JULY 2015: A PUBLICATION OF THE RED DEER ADVOCATE
YOUNG PEOPLE Who Shape
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Strength and momentum of youth Central Alberta is support his family. Phyfull of promise and popers now operates his tential, and our young own Red Deer law firm people are the evithat includes many Abdence. original clients. Many extraordinary Growing up, Seryoung people hail from ena Bos didn’t need a this region. teddy bear. She had Today, the Red Deer real black bears to Advocate celebrates the play with. She is now next generation of movzookeeper and animal ers and shakers in its trainer at Discovery 2015 edition of MomenWildlife Park in Innistum. fail. CAROLYN The young people Parker Thompson MARTINDALE we feature have folis a Red Deer motor lowed their dreams to sports phenomenon such places as the racewho has taken his pastrack, the tennis court sion for fast cars to and performance halls. Some have the next level. The 17-year-old is excelled in research, business or racing formula cars. He plans to music. Some remain in the Cen- be on Indy car circuit one day. tral Alberta. Others have moved In the meantime, he finds time elsewhere to follow their passion to pitch his safety message to Aland develop their expertise. berta teenagers about the dangers The people are as diverse as of distracted driving. our area. Nadine Overwater has plowed Andrew Phypers is an Aborigi- her childhood passion for ATVs nal man who was a father at 17. He and the outdoors into becompulled himself out of poverty and ing one of the few females in the put himself through law school to world of professional backcoun-
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try snowmobiling. The native of Rocky Mountain House now teaches other women at her La Nina Sled Camps out of her home base of Revelstoke, B.C., and is sponsored rider. These are just a few of the successful young people whose stories and photos we share with you today. This is the second edition of Momentum, our annual offering of features on Central Albertans. This is the 15th edition of what was once known as Report on Central Alberta. Momentum will be distributed with our Friday Forward publication to all Red Deer households. Rural subscribers will get Momentum with their Red Deer Advocate newspaper. If you didn’t get a copy and would like to request one, or want extras, you can contact Scott Williamson, Advocate special section/ trade printing co-ordinator, at 403-314-4392 or swilliamson@reddeeradvocate.com.
INDEX Reece Zazulak ................................... 2 Merrick Sutter..................................... 4 Jenna Goldade .................................. 6 Jest Sidloski ....................................... 8 Sean McIntyre .................................. 10 Megan McLaughlin .......................... 12 Serena Bos ...................................... 14 Cole Webber .................................... 16 Tim Nguyen...................................... 18 Mike Szyszka ................................... 20 Andrew Phypers .............................. 22 Teresa Simonova............................. 24 Parker Thompson ............................ 26 Nadine Overwater ............................ 27 Dawson Weatherill ........................... 28 Paige Farries.................................... 30 Joe McQuay ..................................... 31
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2 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Young Aspect: Music producer
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Young Aspect took a talent for mixing music to finding a creative and productive new path.
Following a passion into a new life BY LANA MICHELIN
ADVOCATE STAFF Coming across a vinyl recording of obscure Asian flute music is like striking gold for Sylvan Lakebased hip-hop producer Young Aspect. The 25-year-old, also known as Reece Zazulak, can find an interesting hook in virtually any kind of music — from ethnic folk tunes, to a Beethoven concerto or old movie soundtrack. He creates new beats by electronically remixing samples of old music into something fresh and unrecognizable. Zazulak’s hip-hop arrangements are so good they’ve ended up on two Swollen Members albums, as well as five solo recordings by the group’s MC,
Madchild. Young Aspect has also produced music for Moka Only, Snak the Ripper, Merkules, Caspian, Spesh K, Doom Squad and other rappers. Through YouTube, his beats have been heard around the world. Five songs he created for Swollen Members and Merkules have each had over a million views. “It’s a pretty cool feeling,” admitted Zazulak from his home studio, to know that “something that fires me up” is also appreciated by hip-hop fans in Holland or Bulgaria. His “passion” for rap grew out of his turbulent adolescence in Medicine Hat. His parents divorced when he was 10, and Zazulak remembers escaping into music. “I really liked the gangster stuff,” he recalled —
AFTER HIS PARENTS DIVORCED WHEN HE WAS 10, REECE ZAZULAK ESCAPED INTO MUSIC. ‘I REALLY LIKED THE GANGSTER STUFF. THE REALLY ANGRY STUFF ... MADE ME FORGET ABOUT ALL MY PROBLEMS.’ Wu Tang Clan, The Beastie Boys, Eminem and Tupac Shakur. “The really angry stuff ... made me forget about all my problems.”
CONTINUED on Page 3
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 3
YOUNG ASPECT, FROM PAGE 2
SEEKING THAT INSPIRATIONAL HOOK IN MUSIC When he was 14, he became a rapper in a Southern Alberta city without much of a hip-hop culture. He would compose his own rhyme schemes to recycled popular beats from 50 Cent and Eminem. By age 16, he was arranging all his own beats and winning praise from hip-hop producer Rob the Viking, whom Zazulak met online. “He asked me how old I was ... (and) said, ‘Wow, that’s good for being so young.’ ... We kept in contact.” Zazulak didn’t know it at the time, but Rob the Viking is a longtime producer for Swollen Members. Rob eventually introduced Young Aspect’s songs to Madchild (Shane Bunting). “He said, ‘Oh, this kid is dope, we should probably work with him,’ ” said Zazulak, who ended up moving into Madchild’s place in Vancouver in 2012 to help get his solo career started. So far, he’s created 30 songs for the MC and was introduced to other Vancouver-area rappers, including Merkules. The Surrey native, who now lives in Red Deer, considers Young Aspect one of the most gifted hip-hop producers out there. Zazulak, who produced Merkules’ hit L.A.S.H, returned the compliment, calling Merkules (Cole Stevenson) “super talented.” “I believe in him more than anyone right now because he’s young and he’s hungry. You will see him put a dent in the industry without a doubt.” After living in Vancouver for a year, Zazulak returned to Medicine Hat to visit family. He met a woman there and stayed for a year, taking an unexpected detour from music. He now admits it wasn’t a good decision or a healthy relationship. “We both enabled each other” to live a hard-partying, drug-fuelled lifestyle. His time in Medicine Hat proved to be the opposite of his stint in Vancouver, where Madchild, who’d weaned himself off Oxycontin abuse, had kept Young Aspect out of trouble. “He said, You’re not even going to smoke marijuana. ... We’re going to stay clean together,’ ” recalled Zazulak. His drug use ended when he was hauled into the Medicine Hat Remand Centre following a serious incident at a dwelling. Facing aggravated assaultrelated charges that have yet to be settled in court, Zazulak said he sobered up quick during his five days behind bars. He hopes other young people will
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Young Aspect, also known as Reece Zazulak, looks for the obscure and uplifting recordings he can work into his mixes. learn from his experience. “For anyone reading this right now, remember, negative choices result in negative consequences,” said Zazulak, who maintains he’s been sober for 13 months now and enjoys being part of Central Alberta’s burgeoning hip-hop scene. “I’m going to the gym every day, eating right and it feels a lot better and more rewarding.” But life keeps throwing him painful curve balls. On May 5, Zazulak’s older brother and biggest influence, Jamie “Sixfire” Dexter, was found dead at age 33. He was asleep and just didn’t wake up, said Zazulak. The cause of death has yet to be determined. “My older brother ... got me into music. He was so talented,” said Zazulak, who had planned to open a recording studio with Dexter some day. Instead,
he’s now teaching himself to play his late brother’s acoustic guitar while residing in Sylvan Lake, where his dad lives. Zazulak feels he has to keep making music for himself as well as for Dexter, who never got to fulfil his dreams. “I feel like I have a new life to start fresh with and do what I have always dreamed of doing with my life. Making music.” That’s why he always keeps an eye out for obscure vinyls — the kind most people would bypass. He puts these LPs on his turntable and listens for an inspirational hook that he can then feed into his computer. The older the tune the better, said the producer, who prefers working with music that’s in the public domain for copyright reasons. Zazulak uses computer software and
other mixing equipment to add a drumming back beat. He slows or quickens the original melody, pitches it up or down, chops and scrambles it to make something new. Rappers can take the beats he comes up with and lay their own vocal tracks over them, or introduce singers on a chorus that Young Aspect sometimes helps write. “My music has always been my outlet,” he said. “When I’m (producing) I’m totally in my own zone.” He describes the collaborative process as “magical” when it comes together just right. Check out Aspect’s music and comments: Youtube - youtube.com/aspectbaxwar, Instagram - @YoungAspect, Facebook- facebook.com/YoungAspectBaxwar, Twitter - @BeatsByAspect lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
4 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Merrick Sutter: Rebels senior vice-president Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Red Deer Rebels senior vice-president Merrick Sutter has taken on the role of co-chair of the 2016 Master Card Memorial Cup, to be held in Red Deer in May 2016.
A Memorial Cup to remember BY CRYSTAL RHYNO
ADVOCATE STAFF Merrick Sutter has not slowed down. It may be the off-season for the Red Deer Rebels but the summer months tend to the busiest for the Rebels’ senior vice-president. This summer is especially busy as the days until the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup continue to pass. Sutter, who co-chairs the host committee with Ron Lariviere, said they are determined to make this the best Memorial Cup that the hockey world has ever seen. His hope is that it will be very hard to go anywhere in Red Deer without knowing the national major junior hockey championships is happening. There will be community events, Fanfest, Hockey Hall of Fame, beer gardens and much more. “There’s a lot of buzz,” he said. “There’s a lot going on at Rebels headquarters. We know the hockey will be good. We want to put on a game-chang-
ing event for the city.” It will be the first time in 42 years that Alberta has hosted the tournament. Red Deer lost out to Saskatoon to host the 2013 Memorial Cup in 2011. This time, the Western Hockey League team — and a host of community supporters — would not be denied. This time around, Sutter believes they are far more prepared on the business and hockey side. The Memorial Cup brings together the champions of the three leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League: the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The round-robin tournament runs May 19 to 29 at the Centrium. With one of the most famous surnames in hockey, there is no doubt that Sutter will help pull it off. Sutter gave up the idea of being a professional hockey player when he was a teenager. If the 28-year-old weren’t part of
the famous Sutter clan, his admission would likely go unnoticed. Five of his uncles — Brian, Darryl, Duane, Rich and Ron — played in the National Hockey League in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Ron Sutter was the last to hang up his skates, retiring after the 2000-2001 season. Brian, Darryl, Duane and Brent have all spent time as coaches in the NHL. Merrick’s father Brent Sutter suited up for the New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks in his 18-year career and coached the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames. Brent is the head coach of the Rebels and Brent and his family own the team. Younger brother Brandon plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins and cousin Brett is in the Minnesota Wild system. Sutter remembers it was an easy decision to hang up his skates and pursue his interests off-ice. “To put it bluntly, I was probably gifted with a brain and not hands,” said Sutter. Sutter went to Mount Royal Univer-
sity in Calgary to earn a degree in business, with a marketing major. And now he’s making a name for himself in the world of hockey management. Sutter has held his current title for about four years but he has worked for the Rebels since 2008. Sutter oversees the day-to-day, mostly business operations, for the club. It is the creativity and the ability to try new things that keeps Sutter happy, he said. “We’re an organization that doesn’t sit still,” he said. “If you’re sitting sit, you have stopped. We’re always trying to grow and be progressive. We have a small staff so we are efficient. Everyone has a passion and I really think you have to. With that family atmosphere, we have a group of loyal employees.” Next on the horizon, after the Memorial Cup next May? The Rebels’ 25th anniversary is coming up in the 20162017 season. crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 5
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6 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Jenna Goldade: Improv artist
BY LANA MICHELIN
ADVOCATE STAFF
Central Alberta’s comedy queen Jenna Goldade was a wide-eyed 20-yearold when she began putting on Bull Skit improvisation and sketch comedy shows in downtown Red Deer. Having no real experience with risky undertakings, she recalled a “scary” air of uncertainty around the venture. “For the first couple of years, it was like swimming without a life-jacket,” recalled Goldade, artistic director of Against the Wall Theatre. “We were trying to make comedy work, but none of us had been trained specifically for comedy.” She’d gone from putting on home plays for her parents, as a self-described “weird” kid growing up in Central Alberta, to studying theatre and film at Red Deer College. Now she was organizing a monthly show that would — hopefully — squeeze laughs out of the ticket-buying public. Skeptics were too polite to say it, but Goldade knows many were thinking her shows couldn’t possibly last more than a season or two. Audiences were sparse at first and some jokes went over with a thud.
But seven seasons later, the 27-year-old former waitress and Collicutt Centre worker has turned Bull Skit into a full-time career. Her 18-member professional company now plays to packed houses at the Scott Block in downtown Red Deer, with memorable characters such as Hot Cop, Drunk Batman, Robo Boyfriend, the Young and Educated, Edna, the F-you Bar Guys and nerdy college students Alice and Sarah. Bull Skit has branched out to offer corporate team-building seminars and improv training workshops, and also diversified to offer theme comedy nights three weekends a month in Red Deer. Downton Abbey fans got the spoof Shabby Abbey. Theatre-sports lovers cheered on their favourite teams during Thespian Fight Club nights. Others have opted to Get White Trashed, or taken their kids to afternoon Calf Skit shows for irreverent takes on well-loved fairy tales. CONTINUED on Page 7 Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Jenna Goldade outside the Scott Block Theatre, home to Red Deer’s Bull Skit troupe for seven years.
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 7
JENNA GOLDADE, FROM PAGE 6
“Red Deer kind of needs this. I feel like this show’s found a place. ... When you say Bull Skit, people now know who we are.” Oddly enough, the improv and sketch comedy show was initially started as a fundraiser for more As well, Veal Skit and Bull Prov shows have given As soon as seasoned Bull Skit actors have gained serious Against the Wall Theatre productions. GolBull Skit trainees an audience, as well as allowing their improv chops, many have moved on because of dade and Erlandson had staged a few edgy dramas seasoned Bull Skit members to test out new mate- other commitments. (Actors and writers get some pay about shiftless teenagers and undead lovers, until rial. from shows, but still have to maintain their day jobs.) For Goldade, who’s watched many acting friends Goldade admitted her troupe has toughed out realizing that sketch comedy was more fun to do. “There’s something about being able to pull someleave Central Alberta one out of their life and for wider opportunities, give them an escape and building a comedy career something to laugh about in Red Deer has been ... I get a high out of makworth the struggle. “I get ing people happy,” said to do everything that I Goldade. love to do here. I get more She grew up transfixed stage time and more say by Disney and Pixar movin the kinds of shows that ies in Lacombe, Drayton we do. ...” Since 2008, her troupe Valley, Red Deer and has parodied everything Rocky Mountain House as from Sesame Street to terher engineer dad moved rorists and local celebrithe family to various comties. Goldade appeared munities. as bun-headed Princess Goldade didn’t discovLeia in a Star Wars spoof. er her interest in theatre Other pop culture mileuntil high school, after stones were skewered, casting off basketball and from Harry Potter to 50 figure skating aspirations. Shades of Grey. Cast mem“I gave up on my sports bers dressed as slasher dreams. I was never very movie villains even pergood.” formed songs from FroCatching a TV commerzen. cial for old Carol Burnett A wide assortment of Shows sparked Goldade’s real-life musical guests bent for campy comedy. have also entertained at She credits her cremonthly Bull Skit shows, ative and supportive parincluding Edmonton singents for helping her beer/songwriter Ben Sures lieve she could run her and local artists Randi own theatre company. Boulton, Ol’ Boots and Goldade also acknowlthe Hoots and The Dirrty edges the encouragement Show. of former classmate Matt Of course, none of this came together quickly or Grue, who runs Ignition easily. Theatre — and a cerGoldade stressed that tain theatre teacher who Bull Skit members have helped her find her steely trained hard to improve resolve. their schtick and earn “I don’t remember more laughs under the what we were talking tutelage of some of the about, but at one point funniest people on earth: Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff she said to me, ‘Why don’t Kevin McDonald of Kids Bull Skit improvisational actor Jenna Goldade inside the Scott Block Theatre prior to a performance recently. you quit?’ And I rememin the Hall, experts from ber thinking: Screw that. Calgary’s Loose Moose No way. ... It was a huge Theatre Company, Edmonton’s Rapid Fire Theatre, significant losses, such as the departures of Serge motivator!” and assorted international improvisers. Belliveau (now artistic director of Tree House Youth With seven years of Bull Skit behind her, Goldade Last summer, Goldade spent five and a half weeks Theatre), Paul Sutherland, Chris Schulz and Blaine advises anyone thinking about leaping into uncharttraining at Chicago’s iO (ImprovOlympic) Theatre, Newton. But the company has also welcomed former whose alumni include Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Seth members back into the fold, such as Bull Skit co- ed territory to just go for it. “You’ve gotta try it. ... “I’ve been through a ton of ups and downs, but Meyers, Mike Myers, Bill Hader, Tim Meadows and founder Amy Erlandson, who moved back to the rethe late Chris Farley. And previously, she did two gion. And eager new people have always come along you’ve got to rely on your passion” — so thicken your skin, gather a good support system and take the and a half weeks at Second City. to fill the gaps. “It was so great. I learned so much,” said Goldade, Despite the comings and goings and general up- plunge, she said. “And never think this is it, I’ve reached where I who later passes what she absorbs during her sum- heaval, “I decided to keep (Bull Skit) going,” said want to go. There’s always so much more to learn mer training stints on to other troupe members. Goldade, “because I didn’t think it was done yet.” She hopes new recruits who pass the audition will Goldade believes the monthly shows are filling an and to innovate.” For more information, visit www.BullSkitComedy. eventually work their way into the company and stay important role by showcasing talented Central Alfor a while. But the one constant has been personnel bertans and giving local audiences a chance to laugh com. change. in a social, live theatre setting. lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
ONE CONSTANT IN THEATRE: CHANGE
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Red Deer kind of needs this. ... When you say Bull Skit, people now know who you are.
8 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Jest Sidloski: Community builder
Inspired to make a better city BY MARY-ANN BARR
ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Jest Sidloski holds one of his young Plymouth Rock heritage breed chickens he is raising in his back yard.
When Jest Dempsey Sidloski was younger, he couldn’t decide if he wanted to be a police officer or a paramedic. Today, he’s neither. Instead, his work involves training and development for Peavey Industries, whose head office is in Red Deer. But it’s his drive to make a difference in people’s lives that may really define the busy 25-year-old’s life so far. Sidloski had a less than ideal childhood, but it was one where the example set by his hard-working mother had considerable positive influence on him. Just three years in Red Deer, Sidloski has started two charitable fundraising bodies. “Even though I can’t grow a good mustache,” he started the Red Deer Movember chapter in 2012, running the annual fundraiser for prostate cancer research with a” really good team.” “I met so many fantastic people in Red Deer through that.” As well, he started 100 Men Red Deer this year. The charitable organization involves a commitment from men to donate $100 each four times a year to various groups in need. The first donation saw $10,800 raised for the Red Deer Food Bank. In high school, Sidloski moved from the tiny Saskatchewan community of Denzil to Lloydminster, where, as president of his school’s Students Against Drunk Driving chapter, they won the premier’s provincial award for their campaign. “I needed to be a part of that ... I knew how dangerous and stupid (drunk driving) was and to this day it’s still a big problem, so I just wanted to get the awareness out there.” After high school, Sidloski graduated from an emergency medical responder program in Lac La Biche, but because of a recession, there were no jobs and he could not get any experience. So he decided to go to England for some “life experience.” He was there six months, working for the British Heart Foundation, interviewing people on the street, collecting data. “I always wanted a job that I knew I could make a difference. I soon realized that in any job that you do in life you can make a difference if you want to.” When he returned to Canada, he ended up working for Peavey in Lloydminster, in a manager training program, and he took some business courses. A year after that, he was promoted and
moved to Lacombe in 2011, where he managed the Peavey store. “I really loved it.” While there, Sidloski decided to make a difference again by getting involved with Big Brothers and Sisters. In his first year with the group, he was awarded Big Brother of the Year. Then he was offered a job at Peavey’s head office in Red Deer. “My whole life growing up in Saskatchewan, I dreamed of moving to Red Deer. So did my family. Red Deer was always on our radar of where we wanted to be.” He had been through the city as a child and always remembered the river valley and how green it was. At Peavey, he’s developed an online portal for employees to take training, as well as other programs designed to improve the lives of company employees. After a manager became ill last year, he also took on the district manager interim role for southern Saskatchewan. Among other activities, Sidloski is also on the Women’s Outreach board of directors. When he’s not kayaking or doing extreme bungee jumping, travelling for work or pleasure, or taking photos, he might be busy gardening. He has four young backyard chickens that he expects will be laying eggs by August in the coop in his 110-year-old home in the Parkvale neighbourhood. His brother lives with him. “On a personal note, I grew up without a father most of my life. I just remember seeing my Mom all the time struggle to raise us three kids (he also has a sister). (Mom) was working three jobs all the time. But the thing that I admired most about my Mom and still do to this day is even though she worked three jobs and just made enough to get by, she would still do anything for anyone. She was always going out of her way to do nice things for people. “And so I think I remember as a young kid always wanting to grow up and be able to help people like my Mom did.” It wasn’t the easiest childhood for Sidloski, with a father who was mostly absent. “But I never use it as an excuse. People don’t even know that about me. I actually think I became a stronger man because of how I grew up.” His mother, Denise, just moved to Red Deer. “I was joking with her the other day. I said, ‘Oh, every young son’s dream is to have their mother live down the street,’ ” he laughs. “But really, it’s awesome.” barr@reddeeradvocate.com
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 9
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10 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Sean McIntyre: Sylvan Lake mayor BY PAUL COWLEY
ADVOCATE STAFF Alberta’s youngest mayor doesn’t plan to become its oldest. Sean McIntyre, 31, sees public life as a “tour of duty” in which he gives it his all and then steps aside before his bestbefore date to help a successor take charge. “I will serve as long as I think I’m the best person to do so,” says the affable McIntyre, who’s quick to laugh and wears his community boosting credentials on his sleeve. A Sylvan Laker almost his whole life, McIntyre says he always had a strong sense of community, reinforced by parents who made sure their young sons were involved in Scouts, sports and an endless line of community activities. His father worked at Red Deer’s Michener Centre, caring for those with physical and mental disabilities before switching gears for a career in oilfield safety. His mother has been a longtime administrator for Red Deer’s Nossack Meats. “Our parents had my brother and I involved in volunteering and public service from as soon as we could walk,” he laughs. “They really taught us to give more than we take. That’s always been our approach to being involved in community. “One of the bigger moments that sticks in my mind was my father, with the Sylvan Lake Kinsmen, building our first outdoor rink.” Built in the early 1990s, the rink has since moved but is still intact. It serves as an example of how “many hands make light work,” he says, a lesson not lost on the younger McIntyre. By the time he finished high school, he had a long track record of working with community groups, particularly those with a youth connection. In 2005, he started Incline Industries, an indoor skateboard and BMX park, with some friends. Live music and a retail store grew out of that. The group also became the leaders behind the effort to get the town’s skateboard park. By 2008, he was organizing the popular Shake the Lake Festival, which featured music and other youth-focused entertainment. He was with Incline when he decided to run for a seat on council at the age of 26, a move he says just seemed like a “natural transition.” CONTINUED on Page 11 Photo by PAUL COWLEY/Advocate staff
At 31, Sean McIntyre joins a central circuit of young mayors, from Edmonton to Red Deer and Calgary — and Sylvan Lake.
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RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 11
SEAN McINTYRE, FROM PAGE 10
A WAVE OF CHANGE It was while lobbying town council for the skateboard park that he began thinking about sitting around the council table. “It was through that process that I realized that there was room for me to serve in a more administrative capacity and start making decisions for the future of our community.” The 20-something quickly discovered how involved a role municipal politicians played in their communities and embraced the challenge. While he knew what he was getting into, having done the research ahead of time, the workload and level of commitment required would probably surprise many in the public, he says. He soon found his passion for communication — Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are his current favourites — offered new opportunities for connecting to the community. Consultation and getting the public more involved became key planks when he made the bold decision after only one term under his belt to run for mayor against Susan Samson, a wellrespected leader in the community. By then, he had made the move to insurance, a career switch he made
in 2011. He also had two children by then, a daughter Haven, seven, and son Jude, four, with his wife Leah, whom he married in 2003. McIntyre says he was ready for anything, win, lose or draw, on election night — but was bowled over by the wave of support he rode into office. “The support I got in the 2013 election was shocking.” While his age set him apart, he was one of a number of high-profile and young mayors who have emerged in Alberta, including Red Deer’s Tara Veer, who became mayor at 35, Calgary’s Naheed Nenshi, who was 38 when first elected, and Edmonton’s Don Iveson, who was 34. McIntyre never saw himself as part of a political youth movement, he says. “I was definitely focusing locally. I never intended to be part of a wave of young people getting involved in politics.” He sees the trend as a reflection of Alberta’s changing demographics and views on government. In many ways, Sylvan Lake is a microcosm of Alberta. It is a fast-growing community — likely somewhere around 15,000 by the next census com-
pared with the 3,000-strong town McIntyre’s family moved to in 1989. It also has a young population that will need more parks, playgrounds, schools and recreational facilities. Ensuring those amenities are there has been one of the biggest tasks of McIntyre’s first tour as town leader. Construction is about to start on the NexSource multiplex, which is destined to become the town’s $33.5-million recreational centrepiece. The project has already involved making some tough decisions. Millions have been added to the budget to make sure it is built to last and to avoid regrets about penny pinching later. McIntyre has also not shied from taking controversial positions when he sees an opportunity. Many lakeshore businesses were strongly opposed to opening the door, even a crack, to mobile vendors, especially food trucks. The mayor backed a pilot project to try it out — on a limited basis and under strict conditions. It may not work out, he acknowledged, but it was worth seeing if the community liked the idea and whether it would draw more local residents to the downtown. Also close to McIntyre’s heart remains the quest for the return of a beach. High water levels combined with erosion have reduced the town’s beach, once one of its key calling cards, to a razor-thin strip of sand only a few
I was definitely focusing locally. I never intended to be part of a wave of young people getting involved in politics.
metres long. While Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development has been cool to the prospect of any measures to move sand around, McIntyre remains hopeful a solution can be found that restores a popular attraction without sacrificing habitat. He knows it won’t be easy changing minds. But he’s never been shy of a challenge. pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
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12 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Megan McLaughlin: Biotech researcher
Photo by JOHN GUATTO/University of Toronto
In October 2014, Minister of State for Science and Technology Ed Holder visited Toronto Recombinant Antibody Centre (TRAC) at the University of Toronto. During his tour, Megan McLaughlin (right) provided him with some information on antibody engineering and demonstrated one of the robotics systems.
At work finding out what happens next BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI
ADVOCATE STAFF As a scientist, nothing beats the on-the-job “surprise factor” for Megan McLaughlin. “I’m most interested, or most driven, by the stuff where I don’t know what’s going to happen. Going into the lab everyday, doing experiments. I have high hopes things will work out and I will get an answer, or get a tool at the end of the process I can
use to move on. But you never really know,” said the 30-year-old McLaughlin, who grew up in Red Deer. McLaughlin is a scientist and technology officer at a small biotech startup company in San Francisco working to generate therapeutic-grade antibodies to fight cancer. She said scientific discovery isn’t always what people anticipate. “You kind of have to be just terrifically optimistic in the face of repeated failure,” she laughed.
“Most things don’t work the first time, or the second time, and it’s just a matter of doing things rigorously enough so you learn from the failures and you can still move forward.” Failure doesn’t mean an end to research, she said. “If you’re doing something where the end goal is worthwhile, then that’s just tremendously motivational.”
CONTINUED on Page 13
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 13
MEGAN McLAUGHLIN, FROM PAGE 12
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McLaughlin attended the University of British Columbia and went on to earn her masters degree in science, in molecular genetics, at the U of T. “One of the great things in academic science, at U of T in particular, is it attracts people from all over the world.” And McLaughlin said she it was privileged to work with the amazing people at TRAC. When she arrived at U of T, Sidhu was just starting his academic group. Sidhu worked for 10 years for biotech leader Genentech Inc. in San Francisco before returning to Canada. “He was looking for people and gave a talk explaining his ideas about protein engineering, and it was unlike anything I had read about in journal articles or heard about in any of the classes. It just sounded so cool. So I went to talk to him a little more about what projects he had in mind for students. It snowballed from there.” At TRAC, Sidhu and his team developed an antibody to protect people from a certain strain of Ebola, a disease that kills too quickly for a patient’s own immune system to respond. Unfortunately, it was not the strain involved in the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014. But McLaughlin said TRAC proved it was possible to battle Ebola with antibodies. “There are so many things you can do with this technology. It’s just a matter of enough time, money and hands to do it.” McLaughlin said she always wanted to be a scientist, starting way back in elementary school. “My parents took me to all sorts of science centres all over the place and were always bringing books home about the natural world.” She also credits her teachers at Mountview Elementary School, Central Middle School and Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School. High school science teacher Kim Burley was the one to pique McLaughlin’s interest in biology, which became her focus in first year at university. McLaughlin encourages students with an interest in science to look into opportunities for research internships. “I love it. I have to say, I have no regrets.” szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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McLaughlin is a former technician at the Toronto Recombinant Antibody Centre (TRAC), an independent organization housed at the University of Toronto directed by U of T’s Dr. Sachdev Sidhu and other scientists. TRAC aims to advance antibody technologies for the generation of new research tools and therapeutics for unmet medical needs. McLaughlin was a graduate student in Sidhu’s academic group at U of T for four years. There, she developed ways to engineer proteins with new functions using massively parallel DNA sequencing. At TRAC, they repurposed sequencing technology for protein engineering to make antibodies that recognize cancer cells. She said those antibodies are invaluable research tools and can also be used to diagnose or treat disease. In March, McLaughlin moved to San Francisco to work for the new biotech company that has licensed the technology platform from the U of T, to develop antibodies to manipulate the immune response to various kinds of cancer. “I got to set up a lab according to my preferences and the needs of the other projects we have planned. It’s fantastic to be in San Francisco, meeting different people. In a lot of ways, it’s just so much easier to get things done here. The appetite for investment in biotech here is just more solid.” She said biotech is also growing in Toronto, in large part due to Sidhu, who has had a lot of support from the U of T, and the provincial and federal governments. McLaughlin is enthusiastic about her cancer research in the United States. “I’m fortunate that a huge amount of science has already gone into what we’re working on. I’m very excited and very confident about our prospects. And I also feel like there’s nobody else in the world who is doing exactly what we are right now so we have an obligation. It could really help a lot of people and we just have to give it our best shot. “In the context of cancer, these antibodies get your immune system to kill your cancer. That’s far, far more effective than chemotherapy or radiation, and less harmful to the patient.”
14 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Serena Bos: Animal trainer
More than just hanging out with bears BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI
ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Wildlife Park head zookeeper and animal trainer Serena Bos works with one-year-old Gruff — a male black bear at the Innisfail zoo. The orphaned bear will be part of the zoo’s education program and bear safety presentations at the facility this season.
Who needs a teddy bear when you grow up with two living, breathing black bears? Serena Bos, 32, said the bear brothers, named Keno and Reno, were about four weeks old when they first arrived at her family’s first zoological venture Doug’s Exotic Zoo Farm. Fourteen years ago, the zoo moved from the Clive area, along with Keno and Reno, to Innisfail to became Discovery Wildlife Park. “They fit in the palm of your hand,” said Serena Bos, head zookeeper and animal trainer at Discovery, about the cubs she called her two best friends. Keno, who grew into a 700-pound bear that stood over 1.8 metres (six feet) his hind legs, died last year of old age at the age of 21. Bos is still palling around with Reno. “When I was young, like all young kids, you have those mad-at-your-parents (occasions) or you’re just having a bad day. I would run away and just go hang out with them. I swear if those two bears could talk, I’d be in a lot of trouble because they know everything about me,” she laughed. Bos raises and trains animals at Discovery so she has to understand them. “For example Reno, if he’s throwing his head, you know he’s having a bad day. There’s something off bothering him. You can tell a mile away he’s in a bad mood.” She said Reno would always get mad when his brother had something he didn’t. If Reno could talk, he would have growled something to the affect of, “He has it and I don’t and I want it and now I’m mad about it,” said Bos, imitating Reno’s tantrum. “He would dip his head almost to the ground and throw it back. Even in humans you see it. You throw your head back and sigh.” But all it took to calm Reno down was give him his own special toy or treat, she said. Bos’s training has been diverse. She completed part of a zoo technology program, taken courses on animal breeding and behaviour, participated in animal training at animal facilities, done a whole lot of on-the-job training, and has visited and worked at different zoos. Over the winter, Bos partnered on a project with Washington State University, a leading research facility for bears. Discovery’s bears are trained to have urine samples collected for testing as part of their care and this spring she sent the university a set of samples for further study. Since November, she has also been training Gruff, a two-year-old black bear, so she can draw his blood for WSU.
CONTINUED on Page 15
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 15
HOW TO DRAW BLOOD FROM A BEAR “We’ve done all the preparation steps. He lays down. He lays on his side. He puts his foot on a pedestal. He has to relax. We have to shave the area. We have to clean it with alcohol. Now we’re actually ready to draw blood for the first time.” She said 98 per cent of the 150 animals at Discovery Wildlife Park are orphans from Alberta Fish and Wildlife or other animal facilities that have closed down or can’t keep all their animals. Training the animals so they will allow medical treatment is crucial for their well-being, Bos said. Magnum the jaguar is trained to have his nails trimmed so they don’t curl and grow into his paw, which can happen with older cats. “I hold his paw to do it and jaguars claws are razor sharp so if they wanted to grab you and rip you they would, but he’s very, very gentle. (He) allows you to do it. It’s 100 per cent good.” Trimming Magnum’s claws required training him to stick his paw through a opening connected to his enclosure. Staff do not enter the jaguar enclosure with the animals because they are possessive aggressive, she said. “If you had a ball, and a tiger or lion wanted that ball, it would go to that ball and protect it. If you were to threaten the ball, they would attack you. Jaguars, if they become possessive, they would kill everything around and then go to what it is they want. “You never know what’s going to cause that little switch to go off in their brain.” So she has trained them from outside the enclosure. “That’s the nice thing about us compared to many facilities, the amount of training we do with the animals. Training is considered to be the highest form of enrichment you can give an animal in captivity. It gives them purpose.” Magnum and his brother Mia have distinct personalities and enjoy a good challenge. “Mia is the dominate cat but Magnum is the trouble maker. Magnum is a true jaguar, very bull-headed, but also very much a suck. Mia is kind of the perfect child. He wants to please. He wants to do everything right.” Mia can also be something of a comedian during his regular performance. “He has a little toy box. It’s actually a challenge to put his toys away in it. Sometimes he’ll put them in and they’ll fall back out because it’s hard and the public will laugh when they fall out. He’s learned that’s funny. Now if people laugh, he’ll purposely make
‘‘
(Mia) has a little toy box. It’s actually a challenge to put his toys away in it. Sometimes he’ll put them in and they’ll fall back out because it’s hard and the public will laugh when they fall out. He’s learned that’s funny. Now, if people laugh, he’ll purposely make them fall out ... and put it back in, like ‘Ha, ha, that was really funny.’ them fall out. And then he’ll look at the whole crowd and pick it up and put it back in, like ‘Ha, ha, that was really funny.’ ” Bos said it’s impossible to pick a favourite species. “Bears are a species I’m very passionate about. I absolutely love training them. But I also enjoy training jaguars. They’re unbelievably intelligent and a totally different type of challenge. But I’ve also enjoyed raising the beavers and raccoons.” “I can’t say the word favourite because when you meet the animals and work with the animals it’s kind of like having your own kids. You don’t have a favourite child. You love them individually for who they are. It’s the same with all the animals,” said Bos, who has two children, age 13 and 15. The two newest additions to Discovery Wildlife Park are lion cub siblings Griffin and Zendaya, who were born on Dec. 24. They were surplus cubs with a breeding program in Ontario and will be trained for Discovery’s public presentations as they get older. Zendaya likes to keep her brother Griffin on his toes. “She bugs him all the time. Zendaya is full of more spunk and playfulness, a get-out-and-do-it personality, which again is more typical of a female lion.” Bos said when Griffin wants to lay down for a little siesta, his sister will pounce. “She’ll stalk him and go after him again and again. It’s great for him because it keeps him motivated.” For more information about Discovery Wildlife Park, visit www.discoverywildlifepark.com or call 403-227- 3211. szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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16 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Cole Webber: Student
Imagining the future of education BY MARY-ANN BARR
ADVOCATE STAFF Cole Webber is almost your typical 16-yearold. He likes to play video games. He’s not that comfortable in situations where he doesn’t know anyone. He spends a lot of time on the Internet. He’s not sure what he wants to do in life. But in so many other ways, he’s anything but typical. Among other things, the Grade 10 Lindsey Thurber Comprehensive High School student loves public speaking about the future of education — he gave the convocation speech at Red Deer College last year. He is starting up a non-profit foundation, he’s on Alberta Education’s student advisory council, and he’s facilitated sessions at international conferences on education. And, oh yes — he’s writing a book, or two. Most of this has happened as a 14- and 15-year-old. It all began when he was 13. That was when he and a few other students finished up at Annie L. Gaetz Elementary School where they had attended the gifted student program, and entered Eastview Middle School. Fortunately or not, that was when the program was cancelled as the school district moved toward a more inclusive model and Webber, along with fellow students Aiden Schafer, Connor McCallister and Alison Harman, found themselves not quite so excited about school. “I remember we had to do a 55-slide Powerpoint on grammatical terms. ... It was a lot more work but not nearly as challenging as it was before.” Then one weekend, when Webber was in Jasper skiing while his architect father Craig Webber attended a conference, he came across a display of the Alberta winners of the School of the Future competition, hosted by the Council of Educational Facility Planners International. Later, in Grade 8, he started thinking about what he could do with a block of spare time, and he remembered the School of the Future display. He and the other three students put their heads together and began to imagine a better school. Instead of thinking about something “sci-fi” with “carbon nano tubes and holograms” in the distant future, they decided to look only five years down the road. At age 13, Webber and the other three saw their School of the Future project make it through the various levels of competition. Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Cole Webber with one of his paintings at the Artribute Art School in Red Deer.
CONTINUED on Page 17
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RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 17
We would get top marks but we all really hated school ... we felt completely disconnected, but this project .. and the possibility of changing things for other people had really ignited something in us.
Photo contributed
Cole Webber gives a speech when he was 15 years old at Red Deer College as part of a Talk Redesign Day for educational leaders from across Alberta who were looking at ideas around high school redesign.
COLE WEBBER, FROM PAGE 16
ʻI CAN HAVE AN INFLUENCEʼ “We realized we could actually have an impact on the real world. We kicked it into high gear,” Webber said. Their realistic school connected to a future large recreation centre facility in downtown Red Deer, to be used by students during the day and the community in the evening, and was more sustainable and on budget. For example, all students would get iPads, paid for by outsourcing their library to the public library. They presented their project at the international level in Pittsburgh, Pa. The foursome won, beating out 3,500 other students. And Webber learned something about life. “It can’t really be taken away from me now. I can have an influence on my world. I can interact with things and cause things to change and be a driving force in my own reality. We all kind of felt that way.” He’s unpretentious as he talks about school today. At 16, he’s finished the
bulk of high school but he wants to graduate with his high school friends. Meanwhile, he has time to pursue other interests — including education in the future. After Pittsburgh, the premier of Alberta and ministers of Education, Infrastructure, and Intergovernmental Affairs all came to their school in Red Deer to hear a presentation by the four winners. “We would get top marks but we all really hated school ... we felt completely disconnected, but this project ... and the possibility of changing things for other people had really ignited something in us.” “One of the things that really motivated us to pursue this ... we found the kids that were the most excited about it and asked the most questions were kids that I frankly had written off ... because school wasn’t doing it for them. “How do you build a student-centric education system where students actu-
ally have choice in what they’re doing, and how do you tap into the passion?” said Webber. The School of Future project eventually trickled off for the team but opened other opportunities for Webber. He’s led a session on education in Portland, Ore. He was a guest lecture when he was 14 at the University of Calgary. He attended a government of Saskatchewan planning session, helping to design a template for new schools going to be built. He gave the convocation speech at Red Deer College last year. Webber said education has largely remained the same over the last couple of hundred years — “Yet we’ve gone through 190 years of the most progressed-packed time ever. “I think (the Internet) is going to have massive implications on education. I find it so exciting.” Now he’s in the process of creating his brainchild Sparked, a nonprofit foundation. He’s involved other students in Alberta. The goal is to create a platform to change education by building a web
service that teachers and students can access projects that will connect to curriculum, but also to the real world. “We think that students can be best prepared for the new world that we live in by actually doing things. “We too frequently treat learning and doing as two separate things.” They are working on a business plan and funding. “I’ve never understood the question of what do you want to be when you grow up. ... I want to do things ... now I would like to do the thing of changing education. I would like to be whatever I need to be, put on whatever hat I need to, to address that problem ... I guess I’m having a difficult time figuring out what I want to do because I’m interested in so many things.” Recently he started looking at the issue of literacy. One thing led to another and now he has written enough for two books on the subject. When he’s not hanging out with his friends, he plays retro video games on his Nintendo 64 entertainment system, rides his bike along the trails, or does watercolour painting. barr@reddeeradvocate.com
18 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Tim Nguyen: Entrepreneur
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Vinasource founder and CEO Tim Nguyen and his mother Xuan and father Phuong at the River Bend Golf and Recreation Area.
Wherever you are, family is important BY HARLEY RICHARDS
ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR As CEO of Vinasource, an international software development company that employs about 80 people and serves the likes of Microsoft and Amazon, Tim Nguyen has achieved a lot in his 38 years. It’s the kind of success that his parents Phuong and Xuan might have dreamed of when they climbed aboard a crowded raft with their then two-year-old son and fled wartorn Vietnam. “They’re absolute heroes,” said Nguyen of his parents, noting that some other passengers on the makeshift vessel didn’t survive the month-long journey to Thailand. “The pirates were all over the sea, looking for refugees escaping. For some families and some rafts, that didn’t end very well. “It was pretty horrific.” After spending a year in a Thai refugee camp —
during which time Nguyen’s sister Lisa was born — the family was sponsored by Red Deerians Mike and Wilma Sandstra to come to Canada. They arrived in 1980 with virtually nothing. Phuong found work at Quinn’s Oilfield Supply and Xuan got a job at Fletchers, which was later acquired by Olymel. The adjustment was tough for the immigrant family. “I actually failed Grade 1 because I didn’t speak English,” said Nguyen. But he quickly embraced his new home and culture, even joining the Red Deer Minor Hockey Association. “I played a lot of sports growing up,” said Nguyen, who competed provincially in tennis and nationally in badminton. Childhood play was mixed with adult responsibilities, as the youngster took on important administrative tasks for his English-challenged parents. “I think that was really integral in defining who I
am in terms of being accountable and responsible,” he said. “If I didn’t do it, it didn’t get done; and if it didn’t get done, it meant that our entire family fell apart.” Nguyen went on to earn a bachelor of science degree — with majors in math and computer science — from the University of Alberta in 2000. While still a student, he went to work for telecommunications company Atlas Communications. “I came in as a programmer and went through the corporate ladder and became VP (of research and development),” said Nguyen, who helped take the company public. In 2002, British Telecom came calling. It convinced the young Canadian to become general manager of one of its London-based business units, where Nguyen remained for four years. Then, at the age of 26, he decided to step away from the high-stress job and travel.
CONTINUED on Page 19
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 19
TIM NGUYEN, FROM PAGE 18
TRAVELS LED BACK TO RED DEER Nguyen met his future wife Anh Hoang, who was a flight attendant on the plane. His initial advances were not well received, he admitted, but in the end persistence paid off. “It was an eight-hour flight from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City, so I had time on my side.” A coffee date led to a relationship and then marriage. When their second son was born in 2010, Nguyen and Hoang decided to relocate from Australia to Vietnam, where both had family. Soon after, Nguyen bought a 50 per cent interest in Vinasource — which was also producing software in Vietnam — and merged it with his company. With a team of young programmers in Ho Chi Minh City and its headquarters in Seattle, Vinasource has been able to offer North American clients onshore service at offshore costs. It also has sales offices in Sydney and Calgary. “We’re seeing 50 per cent growth year on year, and we’re expanding,” said Nguyen. Among its biggest clients is the United States Tennis Association, online fantasy gaming giant Fantasy Moguls,
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Today’s communication technologies have allowed Nguyen to operate Vinasource from Red Deer, but he’s planning a move to Calgary. It’s a better base to cultivate Canadian clients, but it’s still close to family here. cultivate Canadian clients, but still allow him to be near his parents. After all, explained Nguyen, they’re responsible for everything that he’s accomplished. “They paved the way for myself and my sister.”
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“At that time I was a little bit confused about what I wanted to do,” he remembered. “I think it was almost a little too much responsibility too soon.” He travelled through Europe and Asia, with an extended stay in Vietnam. “I must have spent a good six months just showing up at relatives’ doors, giving them a knock and saying, ‘Hey, I’m Tim from Canada,’ and spending a few nights with them.” At one point, friends from Canada flew in to join him on a secluded beach in Thailand. Reinvigorated and refocused, Nguyen was returning to Canada via Australia when his life took an unexpected detour. “I fell in love with the place and ended up being there for six years and getting an Australian citizenship.” In addition to working as a senior manager for multibillion-dollar communications company Singtel Optus, he started his own software development company in Vietnam. It was during one of his trips between Australia and Vietnam that
education technology company LinkIt!, and consumer loyalty app provider Pirq. It’s also doing work for a host of smaller companies. “Those are quite often the most interesting, because they’ve got a brand new technology they want to bring to the market.” Nguyen also became part-owner of a rock quarry in Vietnam. But about a year and a half ago he moved his family to Red Deer. “It’s been great,” he said of the opportunity to be nearer his parents, and also to reconnect with childhood friends. “We just fell right back into stride when we saw each other.” One of those friends, King’s Energy Services Ltd. president Jason King, has even joined Nguyen in a side venture called Gopher Systems Inc. They’ve developed unique software that enables restaurant and coffee shop patrons to place and pay for orders using their smartphones and tablets. Already in use at some Central Alberta restaurants, the app has the potential to go international, he said. Today’s communication technologies have allowed Nguyen to operate Vinasource from Red Deer, but he’s planning a move to Calgary. That will give him a better base from which to
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20 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Mike Szyszka: Entrepreneur
Being small, but thinking big BY HARLEY RICHARDS
ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR Mike Szyszka thought he’d hit an entrepreneurial home run when he launched his first business. Then about six, he was inspired by the garage sales in his neighbourhood and decided to get in on the action. He found plenty of marketable items in his parents’ home, and was soon doing a bustling trade on their driveway. “It was probably one of the most profitable businesses I ever had, because my cost of inventory was so low — until my parents found out that I was selling their stuff,” said Szyszka, who is now 28 and owner of Red Deer’s Reaction Marketing. After the unauthorized garage sale incident, he switched his efforts to operating a lemonade stand — quickly learning that he could boost profits by selling Costco chips and pop instead of homemade beverages and baked goods. Then Szyszka realized that sales were brisker when he set up at someone else’s garage sale, which in turn led him to posting signs advertising his refreshment business. By the time Szyszka had reached high school, he was helping family friends with their marketing needs — employing the graphic design and web design skills he’d picked up at St. Gabriel Cyber School. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an entrepreneur.” Szyszka now heads up a full-service agency with 14 staff, and clients from across Canada and beyond. Reaction helps businesses and non-profit organizations with services like web design, branding and marketing communication. Szyszka started the firm in 2008, after taking business administration at Red Deer College and working for a large Calgary company. Although he realized he didn’t want to work for a big organization, the experience impressed upon him the importance of seeing the big picture and thinking strategically — something small businesses often fail to do when developing their brands.
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
CONTINUED on Page 21
Mike Szyszka is the owner and agency director of Reaction in Red Deer.
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 21
MIKE SZYSZKA, FROM PAGE 20
Operating out of his Red Deer home with a business partner, Szyszka at first focused on helping real estate salespeople with their marketing. But as prospective clients from other sectors came knocking, Reaction broadened its focus and expanded. A development person joined the team, and then a project manager. “Then it was the four of us showing up at my condo every day,” said Szyszka. After about a year, he and his partner bought a sign company and Reaction moved into adjacent space. But Szyszka divested himself of this secondary business after about a year and a half, with his partner leaving Reaction to look after the sign company full time. “What I really realized is that in order to do something great, you really have to focus.” A move to downtown Red Deer followed and things really picked up. “We literally doubled the business from 2011 to 2012,” said Szyszka, who had six staff crowded into about 800 square feet. “When you ran into a problem, you’d spin your chair and ask the next person for help. It allowed us to, in a scrappy way, produce some really great work for our clients.” Reaction enjoyed another 50 per cent jump in revenues in 2013, followed by a further 30 per cent last year — pushing it close to the $1-million mark. As of March 2015, it was more than halfway to the same milestone. Reaction expanded its space in 2013, and then moved to even bigger premises at No. 206, 4807 50th Ave. at the beginning of this year. “That was really a game-changer for us, because we all of a sudden had the space to do our best work,” said Szyszka. The firm is on the constant lookout for talented people, he added, with his objective to populate the office with employees who perform their jobs better than he could. “I feel that my biggest role in the company today is to create an environment that great people will want to come into and do their best work.” Szyszka remains active on the periphery, talking to clients and following the progress of their projects to ensure they get the results they need. “At the end of the day, it’s about delivering value to the clients. “I tell almost every client that I sit down with, ‘At the point you don’t feel you’re making money off what you’re spending with me, you should prob-
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When you ran into a problem, you’d spin your chair and ask the next person for help. It allowed us to, in a scrappy way, produce some really great work for our clients. ably fire us because we’ve stopped doing our job.’ ” Marketing is no easy career, said Szyszka, pointing out that the industry is constantly changing. “You have to be open to the punishment of relearning everything you know every couple of years, because the reality is that the work we’re doing today, some of it literally didn’t exist two years ago.” Szyszka puts in 60 to 70 hours a week. He insists there are no shortcuts to pursuing something great. “When I hear people say, ‘You should work smarter, not harder,’ I think, ‘I should work smarter and harder and then destroy whatever you’re doing, because I’m going to do it so much better and with so much more effort than you can.’ ” He feels television shows like Dragons’ Den and Shark Tank give many the wrong idea about the business world. “It sort of glorifies this idea of being an entrepreneur. But the reality is that being an entrepreneur is probably the worst career you could ever pick.” That’s because most start-ups fail — often after their owners have invested considerable time, effort and money. Now that his own business has survived its infancy, Szyszka wants it to mature into the biggest and best marketing agency that it can be. He doesn’t think it needs to be in a major centre like Vancouver or Toronto to achieve this. “As long as we can continue to have great talent here, I think Central Alberta is an awesome place to have a company like this.” hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
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22 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
A bridge across Canada’s divide BY MURRAY CRAWFORD
ADVOCATE STAFF He defends them, because he’s been there and he knows what they are going through. It has been a long, at times rocky road for one Red Deer lawyer to get to where he is now. But were it not for a lifetime worth of struggles before his 21st birthday, Andrew Phypers wouldn’t be able to relate to the people he now defends. Phypers, now 33, grew up near Creston, B.C., a member of the Ktunaxa First Nation. His mother was Aboriginal and his father was Caucasian. “I was exposed to two ways of life, really,” said Phypers. “One was my Dad, who was a religious guy, and with my Mom, who was addicted, a real alcoholic.” From the time he was 12 to 15, they lived in a trailer with no running water or electricity. They had to pack water from the creek and bring it to their home. The roof was never finished, but they had buckets around the house that caught water and filled up when it rained. They relied on candlelight. Phypers was the oldest brother and often left in charge of the family. He would come home after school, get supper made and look after his siblings. “The girls always wanted baths, we had was big cauldron we’d put on the wood stove,” said Phypers. “We’d pack water from the creek, boil it on the wood stove and then even it out with cold water from the creek. “We used to roll down the hill, put the car in neutral and roll down the hill, to save gas.” He dropped out of high school in Grade 9 and went to work in the bush in B.C. He had his first daughter when he was 17. He provided for his daughter and his wife, who he is still with. When he was 18, he bought a log skidder and started his own business. He worked in the logging business until he was 21. “It just beat me up, it was a lot of hard work and there was no money in it,” said Phypers. “So I went back to school. I was a dropout, so I did my upgrading at an outreach school in Prince George, B.C. I spent six months up there doing that and I did Grade 9, 10, 11 and 12. Just plowed through it.” A friend told him Red Deer was a land of opportunity, so looking for work Phypers brought his family to Central Alberta. He went to Red Deer College and earned his bachelor of psychology, a collaborative degree with the University of Calgary. The program allowed Phypers to stay in Red Deer for the full four years while professors came from Calgary to teach. While studying, he framed houses and did construction work in the city. After a year off following undergraduate work, he was accepted to the University of Alberta law school. He articled with Denise Lightning of Lightning Law, based in Maskwacis, for two years and after passing the bar, he stayed for another year. “She’s focused on a lot of Aboriginal work, identifying Aboriginal issues and be an activist while working,” said Phypers. While working with Lightning, Phypers saw the need for understanding between Aboriginal offend-
Andrew Phypers: Lawyer for First Nations people Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Red Deer lawyer Andrew Phypers. ers and the justice system, and how he could help. He put in a lot of court hours in all sorts of cases, from criminal to child welfare. This journey from being a high school dropout to defence counsel has helped Phypers relate to his clients. “Nobody really quite gets what it’s like,” said Phypers. “It can be guess work for judges or other lawyers, they can’t really relate to what life is like on the reserve. When I’m talking to my clients, they identify with me and trust me because they see I can understand where they are coming from.” He has earned a reputation for taking on Aboriginal clients, so much so that he opened an office on the O’Chiese First Nation reserve west of Rocky Mountain House. “I’ve seen it, I’ve been at these parties that go sideways,” said Phypers. “I’ve seen the bad side of alcoholism and drug abuse. It’s taken some of my family members. “A lot of the charges or incidents can be bizarre for people to understand, but when you’ve lived in it you can see how it happens.”
In a way he acts as an intermediary, explaining the Aboriginal side to the court while being able interpret the court proceedings and rulings to his clients. “When my clients are in court half the time and we finish up in there, they turn to me and ask ‘What happened? Am I getting out?’” said Phypers. “We’re using language in the court that people can’t understand. They just don’t know. They’re lost in the language of the court.” As he grows his O’Chiese satellite office, Phypers said he is trying to create better legal access for its residents. An ongoing concern is warrants being issued to people aren’t understanding the system very well and what they’re obligations are in the system, knowing when or how to show up for court. “When things are chaotic in your life, it’s hard to make appointments,” said Phypers. “Whether they’re court appointments, lawyer appointments or whatever they are.”
CONTINUED on Page 23
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 23
ANDREW PHYPERS, FROM PAGE 22
TRUST BUILT FROM UNDERSTANDING Through the O’Chiese office, Phypers has connected with the reserve’s grandmothers — gookums in Cree. These matriarchs have connections throughout the reserve. This allows Phypers to get a hold of nearly anyone on the reserve. He communicates to the gookums and his clients, who he can get in touch with through the gookums, through text message. “Nobody has minutes on their phones,” said Phypers. “Phoning an office seems like a simple thing, but when you don’t have minutes on their phones it’s not going to happen.” These issues are also about poverty, not just having an Aboriginal heritage, which is something else Phypers can relate to. A 2013 study of 2006 Canada census data showed that about half of all Aboriginal children live in poverty. The sheer cost of the legal system puts some Aboriginal people at a disadvantage. Phypers said there is a divide in the understanding of how poverty can affect a person. Something as simple to some people as maintaining a car can be a cumbersome cost to others.
“We tend to roll our eyes at that kind of stuff,” said Phypers, “when someone says they couldn’t make it to court because their car wouldn’t start, but that’s poverty. “There’s a disconnect because it’s hard to understand someone else’s perspective when you don’t know it.” Nothing gets Phypers worked up faster than a child welfare case. Now running his own practice, he tries to limit the number of child welfare cases he takes. “That’s because it hits close to home,” said Phypers. “When we were kids, we had child welfare constantly involved with our family. Because we were poor and there was eight of us. We were happy little kids, my Dad was a really good man and we had each other. “If child services would have intervened, we wouldn’t have each other, they would have taken us apart.” In his young career, Phypers has pushed for the increased use of Gladue reports. These reports are developed for Aboriginal offenders prior to sentencing to help guide decisions made by judges. The reports look at the circumstances facing aboriginal offend-
ers. In the instances of minor offences, it encourages the court to seek Aboriginal-based sentencing principles such as restorative justice. “My mom was in a residential school. She spent her whole life in foster care, taken from her Mom, who was 16 at the time. Her Mom committed suicide over it. The impacts you hear about Gladue, a lot of people think it’s historical stuff and it’s not. The effects it had on my Mom have transferred to some of my siblings.” Phypers thinks the criminal justice system doesn’t provide enough tools to help with the broader issues. He points to the possible outcomes as jail, probation, a fine or a conditional sentence order (CSO), similar to probation but upon successful completion an offender does not have a criminal record. “Fines are tough because of the limited ability to pay, CSOs are limited in how they can be used and probation is sometimes too light,” said Phypers. “It seems like they’re not given enough tools.” He pointed to a Gladue court used in Toronto. Taking principles from drug court, minor offences are approached in a different manner. “One judge stays on the file and it is similar to diversion and the accused comes before the same judge for a period of time and they really try to ad-
dress the underlying issues. If it’s a matter of anger management, while the criminal issues are hanging over their head and they’re motivated, they go through this process and in the end the charge is withdrawn if they meet the criteria,” said Phypers. The Gladue courts focus on the same restorative justice and looking at ways to find sanctions other than jail time for certain offences. “I feel like there is a gap,” said Phypers. “When we go out to Rocky, we all travel from Red Deer to a distant post where the Queen’s Court sits and the Indians travel in to the court from an hour away. It’s like reaching in to the distant realms of Canadian justice. “They’re coming in to answer for their crimes, but this court system that came from Red Deer doesn’t really understand what is happening on O’Chiese. “There’s a lot of demand to have Aboriginal representation just because they have more trust for me and more easily built trust because we’ve been through a lot. When I’m talking with a client, they think I understand them better because of where I came from. There’s a demand to have that representation that understands the cultural background.” mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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24 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
BY JOSH ALDRICH
ADVOCATE STAFF Tereza Simonova is more than willing to sacrifice for her dreams. The 15-year-old budding tennis star is one of the top two female players in Alberta and among the best in Canada. But her goal is to be among the best in the world. To get there, she is already shelving much of her social life, concentrating almost entirely on school and the sport she loves. “It can be tough, but I love this sport so much and in the end I know it will be worth it, all of the years of hard training and all of the social events I’ve missed, it will be worth it,” she said. As of mid-June, she was ranked second in Alberta in U16 girls and 48th in Canada. At the U18 level, she was ranked third in the province and 74th in the country. At the end of May she was also selected to Team Alberta for the Western Canada Games that will run from Aug. 6 to 11 in Wood Buffalo in northeastern Alberta. For her, it’s about potential and where she needs to get to. The dream is to be the next Eugenie Bouchard, but the immediate goal is to get to one of the top tennis schools in the U.S. on post-secondary scholarship — she’s already been recruited by Canadian universities. Once there, she will receive the type of instruction and see a level of play that could launch her to new heights.
Tereza Simonova: Tennis
On a journey to reach new heights
CONTINUED on Page 25 Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Tereza Simonova wants to be the best in Canada — and she is willing to sacrifice to achieve that.
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 25
TEREZA SIMONOVA, FROM PAGE 24
DEALING WITH A PARENT COACH
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She’s a very aggressive player, she likes to attack almost everything. ... But that’s how the modern women’s game is, they go after every ball.
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Rene Simon, Tereza’s dad and coach
“If that had been Ontario, she would have had to win four or five matches against better opponents and that is where kids get better,” said Simon. “Our biggest issue is we do not have enough quality tournaments, which is huge. Imagine a hockey team that doesn’t have anybody to practice with.” Her biggest competition is the girl who is ranked No. 1 in the province in U16, Ashleigh Jacobs. The two are very familiar with each other, and play several times a year. Every time they get together, it’s a tough match, one Simonova hates ending up on the wrong side of, though she gives as good as she takes. “It’s hard to lose against her because it’s a hard feeling,” she said. “It’s hard to myself because I know that I can beat her, but I know she’s a good player, so if it happens it’s because she’s playing better than me and I need to accept it.” This summer, as she prepares to enter Grade 11, Simonova has plenty of challenges lined up. The goal this year is to make it back to the U18 Outdoor Rogers Junior Nationals in Mississauga, Ont., from Aug. 14 to 19. At the indoor nationals this winter, she finished 25th at U18 and 17th at U16. For Simonova, it’s all about the upward climb. “I’ve been getting better and better, I’m hoping to get to a higher level,” she said. “But I’m really proud of my achievements so far and I hope that they improve.” jaldrich@reddeeradvocate.com
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That’s not to say she has received sub-par coaching in Red Deer. Her head coach is her dad Rene Simon, the club pro at the Red Deer Tennis Club. He has a long history of coaching some of the top young players in the province, despite limited resources, since coming over to Canada from his native country of Slovakia, where Tereza was born. “I’ve learned so much from him. He’s the best coach,” said Simonova. “He’s one of the only coaches I’ve ever had, but if I’ve had more I feel like I would definitely think he has been my best coach because he has so much to teach me and so much to offer.” It’s not always an easy dynamic, being a parent and coach. There are times he worries about being too hard on her because of expectations he has as a coach and as a parent, and the somewhat blurred line dividing those two roles. But he says he is learning and developing as a coach at the same time that his daughter is developing as a player. “I have changed a lot, too. I was more tough on her when she was younger,” said Simon. “We have good days and bad days. It’s like coaching a teenager. She works really hard right now, she’s maturing and she’s realizing what she wants to do.” Simon says he does his best to have her work with the club’s other pros, like Tyler Bagg, even just to give her a different perspective and a bit of a reprieve. As with any developing athlete in their teens, fitness is one of the biggest areas she needs to improve. To do so, she is training in the morning, with running and biking four times a week in addition to on-court practice sessions, which can last up to three hours at a time, five-to-seven days a week. They are also working on her tactical approach to the game, and she needs work on her second serve. One thing she doesn’t need to change is her willingness to grab a game by the throat. “She’s a very aggressive player, she likes to attack almost everything, which sometimes can almost be a bit of a problem,” said Simon. “But that’s how the modern women’s game is, they go after every ball. She likes to serve big.” The biggest obstacle in her way right now is being in Alberta. It’s an issue of being where the tennis competition is in Canada. When she won the U18 girls title at the Tennis Academy Junior Championships in Calgary in May, she only had to beat two others.
26 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Parker Thompson: Race driver
Photo contributed
Parker Thompson is 17, but he’s been on serious racetracks throughout North America and Europe. BY MURRAY CRAWFORD
ADVOCATE STAFF Under his helmet is a big smile, the same one he had the first time he got behind the wheel of a go-kart. Red Deer’s racing phenomenon Parker Thompson, 17, has been around motorsports his whole life. And now he’s carving out a path starting with go-karts and, hopefully, growing into IndyCars. Thompson shares a love of motorsports with his father, so you could say racing is in Parker’s blood. But it took a year of racing in Calgary for him to really develop the passion that now drives his racing spirit. As a young man, Parker’s father Doug was set on the speed and the thrill of power sport racing. Doug started racing motorcycles when he was 18. He raced dirt bikes and grand prix bikes. He went on to pursue jetboat racing and it was around that time that he married and, soon after, Parker entered the equation. From a young age, Doug showed Parker the thrill of racing. “I grew up on the river, around racing,” said Parker. “I kind of just fell in love with it from the beginning, I’ve never known anything else. I’ve always been around fast stuff and loud engines.” Growing up, Parker looked to race dirt bikes like his father but the dangers of the sport stood in the way. To mitigate those concerns, they instead looked at go-karts. When Parker was seven or eight, he
went to the Northland Speedway and Recreation Park and tried go-kart racing for the first time. “At the little go-kart track on the old highway to Sylvan Lake,” said Parker. “I was taken there for fun just to see if I enjoyed racing, but my Dad had bigger plans. He wanted to see if I enjoyed it enough to take it as a serious career path. I think we did that two or three times and then we went to Calgary. “That first time behind the wheel, I just remember how fun it was and how I was smiling under the helmet. To this day, I still have that smile, it never goes away.” Working with Overdrive Motorsports out of Calgary, Parker learned how to drive and race go-karts. Parker was at a disadvantage living in Red Deer, removed from the competitive circles in Edmonton and Calgary. He could go up on a Saturday or Sunday night and get an hour of testing done and maybe spend the night there while his fellow competitors were able to test during the week. But he overcame that barrier through persistence and a family who believed in him. Every weekend, the family would wheel their kart onto the back of a half-ton truck and go race. He said it took six months to a year to get some wins under his belt and get a real feel for how to compete. “After a year of racing locally, we knew we had some talent,” said Parker. “Why don’t we go nationally and race in Western Canada?” So they did, and won a Western Canadian go-karting championship. Success at the go-karting level in Calgary and Western Canada led to
some scouting from Buddy Rice, a former Indy 500 champion. And so after the Western Canadian success, he started racing competitively throughout North America. Then, after some more success racing go-karts across North America, Parker moved to Italy to compete on the European go-kart circuit. In his first race in Europe, where go-kart racing is more competitive and has a bigger fan following than in North America, Parker emerged on top. He spent a year racing all over Europe before returning to North America to take on a new challenge. He took 2014 off from competitive racing, but started getting behind the wheel of a formula car. He took the year to learn the ins-and-outs of the larger, faster vehicles and got the feel of how they differed from the go-karts he had been racing for most of his young life. Now having graduated from gokarts to formula cars, he is a rookie on the USF2000 circuit and in the top six ranking overall, the second highest rookie. Although he has yet to earn a podium finish, he’s been in the hunt regularly this season. “It’s a passion,” said Parker. “You go to bed thinking about racing, and wake up and racing is still in your head.” He spent the Memorial Day long weekend in Indianapolis, Ind., competing the night before the Indy 500 and then watched the “greatest spectacle in racing.” It was his first time racing an oval. The half-mile oval near the famed Brickyard took some getting used to for
the racer who prefers street courses. “After the IndyCar parade on Saturday, the fans all come to our race track, our only oval race of the year,” said Parker. “Taking in the Indy 500 was unbelievable, it’s amazing to get 300,000 or 400,000 people at one event. And it’s full of motorsports enthusiasts.” Earning a spot on the IndyCar circuit or Formula One would be a dream come true, but all Parker really wants is a chance to get paid to race. “If I can get paid to drive a cardboard box in a parking lot, I’d be happy,” said Parker. “I’d be lucky enough to just become a professional race car driver, let alone whatever I may be driving.” Pointing to an active race car driver who he looks up to, Parker focused in on James Hinchcliffe — a Canadian IndyCar driver. “He’s not only a very good driver, but he’s also really good off the track,” said Parker, pointing to his interaction with fans. “Just a down-to-earth race car driver.” The globetrotter keeps up with his studies through the St. Gabriel Online School. Alberta Transportation and Parker work together on an awareness campaign about the dangers of distracted driving. He has toured around the province visiting high schools, speaking about the dangers and consequences of distracted driving to young and first-time drivers. mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 27
Nadine Overwater: Snowmobile pro
Photo contributed
You can cover a lot of backcountry ground, fast, on the right machine — and Nadine Overwater makes it her job to do just that. BY CRYSTAL RHYNO
ADVOCATE STAFF Nadine Overwater doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t zipping about at the wheel of an ATV, dirt bike or a sled. Growing up in Rocky Mountain House, the 33-yearold spent her childhood playing with the “toys” with her three sisters on the family acreage. “I always knew I would be out in the mountains for sure,” said Overwater. “I was just counting the days.” The call grew louder after she earned her degree in biology from the University of Alberta. Overwater moved British Columbia, where she is now making a name for herself in the male-dominated world of professional backcountry snowmobiling in Revelstoke. “I love how quick you can cover ground on a sled and how far you can get from civilization,” said Overwater. “It’s pretty remote and it makes you feel pretty small up there. It’s unbelievably beautiful. Even on the snowiest days and the clear days. It’s really humbling up there.” As a pro athlete, she is outfitted with the latest gear from a long list of local and national sponsors. She has also appeared in promotional videos where she
demonstrates her skills. As a coach and guide, Overwater is preparing to coach her fourth season of women-only skill camps at La Nina Sled Camp. Overwater said she helps her students gain more confidence on the sled over two days of coached riding. “They learn a bunch of backcountry skills. So the next time they go riding with their husbands, boyfriends or friends, they are way more confident and not worried about holding anybody up,” said Overwater. “It’s pretty cool. I really enjoy doing the camps.” The freestyle riding of snowmobiling — jumps and flips — is starting to catch on with women. There were few women in the freestyling sport when Overwater started in 2007. “It’s been crazy,” she said. “When I first moved to Revelstoke, there was maybe two other girls on a sled. Now everyday in the parking lot it’s a heck of a lot closer to 50/50 than it used to be. It’s on the cusp of really opening up to women. It’s because the sleds have become so much easier to ride, which makes it more accessible for them.” Overwater said she has been amazed at the talent that has shown up at the sled camps. “These really get me fired up, being able to shred with fellow ladies that are just as excited about the
sport as I am,” she said. Overwater says the paycheques are not huge but she is doing what she loves. In the summer months, she works as a forestry assistant. She slowly moved into the sport after buying her first mountain sled in 2007 to gain access to remote sites for snowboarding. The more terrain she covered, the more often she left her snowboard behind. “I lost my job here and I was a little strapped for cash,” remembers Overwater. A friend who ran the Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours offered her a job and the rest is history. “The whole point is try not to let those things hold you back,” she said about facing challenges. “Look at every problem as an opportunity and follow the path that has the least resistance and see where it takes you. Sometimes it takes you in some really cool places. If not, at least you meet some really cool people on the way.” Her parents are still in Central Alberta — her mother Marna Woollard lives in Rocky and her father George Overwater is in Innisfail. See Overwater in action www.laninasledcamp.ca or on Facebook. crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com
28 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
Dawson Weatherill: Hockey
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Goaltender Dawson Weatherill of Red Deer works to fend off a shot by Josh Logel of Calgary during the Red Deer Rebels rookie camp last August.
Earning his chances, the hard way BY GREG MEACHEM
ADVOCATE SPORTS EDITOR Playing for the worst team in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League, Dawson Weatherill would have been excused for feeling like he was locked into a long and distressing season. As the No. 1 goaltender with the Notre Dame Argos, Weatherill was bombarded with rubber on basically a game-per-game basis during the 2014-15 season, but except for the mounting losses, the Red Deer athlete wouldn’t have had it any other way. “I faced a lot of shots, but it was actually really good for my development,” said the 16-year-old sec-
ond-round selection of the Red Deer Rebels in the 2014 Western Hockey League bantam draft. “I felt a huge improvement in my play throughout the year and the coaching staff there was great. They were very helpful throughout the entire season with motivation and strategies.” Weatherill failed to earn a berth with the midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Chiefs last fall. Instead of suiting up with one of the city’s minor midget AAA teams, he enrolled at Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask., with the intention of stopping pucks for one of the school’s two teams in the ultra-competitive SMAAAHL. Instead of landing with the Hounds, who went on to post a regular-season record of 31-12-0-1 and fin-
ished third in the 12-team league, Weatherill found himself with the Argos, who brought up the rear with a 6-38-0-0 slate. It all turned out for the best, though. “He did face a lot of shots and the shots were of the high-quality variety, whether from odd-man rushes or back-door plays, or shots from the slot,” said Rebels assistant GM/director of player personnel Shaun Sutter. “Some of his save percentages from different games didn’t look complimentary, but when you watch the games and see the type of shots he was facing ... he was constantly under barrage, so to speak.”
CONTINUED on Page 29
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RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 29
DAWSON WEATHERILL, FROM PAGE 28
PLAYING THE LONG GAME WITH DEVELOPMENT Weatherill won three games and lost 20 with the Argos while posting a 4.88 goals-against average and .877 save percentage. He stopped 888 of the 1,012 shots he faced. The fact Weatherill was willing to leave home to further his development impressed Sutter. “To go away to a place like Notre Dame ... it’s not just the hockey component, you have the schooling and the importance of managing your time away from the rink,� said Sutter, who on several occasions journeyed to Saskatchewan to watch the young goalie compete. “I think Dawson grew up as a kid and I think that’s real important because he is the type of player who has all the ability, it’s just a matter of — like a lot of young guys — getting mentally strong. “I think he made some strides in that department and you could tell that with his rebound control, the way he battled to find pucks in traffic and his ability to make those second and third saves. He had to teach himself how to be sharp when he was under fire, how to bear down when his team was being dominated. He was real good in that sense. “We want to put Dawson in a position to succeed and not kind of try to accelerate his development. It was a good year for him to take baby steps and I think he did that throughout the season.� Weatherill bonded with his teammates and forged friendships with all of the players and coaches. “There’s a lot of great guys there,� said the former major bantam Red Deer Rebels White netminder, who also competes on the baseball diamond and
suited up with the Notre Dame midget AA team until returning to Red Deer in June. Weatherill attended the Rebels spring prospects camp at Penhold in early June and has a goal of playing with the major junior team in the 2015-16 season. “I really hope to make the Rebels next season, that’s my No. 1 goal and I’ll be working toward that,� he said. “Nothing is guaranteed. I know I’ll have to earn my spot and I want to make their decision difficult. If I’m not with the Rebels, I’ll probably play midget in Red Deer, if I make the team.� Sutter said Weatherill will be expected to register for training camp in August with the intention of competing for one of the two available Rebels goaltending berths. But reality suggests he’ll need another winter of midget AAA seasoning before graduating to the WHL. Very few 16-year-old goalies get enough WHL game time to develop properly. Rebels stopper Taz Burman played in the league at 16 and his progression suffered while playing second fiddle to league all-star Patrik Bartosak. While Sutter wasn’t making any predictions, the betting is that the Rebels would prefer that Weatherill continue to grow at the midget AAA level in the hopes that he can be their starter at age 17 or 18. Weatherill will spend much of the summer working out at the gym and attending goalie camps in Calgary in the hopes of improving his speed and technique. But all work and no play makes for an extra long summer. “I also plan on hanging out at the lake and enjoy-
I think he made some strides ... you could tell that with his rebound control, the way he battled to find pucks in traffic and his ability to make second and third saves. He had to teach himself to be sharp when his team was under fire. Shaun Sutter, Rebels assistant GM ing some water sports,� he said. The Rebels would prefer that Weatherill play with the Optimist Rebels next season instead of returning to Notre Dame, but Sutter is adamant that his time with the Argos was invaluable and well worth the money it cost his parents. “There’s a significant financial commitment that comes with going to an academy,� said Sutter. “But when you look at it in terms of development, the choice between playing minor midget AAA here and playing midget AAA in Saskatchewan, which is as good as any league for development ... I think they (parents) made a real good decision last year. “He faced a lot of real good shooters in a really competitive league. I think it’s going to really pay off in the long run.� gmeachem@reddeeradvocate.com
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30 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
BY GREG MEACHEM
ADVOCATE SPORTS EDITOR It was in 2011 that Paige Farries engaged in her first rugby match. Four years later, the Red Deer athlete is a member of Canada’s Women’s Sevens national team. Clearly, the 20-year-old is a young woman in a rush. From her high school team, the Hunting Hills Lightning, to the Red Deer Titans to the University of Alberta Golden Bears and then a national team, Farries has majorly fast-tracked her rugby career. “Work ethic, for sure,” she said recently, when queried about her traits that helped push her development at such a rapid rate. “And I was genuinely lucky to have a stream of coaches and athletes around me who allowed me to excel.” Farries first set foot on the Titans Rugby Park pitch at the request of her high school home-room teacher, Sheila Sillery. “She was the coach of the girls team and she put a special emphasis on all of the girls in her home room to try out for rugby,” Farries recalled. “She pulled me aside one day and asked me why I wasn’t playing rugby. I didn’t really have an excuse. “I remember driving home with my twin brother (Orrin) and was kind of talking to him about it. He said he was trying out for the boys team and I thought if he’s trying out, then I’m trying out, too. Both of us decided simultaneously to join the rugby teams.” Farries, who also competed in track and cross-country running at Hunting Hills, as well as archery and lacrosse, hit the rugby pitch running. She moved on to play with the Red Deer Titans U19 team that summer and also suited up with the Titans senior women’s squad. The following year, she was off to the University of Alberta, where she would play with the Pandas. “That was a huge step up, a very shocking step,” she said of her ascent to university women’s rugby. “I had no idea how much different it was going to be. They really stepped it up at that level.” But she continued to adapt and develop at a rapid rate despite the challenges she faced. “I don’t think I’ve ever been ready for the next step,” said Farries. “When I started rugby I was in Grade 11 and I wasn’t ready then. I had to rise to the occasion. It was the same thing with the senior women’s team and the exact same thing with the Pandas.
“I wasn’t ready for the university game but the coaches and the players around me forced me to excel.” Farries made such an impression with the Pandas and during tryouts for the Canadian U20 team in Burnaby in the fall of 2012 that the assistant coach of the national U20 squad, Sandro Fiorino, asked her in February 2013 if she’d be willing to join the club for a competition in Las Vegas. “They were missing a player and I was just fortunate enough to get called up for that tournament,” said Farries, who moved to Langford, B.C. — the home of the Rugby Canada Centre of Excellence — later in the year to join the national sevens team as well as play with the U20 squad. Farries, who now lives in Victoria and trains in nearby Saanich, has competed with the Canadian team in World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series events in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo, Brazil and London, England. “There have been some nice perks,” she said of the visits to different parts of the world. “It’s been amazing.” Farries left the national U20 team to concentrate on her six-days-a-week training with the sevens team. The Canadian team is ranked among the top three in the world — along with New Zealand and Australia — and competes in five Sevens Series tournaments per year. The Red Deer athlete, who credits her former high school coaches Sillery and Evelyn Chan for her introduction to the sport and Titans U19 and senior women’s coaches Mike Haugen and Ray Rogers for her early development, has set a goal of competing with the national sevens team in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. And on May 22, the sevens did qualify. “Since being with the Canadian team became an option for me, since the day Sandro invited me to the U20 camp, my sights have been set on Rio in 2016,” she said. While at the University of Alberta, Farries studied speech-language pathology and hopes to eventually compete her degree and move into the field. “It’s on hold now. Realistically, there isn’t time now for me to do any kind of schooling,” she said. “I did a couple of classes here (at the University of Victoria) but I decided I didn’t like putting my eggs in two separate baskets. “I wanted to give my all to rugby, I really wanted to fully commit. I didn’t want to have to say that I was dividing my time. I’ve just decided that while I’m out here it’s going to be all rugby.” gmeachem@reddeeradvocate.com
Paige Farries: Rugby
Running up the ranks
Photo contributed
RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015 31
Staying strong on the line BY JOSH ALDRICH
Joe McQuay: Football
ADVOCATE STAFF The foundation of any good football team is built right along the line of scrimmage: the offensive and defensive lines. Control that line and you control the game. The University of Alberta Golden Bears started a dramatic rebuild under head coach Chris Morris — a former Edmonton Eskimo — two seasons ago, and he made improving their play at the line a top priority. One of his prized recruits last year was Notre Dame High School guard Joe McQuay. The six-footfive, 280-pounder was one of the top linemen in his age group in Canada and possesses a game that will transition well to the professional level. In his first year in Edmonton, he did not disappoint. “He did a good job, he obviously has some physical gifts with his size and he has some very good agility for a guy his size ... for a first year lineman in the CIS, he did very well,” said Morris. “Experience plays a big part of it. He’s had a real good offseason of training and is really coming along. We’re real excited to see what Joe can do in the next few years.” McQuay had a highly-decorated youth career at Notre Dame and playing for the Prairie Fire midget football program. He was a member of the provincial team in 2013 — his Grade 12 season — while being named Central Alberta Lineman of the Year. And he played for Team Canada at the world championships last summer. Still, getting adjusted to the Canadian Interuniversity Sports level was a challenge — one that he met head on. “Everything was faster paced with bigger guys and stronger guys,” he said. “(The first exhibition game) was a nice opener, but it wasn’t one of those things where I’m that far behind when I walked in.” McQuay was thrown into the mix early during his freshman season at U of A due to injuries to veterans, and he flourished. He was a big part of the Golden Bears’ early season turnaround — they won three of their first five games and nearly upset the powerhouse University of Saskatchewan Huskies, before falling 42-41 in overtime. After 21 consecutive losses, this was a major turning point for the program. The losing streak came to an end on Sept. 20 with a 44-42 win over the University of Regina Rams. “No one did lose faith, we just kept fighting each week,” said McQuay. “That heart-breaking loss to U of S in overtime, that pushed us further — ‘We are that close to ending this.’ The U of R game (the next weekend) to win on the final pass, just brought life back to the team.” McQuay is not the only Central Albertan on the Golden Bears making an impact. Lining up with him on the offensive line is Sylvan Lake standout T.J. Sloboda, while Hunting Hills High School star quarterback Scott Pearson may get his chance under centre this season. And Quade Smith out of Olds should be in the rotation this year at linebacker. Olds running back Tylen Smith and Lindsay Thurber defensive back Owen Smith will both be making their debut with the Golden Bears this season as well. Hunting Hills quarterback Brett Barrett, mean-
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Former Notre Dame Cougar Joe McQuay now plays for the Alberta Golden Bears a the University of Alberta. while will be heading to Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. Sylvan Lake receiver Tyler Ledwos will be entering his third year with the University of Calgary Dinos. The trend of local high school players moving up to CIS programs only looks to continue in the coming years. “There’s some outstanding talent in Red Deer, you’d be crazy not to be in there recruiting right now,” said Morris. “It’s a huge part of our recruiting strategy to make sure we are very, very present in Red Deer. For the kind of kids that we build around — the top academic kids that are also outstanding athletes — we have to do our very best to get those kids out of Red Deer when they’re looking to go to university.” One of the things McQuay has in his favour if he wants to get to the next level is his position. In the Canadian Football League draft, offensive linemen are prized above almost any other position. This is in large part due to the Canadian ratio rules that say CFL teams must have at least 21 Canadian players on the team. Linemen are generally easier to develop than some of the skilled positions like quarterback and cornerback, positions that are almost always
filled by imports. The ability to fill more positions on the offensive line with Canadians is key to building a consistent contender in the league. Of the nine players taken in the first round of this year’s CFL draft, six were offensive linemen. Morris says McQuay will have his opportunities at the next level if he continues his upward progression. “He has CFL size ... he has all the physical attributes he needs, now he just needs to put in four good years of work and continue to progress on his agility and his speed,” said Morris. McQuay — who credits the support of his parents and sister Allie for getting him to where he is today — is not putting all of his eggs in the football basket. His first goal is to become a teacher and if football becomes a real option at the next level, he’ll jump at it. “The next goal is becoming all-conference and then just see how far I can get,” he said. “I haven’t thought too far about (pro), when I was in high school I didn’t think about playing CIS, but here we are. ... I just aimed as high as I could and whatever happens happened.” jaldrich@reddeeradvocate.com
32 RED DEER ADVOCATE Friday, July 17, 2015
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