8 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT. 16, 2014 EDITOR CHRIS SLATER SS poris Extra fees for lockers Some students wonder why they must pay to have locker access when using the gymnasium By VIVIAN CHUI Langara Falcons’ athletics fees, but not in tuition fees for students who are required to take physical edu- cation courses, leading some students to wonder why. According to the Langara College website, gym lockers are available for rent by all students, faculty, and staff on a semester-to-semester basis at $20 for a half-size and $25 for a full-size locker. Towel service can be included for an additional $5. “For someone who are on the teams, we provide them with a locker, towel service included,” said Athletics and Intramurals Director Jake McCallum. Langara collegiate team members pay athletics fees of $150 per year in order to cover these costs. Criminal justice diploma — student Boujan Serdari is Le rental fees are included in JAKE MCCALLUM required to take physical education Langara Athlet- classes as part of ics and Intramu- her program, and rals Director wonders why she must pay addition- al fees in order to use a locker. “Tf you take P.E., it should be implied that you need a locker,” said Serdari. “Tt should be included in the tuition fee.” However, for Emily Rowlandson, a member of the women’s basketball team, the athletics fees are a necessary built-in cost. “We don’t pay, we don’t do stuff,” said Rowlandson. Men’s soccer team captain Brett Wiens said his team has been spon- sored by EA Sports, a sports video game developer, for the past two years and pay only a reduced amount for their athletics fees. Comparatively at Douglas College, there are no specific change rooms for athletics, said Brian McLennon, manager of athletics at the college. Lockers in the Douglas fitness centre are for general use on a daily basis. “Gym change rooms are across from the fitness centre,” said McLen- non. According to the Douglas College website, lockers on-campus can be rented at $10 per semester. oe NICH JOHANSEN photo Kwantlen Eagles goalkeeper Simran Meelu kicks the ball out on the artificial turf at UBC’s Varsity Field on Oct. 12. Artificial turf presents risks Athletes who play on artificial turf see more knee and back injuries By NICH JOHANSEN ith women soccer players recently launching a law- suit against soccer’s gov- erning body, FIFA, to fight the use of artificial turf, questions have arisen regarding risks posed to Langara Falcons players who often play on the same surface. On Oct. 1, a coalition of national level women soccer players filed a lawsuit against FIFA, charging sexual discrimi- nation for their use of artificial turf in the upcoming 2015 Women’s World Cup. The lawsuit argues that artificial turf fields pose “unique safety risks and are considered inferior” and that they have never been used in a men’s World Cup. According to the team’s schedules, Langara soccer teams generally play their home games on grass at Hugh Boyd Field, yet roughly half of their overall games are played on artificial turf. Artificial turf pitches have gained popularity in Vancouver due to their re- silience to the rain and their ability to withstand more volume, said Rizzardo. “Usage is phenomenal,” he said. “You can have teams playing every minute of the day, where with a grass field if you did that, you would torch the field.” Unfortunately the cost of these posi- tives may be borne by the players. Rizzardo explained these fields are built to have a shelf life of eight to nine years. After that, they can become diffi- cult to play on. “Some of the other [turf] fields in town have basically become hard rocks,” Rizzardo said. “It’s just like playing on concrete. That’s the problem.” Rizzardo said these conditions can result in a greater amount of injuries for players. “More knee injuries and more lower back [pain],” he identified. Brett Wiens, a fifth year Langara men’s soccer player, would rather play on grass because of the way the ball re- acts. “Turf is nice, but the game plays com- pletely different,” Wiens said. “The ball rolls a lot quicker and the bounces are way bigger. It is a different game.” He said that there are minor issues like turf burn on the artificial surface that are not a factor on grass, but there is potential for injury regardless of what surface the game is played on. “Overall I feel like there’s going to be injuries no matter how you play the game,” Wiens said. “As far as major injuries, it’s going to happen either way. I’ve had injuries both ways, grass and turf.” fess 1 Swangard Stadium (Burnaby, B.C.) 2 Hugh Boyd Field (Richmond B.C.) 3 Lillooet Field (North Vancouver, B.C.) 4 Beedie Field (Burnaby, B.C.) Badminton players training hard With twice the amount of new players this year, the Langara badminton team is training extra hard to repeat last year’s success By KERA SKOCYLAS he Langara badminton team will have to play extra tournaments and train hard if they want to re- peat last year’s success, according to coach Mare Petreman. After winning the provincial champi- onships last year as well as three med- als at nationals, this year’s team is un- der a lot of pressure to match last season’s performance. “With only four returning players this season, the dynamics have changed”, said returning player Mat- thew Chan. “The new people make it dif- ferent.” Chan added they are under more pressure this year and that it’s impor- tant for players who aren’t usually in pressure roles to win. Eric Chiu, having played three years on the team, said most of last year’s players graduated, so this year new players have to “step up and play their role.” Petreman said last year they had a solid team that bonded really well and the players were a little bit older. He said this year the team is younger, but they have been working hard. Aisha Aktary, a second-year player, said they were successful last year be- cause everyone came together like a “family” and supported each other. For the new team, Aktary said trust is important. “The birds come flying at you and it can be scary when you are at the net. You have to be able to trust your teammates or it’s hard to get anywhere,” she said. Chan said bonding with new players usually happens pretty fast. He added they spend a lot of time together and when playing sports, “you see people in their highs and lows.” Petreman said the team bonds by go- ing for dinner and bowling. However, he said most bonding happens during prac- tices and tournaments. According to Petreman, the team will have to win some really close matches this season. He said they have some really good men single players and a solid women’s team. First-year player Emily Ip said it has been a great experience to be on the team. She added she has made new friends and the coaches want players to suc- ceed. The first tournament is Oct. 25 and 26. KERA SKOCYLAS photo Returning players from left, Aisha Aktary, Matthew Chan, Eric Chiu