Record breaking

If you told me before Saturday night that I would go home that night with $750, enough money to graduate 50 African youth through Grassroot Soccer’s HIV-prevention programming, I probably would have smiled apprehensively. Both soccer teams were not coming out because they had an early start for an away game at SMU the next day, the football team would not be out that night because of strength testing the next day, and the varsity dance team was in Halifax competing for CheerFest. I would not have outright laughed in your face, but I would not have jumped up and down beside you in joy. Perhaps that says something about me. I like a little bit of nerves. Nerves keep you on your feet, and as someone said to me, they’re good because they signify that whatever you’re doing is important.

Part of our lovely bar staff that night!

I meant to write before the party last night, but minute details and a scattered brain got in the way of that. This is probably what I would have said:

100 children is nothing outrageous. There’s absolutely nothing to say that the Mt Allison community cannot reach that target. Essentially what we’re asking for is $1500. $1500 from a school that did not host a tournament. $1500 from a school that is pretty well nonexistent outside the Maritimes and pockets of academic enlightenment across the country. It would put MTA on the map. It wouldn’t be by any stretch of the imagination a leading contributor to Grassroot Soccer’s cause, but 100 kids from us is 100 closer to the 1,000,000 goal by 2014.

Now this has not gone perfectly to plan. It’s been successful, but it’s not been perfect. Maybe that says something about me as well – the perfectionist I think I inherited from my mother and the numerous people I surrounded myself with in high school (girls, I’m looking right at you). Drew would expect no less. He was very much a big dreamer as I was, and we set standards for ourselves. Standards that we’ll have to re-evaluate next weekend in San Diego. Some of the hindrances with this project has perhaps been its slow start. I did not think that this would be such a hit. I think I must have been taken aback by the overwhelming support that this project received, and as a result failed to convert that buzz into either money or outrageous advocacy. Trying to fight with Facilities Management in the fourth week of March to leave your posters up is not exactly what I would call ideal.

Designed by Hannah Kovacs. Featuring Caila Henderson (Women's Volleyball)

On the subject of Facilities Management. I’m going to assume that no one reads this, and probably won’t at least until I graduate, so I can express some of my concerns here. The original idea was to put up the MTA Gets Inspi(RED) posters featuring our varsity athletes on every front door on campus. We’re talking about every academic building, every residence, and every other building. The first round went up on Thursday night. Friday morning, the north side residences had blank doors, the one in the student centre was gone, and Bigelow’s poster had been moved. This is the best part: not only did the custodial staff take it upon themselves to take these posters off the door, but they also took the initiative to dispose these posters. So not only did four go straight into the trash, but they were not reimbursed – not exactly what I would say a very responsible way to use the Geography Department’s philanthropic donations. After 35 minutes with the director of Facilities Management, I am still no clearer on exactly why these went missing and why I can’t stick posters on the front doors of buildings. We are not violating any fire code (you can still see out the window, and we are not obstructing anyone’s path), nor are we really detracting from the aesthetic value of the door. As a student, I personally would prefer to see other students on our doors. If you asked anyone up at the Athletics Dept, you’d think that there was only one varsity athlete at this school. MTA Gets Inspi(RED) brought to prominence other athletes that don’t get the recognition that they maybe deserve, such as our volleyball player, who in my opinion embodies the essence of being a student athlete at this school. But I digress. The compromise that I came to was to keep doing what I’m doing without disturbing their precious doors. God forbid that if I put stuff up on doors (especially now, in the penultimate week of school), other students might get the same brilliant idea… what nobs.

That said, going into the Pond’s night to get Inspi(RED), we are unofficially sitting at 52 kids. Women’s hockey, women’s soccer, Harper Hall, Edwards House, the Politics & IR department, and the academic deans are among our donors, along with individual donors. I pooled $65 in Bigelow House the other day, and am expecting a house donation on top of that. Campbell Hall is trying to fight with their don to donate more money (they want to donate $150, but she wants to only give $50)… we’ll see what the outcome is. Fingers crossed that this night turns out.

Everybody having a good time!

You’d find me a much more elated person after Saturday night. Well, even early Sunday morning (late Saturday night), I was smiling like a 5 year old who discovered the wonders of candy. See, despite the relatively slow start, by about 1.15am the pub was packed. I was struggling to walk around and by that point I was knackered. Just pure knackered and several drinks in (obviously taking advantage of the Pond’s $2 drink special for red drinks), which prompted me to put the camera down and just soak in the atmosphere. In one word, the Pond was “pumpin'”. And when I walked out last night, I had $750 in an envelope from the Pond, $20 in my pocket from Evan Scully, and the promise of at least $60 from the badminton team. I’m not sure I have a good analogy to describe the feeling when I wrote ‘102’ on the board and crossed it out, signalling that we had broken our 100-child goal.

All smiles at the end of the night

This afternoon, the Campbell Hall president told me that they had come to a compromise – they would be donating $100 to MTA Gets Inspi(RED). This evening, Hunton’s president reminded me that they have not forgotten about the campaign and are rounding up money to donate. Two more weeks of classes… if we’ve smashed 100 with this much ease, how many kids can we actually sponsor? Next job: contact GRS about setting us up with a community in SA.

MTA Gets Even More Inspi(RED)

When I first started this, it was supposed to be a small idea.

Nothing out of the ordinary, but at least something tangible to prove to myself, and to anyone interested, that the campaign was capable of much more than just 3v3 tourneys. Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of the tournaments – heck, HKIS has raised over $50,000 in the last four years! But for schools that may not be able to host tournaments, or for schools that may not have the leadership to host a tournament, joining Inspi(RED) Soccer through a “Get Inspi(RED)” campaign could be a way to ease their way into the Grassroot Soccer family.

Of course, MTA Gets Inspi(RED) is a pilot project and not without its scares. First off, we didn’t know if we’d get any response, but positive feedback and a very enthusiastic set of athletes have really helped kick things off. The buzz has grown on campus to the point where we average over a 1000 impressions on our posts in the first 10 hours and over 1700 in the first 14 hours. That’s more than half of our student population! I checked the insights yesterday and we’ve had over 47,000 hits in the last week! This is ridiculous. We’re doing our third photoshoot tomorrow to accommodate for all the clamouring to get involved.

Second – there were no guarantees (after we’d already started the project!) that we’d get (RED)’s blessings. Thankfully they’ve got some sense up at Product (RED) headquarters and have given the green light. With the support of GRS, Product (RED), and the people doing the intermediary stuff at Carnegie, this is actually becoming a reality.

And on top of this, to quell all the frustrations that I’ve personally had over the course of the last two weeks, I’ve finally got draft copies of our posters. They’re going straight to the printer tomorrow once I get the contact info. There are two people that I need to thank in particular for this. The first being Dr Fox up at the Geography Department, who on behalf of the department has become one of MTA Gets Inspi(RED)’s sponsors by offering to print our posters. The second goes to Hannah Kovacs and the rest of the BODIES team to helped her make these wonderful posters. I’ve got 8 so far, with more promised and on the way. Soon these will finally be up around campus! The idea is to have them in such abundance that you can’t go into any building without seeing one of these. We’ll see what Facilities Management and the administration thinks about that. Speaking of the administration – perhaps we’ll have another note about that later.

For now, let’s not get distracted. Mt Allison looks like it will actually cast aside the demons of apathy and get Inspi(RED). 48 hours after issuing the challenge, it looks like we might be somewhere between 10-20% toward our target! The faculty have been informed, the student body have been informed, and the coaching staff at the Athletic Department have been informed. Let’s hope this spreads and it spreads fast. Next step: the support staff.

Last thing, enjoy the poster.

MTA Gets Inspi(RED)

Join Mt Allison’s fight for an AIDS Free Generation by 2015.

http://www.facebook.com/inspiredmta

Our challenge is to sponsor and fund the education of 100 African youth through Grassroot Soccer’s unique and innovative Skillz programmes.

Challenge accepted.

The right way?

This was written in response to an opinion article from one of my colleagues over at Soccer Equipment Reviews.

The link to the article: http://soccerequipmentreviews.com/2011/02/26/view-from-the-couch-keep-football-pure-for-the-future/

I had the good fortune of being a part of a team in my last year in high school that placed tremendous importance on the way we played our football. Thankfully we were gifted with very technically skilled players – to today I am still in awe of many of them. With an average height of 5’9″, there was no way that we were going to be playing like Birmingham did against Arsenal this weekend. Nor did we really have anyone that could pose the kind of aerial threat that frontmen like Alan Shearer or Niall Quinn did during their playing days. As a result, we did what we knew how to do best: keep it simple.

There was nothing elaborate about our play – there would be the odd spark of genius here and there, but for the most part, we played a similar style of football to teams like Arsenal and Barcelona. Not that we tried to emulate them anyway. We just stuck to what we were good at. We pressed high, we worked together, we defended tightly, and we most importantly kept possession. One of the biggest criticisms levelled at the England squad in South Africa last June was its inability to keep possession while either defending or going forward. A Xavi or Iniesta Messrs Lampard and Gerrard to not make.

That ability to keep possession was crucial to the way we played. A number of people have commented on the inability for teams to play more like Arsenal or Barcelona. While I don’t disagree that those teams are entertaining and certainly pleasing on the eye, I don’t think it is fair to label any style of football “pure” or “correct”. At times, our team may have looked like Barcelona (I’ve seen video footage from my last season with them and the season after I left, so I’m not just making it up), but we didn’t do it on purpose. We were certainly aided by a brand new, state-of-the-art artificial field that played more like proper grass pitches than some of the grass pitches I’ve played on. That encouraged us to keep the ball on the ground and to work with it there.

That’s not to say that at times we didn’t play direct football (perhaps what was called “hoofball”). That’s also not to say that that was wrong. It certainly wasn’t as beautiful as one might like – moving the ball from one endline to the other in that speed is exhilarating but not fascinating to watch on the Monday morning review tape – but it was effective. Stoke may not be a particularly exciting team to watch (when they want to be, they can), but they get the job done. In fact they’re even sitting a point above Everton. Birmingham certainly did not outdance Arsenal on Saturday night. They did it with tactical discipline and worked within a structure that fit the players. A number of pundits and commentators have (quite obviously) pointed out Arsenal’s inability to deal with set pieces – the number of goals that set piece lovers such as Stoke and Birmingham have scored on them is shocking. For Birmingham I think it is 6 of the last 8 goals they have scored against Arsenal.

Yes, everybody wants to play like Barcelona. Who wouldn’t? They are exciting. So is Spain. Watching Spain last summer at the World Cup was tantalising. But watching Switzerland hinder their progress was just as riveting. To say that Spain played the “correct” way is wrong. Ideal, perhaps. Even while I was a part of that team, when we changed our tempo and tactical shape to suit the demands of the game, countering in a much more fluid and direct fashion, no one on the team would consider what we were doing “wrong”, least not any less pure. Nor should they. And nor will they. Our 86 goals from 30 games while only conceding 13 gives us some satisfaction that what we did worked. Each team has its own way of playing and to criticise that is a real disappointment for an avid football fan.

Call them boring, yes. Call them stifling, yes. But don’t call them wrong. They’re playing football. They’re scoring goals. They’re winning games. Sometimes. Yes, some teams will be more physical than others – as players we have to deal with that, and we will come across teams that are less physical than us. It always frustrates me when Arsenal fans and players (I’ll pick on them for a bit because they’ve been in the news lately) complain about their opposition’s rugby-style tactics. Then I go read one of Joey Barton’s recent quotes and smile: “If the Arsenal players don’t like being tackled, they should go and play basketball or netball or one of the other games.” Side note: It is ironic that I speak about this because I saw a picture the other day of Jack Wilshere with his arms around Barry Ferguson’s waist in a very rugby-esque tackle.

Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

The last thing I’ll touch on is Alex P’s “Go get us a goal” comment, which seems to have struck a divisive chord among the readers of Jordon’s article.

Having worked with young players (I have coached 8-15 year olds), I do understand the frustration that the author pointed out about the lumping centre half knocking the ball down the end of the field without thinking too much about it. As a coach, I tried to get them to keep the ball on the ground, spreading it to the wings quickly and precisely and using our pace and ability down the flanks to get at opponents. But trying to recreate Ferguson’s Manchester United squad of the mid-90s when the likes of Giggs, Beckham, and Neville patrolled Old Trafford’s sidelines is not the easiest thing to do with nine-year-olds. At least it gets them practicing good habits and thinking though.

That said, there’s no point stifling a player that has the ability to shoot. Granted, not every monster of a centre half has a shooting leg, but if he’s got that good leg (as one of my kids did), then I would encourage him to have a go every now and then. In moderation, it was a good teaching tool. Not only would it give him the confidence to have a pop from the edge of the area, as he would be in a couple of years when he transitioned to a full-sized pitch, but it would give his teammates the opportunity to react to a shot. The basics of following up shots is often lost on youngsters (and even at the varsity level). It is also surprising at the number of players at my level who are afraid to shoot, even in the box! Conditioning players who have the ability to have a pop when it is right can only sharpen another effective tool in their arsenal.

While it is not likely that many kids growing up across the world will grow up learned in the ways of Total Football or Spanish technique, I think that an important point has been raised. Not enough of young players are learning the right things. Instead of worrying about the colour of their socks or the shine of their shoes, they should be focusing on their training ethos, or their concentration. They should want to be Xavi. They should work on what he is good at – keeping possession, vision and a sense of awareness, the ability to pass the ball long and short. The same can be said about defenders who emulate Rio Ferdinand or John Terry (at their physical primes). They should work on what they are good at – positional awareness, defensive discipline, and an solid command of their back four through communication.

Just some thoughts.

Green, the Film

A movie review of Green: the Film.

“Her name is Green, she is alone in a world that doesn’t belong to her. She is a female orang-utan [sic], victim of deforestation and resource exploitation.” Green, the Film. 

 

The paradox of palm oil’s promise as a biodiesel for tomorrow is reflected astoundingly in Patrick Rouxel’s 48-minute documentary, Green. Green follows the journey of its eponymous heroine: an oblivious orangutan caught in the crossfire between Mother Nature and our growing consumption demands for wood, paper, and palm oil. Green highlights the various practices used to clear Indonesia’s vibrant rainforest to accommodate the development of palm oil plantations, which will in turn supply our demand for commodities and products such as magazines, cosmetics, and a growing interest in renewable, greener sources of fuel. Green is one of hundreds whose homes are destroyed daily; although she is captured, she is considered lucky – most orangutans and forest dwellers are either extinguished in the deforestation or slaughtered upon capture. The film has no narration and needs none. Its message is clear: the alarmingly rapid decimation of Indonesia’s rainforest and its inhabitants are caused by consumer needs (and greed).

A report released by the United Nations Environmental Programme revealed that “95 per cent of the increased production of palm oil in Malaysia and Indonesia was driven by the growing demand for biodiesel” (UNEP; 2009). How ironic that the fuel labelled as tomorrow’s answer for the shortening supplies of petroleum oil is one of the root causes of major environmental damage. Green does a solid job at tracing the interconnectedness of both the palm oil and timber industries that originated from the Indonesian rainforest. Following a single tree cut down to feed the hardwood demand in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom in, the documentary stresses in its unique subtle way that this is not an isolated problem. The perpetuation of consumerism and, to an extent, free market capitalism is one of the driving forces of climate change, global warming, and environmental degradation. These are  not local or even regional concerns; they are a global issue that require immediate attention.

While James Cameron captured mankind’s devastating desecration of rainforests in his 2010 CGI spectacle, Avatar, Rouxel’s story not of a fictional world. His Na’vi are orange, shorter, and hairier. And they don’t stand a chance. There are no credits for this film – at least not ones that the average movie-goer would expect. After 48 minutes of a very rude awakening, we are left with a long list of companies and persons directly or indirectly responsible for Indonesia’s deforestation. Included in this are the likes of Export Development Canada, the World Bank, IMF, WTO, the Wilmar Group (Singapore), Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi Co Inc, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, PME Biofeuls (Australia). The internationalised nature of these multinational corporations is compounded by the last line: “And the consumers around the world.” Our passivity and support (albeit often unknowingly) of this industry has encouraged the exploitation of natural resources despite the fragility of the planet’s ability to maintain our excessive lifestyles. This award-winning documentary is a must-see for all, especially for students regardless of discipline.

http://www.greenthefilm.com/?cat=49&lang=en

“Bend it like Burroughs”

There is nothing like a little bit of flattery to boosts the spirits when you are feeling down.

In an odd encounter with one of The Argosy‘s Features writers (who has had an excellent year writing for the paper), I was both congratulated then interrogated. I don’t like to publicise my travels on behalf of the Inspi(RED) Soccer campaign and Grassroot Soccer – I tend to keep that close to heart, only informing those that need to know, namely my roommate. (I got in trouble the last time I disappeared with telling him.) So you can imagine the surprise when I read this email congratulating me on my acceptance to the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative University conference. I suppose, now that the secret is out I might as well talk about it.

Last April I was invited (well, I applied and was accepted) to the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) conference at the University of Miami. It was a fantastic – and warm – weekend during which I got to hang out with Ethan Zohn on Saturday while rubbing shoulders with the likes of Kal Penn and Maude Barlow. It was an enlightening opportunity to converse with other people tackling global issues. Most importantly, I think for me, was my encounter with an HIV-positive researcher at UMiami. Granted, she wasn’t from sub-Saharan Africa (she was from Germany), but this was the person that I was working to help. Not her personally, per say, but people like her. People whose lives had been affected by this pandemic.

This year, the Dynamic Duo is joining forces again after a two year hiatus. Most of you may not know the other half of the Dynamic Duo, so I’ll introduce you to him: Drew Mehrmann. We started out together at HKIS and were responsible for expanding the Lose the Shoes concept outside the United States. Actually, now that I’ve read that sentence over it sounds too self-important and makes me uncomfortable, so let me correct myself. We started out together at HKIS and were the first coordinators of HKIS’ barefoot 3v3 soccer tournament. Doesn’t quite have the same ring, but when you throw in that the tournament has raised over $50,000 in the last four years, it makes up for it. (Yes, we’re really proud of that tournament.) In April, we’ll actually see each other for the first time since we graduated in June 2009 when we meet up in San Diego for the 2011 CGI U conference. I’ll be returning as a Commitment Mentor for the ‘Advocacy and Awareness Building’ topic, which puts approximately 25 people under my jurisdiction, including two other GRS-related commitments!

Anyway, with any luck I’ll actually get to meet ol’ Bill this year.

For your entertainment, this is the article from the paper.

And here in PDF copy: Argosy article (Feb 3, 2011)

The hypocrisy of academia

Published in The Argosy on Feb 10

I am not sure whether embarrassment that the university’s administration has discredited itself in such spectacular fashion or frustration that not enough people have publicly expressed concern prompted me to write this letter. This school year has transgressed from one shit-show to another with the university playing backs-against-the-wall damage control. The university’s decision to agree with the Board’s ruling (to meet MAFA half way on a three year contract with an annual 2.5 per cent salary increase) and not the dissenting opinion suggests that they were prepared to find the middle road anyway and poses two questions: were the tiring months of negotiations necessary if conciliation was always on the cards, and could the parties not come to this consensus on their own without protracted back-and-forths?

I understand that labour relations begin (and generally end) with the concept of confrontation. However, the futile nature of the negotiations (which should have been confined to the board rooms of Centennial Hall) has leaked unceremoniously into student affairs and has apparently disturbed the student body enough to warrant half a dozen emails from Student Life and our SAC, trying to calm the whispered hysteria. This institution claims to be the finest undergraduate university in the country: the sculpting room of the country’s next generation of innovators, creators, and leaders. Collegiality is supposed to dictate our discussions. Universities are supposed to facilitate dialogue, not encourage demonisation of those with whom you disagree. The irony is laughable.

Imminent graduation is not my greatest concern, and perhaps that is why I really don’t give a crap about the rumblings of a strike. Nor do I expect one. I don’t claim to know MAFA’s next move (for all I know, they might strike in spite of this letter… that would be flattering) but the likelihood of success with a symbolic gesture like job action is increasingly limited and grossly hyperbolised both online and here in The Argosy. Propaganda in the form of carefully constructed mass emails littered with meticulously selected bold words or a cover story – maybe even an inside spread – inciting the faint euphoria of a struggling crisis is easy to fall prey to. But neither of these are as heinously at fault of poor journalism than CBC’s botched attempt to cover the unfolding events. You don’t need a journalism school to know that it is an egregious violation of journalistic ethics to only investigate one side of a multi-faceted story. (And I thought the university was looking to distance itself from the remarks that they were in bed with CBC.)

This brings me to my next point: if this province has a “‘bankrupt,’ ‘stagnating,’ and ‘failing'” economy and wants cuts across the board, then why are we building a new $30 million structure instead of providing our faculty (most of whom do not have professor status, as CBC indicated) with the resources they need? It is evidently not because the Memorial Library has structural problems – enough engineers have confirmed this. It is not because the actors can’t work in the space. We’re actors, we work in the space we’re given. The university understandably wants to advance, and while a new performing and fine arts centre is exciting, it has been a PR fiasco, bringing bad publicity to this institution.

Here’s my thought: our faculty want more money to compensate their increased workloads. Their hours have increased, but the resources to help them do this (such as teaching assistants) have not. So why don’t we put this new building project (whose projected end date is 2016 – when most of my readers will no longer be here) on hold and provide the resources to help our faculty do their job better. Assuming that the average salary for a tenure-track professor here is around $100,000, as CBC implied, the difference in the Board’s recommended salary increase and MAFA’s original request is approximately $2000 per year (which in no way provides worthy cause for strike). Could we not use that money to give them the resources they need? It almost seems too simple, but then again, I guess that is the hypocrisy of academia.

Mounties end season with BANG

Originally published in The Argosy on Nov 4, 2010

It was derby weekend all over the footballing world: Tyne-Wear derby in Newcastle, the Second City derby in Birmingham, and the Westmorland derby here in Sackville.

Mount Allison hosted the neighbouring U de M Aigles Bleus knowing that neither of their soccer teams could reach the playoffs.

The women started strongly and confidently against Les Aigles Bleues. Jessica Keating was perhaps the highlight of the Mountes’ back line as she marginalised and eliminated the threat of Moncton’s star winger, Valerie Martin. The evidence of Keating’s sublime performance at right back came when the ineffective Martin was substituted on the hour mark.

Building from the consistency in defence, the Mounties probed forward and reaped the rewards when AUS top scorer Megan Spicer smashed her shot into the top corner from a tight angle.

Les Aigles Bleues fought back though and almost instanty responded when they bundled a free kick past Elissa McCarron’s best efforts. In the final minute of injury time, Moncton found the winning goal when the ball dropped in the box off a corner; they were more than happy to smash it into the back of the next.

Matching their level of performance from Saturday’s trip to St Mary’s, the Men set out with a major point to prove in their last game of the season.

In a rare start, Sackville-born Matt Wheaton was the heart of the Mounties’ midfield and capped off a fine afternoon with a powerful first half strike low into the bottom corner. It was only the second time that the Mounties scored first this season and they celebrated their goal.

They held onto this slender lead magnificently and should have increased their advantage several times when Chris Vizena, Stu McAdam, and Connor McCumber all broke through 1-on-1 only to be foiled by U de M’s goalkeeper.

The inspired combination of Justin Baglole and Tim Boschel on the right hand side proved to be one of the leading factors for the Mounties in a game that they dominated. The two put in their best performances of the season, which earned Boschel a Man of the Match award.

Goalkeeper and captain Travis Sandberg also had a good afternoon and on his last career AUS game, earned himself a career first clean sheet.

Neither of the soccer Mounties may have made the playoffs this season, but they will have been proud of their final outing this weekend. We have heard numerous excuses: the players are not good enough, the coaching staff don’t know what they’re doing, our pitch is rubbish… I could go on. To do so, however, would deny the team the credit they deserve.

Last year, teams came to Sackville and brushed the Mounties aside. This year, they have come and have been pushed to their very limits; we have competed, battled, and more than held our own.

It might be too early still to talk about next season, but the Mounties now know that they are no longer the whipping dogs of this league. They are by no means ordinary, but they are missing that little something to make them extraordinary. Assignment for the year: find it. Use it. Exploit it.

Our Ladies, having occupied the bottom of the AUS standings for so many years, are still new at this game of earning points. They will learn and as with this year, will definitely push themselves even closer to that playoff position. I am of the belief that if our boys could find just one win, they would instantly find the confidence and mental strength to go out there and tear the AUS apart. They did that this weekend. They were unlucky to come away with no results from the game against St Mary’s on Saturday but they came out all guns blazing against Moncton and proved that they are keen on ridding themselves of this “nearly-men” title.

We’ll see what the winter and next fall brings.

Sunday’s match was the last AUS game for Sara Laking, Allie MacLean, Kat Fraser, Elissa McCarron, Justin Baglole, Travis Sandberg, and Adam Brown.

1, 2, 3, Go!

Originally written on Nov 1, 2010

I have been fortunate to stay connected to the soccer teams this season; the players have been generous to keep me in their thoughts and provide this unique insight to their adventures this term.

On Saturday, I spent part of the night with them. As much as I wanted to join the girls in their celebrations after they stole a precious point from Cape Breton, the forlorn figures of the men had me thinking twice.

So many times this season, I have watched my former teammates perform like gladiators on the pitch and make teams like nationally-ranked St FX look very ordinary. For all their hard work and battling spirit, they have not been rewarded. Don’t get me wrong – this year has been an astronomical step up from last season – but what they would have given to also be celebrating a point or victory last Saturday.

Too often though, the Men have conceded early and struggled to pull themselves back.

We have heard numerous excuses: the boys are not good enough, the coaching staff don’t know what they’re doing, our pitch is rubbish… I could go on. To do so, however, would deny the team the credit they deserve.

They will need a mathematical or any other sort of miracle to book themselves a trip to Wolfville for the playoffs in November. Last year, teams came to Sackville and brushed the Mounties aside. This year, they have come and have been pushed to their very limits; we have competed, battled, and more than held our own.

That will likely come as little consolation to senior players like Adam Brown, Travis Sandberg, and Justin Baglole, who know that they only have three games left this season (and possibly in their MTA career) to find that last elusive win. They certainly have the skill to do so. Whether they have the willpower is another issue.

I am of the belief that if the boys could find just one win, they would instantly capture the confidence and mental strength to go out and tear the AUS apart. All they need is that one win, though.

There are three games left in the season before we start thinking about next fall. Let’s see what this week can produce.

Hopefully come Sunday, the Ladies will be celebrating a huge accomplishment and massive step forward for the program. As Jessica Keating said last week, it is possible. It is very possible for the Ladies to reach the playoffs. Last year they won their first game in four years; the goal this year will be to reach the Promised Land for the first time in over six years.

And should they, these goddesses will have more than deserved their reward. They have marveled in every way, from the leadership of Elissa McCarron, to the defensive frugality of Shipp, MacLean, Dunham, and Keating, or the dynamism, elegance, and poise of Kat Fraser and Hil Hamilton. Let us not forget either the lethal Megan Spicer (AUS top scorer) and her crew goal-grabbers.

They can be sure that this fan will be praying for their success and good luck this week. They are in action at Moncton on Wednesday, in Halifax on Friday, and finally back home to Sackville on Sunday.

Solid weekend for Mounties

Originally published in Sackville Tribune Post on Oct 27, 2010

After another mixed bag of results against UPEI in midweek, the Soccer Mounties were back in action on MacAuley Field last Saturday.

Cold, windy, and occasionally sprinkled with unwelcome rain, the Mounties battled against Cape Breton University. Their tangerine opponents always prove to be formidable opponents, but Barry Cooper’s charges were ready to put the Capers to the test.

The Lady Mounties struggled to get a hold of the game in the first half as they fought against the wind. The Capers confirmed their early dominance with a goal half way through the period when the CBU forward rose highest on a corner and powered her header onto the underside of the crossbar and across the line.

It was only the 9^th goal that the Ladies have conceded this year and they took the setback well in their stride to see out the half in the ascendancy. Their hard work finally paid off when Zayah Romilowych’s perfectly placed shot curled into the bottom corner.

This was a point that the Ladies more than welcomed. The draw moves them even closer to the final playoff spot and provides that much needed momentum going into the final week of the season.

Inspired, as they often are by their female counterparts, Marcus Greenlaw and his bruising crew dove head first into the ensuing encounter, unintimidated by their orange-clad opponents.

Any plans to snatch points from CBU soon took a massive blow when Travis Sandberg unfortunately slipped and failed to stop a Caper free-kick.

As they always do, the Mounties bounced back and pushed forward. Chris Vizena and Tim Boschel provided the speed and width on the wings, but all too often, Connor McCumber found himself left on his own to deal with CBU’s centre halfs.

The introduction of Kyle Reade on the hour mark gave the Men a much needed injection of pace and for a short spell, the Mounties barraged the Capers’ goal.

It was a second Cape Breton set piece, however, that drove the final nail into the coffin of the Men’s playoff hopes. Sandberg atoned for his earlier slip when he acrobatically leapt to push the free-kick onto the crossbar. The Mounties were caught ball watching though and an unmarked Caper tapped home the rebound.

The Mounties go into their final week knowing that they need to salvage at least a point from their remaining games if they are to do their hard work this season any justice. They are at home again on Sunday against U de M.