After a competitive selection process which displayed the exceptional level of talent and commitment of many of our young BC athletes, Team BC for the 2013 Western Canada Team Championships was selected as the following:
Coach - Thushan De Silva
Manager - Phyllis Chan
U14 – Ruiqi He, Jodi Fei, John Tam, and Steven Lu
First Alternates – Arianna Auyeung and Jonah Lee
U16 – Dora Chien, Jasmine Li, Antonio Li, and Jeffrey So
First Alternates – Kylie Cheng and Felix Law
Click "Read more" below for a full Team BC event summary from Manager, Phyllis Chan.
At 6:20pm Pacific Time on January 10th, 2013, Team BC left the beautiful city of Vancouver to head to Saskatoon for the Western Canada Team Championship. Nothing could have prepared the team for their late night arrival in the land of snow. The team was bombarded by cold winds and snow as we walked around the deserted airport rental lot searching for our designated cars. Everyone was very tired by the
time we were able to retire to our rooms at the Ramada.
The next day proceeded smoothly as everyone adjusted to the life of moving as a pack. Team BC, renamed Team Bacon due to the tantalizing smell of bacon wafting from the kitchen, played Manitoba in the afternoon and pulled off an astounding win of 14-0. On Saturday morning, the team was up and awake for their early match against Alberta at 9am. The team lost the tie with the close score of 6-8. Later that afternoon, they triumphed over Saskatchewan and qualified to replay Alberta for the gold on Sunday.
On day of the team finals, things were heating up between Alberta and Team Bacon (BC). Team cheers of 'Do it for the bacon!' roused those on the court to play harder than they have ever played before. Unfortunately despite everyone's best efforts, Team Bacon lost to Alberta with a score of 10-4 with many matches playing to three sets. Team BC was awarded silver for their hard work.
Thushan De Silva, coach of the team, would like to commend all of the players for their spirit and is very proud of everyone's performance. He would also like to thank the players' coaches and parents for their
continued support and Phyllis Chan (myself), manager, for her work this weekend.
Highlights of the weekend include John Tam and Jodi Fei's singles matches against Alberta. Whether they were leading or a few points behind, they never stopped fighting for themselves and the team. I also want to praise Ruiqi He and Jodi Fei's fantastically synchronized warcry for doubles. It was absolutely amazing to see the normally quiet and reserved Ruiqi step up her game. I hope she will continue to do so in the future. Not to be outdone, Dora Chien, Steven Lu, and Jasmine Li were the steady anchors of the team with their consistent performance. Throughout the weekend, they provided the team with crucial points that guaranteed at least a silver for BC. Lastly but not the least, Jeffrey So and Antonio Li played very well against the top two players in Alberta and must be credited with the best attitude and humour on and off the court.
This weekend has been full of ups and downs and the team has stuck together the entire time. Throughout the weekend, many memories and friendships have been made. Poor Antonio will be called 'Fat Tony' by me for a while and I will continue to hold a grudge against Jeffrey So for lying to me during Big 2. Feel free to ask anyone from the team about their stories and their experiences from representing BC at the Western Canada Team Championship. I am sure their stories will make you laugh at least once. To the team, take care and keep training hard.
Until next time,
Phyllis Chan