TED TE PP en Neill Jeffrey OP Assistant Sports Editor Spartan Deportment Photo by Rea Harasemljuk Avril Gerow At the Western Canada Summer Games in 1999, Avril Gerow performed some of her soccer magic to help alchemize a gold medal for BC. The team’s coach was John Judd. Three years later, Avril is the centrepiece of the Douglas College women’s soccer team and her coach is John Judd. Coincidence? Apparently. Nursing was Avril’s choice and Douglas her college of preference, being from nearby Coquitlam. Imagine the coach’s reaction to seeing Avril show up at Douglas College, where Judd is now in his fifth year as head coach. True to form, Avril was a BCCAA first team all-star im her first year with the Royals. Avril is now in her second semester of the Nursing program at DC, a collaborative program that will see her continue her education at Kwantlen or Langara. Fortunately, Avril will not be eligible to play women’s soccer against Douglas College, because of her two years of university soccer at SFU, where she studied kinesiology and won the Jack Royals Gear Up For Provincial Championships Sports Department Neill Jeffrey and Jordan Cripps The DC women’s soccer team faced a team as desperate as themselves on Saturday, October 19, 2002, when they played the Langara Falcons. The Royals needed a win in order to remain in the playoff picture for the BCCAA provincial championships. Early in the match, it looked as though they were in tough against a strong Falcons team. In the first half, the Royals were prevented from getting any sustained pressure on the Falcons goaltender, managing to direct only 2 shots at the goal. Much of the first half was spent in the middle of the field with the occasional Falcons rush into the Royals defensive zone. Goalkeeper Katrina Tesar battled well to keep the score close. Indeed, the Royals playoff lives hung in the balance as Langara took a 1-0 lead going into the second half. In the second half, though, it was the Royals that showed the desperation, keeping the ball in the Falcons zone for long stretches. They were rewarded for this pressure when Lianna Racanelli evened the score. The Royals weren't going to be denied, and their efforts proved fruitful as Lisa Cuminskey put the Royals ahead. After getting the lead, the Royals stepped up their defensive zone play, and lowered the offensive pres- sure, to avoid giving Langara many good chances at the goal. The plan worked, and Douglas held on for the win, solidifying their chances of qualifying for the provincial championships. After the game, Coach John Judd said, “ the fear factor is gone they [the players] know they can play with Langara, no matter what they might have heard about a good player.” He also promised his team would “come out charged-up!” on Sunday, deter- mined to win game two of the weekend doubleheader against Langara, Another win will ensure that the Royals go to the provincials next weekend in Kelowna. Down to a handful of regulars, the DC men’s soccer team fielded their bench against © page 20 Royals seem due for some better luck now, with Avril administering the attack. theater ress Diamond scholarship for athletic and academic excellence in 1998 and 1999. Before she chose nursing as a career, Avril didn’t know where kinesiology would take her. “I didn’t want to be a teacher,” she says, “and I didn’t want to be a personal train- er, but I wanted to do something that was still in the health field.” Her two years of kinesiology provided her with knowledge of anatomy and physiology that she could apply to nursing. Biology at DC was just a review for this intelligent, mature 21-year- old. Avril considers herself “a science person,” but says she is “liking psychology and learning a lot about myself,” and “how to interact with people.” She is drawn to the “caring for people” quality of nursing. Since she began playing soccer at age six, Avril has been honoured often, most recent- ly as BCCAA Player of the Week. She takes awards in stride, considering them recog- nition for excelling at what she loves doing. She laughs when she says she is “very com- petitive,” but on the field in a game, the intensity of her concentration on the action around her is fierce. In conversation after practice, she laughs easily and shows a win- ning smile. Coach Judd praises Avril’s character and maturity as a person, noting her positive but subtle influence on her teammates. She leads by example, knowing that other forms of leadership would be less effective with a team of young women. Apart from practising, travelling and playing soccer, attending Douglas College and studying, Avril has only a little time left over to indulge in her interest in sleep. Her family is very supportive, perhaps to a fault, always praising her for playing well, even during those times when Avril knows she could have played better. A gifted scorer at SFU (attested by Google), Avril still scores goals, and brings to the Royals a cool self-assurance from her success at the university level, but her skills as a playmaker have made her an ideal midfielder for the DC team. Avril directs the attack—her defensive game is a self-admitted work-in-progress—distributing the ball to the right player at the right time, operating with surgical precision, dissecting the opposition with such acuity that her coach claims, “Avril can score when she wants to.” After the Royals’ season, Avril will rejoin her club team (PoCo) in the premier women’s soccer league, and will go up against some of the players who recently proved in Edmonton that Canadian women’s soccer is world class. As a nurse, Avril could go where she is most highly valued, and possibly play professional soccer in the US. Avril is focused on helping the Royals make the provincials this year in Kelowna on the last weekend of October, but the BCCAA league is extremely competitive this year and the Royals have had more than their share of bad bounces and near misses. The the top team in the league standings, the Langara Falcons, in the first game of a dou bleheader on the last weekend of the regular season. Fortunately, the Royals season w not riding on the result of the game; the team had already made the playoffs. With hi substitute line-up on the field, Coach Joe Ormerod anticipated a tough game, but i quickly went worse than expected. A Langara shot on goal bounced up over the bar and into the netting on top, befor dropping down. The linesman saw what happened and the referee was not far from th goal, but what happened next decided the game. On sheer speculation, a Falcon struc the ball into the net. The referee allowed the “goal” to stand, in spite of his linesman’ indication that it had not been a goal. On behalf of his team, Coach Ormerod chal lenged the referee's interpretation, and asked him to consult the linesman. “How coul you miss that?” the coach shouted across to the referee. Now he had the official’s atten tion. The referee ran over, waving his hand dismissively, “You're out. Get out.” In effect, Coach Ormerod was red-carded, for “abusive language,” although the ref, eree revised his written report after the game to note that “no profanity was heard.” Th coach clearly burned to protest, but put on his coat, his face dark and eyes smoulder ing with frustration, and took the long walk alone away from his team, off the field. Assistant Coach Shane Ramsey took over for the rest of the game and did what h could keep the Royals in the game, but Douglas was done-in by two more goals in th first half. From there, the Royals played hard, but failed to score. The game ended, 3— for Langara. Coach Ormerod will miss the final regular season game, also agains Langara. No doubt he is already planning for the provincials next weekend in Kelowna Most of his regulars will be back in action for the provincials, but Matthew Ormerod’ injury will force him to miss the most important game of the season.