OcToBER 8, 2003

| Sports 11

Here Comes Another Season
of Timberwolves’ Basketball!!

Photo by Marlon Francescini
Zane Robison (left) and Loralyn Murdoch (right) are the coaches of the UNBC men’s and women's
Timberwolves basketball team.

By Jessica Johnson

There is no question that Zane Robison
has an amazing amount of pride and
respect invested in his basketball team.

Robison, head coach of the UNBC men’s
team, is so busy getting his players in shape
for the season that interviews must be con-
ducted during cardio training time, howev-
er exceptions are granted as soon as he
makes it apparent how much importance he
places on the interaction of community, fac-
ulty and staff with his team.

Last year, the men had their “breakout
season,” as Robison calls it, being national-
ly ranked as third in the country, but he is
full of confidence that they can do even bet-
ter this year.

“] think we’re going to do quite well, if
we can keep everybody in school and keep
everybody focused,” says Robison. “We
should be able to stay in the national rank-
ings and beat how we did last year, but it’s
going to depend on a lot of things.”

The main struggle for the team is the
transition from always having a dominant
guard on the team, to now, having many
great athletes in the forward position.

Robison has seven returning players,
missing only one of his former starters,
Gene Wolff, who has gone on to play pro-
fessionally i& China. Among the returning
are captain Todd Jordan, and Brett Stewart,
both of which Robison expects will be able
to help him out this year. Also returning are
the Nadrazsky brothers, Phil and Alex, who
the coach refers to as “all-stars,” and will be

Promising Outlook for Men's Team

looked at for their great shots.

Looking at the profiles for the team this
year, it is evident that their height is going
to have a huge contribution on the court.
Among some of these big guys are new-
comer Matt Holtz, standing at 6’11, who is
fresh out of a North Vancouver high school
and expected to be very dominant, and
Andrew Sturgeon, 6’6, from Malaspina.

“[Sturgeon] is an amazing dunker, an
amazing athlete,” Robison says. “I think
he’s going to be a big impact player.”

“We want to play more of a team game,”
says the coach of his ambitions for the sea-
son. But it should not be too hard this year,
as he says his team works very hard, and
constantly strives to motivate each other.

So far in exhibition play, the men have
come out on top, winning all games against
Grande Prairie on the weekend of
September 19th. Their next exhibition play
is on October 9th at NAIT against the
league’s national champions of last season.
Robison says that this will truly be an indi-
cation of how well they will do this year.

“We have the best fans in western
Canada,” says Robison, “they’re loud and
excited!” Prove him right, and get ready for
October 31st, when the men will play their
first game of the season against Capilano at
CNC. The men play at 8:15pm, following
the women.

Shaky Start for Women’s Team

By Jessica Johnson

Loralyn Murdoch never loses the excitement, the thrill of
competition or the promise of fun when facing a new season
of Timberwolves’ basketball.

Just as busy as any woman with as much responsibility as
she, Murdoch, head coach of the women’s team, is engaged
in many physiotherapy appointments for her already-
injured players, but manages to squeeze in time for sharing
her excitement for the upcoming season.

It is true, preseason is not even over yet, and Murdoch has
several injuries on her team to contend with. Two sprained
ankles, one pulled hamstring and a badly hurt knee should
all add up to a very worried coach, but even though she is
hesitant to make predictions about how they are going to do,
she remains calm and confident.

“I’m still very optimistic about this year,” says Murdoch.
“I think we‘re going to have an excellent season building on
what we had last year.”

Last season, the women went 13 wins and only 5 losses,
placing them third-in the conference. This year, they have
lost some great players, but there are six from last season
returning.

“Every year, it’s a new challenge and it’s a new core group
of girls,” says the coach. “You have to leave the [last] year
behind you and start fresh and that’s always exciting
because you're building new memories and meeting new
players.”

One player that Murdoch warns to keep an eye out for is
Marlene Pontes, a first year student from Surrey.

“She’s an extremely talented young lady who works
extremely hard,” says Murdoch, who is very happy Pontes
chose UNBC. “I think she has a very good basketball career
ahead of her.”

Murdoch is an extremely competitive coach, constantly
striving for her team to show the rest of the country who
these women from the north are. She says that even though

they have done so well in the past, they remain a team that
people do not hear much about or do not take as seriously as
she wants them to.

“Girls from the north play with composure and they play
to win,” she says of her team, “and they don’t care what
people think of them and I think that’s a big strength.”

Even though the women’s team has not fared so well in
their exhibition games, Murdoch says that they are always
trying to prove themselves and she loves the atmosphere
that this creates. ‘

She says that every women with an injury, other than the
hurt knee, should be back on the court by the end of next
week. Right now, she is just anxious to get through presea-
son and get the injuries taken care of so that they will be
ready for the first game of the season on October 31st. The
game begins at 6:30pm.

“As a whole, the team’s going to be a lot of fun,” says
Murdoch, “and I’m looking forward to that.”

Northern Sport Centre Proposal in Development

Centre will enhance training and development of Nordic sports in Prince George

By Kathleen De Vere

On Thursday, October 9 at 7:00 p.m., the
Prince George Civic Centre will be hosting a
meeting to give the general public an update
on the proposal for the Northern Sports
Center. The proposal is an attempt to allow
Prince George and UNBC to capitalize on
the sports funding that the provincial gov-
ernment has made available in preparation
for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The
proposal is a joint venture of UNBC, the City

of Prince George, the 2010 North group and
Pacific Sport.

The Centre will be built at UNBC, and will
enhance sport development in the region by
serving as a home for coaching for winter
sports, with a particular focus on the Nordic
sports such as cross country skiing. The
sports center will also help to expand the
facilities required for the training and devel-
opment of northern athletes.

Prince George is considered an ideal loca-

tion for a Northern Sport Centre because of
the city’s unique attributes: a winter city,
extensive trail networks, a northern regional
hub, ideal geography and climate, experi-
ence in hosting major sports events, and the
educational opportunities provided by
UNBC for youth interested in training for
Nordic sports while attending post-sec-
ondary education.

The guest speaker at the meeting will be
John Mills, the President of the Calgary

Olympic Development Association. Mills is
a former President of Sport BC ‘and will
share his information on sport development
and training at the meeting, as well as help
the community develop a strong and feasi-
ble proposal for the Centre.

The proposal is currently still in develop-
ment and is seeking input from any interest-
ed local organizations and sports groups
who plan to attend the meeting.

Sane