Looking through Bier goggles - Durham College and UOIT

Sports
A rare gust of wind swept over Vaso
Field on a hot day in September as the
men pulled their socks up, tied their
cleats and jogged to the centre of the
field to meet their coaches.
It was another late night practice session
for Durham’s men’s soccer team
Thursday night, one the players seemed
to be looking forward to. The mood
was light, with odd bursts of laughter
erupting from the circle some of the
players had made on the half way line,
while others on the bench joked loudly
amongst themselves.
As time slowly progressed, the players
started with a jog around the field.
Oh, make that two. And then three.
Earlier, forward Jossi Rodriguez, a
first-year police foundations student,
said that training really wasn’t all that
bad. And the players practised as such,
getting through the running and stretching
exercises with minimal fuss.
Goalkeeper Brett Smith was unable
to partake in the session. Having started
in the exhibition game against Humber
on Tuesday, Smith had to be replaced after
taking a nasty kick to the head from
one of the Humber forwards, receiving
a concussion for his troubles. As a result
he was unable to participate in practice,
or play in any games for the foreseeable
future, which left the freshman bitterly
disappointed.
“I love just kicking a ball around and
being able to play,” Smith said. “Soccer
is my life.”
There may have been a feeling that
one or two of the others
would gladly swap places
with Smith as the practice
picked up a little pace.
Players were now doing
short sprints and
circuits, weaving in and
out of cones on the floor,
aiming to improve the
speed of their already
quick feet.
And with that the players
returned to the centre
of the field, where they
gathered around their
coach, Stan Bombino, to
talk about previous games, and the season
opener coming up against Fleming
College.
Standing on the sidelines were fitness
and performance coaches, assistant
coach Mario Bombino, and goalkeeping
coach Vasco Jeronimo. Stan soon joined
them as the players began another drill,
this time actually involving a ball.
As Stan Bombino sat in the stands,
The Chronicle October 4, 2011 29
Training day on the soccer pitch
Mike Pickford
The Chronicle
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:
Tara Farias, first-year DC
soccer, scored her first
OCAA goal.
DC athletes
of the week
QR CODE: Scan this QR
code with your smart phone
to take you to a youtube
video of the athletes.
‘
The training itself
focuses me, it makes
me realize how I need
to approach certain
situations on the
pitch.
Jossi Rodriguez
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:
Jake Olynyk, first-year DC
fastball, saved game and
took DC to 5-3 win.
Road hockey pounds
the pavement on campus
Matt McPhee
The Chronicle
Last autumn, first year
UOIT Commerce students Brad
Sutherland and Zach Workman
asked the Student Association
if they could start a club. The
answer couldn’t have been a
negative one considering almost
60 people had signed up
to join.
The club in question was the
UOIT/DC Road Hockey Association.
This year, close to 100 participants
joined in to take it to
the streets.
The association’s regular
season, where students can join
individually and be placed on a
team or assemble a team and
join, runs until mid-November
with no exact time frame, depending
on the weather.
“We have the season running
in the fall, and then during
spring, once the snow melts, we
have the playoffs,” says Workman.
The rules of the association
don’t veer too far from traditional
ice hockey and if there
is one common connection
between time-honoured road
hockey and this, “It’s basically
just for fun, its not too go hard,”
says Sutherland.
And one frequent trait linking
hockey to another Canadian
pastime: “We made a Stanley
Cup,” says Workman.
The Genuine Cup, which
was won by The Chiefs last
year, is made from beer cans
and aluminum foil.
The games are played in the
South Village lot with the standard
hard orange plastic balls.
“We’ve booked the entire parking
lot,” says Sutherland.
“It’s been pretty good. It’s
been smooth sailing so far.”
watching his team, he explained just
how important it is for every one of the
players to come out to practice when it
is scheduled.
“It’s really a learning curve for them,
a way for them to mature.” Bombino
said.
“The drills that they have been performing
are similar to
those that professional
organizations have their
players do. We are serious
about what we do on the
field when practising. It
prepares them for what is
expected in a game situation,”
Bombino said.
Having worked with
’
former Scotland national
team managers such as
Craig Brown and Berti
Vogts, Bombino has the
credentials and the pedigree
to guide the team to
where they want, and need to be.
“First and foremost, I’m a professional
coach,” Bombino said. “ I’ve worked
in the Canadian Professional Soccer
League before, I’ve worked in the Ontario
Soccer League before and I’ve been
head coach here for 14 years. In all that
time my team and I have done the same
things in practice, at games, and it’s
worked, so we must be doing something
The Durham Lords women’s
soccer team posted a
2-0 victory over the Fleming
Knights in their season
opener.
After going 2-0-1 in a solid
preseason, the Lords continued
to play strong, handing
the Knights their first loss of
the season.
The game remained at a
scoreless tie until Tara Farias
scored her first ever OCAA
goal in the 65 th minute. Farias
earned Durham College
right,” Bombino continued.
Although the Lord’s have yet to record
a provincial championship under
Bombino’s stewardship, they have
reached the provincials eight times, no
mean feat for a team in such a difficult
division.
The real challenge for Bombino is the
constant door that revolves on a yearly
basis, bringing in new players, and
sending out graduating ones.
“It’s a challenge putting together
new teams on a year to year basis, because
it’s always a mixed bag of players
coming in,” Bombino said. “Some have
played rep league in the city they live in,
while others have played provincials,
so more often than not the players are
at different levels, so we have to work
them as hard as we can to bring everyone
to the same level, to the top level.”
And it was clear to see that the players
had been worked as hard as they
could as they trudged off the field at the
end of practice.
Rodriguez maintained his earlier
stance that practice wasn’t bad, and can
only bring good things.
“The training itself focuses me, it
makes me realize how I need to approach
certain situations on the pitch,”
he said. “It’s always going to be the case
that the more soccer you play, the better
you’ll be.”
Athlete of the
week helps Lords
win season opener
Zak McLachlan
The Chronicle
Mahmoud El Bayrakdar
The Chronicle
The UOIT Ridgebacks men’s
soccer team hasn’t seen the
best season this year. Startingwith
a loss against Waterloo
the Ridgebacks have been
stuck at the bottom of the OUA
standings.
After a 6-0 loss in their third
game against York, the Ridgebacks
have a lot of work to do
if they are going to make this
athlete of the week for her
performance.
Oshawa native Laura Ogle
netted the insurance goal
with five minutes remaining
in the game.
Jenn Sheehan and Heather
MacDonald both picked
up assists in the game.
The 2-0 victory gave goalkeeper
Melissa Linton her
first clean sheet of the season.
The Lords were scheduled
to host the St. Lawrence Vikings
on Sept. 30 and the
Algonquin Thunder on Oct. 1
both at Vaso’s Field.
UOIT still in it
season a success.
The team earned a turn in
the spotlight with their freshman
goalkeeper Matt Caldaroni.
His performance in both
Ridgebacks games, against
Laurier, who the beat 2-0, and
McMaster, who they tied, has
made a difference in the team’s
overall performance.
The Ridgebacks were scheduled
to play a rematch against
McMaster on Oct. 15.