Sherry Tian about to start a match with John Doknjas, World Chess Federation master. \icoi£ ZHAO PHOTO Gender checkmate The royal game of chess shows gender disparities = By DESIREE GARCIA he history of chess can be traced back 1,500 years. It might take another 1,500 to get women equally represented. A low number of women are playing chess in comparison to men, according to the Cana- dian Chess Association website. Within the last year, only 13 female players participated in chess tournaments in B.C.,, compared to 100 male players. Twelve-year-old Sherry ian is one of the exceptions that breaks those conventions. Tian has won a variety of chess champion- ships and recently claimed the B.C. Women's Championship title last month. Tian, whose fascina- tion with chess began when she was in the second grade, said she doesn't under- stand the stereotype that exists be- tween men and women in sports. "In the leaderboard, in my age group, in British Co- lumbia, I'm actually placed top two, so there are way more boys be- low me that are scared of me too. So, shouldn't be scared of them," Tian said. According to the World Chess Federation, there is only one woman, Hou Yifan, in the Top 100 chess players worldwide. UBC sociologist, Syl- via Fuller, said in situations where women find them- selves within the minority in comparison to men, women are more likely to feel as though they need an higher ability to suc- ceed and are less likely to have a good time. Fuller said for women, just knowing their performance is more likely to be scrutinized in an activity, adds an extra layer of stress and cognitive load on them. “It's more likely to be seen as poor female competencies in general, rather than an individual failure if you don't perform well,” Fuller said. Langara computer science student, Jamie Harper, said was that he chess and had a great deal of experience competing with women _ gylvia Fuller because his fa- SOCIOLOGY ther coached PROFESSOR ATUBC chess. Harp- er said that ultimately, wom- en and men should be treated equally in chess and in all areas. "It really comes down to us, a society to treat it objectively rather than the inherent gender bias that previous generations perpetuated,” Harper said. Falcons high & low Men's and women's teams face final games of PacWest league = By WILLIAM CROSBY ? Ghe Langara Falcons men’s and womens basketball teams have had dras- tically different results as the PacWest season winds down. While the men are confident, having already secured a playoff berth, the women are wondering whether they will even qualify at all. With a 2-10 win-loss record for the women and 9-5 for the men, the Falcons are almost at the end of the PacWest league. In the league standings, the men’s team are currently tied for second, and coach Paul Eberhardt said the team has a lot going for it. “Our strength is our ability to score and to get up and down the floor,” said Eberhardt, who noted that the men are currently the highest-scoring team in Canada, averaging at 96 points per game. In addition, the men’s team has two players in the top five players in the league with Ravi Basra leading the league in assists and Martin Boga- jevin the third place for total points. On the women’s side, Falcons guard Eloise Faehndrich said the & high number of young new players this season affects the team’s confi- dence. Faehndrich said she believed that despite the losses, the team as a whole was growing stronger. “We've had a lot of ups and downs but I do think we’re improving and we're learning more and more how to work as a team,” Faehndrich said. Women's coach Winston Brown said things were hope- fully turning around for her team. “Our weakness is inexperience,” Brown said. “We've had a bit of a change since last weekend was a pretty good weekend for us.” Ht Langara vs Capilano University Feb.9 8:00pm Feb.10 7:00pm Langara vs Quest University Feb.16 8:00pm Feb.17 7:00pm Langara vs Capilano University Feb.9 8:00pm Feb.10 7:00pm Langara vs Quest University Feb.16 8:00pm Feb.17 7:00pm Ravi Basra, who leads the PacWest league in assists, playing against VIU at the beginning of January 2018. /4NGARA FALCONS PHOTO Wheelchair basketball players lined up during the Bridging the Gap 2.0 event at the Brittania Community Centre on Feb. 2. NATHAN GAN PHOTO Basketball challenge on Players want- ed: wheel- chair optional = By NATHAN GAN ith B.C. organizations opening up about the inclusivity of wheel- chair sports, some say that kids are able to overcome past basket- ball fears with a level playing field. On Jan. 2 the Vancouver Air- port and the B.C. Wheelchair Basketball Society (BCWBS) launched their #yougame cam- paign. They created a three-minute video to spread the message that wheelchair basketball welcomes able-bodied individuals who do not use daytime wheelchairs. The campaign invites individu- als to participate in events, such as Bridging the Gap 2.0, where new and experienced wheelchair basket- ball players meet and play together. This event happens bi-weekly at Brittania Community Centre. Nadine Barbisan, the acting man- ager of program [, development for BCWBS, said that wheel- chair basketball can be more inviting to in- dividuals who - have difficul- ty playing regular basketball. According to Barbisan, some stu- dents actually prefer wheelchair basketball because it deconstructs the aspects of basketball that re- quire a lot more coordination. “Even though it is a difficult sport, it eases [the anxiety] because every- one’s starting from scratch,’she said. “You don't have to be disabled to play.” — BENJAMIN GARRETT, PROFESSIONAL WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL PLAYER Barbisan said it is important to fa- miliarise kids to wheelchair basket- ballin aschoolenvironment because this introduces inclusivity sooner. Benjamin Garrett, 18, has been a wheelchair basketball player for 13 years and emphasizes on how “you don't have to be disabled to play.” “I do demos at my school every year,” he said. Garrett, who uses a daytime wheelchair, said the sport — offered him many great op- portunities, and anyone who plays can be a part of that. Jake Sobrepena, a spokesperson for the Vancouver airport said the airport’s interests include show- ing the world what an all-around accessible airport looks like, while first opening up to the local com- munity.