-& Sats New coach for women’s soccer By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor program revealed their new coach after several weeks of speculation over the winter holidays, and Ciaran McMahon is the man charged with the task of trying to lead the Royals on the path back to respectability. ; The Royals endured a difficult season in 2009 where the young team finished tied for last in Pool A in the BCCAA standings, managed just four wins over the course of the 12 game schedule, failed to qualify for the provincials championships and were largely overshadowed by the success of the men’s team, which won provincials and competed at nationals in Ottawa. With the departure of former head coach Randy Taylor, McMahon will look to settle things in the upcoming year. “T hear that he comes in with a lot of experience,” says sports science professor and golf team head Coach Gert van Niekerk. Experience is certainly something that McMahon has in spades, and he brings a winning pedigree to a program that is desperately trying to get back on track. In addition to his coaching duties with Douglas, McMahon T= Douglas College Royals women’s soccer is also the general manager of the USL Super Y League’s Coastal WFC. He also knows how to win championships. This past season McMahon helmed the U16 Coastal girls squad to the 2009 North American Y League title. McMahon has been coaching professionally for over 15 years and attended UBC in his youth, where he obtained a double bachelor’s degree in education and mechanical engineering. “Douglas College is very fortunate to have Ciaran McMahon join our Royals coaching staff and we are confident that he will ensure an elite-competitive “Right now I’m just taking stock of where exactly the team is at and focusing on recruitment. | can say that this will be a professional program and that commitment will have to be high. The onus is going to be on them to perform and on me to get them to perform.” —Royals’ new coach Ciaran McMahon on rebounding from a disappointing 2009 season atmosphere that will permit student-athlete success both in the classroom and on the field and will enhance the student experience,” director of athletics and campus life Dean Howie said in a press release at the announcement of McMahon’s hiring. During an interview with The Other Press, McMahon was charged up about his hiring committed to getting the Royals back into a winning state of mind. “Absolutely, I’m really excited about it [the hiring]. It’s an excellent opportunity for me. They show a ton of potential and I’ve heard a lot about them. My brother plays on the men’s team and so I’ve heard a bit about them.” The new coach said. On the team’s less than stellar finish in the standings last year, McMahon stressed the importance of creating a winning environment. “Right now I’m just taking stock of where exactly the team is at and focusing on recruitment. I can say that this will be a professional program and that commitment will have to be high. The onus is going to be on them to perform and on me to get them to perform. “It’s exciting on my part to be involved and to be with someone like Dean Howie, who has just created a really great environment. There will a level of commitment that maybe wasn’t always there before.” No matter how poorly the team performed last season, McMahon’s hiring has to be treated with a degree of enthusiasm. Anything is an improvement from last year, and with a steady hand in place to guide the team, things are indeed looking up the Royals. Say hello to the bad guy Which UFC superstar should headline the first event in Vancouver? By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor ith the path finally clear for UFC to make it’s \ \ / way to Vancouver, thanks to an at last logical decision from city council, rumours have been swirling as to just who will be headlining the card when Dana White’s wildly successful promotion makes it’s Western Canadian debut in June. The most prominent of those names being bandied about—and also the most credible if you subscribe to Vancouver sports talk radio—is that UFC’s resident powerhouse and undisputed heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will defend his title for the first time. Lesnar won the belt from Frank Mir back in July at the UFC 100 extravaganza, but since then has been stricken with a case of diverticulitis, a common digestive disease, and has therefore been unable to defend the UFC World Title, despite several attempts at rescheduling. UFC has been fighting to land an event in B.C. for after his UFC 100 victory. After knocking out Mir, a charged up Lesnar, clearly channelling the showmanship spawned of his old WWE days, proceeded to taunt his fallen foe, flipped off the incensed crowd, buried UFC’s sponsor and then told the media just what he planned to do with his wife later that night. Now, regardless of what you think of Lesnar, and there’s little doubt that he isn’t exactly Wayne Gretzky in the sportsmanship department, there’s no question that the man gets people talking. He’s a marketing machine that a whole company can be built around. Just consider how diverse and varied his athletic background is. It reads like something out of an action movie: a fabulous four year NCAA career with the University of Minnesota where he was a two time All-American and a national champion in wrestling with 106 total victories and just five losses; a superstar run with Vince McMahon’s WWE that saw him rise to the top of the company as it’s world champion and a Wrestlemania headliner in years now just two years; a and with memorable pre- the legal “What is safe to say though is that if anyone can make an impact season with the hurdles when UFC finally does come to GM Place, it’s Brock Lesnar.” NFL's Minnesota finally Vikings that saw cleared him just fall short up, there’s no doubt that White will want to put on one hell of a show and prove to everyone here who doubted him just what UFC is all about. While nothing is set in stone, Lesnar is tentatively set to return and be fully recovered around that time. What is safe to say though is that if anyone can make an impact when UFC finally does come to GM Place, it’s Brock Lesnar. Despite his relatively short MMaA career so far, he’s already established himself as one of the sporting world’s most controversial figures 18 as a final cut and now an already storied UFC career that has seen him become the company’s cornerstone and world champion in just over a year. Plain and simple, that’s an amazing athlete, and he’s still just 32 years old. With all of that history, coupled with a bombastic personality and a love of both the camera and the microphone, this is a guy who can draw money, who can draw fans and can convince people to buy tickets, pay- per-views and merchandise. Sure, he may be a jerk but it may all be an act; after all, Lesnar is a former Vince McMahon protégé, and who creates larger-than-life characters better than Vince? Now, the other name being thrown around is Canadian, and UFC Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre, who would also be a massive hit here in Vancouver. Who would be better suited to headline Vancouver? I think most would say St. Pierre, but I’d go with Lesnar. Who knows though; come June, we just might get to see both.