Pickleball picks up players The senior friendly sport has come to two recreation centres in Vancouver By TAESA HODEL ickleball is the latest sport Pe: will have you playing untill you drop, with classes starting in Kerrisdale next year. “You'll never meet anyone who didn’t like pickleball,” said Jim Newman, who’s been a fan of the sport for over 35 years. He even had a compatible court installed in his backyard when his kids were young. Newman's kids, now grown, still play the game with their parents, though they've found a lot more pickleball partners in the past 10 to 15 years. “You feel good when you play,” said Newman, who explained that with the light wiffle ball, wooden paddle and smaller badminton court it’s not only easy to under- stand the game, but it’s quick to catch onto as well. “You'll never meet anyone who didn't like pickleball.” — JIM NEWMAN, PICKLEBALL PLAYER That’s why Dave Anthony pushed for pickleball at Kerrisdale Community Centre five years ago. An ex-racquetball player, An- thony found that as he got older it was harder to run around the court, but he still wanted a way to play paddle sports, and keep ac- tive. Learning pickleball from friends who live in the U.S., where the sport was created and first gained traction, Anthony wanted to make it more accessible within his community. ‘The two programs nearest to him at Dunbar and City Centre Community Centres attracted quite competitive players, which can be intimidating to learners. Fay Son-Hing said she now wishes she would have tried the game earlier. She learned from Anthony, but the centre has seen such an inter- est in the sport that classes will be available to adults in January. “He’s really kind, a really nice guy,” she said. “He’s very inclu- sive. Inclusivity is an important as- pect of the game, especially for older people, who are the game’s main demographic. The smaller court sizes and un- derhand swing make it easier to reach the ball and keep up a rally. This keeps the game engaging to older people who used to play high-impact paddle sports and encouraging to newcomers of all fitness levels. Newman said he’s heard that pickleball was named after — of all the species — the creator's’ pet dog. His own dog agreed, Newman said. “He used to love chasing the wiffle balls.” The goalkeeper for the Canucks prepares for the first game of the Western Regional Blind Hockey Tournament at Bill Copeland Sport Centre. Goalkeepers play the game completely blindfolded to ensure zero visibility. vaTHAN DUREC PHOTO ‘Hockey is hockey’ Blind players show the game is the same By NATHAN DUREC isually impaired hockey players from across Can- ada have come to Van- couver to play the sport they love. The third annual Western Re- gional Blind Hockey Tournament began with a match between the Canucks and the Giants at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre. The Mil- lionaires complete the round-robin event. Each team takes their name from a former or current Vancouver hockey team. “We felt, let’s make three com- petitive, real good teams. And I feel we truly did that. There’s a lot of skill and talent on all three teams across the board. And that’s a huge testament to the sport growing,” said Luca DeMontis, the general manager of Team Canada. “Hockey is hockey.” Blind hockey requires some modifications. The puck is 12 cen- timetres across and 5 centimetres tall, metal and full of ball bearings, which helps players hear it. The nets are 91 centimetres tall instead of 121 centimetres. And teams must complete at least one pass in the of- fensive end before being allowed to take a shot. But don’t tell these players they Players from across Canada made up the teams. NATHAN DUREC PHOTO don’t play hockey. Mark Bentz, a director for Cana- dian Blind Hockey has played the game for the past 21 years. “T walk around with my guide dog, right? And they’re like, that doesnt make sense. How do you play hockey?” Bentz said. Bentz began playing blind hock- ey at 30. It’s important to him that people are aware they don't need to know how to play, only that they want to learn. “We have people from five to 80,” Bentz said. “If you want to engage, there’s a structure for us to get you out on the ice, teach you, and then get you up in hockey.” The level of hockey is what Chris Munshaw, director of hockey oper- ations with SFU, first noticed. The SFU men’s hockey team is aiding with practices during the tourna- ment. “We're excited to be helping out. We like to raise awareness for blind hockey players and we're really just blown away with the skill and the speed that’s on display here by some of these athletes,” Munshaw said. And as for the Canucks and the Giants? Bragging rights belonged to the Canucks, winning the tour- Hyped over hoops Tournament brings competi- tive b-ball back to Vancouver By ADAM LEVI C ompetitive basketball re- turned to Vancouver last week for the inaugural Van- couver Showcase. From Nov. 18-24, a dozen of the U.S’s Division-1 men’s and women’s college basketball teams showed off their skills in front of thousands of fans inside the Van- couver Convention Centre. Since the NBA’s Vancouver Griz- zlies left for Memphis in 2001, Vancouverites have not had the opportunity to see high level com- petitive basketball. A fan and Van- couver resident, Assad Thaver, came out for two of the six days the event was held, and is already eager to at- tend if there is a tournament next season. “It’s been great,” Thaver said. “It brings out the community and new people to the city.” There have been exhibition games at the collegiate level in the city be- fore, but this was the first regular season or post season NCAA D1 basketball tournament to take place outside of the U.S. It likely won't be the last tournament in Vancou- ver considering the positive turn- out and response from players and coaches. “T loved Vancouver,” said Muffet McGraw the University of Notre Dame women’s head coach. “Brit- ish Columbia is a beautiful place. It was really a great place to have a tournament.” McGraw’s team won thewom- en's tournament following a hard- fought battle in the final against Oregon State. After winning the NCAAW National Champion- ship last season, Notre Dame looks poised to contend for another na- tional title this year. ‘Their star guard and one of the top players in D1 women’s basket- ball, Arike Ogunbowale, played a significant role during the team’s tournament run. She believes that the strong slate of competition at the tournament has helped prepare Notre Dame for their upcoming games. “We play the Iowa [Hawkeyes] and then UConn [Huskies] next, so this tournament definitely is going to give us some momentum going in,” Ogunbowale said. The tournament featured the last 2 NCAAWB National Champions (University of South Carolina and University Notre Dame). University of Notre Dame guard Jackie Young won ESPNW's player of the week. SOURCE: ESPN.COM