’s why I got lucky,” he said. Lis Falcons badminton player The 18-year- old was named r4 4 PacWest’s bad- minton player of When the year. The as- you're sociation has . also named him Dlaying so player of the man ood week twice dur- Yg ing the season. players, Assistant you really coach __ Bonnie Cheng said Sun fe eel the has been a key pressure. ” player in many Falcons wins, in- JASON SUN cluding the Pac- West champion- ships, held in February where Langara beat the Kwantlen Eagles by 16 points. She said that Sun is well respected by both his teammates and opponents. “Win or lose, he is always a joy to watch,” she said. “He’s is a very smart player and always gives his 110 per cent.” Sun, who was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, started playing badminton in middle school. “My dad played badminton and I felt kind of interested in it so my parents just found me a coach,” he said. The first-year human kinetics stu- dent is studying to be a physiothera- pist. He hopes to complete his degree within four years and play for the Fal- cons all the while. Despite Sun’s athletic strengths, he admitted that his weakness is his lack of strength. “Tm too skinny, I just don’t have that much power compared to other peo- ple,” he said. Sun hopes to become stronger with fitness training. Thorsten Gohl photo Jason Sun, Ashley Jang and Matt Downton with their gold medals.