By Howard Tsumura
The Vancouver Province
SOCCER
VANCOUVER — Nothing stings like a championship final loss, and North Vancouver’s Handsworth Royals are playing like they want to put it behind them.
B.C.’s No. 1-ranked Triple A girls soccer team, losers last season to South Delta in the B.C. final, got goals from seniors Tori Swanson, Lana Rockhill and Rachel Sawer on Saturday to beat Oak Bay 3-0 in the championship final of the University of Victoria Classic.
“They are hungry right now,” said Handsworth head coach Michelle Pye. “They really want it.”
Handsworth outscored its foes 16-1 in winning all five of its games at UVic. It took a 4-0 league record into its Wednesday match against the Sutherland Sabres.
The Subway B.C. Triple A championships run May 28-30 at South Delta Secondary in Tsawwassen.
RANKINGS
SOCCER
SENIOR GIRLS
TRIPLE A
1. Handsworth Royals (North Vancouver) (LW-1)
2. Fleetwood Park Dragons (Surrey) (3)
3. Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils (Coquitlam) (5)
4. Argyle Pipers (North Vancouver) (6)
5. R.A. McMath Wildcats (Richmond) (7)
6. Reynolds Roadrunners (Victoria) (4)
7. Elgin Park Orcas (Surrey) (NR)
8. Fraser Heights Firehawks (Surrey)
9. Centennial Centaurs (Coquitlam) (2)
10. Burnaby North Vikings
HM — Oak Bay Breakers (Victoria) (8), Heritage Woods Kodiaks (Port Moody), Salmon Arm Jewels (9), Chilliwack Storm, Stelly’s Stingers (Victoria)
RUGBY
It’s a one-month countdown to the start of the B.C. boys rugby championships.
“But I don’t look too far ahead,” said Tim Murdy, head coach of the No. 1-ranked Shawnigan Lake Stags. “We have some big games before then and they will be good tests for us to see how we respond under pressure.”
The Stags get two of their top Vancouver Island rivals over the next week.
Today (4:15 p.m.) they are in Courtenay to face the G.P. Vanier Towhees, then on May 1 they play host to No. 1-ranked Double A power Brentwood College in a 6:15 p.m. match that will be one of their sternest tests of the season.
Led by fly half Carlin Hamstra and inside centre and team captain Tye Hamblin, the Stags recently returned from a four-game tour of Ireland and Wales. The team opened with a win over Bangor Grammar in Belfast, dropped matches to Newpark in Dublin and St. Gerard’s in Bray before heading to Wales and beating Plasmawr in Cardiff.
“It was an opportunity for the boys to be in a rugby culture and be somewhere where rugby is on TV all the time,” said Murdy, who also took the team to see the Ireland-Wales Six Nations’ test. “Those are all opportunities that are not here.”
The opening round of the B.C. championships is May 23. The main portion of the provincial tourney then runs at UBC from May 27-30.
RUGBY
BOYS
TRIPLE A
1. Shawnigan Lake Stags (1)
2. Carson Graham Eagles (North Vancouver) (2)
3. St. George’s Saints (Vancouver) (4)
4. St. Michaels University School Blue Jags (Victoria) (3)
5. South Delta Sun Devils (5)
6. Earl Marriott Mariners (Surrey) (6)
7. G.P. Vanier Towhees (Courtenay) (8)
8. W.J. Mouat Hawks (Abbotsford) (HM)
9. Kitsilano Blue Demons (Vancouver)
10. Oak Bay Bays (Victoria) (7)
Honourable Mention — Kelowna Owls, Port Moody Blues (9), Rick Hansen Hurricanes (Abbotsford), Robert Bateman Timberwolves (Abbotsford)
AA
1. Brentwood College (Mill Bay) (1)
2. Rockridge Ravens (West Vancouver) (2)
3. Hugh McRoberts Strikers (Richmond) (3)
4. Collingwood Cavaliers (West Vancouver) (4)
5. Ladysmith 49ers (5)
6. Heritage Park Highlanders (Mission) (6)
7. Kalamalka Lakers (Vernon) (7)
8. Clayton Heights Knight Riders (Surrey) (8)
9. Esquimalt Dockers (Victoria) (9)
10. Williams Lake Thunder (10)
TRACK AND FIELD
Two of B.C.’s top high school programs get set to square off for the fourth straight season on Wednesday.
Victoria’s reigning champion and No.-1 ranked Oak Bay Bays will be at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium for a dual meet with Vancouver’s all-boys power, the No. 3-ranked St. George’s Saints. The Oak Bay girls will be opposed by various Vancouver Independent League athletes. The April 29 meet begins at 1 p.m.
As well, the South Fraser Track and Field Club plays host to the Fraser Valley High School Invitational all day Saturday at Bear Creek Park in Surrey.
TRACK AND FIELD
1. Oak Bay Bays (Victoria)
2. Brookswood Bobcats (Langley)
3. Walnut Grove Gators (Langley)
4. St. George’s Saints (Vancouver)
5. Vancouver College Fighting Irish
BASKETBALL
If you want to take the plunge and become a high school basketball coach next season, now is the time to set the wheels in motion.
Basketball B.C. will be holding a National Coaching Certification Program clinic entitled ‘Introduction to Competition’ on May 2-3 which covers all the questions that come with guiding a team of young athletes.
The clinic is being held at Heritage Woods Secondary School in Port Moody. To get more information or register, contact Mike McNeill at 604-718-7490. Registration can also be done on-line by looking for the NCCP Coaching Clinics link at http://www.basketball.bc.ca.
