THEVOICE | THURSDAY, NOV. 9, 2017 | EDITOR SYDNEY MORTON % WELCOME ro. SUNSET "ARENA or [ur HOME O1 suse -_- y Pe. 7 Sportsnews a Sunset Skating Club figure skaters: Aileen Chen, Jocelyn Zhong, Chantel Lim, Vanessa Ho, Chaya Kumar, Tehryn Lee, Miikka Ho, Leah Lee and Kelly Sweeney. LISA TANH PHOTO Sunset at dawn of success Young hopefuls skate towards new heights at competition = By LISA TANH former Olympic fig- ure skating competitor and judge is preparing a group of local figure skaters for this year’s provincial championships. ‘Thirteen-year-old novice, Leah Lee, from Vancouver's Sunset Skat- ing Club and her coaches feel that she will make it all the way to this year’s Canadian Figure Skating Championships. “This year's championships is so important to me because it's my chance to show what I can re- ally do,” said Lee. "As to last year's championships, I wasn't able to perform my best due to my back injuries.” In the 2016 Championships Lee placed Second, qualifying for the 2016 Skate Challenge. Skating Director, Jennifer Yib- ing Jiang, 1988 Winter Olympics figure skating competitor and judge at the 2006 Winter Olympics, is sending nine figure skaters to this year’s Super Series BC/YK Cham- pionships . The nine figure skaters are between the ages of nine to 14. “For this competition, every year it’s really important to everyone,” said Jiang. “It’s the last competi- tion and it’s the qualifying [stage] but it’s good for the skaters to com- pete.” From Nov. 9 to 12, Skate Canada British Columbia/Yukon will host the BC/YK Section Champion- ships in Parksville B.C., where the province’s top figure skaters will compete to enter the next round of qualifying events leading to the Ca- nadian Figure Skating Champion- ships. The Canadian Figure Skating Championships is held annually to crown the national champions of Canada and will be the trials for the Winter Olympics. To prepare for the BC/YK Championships, Jiang says she has a detailed plan for each skater. “We have a whole year plan [for the skaters],” Jiang said. “And then we report [to the skaters’ parents] on how much they’ve improved and next steps.” Gary Lim, president at the Sun- set Skating Club, says these plans are in addition to prepping skaters for competitions and getting their programs choreographed. “They work hard. Most of them skate five to six days a week and do off-ice training as well,” Lim said. Ted Barton, executive director at Skate Canada British Columbia/ Yukon, says the pressure at the BC/ YK Section Championships is far greater than any other competition. “You need to get a certain place- ment in order to qualify,” Barton said. “It's a first step on the way to nationals.” MEN'S SOCCER W-D-L 1-1-10 Ranked: 5th end of season WOMEN'S SOCCER W-D-L 4-5-3 Ranked: 4th PacWest championship FALCONS' TALLY MEN'S BASKETBALL W-D-L 3-0-3 Exhibition WOMEN'S BASKETBALL W-D-L 0-0-0 First game Nov.10, 2017 Crushing loss a victory for rugby Any press Is good press rings true for Canadian Rugby teams = By TREVOR NAULT A record crowd packed BC Place on Friday to watch the Maori All Blacks de- stroy the Canadian men’s rugby team and Canada couldn't be more excited. Jorden Sandover-Best, a rookie on Canada’s national rugby team and former UBC Thunderbird, be- lieves the sell-out crowd is only the start of something bigger for rugby in Canada. According to data from Statistics Canada and Canadian Heritage, soccer, swimming and hockey have traditionally dominated the list of sports played by youth in Canada. Rugby’s never broken the top ten, but Sandover-Best is hopeful that trend could change. “It’s the fastest growing sport, it’s on the up. There’s so much going on. It’s been popular all around the world and it’s just been catching on in the last 10 years or so from my perspective,” Sandover-Best said of Canada’s rugby scene. Canada currently has 263 registered clubs. ‘Though Canada has yet to win a game against the All Blacks this season, nearly 30,000 fans came | to watch their 51-9 loss on Friday, the single largest crowd for a fifteens match in Canadian rugby history. “It’s not a traditional rug- by country,” said Clayton McMillan, coach of the Maori All Blacks. “Thirty thousand fans here, It’s a great advertisement for rugby worldwide.”“[The fans] were very vocal and passionate, and that certainly added to the occa- sion, McMillan Mack, Rug by Canada’s team | jh captain has seen the n game grow since high school. “Tn school, 14 said.Phillip what rugby was. It was just thrown on me and I took to it and I just didn't look back,” Mack said. “We've seen an exciting growth of the popularity of rugby in Can- ada, based on the the success of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, key tournaments like Canada Sevens in Vancouver and Langford and the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups,” said Dustin Hopkins, director of National Develop- ment at Rugby Canada. Canada heads to Europe now to play Georgia on Nov. 11, Spain on Nov. 18 and Fiji on Nov. 25. They'll return to Vancouver on Jan. 27 to take on Uruguay. All Blacks' Ihaia West, .. Charlie Ngatai, Dan Pryor and Brad Weber. Canada's Matt Heaton looks on TREVOR NAULT PHOTO Falcons coach above the rest Ex-Falcon returns to the nest to lead her team to victory and PacWest awards = By BECCA CLARKSON fter coaching the Langara Falcons women’s soccer team for only one season, Rachael “Rae” Pelat was named PacWest Coach of the Year. ‘The award marks many firsts for the former Falcon, who played with the team from 2004-2007. This was her first role as a collegiate head coach and the team’s first time hav- ing a female leader. “Now I have someone to look up to, she's a great role model and a great coach.” —GIULIA REPOLE, MIDFIELD “I would definitely consider it a team award that is reflective of the group I worked with this season,” Pelat said, adding that the team’s athletic abilities and personalities made for a positive environment. “It's tough coming into a pro- gram as a new coach, but I'd say just as tough coming in as a player to a new coach.” Second-year kinesiology student, Giulia Repole, plays B& for the Falcons Rachael Pelat says, a new PACWEST COACH OF coach makes a THE YEAR new team. “T’ve played soccer since I was five and she was the first female coach I've had,” said Repole, who was named a PacWest Conference All- Star. “Now I have someone to look up to, she’s a great role model and a great coach.” Jake McCallum, director of the college’s athletics and intramurals, says he hired Pelat because of her desire to develop not just student athletes, but young women as well. “Having been a female student ath- lete herself at this lev- > el, she can put LY herself in their shoes a bit more easily,” Mc- Callum ae said, adding that while it’s important . or an all-female team to have a female coach, without Pelat’s impressive qualifications the team wouldn't have been so cohe- sive. Pelat told The Voice that to her, it’s important to answer questions about her gender as a coach. “Sometimes I have to deal with people going straight to the male coach on the field, or thinking ’'m a player but it doesn't really bother me. ] just think it's pretty cool that I get to be in this role as a female.”