A36
Friday, April 15, 2011
Sports
The NOW COQUITLAM, PORT COQUITLAM, PORT MOODY, ANMORE AND BELCARRA
sports@thenownews.com
Score Card
Defending champions face hurdles Turnover, not turmoil, has been the biggest drag on the Coquitlam Metro-Ford junior Wolves’ run in 2011. A handful of key starters moved on to other opportunities and left the club scrambling to develop playoff-calibre chemistry on the go. But first, let’s get some perspective: the junior Wolves won the Vancouver Metro under-21 league in convincing fashion, with a 19-1-2 record. They also claimed the league playoff title. As they head into the first round of the provincial cup play this weekend, head coach Rick Horvath would prefer that his team wasn’t compared to last year’s B.C. champions. While a few of the faces are the same, the composition is different. “We had a number of changes, a number of players who were moved up,” Horvath said. “We lost eight players, including six starters, in January, so that changed our roster significantly.” Still, the Coquitlam crew is in the hunt for a second straight championship, facing Vancouver Island’s Vic West FC on Sunday, 3:30 p.m. at Coquitlam Town Centre West. Horvath said the unknown quality of opposition at this stage isn’t the main issue, but it’s an added element of concern. “We’ve lost a lot of players but most of it is part of being a development team, so we can’t complain… That just means it’s going to be a little tougher, that’s all,” Horvath said. They completed the regular season this past week with a makeup 2-0 decision over PCOV, a couple days after claiming the league cup with a 2-1 victory over ICTS Pegasus. One huge hit was losing last year’s provincial cup MVP Jovan Blagojevic to the premier brethren Wolves. Now, it takes a committee of strikers to fill the sharpshooter’s boots. “We definitely miss Jovan, no CONT. ON PAGE 38, see TRIO ...
Paul vanPeenen/NOW
FORWARD PASS: B.C. Lions’ Jerome Messam (with umbrella), Doug Goldsby, centre, and Dean Valli (not shown) are providing instruction and support for District 43’s CABE students. The at-risk secondary students have formed a touch football team for an upcoming tournament.
Lions, students build bridges through football Stories by Dan Olson sports@thenownews.com The rain wasn’t heavy, but its persistence could have dampened more than just the grass at the Winslow oval. However, it couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of 16 high school kids from School District 43’s Coquitlam Alternate Basic Education (CABE) program, who were out in shorts and T-shirts Wednesday to practise their routes and passing formations. Catching, passing and tackling were all part of the on-field lessons that three members of the B.C. Lions were offering as part of the Lions Pride Flag Football program. What the kids were getting was a team-building experience. They listened intently and eagerly lined up to run through the drills. The Lions’ Doug Goldsby, Jerome Messam and Dean Valli kept things
flowing, and the hour-long scrimmage ended with grins and a few laughs, along with soaked clothes. “Just being together, that’s one of the best things,” 18-year-old Dyllon said of the program. “I enjoyed it right from the start. I was really excited that we were going to have a team for once at our school. It keeps us out of trouble, gets our minds straight. “It’s a good thing to do.” Unlike the other high school facilities in the district, CABE doesn’t have a varsity sports program, or teams to cheer — until now. The secondary school is an alternative program for teens who have difficulty, for a variety of reasons, attending school in a traditional setting. Once referred to as “at risk” students, the new preferred term is “at promise.” The touch football team, a part of the Lions Pride program, fits into that new term perfectly.
“It says a lot about these kids’ dedication and their drive,” Messam said following the practice. “It’s really good to see how interested they are in coming out here. It helps us want to come out here and help them and give back.” It evolved out of a presentation by the Lions Pride to the school, CABE teacher Shane Ford said. “We had about 120 kids at that and I noticed a positive impact from that — the kids have just been calmer and a bit nicer, thinking about their decisions more,” recalled Ford. From that, touch football followed. There is plenty of evidence that supports the positive role organized sports can play in building kids’ confidence and decision-making skills. “We hope its a pro-social activity they get, spending time with the Lions who are obviously good role models for the kids,” Ford said. Having early, structured opportuni-
ties in sports is one reason why these Lions made it to the professional ranks, Goldsby said. “It was important for me to keep on the straight and narrow,” he noted. “It’s helped us a lot just to overcome anything that you have to come through, you learn a lot about those things, about perseverance in sports.” At the end of the five-week program, the team will join with other schools for a tournament at Empire Field, hosted by the Lions. The kids’ passion and interest to learn, practise and work together as a team has impressed North Vancouver product Valli. “It’s unbelievably impressive. You come out here, they all have cleats on, they all got here early and they’re here in the pouring rain... To see every single guy out here having a good time and working hard in the pouring rain is really impressive.”
COQUITLAM METRO-FORD SOCCER PLAYER OF THE WEEK After missing a week of training with a re-occurring knee injury, as well as fighting a bad cold and flu, Juliana Mannella stepped up to the plate and turned in one of her strongest performances of the season. The Under 14 Chargers were often under pressure against a very strong and hungry North Vancouver team, but Juliana broke up attack after attack from her centre-back position with some exceptional speed and physical play. Never giving up an inch, and battling hard to the end of extra time, Juliana kept her back unit intact, limiting the opponents’ quality chances to a very Player of the Week few. Juliana’s amazing effort helped immensely as the game had to be resolved Juliana Mannella by penalty kicks after a 1-1 overtime tie. The Chargers were then able to win the Metro-Ford Chargers shootout – by a 4-2 score – and thus advance to the semi-finals of the Under 14 Coastal Cup. For her remarkable performance this past weekend, JULIANA MANNELLA has been chosen as Coquitlam Metro-Ford Player of the Week.
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