8 THE VOICE | THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019 | EDITOR PATRICK PENNER Sportsnews Club peels back rink rate Marpole curling gives local high school team iree ice time = By LIAM HILL-ALLAN ithout the Marpole Curling Club’s support for one south Vancouver high school team, the high costs of the sport would make it impossible for the school to compete. For Sir Winston Churchill Secondary’s curling teams, the club’s help means the difference between existing, or not. ‘The curling club provides free ice time for the high school’s curling teams, enabling the girls’ team to not only win their regional division but place sixth at the 2019 High School Curling Provincials Championship earlier this month. “This club has been very passion- ate about encouraging youth into the sport,” said Pam Langham, the general manager of the club. - “This club has been | very passionate about encouraging youth into the sport.” -PAM LANGHAM, GENERAL MANAGER OF MARPOLE CURLING CLUB Churchill’s coach, Emma Wong, said at a regular price of $160 a session, practising at the club would be unaffordable without the club’s subsidies. Wong said while some schools can provide funding for their curl- ing team’s ice time, those funds are unavailable for Churchill’s program. “Unfortunately, it hasn’t been something that we've been able to get,” she said. While the team is able to save on rink time, Wong says equipment SHTING 2003 LTD. INSTALLATION & MAINTENANCE i*ww.topslighting.ca md 327 4040 * ‘ A Churchill's girls' curling team practising before provincials. L/AM H/LL-ALLAN PHOTO costs are still placed on students. “The students all pay for every- thing,” said Wong. And the costs associated with the sport are just one issue facing high school curling teams. According to Janet Dunkin, curl- ing commissioner at BC School Sports, Vancouver's junior curling scene has always been small, but the sport has become less popu- lar among high schoolers in recent years. “There’s fewer people to encour- age them to curl,” said Dunkin. “You kind of really need some- body at the high school level to promote it.” While Wong said the team has attracted interest from other students, she said that expanding the team can be hard. “In terms of getting a team, it has been difficult because they all have to be willing to commit the time to practice and then to go and compete,” said Wong. Hosting Cost of renting offsite facility worth it: college = By RENAMEDOW angara is expected to get a return on the money and labour it is investing into hosting the men’s national college basketball championship, according to the head of the athletic depart- ment. Jake McCallum, Langara’s director of athletics and intramurals, is confi- dent hosting the prestigious eight- team tournament is worth the cost, despite having to rent space at the Langley Events Centre due to the unsuitable conditions at Langara’s m. For the first time since 1997, Langara will host the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, from March 14-16. “The men’s basketball is highly sought after, so for us to host a national event of this calibre puts us in good standing nationally,” McCallum said. “Tt can be used for recruiting as well.” The college’s financial responsi- bilities include dozens of different expenses, such as gifts for athletes, a banquet, and the standard bid for the CCAA licensing fee of $7,500. McCallum said he won't know the final price-tag of hosting until after the event is over. cheaper than travelling “I would say if you do a good job it’s cheaper to host the CCAA than it is to go [travel] to the champion- ship,” McCallum said. Sponsors like Clif Bar & Company, gate money and reve- nue from apparel sales help buffer the end cost for the college. Albert Roche, the athletic director at Holland College, said when they "Ifyou do a good job it’s cheaper to host." — JAKE MCCALLUM, DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS AND INTRAMURALS AT LANGARA it was well worth the $15,000 total. “When you get to host the coun- try, it brings a lot of profile to your area and creates alot of economic activity," Roche said. Because the Langara gym's capacity cannot handle the expected attendance, the college has entered a profit-sharing agreement with the Langley stadium. McCallum also acknowledged that hosting the championship in Langley will likely decrease student attendance. “Obviously proximity is difficult,” McCallum said. “If we were hosting [in Langara’s gym] students would come down after class and watch.” Health science student, Amandeep Kaur, thinks many Langara students are unaware of the upcoming event. “T have never seen sports happen- ing at Langara,” she said. Biology student Amandeep Singh said, “Langara should put more advertisements or banners so that other students can know.” hosted the championship in 2017, Royce Sargeant dribbles down the court during a match against Camosun College. R RENA MEDOW PHOTO Cryo science disputed Validity of cold therapy under fire while its use is still vast in athletic and medical circles = By MISSYJOHNSON espite recent criticisms around the use of cryother- apy to treat injuries calling the treatment pseudo-science, some athletes, coaches and medical clinics stand by their various cures. Dr. Mare Rizzardo, Langara Falcons’ soccer coach and physio- therapist told The Voice almost every athlete has used cold therapy as part of their injury rehabilitation method. “In terms of recovery right now it’s probably one of the better things,” said Rizzardo. “At the Olympics, we have those ice baths for the athletes, so they are definitely using those.” A recent report by sports journal- ist Christie Aschwanden claims the age-old medical treatment is largely based on bogus science. Her book, Good To Go, claims freezing temper- atures can actually hamper recovery time by stopping the inflammation needed help muscles grow stronger. The Harvard Catalyst defines cryotherapy generally as: "a form of therapy consisting in the local or general use of cold." Current treatment varies from ice baths, to freezing aerosol sprays and whole-body cryotherapy — where a patient enters a chamber with temperatures below -100 Celsius for several minutes. A Journal of Emergency Medi- cine analysis trom 2008 reviewed multiple studies on cold therapy and found insufficient evidence to support cryotherapy’s positive effects on soft-tissue damage. Jaipaul Dhaliwal, owner of Vancouver Cryotherapy, a medical clinic that using these chambers, said the practice puts an athlete’s body into survival mode. “All the blood comes rushing to your core and when that happens, it takes a lot of any peripheral inflam- mation with it,” he said. Dhaliwal cited the endorsement of professional sports teams and several European states. “In Europe, you can get a prescrip- tion for it. It's covered by healthcare,” he said. “Even the Canucks, they had the most advanced ice baths out there.” Langara Falcons’ basketball player, Tyler Anderson, said ice is what is most recommended. “Normally right after the injury we get a cold pack or ice and we ice it to prevent the swelling,” he said. Anderson hasn't personally used whole-body cryotherapy yet but said, “Tve heard from people who have used them and they said it really helped.” STUDIES PROBING CRYOTHERAPY » 2012 American Journal of Sports Medi- cine: "Marginal evidence that ice plus exercise is most effective, af- ter ankle sprain and postsurgery." » 2015 Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma: "No evidence that whole- body cryotherapy for muscle sore- ness for is effective or safe."