Local
pools
treading
water

Lifeguard shortage due
to high certification
costs, preference for
working fewer hours

By DARREN AMNER

ools in Vancouver are can-
Pee: swimming lessons

because there’s a shortage of
certified coaches.

‘The Langara Family YMCA re-
cently cancelled classes due to the
lack of available instructors.

The cancellations left Brandee
Barker, a local mother of two, dis-
appointed.

“T like the YMCA, I like their
program. I like their instructors. I
just feel somewhere in the admin-
istrative level of that organization
at that location, something is miss-
ing,” she said.

According to the YMCA’s re-
ceptionist, some swimming lessons
are back in session but due to the
shortage, no new students can reg-
ister until 2019.

Ken Radford, executive director
of Swim BC, said pools across the
city are being affected.

“The position
is one of high
responsibility for
public safety. But
once qualified, the
pay is good and the
hours are flexible.”

— DALE MILLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ROYAL LIFESAVING SOCIETY

‘The shortage is partly due to
the fact that aquatic facilities now
require their lifeguards to have in-
creased safety training

“To do that certification is an
expensive undertaking. It is very
costly for those working their way
through university,” he said.

Radford said it costs between
$1,500 to $2,000 to get certified.

Sean Healy, supervisor of aquat-
ics for the Vancouver park board
said many of his staff are students
who choose to work fewer hours to
achieve a better work life balance.

“We start in the $18 per hour
range and for our casual staff they
get to pick their hours and their
days of work,” he said.

Lifeguarding in B.C. pays well
and it’s an ideal job for students and
a popular side-gig for teachers.

According to Healy, some life-
guards who get certified come from
a strong aquatics background.

Others, who enjoy hanging out at
the local pool, are fondly referred to
as “pool rats.”

Dale Miller, executive director of
the Royal Lifesaving Society, said
he strongly believes swimming is a
life skill everyone should have.

‘The amount of training required
is critical because lives are at stake,
he said.

“The position is one of high re-
sponsibility for public safety,” Mill-
er said. “But once qualified, the pay

is good and the hours are flexible.”

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Langara Falcons winger Aryan Heravi Talemi and midfielder/winger Merlin Fisk at Musqueam Turf on Oct. 17 during the Langara Falcons last regular season
practice. The Falcons are headed to the PacWest pronvical playoffs on Oct. 26 and 27. «/RSTEN CLARKE PHOTO

Low numbers, high hopes

Langara mens soccer team heading to provincial playorts

By KIRSTEN CLARKE

ow numbers in the Pacific
Western Athletic Associ-
ation men’s soccer league
guaranteed the Langara

Falcons a spot in this year’s provin-
cial playoffs before the season even
began.

‘This year, the Falcons are one of
only four teams in the league. In
2011, there were nine teams. Last
year, the number dropped to five.

Jake McCallum, Langara’s ath-
letics director, said the league suf-
fered when Kwantlen and Quest
cancelled their athletics programs.

“It’s a concern,” he said. “I kind
of would be lying if I said it wasn't.”

Team captain Joey Ratcliffe
agrees that the low number of
teams is unfortunate.

“You see all the teams so often,
and four teams playing for three
provincial spots is kind of weird.
But it’s better than not playing,” he
said.

Head coach Marc Rizzardo said
low numbers mean less variety.

“It’s pretty well playing every
team almost every weekend or ev-
ery second weekend,” he said.

He described the season as a “big
stepping stone” for the majority of
players on the team who are first
year students.

“It’s tough to predict with first
year kids,” said McCallum. “It’s a
really physical game and you don't
know what you're going to get out
of some of the first year’s but they're
contributing really well.”

Overall, team energy and mo-

rale have been high. “It’s one of the

nicer teams I’ve coached in the last
three or four years,” said Rizzardo.

“We all have fun together, we all
lose together, and we know that
everyone’s here for the same goal,
which is to go to nationals,” mid-
fielder Devon Gautreau said.

Since there are only three other
teams, Gautreau said the Falcons
are very familiar with the competi-
tion.

“If anything, it prepares us more
for provincials,” he said.

Langara finished the regular sea-
son in third place. On Oct. 26 the
Falcons will play the first place
Douglas College Royals.

Rizzardo is optimistic that the
team will advance. “We just have to
win that one game. We just have to
win Friday, and then we go to na-
tionals,” he said.

Royals 3, Falcons 0
Towncentre Turf, Coquitlam.

Royals 3, Falcons 0
Musqueam Turf, Vancouver.

Royals 3, Falcons 2
Musqueam Turf, Vancouver.

Royals 8, Falcons 0
Towncentre Turf, Coquitlam.

Playoff game 2: 30 p.m.
Burnaby Lake Sports Complex

Women

Unique form of
tai chi taught in
South Vancouver

By TAESA HODEL

local tai chi master will

spin swords with anyone

— from star athletes in the
international arena, to the ordinary
women who attend her drop-in
classes.

Sprina Fu is the only instructor in
B.C., and one of few in the world,
who teaches Mulan Quan tai chi. It
is the only form of wushu, or Chi-
nese kung-fu, developed by a fe-
male master, specifically for women.

Fu’s student Ann Lo said, “It is
meant to combine tai chi kung-fu
and performance. With the danc-
ing music it makes the exercise
more interesting.”

Fu teaches drop-in classes twice a
week at Sunset Community Centre.

The Mulan Quan class cur-

rently consists of three middle-

swing swords at Sunset

aged women who concentrate on
balancing thin, sharp swords and
snapping fans while executing a se-
quence of movements.

Crouching and holding poses is
meant to build strength. Ihe addi-
tion of long swords and loud fans
is meant to build confidence and
grace,

Fu was the coach for China’s
national wushu team before she
moved to Canada “The Chinese
government looked for people who
were very good, starting from when
they were very young, and they
trained them to represent the coun-
try,” Lo, acting as Fu's interpreter
said. “And she was one of them.”

“When people get old, they fall
down very easily because...our
muscles degenerate,” said Lo, “so
it’s better to practice young.”

Certified trainer and author
Shirley Archer agrees.

“A significant amount of research
evidence supports tai chi practice
for improvement of lower body
muscle endurance and_ balance,
both of which are critical to prevent
falls,” she wrote in an email.

Two students practice Mulan Quan tai chi in South Vancouver. 74&54 HODEL