8 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT. 15, 2015 eer SS poris Fresh plays bring a new hope Following a weak ending, the Falcons look for a strong year By BRIDGETTE WATSON 66 We have a lot of new, smart athletes CARLY SANGHA he Langara Falcons’ wom- en’s basketball team has revamped their roster and adjusted their playbook to improve on last season’s sev- enth place finish. “T have a saying that you are what your record says you are and everybody has reasons or ex- cuses, but I don’t believe in excuses,” head coach Mike Evans said. “Improv- ing our talent level is the number one thing that makes us better.” The Falcons finished with a 3-18 record in the PACWEST Divi- sion last year. This season, Evans has recruited 10 rook- ies and made changes to his defense and offense. “We have changed our defense quite a bit,” Evans said. “Our de- fensive philosophy is a man-to- man philosophy.” Team manager, Michaela Ashlee, has noticed an in- crease in intensity on de- fense. “They have more fight in them,” she said. “They really want to win compared to last year.” Veteran play- er and starting point guard Carly Sangha said the LANGARA FALCONS’ CAPTAIN Simran Bir of Douglas College defending against Langara Falcons’ captain Carly Sangha, during an away game. The Royals defeated the Falcons 54-47. new offense “gives us more op- portunities with different varia- tions...you can put people in situations where they can be successful.” The Falcons lost 54-47 in exhibition against the Camosun Chargers on Fri- day, Oct. 9. Sangha was not fazed by the loss. “IT think if we keep practicing at game speed and talk out our rotations on de- fense, then it’s go- ing to be a good match,” said Sangha, refer- ring to their season opener against defend- ing cham- pions | f Quest University on October 29. “We have a lot of g new, smart ath- letes,” said Sangha. “T think it could be a turnaround year for our program.” All games will be broadcast at Sports- Canada.tv. BRIDGETTE WATSON photos Langara Falcons’ team captain Carly Sangha drives past a Camosun Charger defender in an exhibition home game on Friday, Oct. Langara Falcons women’s soccer team still has a While twins, Chelsea and Amelia Brown have been the team’s main of- fence, scoring three goals apiece this strategy to stay in the game 66 We need to cre- ate more scoring ith four games left in the Whe: season the Lan- gara Falcons women’s soccer team remains in the play- off hunt after drawing twice against the top-seeded Doug- las College Royals over the Thanksgiving weekend. ti Last season the opp ortunittes by Falcons lost the Pa- getting more peo- cific Western Ath- letic Association cham- pionship by one goal to the Vancouver Island University Mariners. This year, the core group is back and leads a class of freshmen. Head coach Ryan Birt called the team’s 0-3 start a “hiccup” that didn’t actually reflect how well the team played. “The toughest part of it for the girls was the mental side,” he said. “We were telling ple forward and finishing our chances OLIVIA KAPPELI y LANGARA FALCONS DEFENDER Langara Falcons’ Kelsa Lefebvre fighting for posi- er them they tion in front of Douglas i were doing College Royals defender a y » ; the right on Sunday Oct. 11,2015 \ y things, and they knew that they were doing the right things, but they weren’t getting rewarded for at Musqueam Turf is SCOTT DRAKE photo it ” & Falcons’ Tally t% WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEN'S BASKETBALL MEN'S SOCCER EXHIBITION EXHIBITION W-D-L wl wl 2-4-4 1, Douglas College (7-2-2) 0-1 0-2 Ranked: 5th Ranked: (NR) Ranked: (NR) 2.. Vancouver Island University (6-3-2) 3. Quest University (5-4-2) season, it was rookie goalkeeper Sierra Grieco and the defensive efforts that held the high-powered Royals offence to a single goal over the weekend. Birt said that though winning is al- ways the goal, he was satisfied with the fact that the Falcons made it “very dif- ficult for [Douglas College] to break us down and that’s a big positive that we have to take out of the weekend.” In terms of how to measure the suc- cess of the team going forward, Birt said “I’m a big believer that if you get the process right, then the results will come.” For him that process is “about playing at a high pace, it’s about quali- ty, and competing.” Falcon’s defender Olivia Kappeli said “Heading into the stretch drive of the season I believe that we need to create more scoring opportunities by getting more people forward and fin- ishing our chances.” The Falcons (4-5-2) stand three points behind Quest Uni- versity and a_ single point ahead of Kwantlen Polytech- nic University for the fourth and final play- off spot. Next on the schedule for the Fal- cons is Vancouver Is- land University. PACWEST Women's soccer standings 4, Langara College (4-5-2) 5.Kwantlen Polytechnic University (3-4-4) 6. Capilano University ( 1-8-2) Source: pacwest.be.ca New club seeks sports recognition at Langara Amongst critics, competi- tive video games give birth to the Langara eSports Association By JAKE COSTELLO windows and break out the Moun- tain Dew, eSports has finally ar- rived at Langara. There’s a strong debate as to wheth- er or not eSports should be considered a sport. While not as physically de- manding as traditional sports, eSports falls into the realm of other games like chess and poker, relying heavily on strategy. “TIt’s] kind of a big debate within the eSports community. You’re not going outside and playing a game and sweat- ing or anything,” Ashley Tyner, co- founder of Langara eSports Associa- tion, said. “People argue it’s the same... [the goal] is still competing against other people.” Even though eSports clubs are gain- ing popularity in post-secondary schools such as UBC and Langara, many of the schools don’t officially rec- ognize the groups within the athletic department. Connor Ruther, sub-director in the UBC’s eSports club, thinks that univer- sities should support their clubs. Ruther argues eSports compliment the hour of exercise recommended by doctors. “Doctors will say that the human body can be per- fectly healthy with r4 4 an hour or less of exercise a_ day, whereas your cog- nitive development really doesn’t have the same peak.” “T don’t think they're (UBC and Langara) willing to take the initiative or risk [of invest- ing in video games,]” said Jon- athan Wong, co- D:: off your monitor, shutter the they’re (UBC and Langara) willing to take the founder oftheLan- {nitiative gara eSports . Association. He Or risk hopes to one day mn be recognized by [of in the athletics de vesting partment and be . . considered a sport. in video Ruther said esS- ports isn’t taking g ames] anything = away JONATHAN WONG from __ traditional sports. “We're not threatening soccer or hockey, they’re very different,” he said. “We're no more of a threat to them than chess.” Carly Scarr, department assistant of athletics and intramurals at Langara, chose not to comment whether or not eSports should be considered a sport. JAKE COSTELLO photo Photo illustration