Ss ALEXANDER HOEGLER photo The Langara Falcons women’s team shoots balls during practice, under the watchful eye of head coach Mike Evans. A tale of two Langara teams Different histories make the Langara Falcons men’s and women’s basketball teams a study in contrasts By ALEXANDER HOEGLER e Langara Falcons men’s and women’s basketball teams tell a story of one place, but different directions. While the men’s basketball team has been a powerhouse, with a 10-2 record and a 2014 CCAA national champion- ship title on their resumé, the wom- en’s team has struggled, with a 2-10 re- cord and a current last place PacWest standing. “We need more cohesiveness,” said Carly Sangha, guard for the wom- en’s team. “Definitely, with new people, you have to gel and make plays.” In order to see results, said Sangha, players need to bring their all to every game. On the other hand, the men’s team- work has been key to their successful campaign so far, said forward Elliot Mason. “We have a team aspect, how we move the ball,” said Mason. “We have no selfish players, great teamwork. We have discipline and experience.” While the women’s team seeks long- term unity, Mason said the men’s goals are firmly set on repeating as na- tional champions. “Most players came back for another year knowing we can win a champion- ship,” said Mason. “Winning anything less is a failure.” Head coach for the men’s team, Paul Eberhardt, said he believes his team is capable of winning again, but there’s plenty of work ahead. “You have to put the work in to re- peat,” said Eberhardt. “We need to re- mind them it’s hard work.” Regarding the team’s ability to break out of a decade-long slump, Eber- hardt said he arrived at the right time to help fix the struggling team before leading them to the national title. “But the team has to maintain its fo- cus,” said Eberhardt. “Players forget how hard it is to win championships. We now expect to win.” Far outside the winner’s circle, the women’s team is struggling to compen- sate for five injuries, two of them being rookie starters, said head coach Mike Evans. “We don’t believe in excuses,” said Evans. “We haven’t been able to get over the hump. We’re close, but rarely putting it together for a full game.” 66 We haven’t been able to get over the hump. We’re close, but rarely putting it together fora full game MIKE EVANS WOMEN’S HEAD COACH Langara College students find a place at the table Table tennis in the Lan- gara Students’ Union is drawing attention from competitive players and fun-seekers alike By DUSTIN GODFREY ment to the Langara Students’ Union at Langara College has lead to the formation of a club this semester, and now a tournament is in the works. Othmane Hejira, a member of Lang- ara’s Table Tennis Club, said the club has branched out to more people as they hang out and play at the table, in- creasing their membership. “Before we were a group of five or something,” said Hejira. “But now ev- ery time people see us playing, they want to join. Every day we’re discover- ing new good players that actually par- ticipate.” Environmental sciences — student Connor Robinson provides insight as to why table tennis has been so popular. “It’s more open and it’s more intense of a game,” said Robinson. “Also, it just looks like a lot of fun.” Now that table tennis is a popular on-campus pastime, Oziel Guerra, head of the table tennis club, said he wants to organize a tournament. The tournament format will be sim- ple, said Guerra. “We’re going to keep on matching people with the same [availability] until there’s the final round.” Based on the reception of the tourna- ment this semester, the club would like to put on more frequent table tennis Te: addition of table tennis equip- |v Fem eset onan DUSTIN GODFREY photo Oziel Guerra, head of the Langara Table Tennis Club, plays a match of table tennis in the Langara Students’ Union. events, said Guerra. “We prefer to plan it a lot of time ahead,” said Guerra. “If we knew there was going to be a lot of people, we would do more.” “People we’ve talked to have been receptive,” he said Guerra said he plans for the two- week tournament to start sometime in mid-March, and will post sign-up sheets for students to note their avail- able times. Facts. table tennis 1 The game started as a parlour game in 19th century England 2 Prior to official equipment the game was played with a golf ball and row of books stacked along the centre of a table 3 Initial adaptations of the game were unsuccessful because the rubber balls had either too little or too much bounce 4 Table tennis has been marketed under several different names in- cluding, ping-pong, pim-pam, netto and whiff-waff 5 Ping-pong, once originally a trade name for table ten- nis, is now a differ- ent game, played with different rules Source: The International Table Tennis Federation Under pressure {0 win Headed towards it’s next tournament, Langara’s badminton team is work- ing to keep its cool By MICHAEL LYLYK gara Falcons badminton team as they prepare for their next tourna- ment. The team had an impressive end to last year’s regular season, winning four of five categories at the PacWest provincial championships. With a fair- ly new roster this season, there is pres- sure to do well again at this year’s pro- vincials. “The team this year, although young, has really improved more than any team I’ve ever seen,” said head coach Marc Petreman. “Obviously if you’re 22 or 23 years old, you’ve played five more years of tournaments and you're going to be more experienced, able to handle the pressure better.” Last year’s Canadian champion Mat- thew Chan, already a veteran in his second year of play, definitely under- stands the pressure to perform. “You win it once, there’s more ex- pectation, more pressure that you have to win it again,” said Chan. “So every- one, I think, is training hard for this year, and really want[s] to do it again.” It’s the younger players that give Pe- treman confidence in the team winning again this year. At the last tournament, held in Octo- ber at Vancouver Island University, men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles came out on top. The women’s singles and doubles teams, however, lost by a small point margin, placing Langara third overall. Having a strong team is something Petreman said he focuses on during practice. “Whether you’re one of the lowest level players on our team, or one of the youngest or the district Canadian champion,” said the Falcons’ badmin- ton coach. “It’s all about performing well as a team.” Langara will be hosting the next tournament at the Pinetree Communi- ty Centre in Coquitlam from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1. Pi: is in full swing for the Lan- MICHAEL LYLYK photo Veteran player Matthew Chan, at badminton practice. "Tall AX) Falcons’ Tally iH) WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEN'S BASKETBALL W-D-L W-D-L 2-0-10 10-0-2 Ranked: 8th Ranked: 3rd BADMINTON Ranked: 1st