Do athletes have
time for love?

» Busy lives and conflicting schedules
create bumpy relationships

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

W: all enjoy watching
athletes perform. It has,
since the age of the Greeks,
been the go-to source of
entertainment. However, we
often overlook the amount of
time and effort that athletes
put forward to prepare
themselves.

Professional athletes can
often put 40 hours of work
a week into practicing and
preparing to play. For many
of them, their sport becomes
their life. This, on top of time
spent travelling, means that
athletes often have very little
time in their lives for things
other than their sport.

That being said, we
see many athletes entering
committed relationships
constantly. It’s only fair to ask,
do athletes have the time to
bein a long-term committed
relationship? In my opinion,
they don't.

Athletes are constantly
on the move, literally and
figuratively. Professional
players are always at risk of
being traded away to a new
city, or not being re-signed by
the team they are currently
with. How can that sort of
uncertainty be healthy fora
relationship?

Place yourself in the shoes
of the significant other of a
professional league athlete.
One day, out of the blue, you’re
told that your partner has just

: been sent across the country.

: You can uproot your life and

: follow them, or you can stay

: put and cope with only seeing
: you partner a few times during
: the regular season. How does

: that sound remotely close to

: fair?

For amateur athletes,

: the fear of a sudden move

: is nonexistent, though the

: financial compensation is

: nonexistent as well. However,
: this doesn’t stop most from

: training just as long and as

: hard.

Both types of committed

: athletes can travel a fair deal

: for their sports. The time spent
: trekking across the country,

: and in some cases, the world,

: can become quite the burden

: for those seeking a long-term

: connection. In some cases, pro
: athletes can spend upwards

: toa month away from their

: loved ones. This puts an

: unbelievable strain on the

: relationship and could very

: reasonably, be the reason for

: a split.

Nonetheless, I suppose

: that love is love. The cliché

: is that if you love someone

: enough, that is all that

: matters, While others, like

: myself, cannot understand

: how the significant others

: deal with the distance and

: pressure, there are people

: who can. While these sorts of

: relationships are undoubtedly
: unhealthy, so is junk food, but
: we tend to disregard that fact

: fairly often.

Player of the Week

» Women’s basketball’s Amber Beasley

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

his week’s OP Player of the

Week is Amber Beasley of
the women’s basketball team.
Her amazing effort in Friday’s
comeback against Capilano saw
her playing nearly 21 minutes and
contributing a total of 18 points.
She shot 5-9 (55.5 per cent) from
the field and converted on 6 out
of 10 free throws (60 per cent).
Defensively, she picked up 4
rebounds and 1 steal to help her
team hold their fourth quarter
lead. Beasley demonstrated great
composure and helped her team
rally back from an early deficit.

Amber Beasley

Image via www.douglascollegeroyals.ca

Royals Preview

» A look at this week's matchups

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

fter possibly the biggest two

weeks of the regular season
for both basketball and volleyball,
both teams are looking at an easy
week heading into the reading
break. Here’s a look at this week’s
games.

Men’s Basketball:

The men have a good practice
week coming up. They will travel
on the road to visit the Kwantlen
Eagles (KPU) and the Columbia
Bible College Bearcats (CBC).
After last week’s game, the men
are looking to repeat their efforts.
The rout against Capilano last
week, and Camosun the week
before that, was impressive, but
these are the games that the men
need to win.

In order to be able to
compete against good teams,
you need to be able to beat the
bad teams—that is exactly what
CBC and KPU are. KPU is sitting
at the bottom of the conference
and have yet to win a game, while
CBC has only won 2 games out of
14. The Royals need the points to
move higher up in the standings,

 

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—

: but more importantly, prove
: to themselves that the last two
: weeks were not flukes.

The last time these teams

: came to visit, the Royals crushed
: them. Expect the same results,
: except this time, on their courts.

Women’s Basketball:
The women also have a good

: practice opportunity coming
: up against the Eagles and the
: Bearcats this week. KPU’s women:
: team is also winless in14 games, :
: while CBC is doing slightly better. :
: : teams met. Instead, CBC ended

: up taking a game off the Royals

: Inaconvincing, yet tight fashion.
: With the team’s current losing

The last time these teams

: met up, the Royals blew right

: through them on their way the
way to the top. This week, I

: wouldn't be surprised to see a few :
: bench players getting the start

: in lieu of the regular starters.

: Regardless, this week should end
: with the Royals extending their

: streak to 14 wins.

Men’s Volleyball:
The men are in desperate

: need of a rest week. The last

: couple of weeks has pushed

: the team to the edge in terms

: of depth. They played a total of
: 19/20 possible sets in the last

: two weeks. This week, they play
: the CBC Bearcats at home. The

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: matchup should be much easier
: for them than the last two weeks.

The last time these two

: teams met, it was nowhere near

: close. The Royals destroyed the

: Bearcats in a methodical fashion.
: This week should be more or

: less the same. However, look for

: coach Hudson to play some of his
: less experienced players and rest

: some of the veterans.

Women’s Volleyball:
This should have been an
easy matchup the last time these

streak, this matchup will show

: what the team is made of.

On paper, these two games

: should be easy for the Royals.

: But, no doubt, the Bearcats are

: aiming for yet another upset.

: Whether or not the team has

: bounced back from the losses

: on the island will be such an

: important factor coming into this
> week.

The Royals want all the

: momentum they can get before
: the playoffs at the end of the
> month.

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Photo by Davie Wong