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Squamish Cougars win three in a row The Squamish Cougars won three games in a row this past weekend, including two games against the league’s top teams, to even their record at 8-8-0 — compensating for a slow start to a season.

Squamish Cougars win three in a row

The Squamish Cougars won three games in a row this past weekend, including two games against the league’s top teams, to even their record at 8-8-0 — compensating for a slow start to a season.

At one point the Cougars were just 1-5-0 in the standings, but started to rally in week four. The schedule includes 42 regular season games.

Last week they defeated the Armstrong Sharks 3-1 on Thursday, beat the top-ranked New Westminster Whalers 11-3 at home on Friday, and toppled the Lumby Fighting Saints 4-1 at home on Saturday.

Whistler’s Troy McLean, the Cougars’ captain, picked up two assists over the weekend to bring his point tally to 15.

The Cougars are on the road this weekend, playing just one game against New Westminster on Sunday afternoon.

 

Endurance athletes talk Primal Quest, Ironman

On Wednesday, Nov. 15, Sea to Sky endurance athletes Gary Robbins (Primal Quest, MOMAR adventure racing series) and Marie-Anne Prevost (Ironman World Championships) will give a presentation on their experiences.

The show, which will include slides and stories, will take place at Myrtle Philip Community Centre from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Admission is by donation.

As well as presentations from Robbins and Prevost, local endurance clubs and programs will be on hand to provide information to people looking to get into racing.

Robbins was part of a Mind Over Mountain adventure racing team, along with Whistler’s Mark Fearman, that took part in the 2006 Primal Quest adventure race. The competition was one of the hardest yet, set in Utah with temperatures climbing into the 40s Celsius, and numerous teams pulled out with heat-related illnesses and injuries.

Prevost placed second in her category at an Ironman in Idaho this year, her first ever, qualifying for the world championships in Hawaii this October. She finished 25 th in her age category at the championships.

 

Spud Valley Nordics host AGM, gear swap

The Spud Valley Nordics, Pemberton’s cross-country club, is hosting its annual general meeting and ski swap on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at the Pemberton Community Centre.

The ski swap starts at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting at 7 p.m. One person who comes out to take part will win a cross-country package that includes skis, boots and poles.

 

WMSC presents Dinner with Legends

The Whistler Mountain Ski Club is hosting its annual Dinner with Legends on Nov. 17 at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel in Vancouver, raising money for club programs and travel.

The ski personalities that will be present this year include Steve Podborski (1982 World Cup downhill champion, 1980 Olympic bronze medalist), Kathy Kreiner (1976 Olympic gold medal, giant slalom), Willy Raine (1992 Olympic competitor), Hilary Lindh (1997 world champion), Brian Bennett (Pontiac GMC Cup champion), Phil Chew (three time Paralympian), Rick Lewon (Japan Pro Ski Champion), Tom Prochazka (Dave Murray student), Rob Boyd (World Cup downhill winner), and Canadian Alpine Ski Team alumni Bob Styan, Andree Janyk, Chris Kent, Rob Safrata and Jeff Hume.

The evening includes a silent auction and live auction with over 110 items, dinner at the hotel and dancing with Vancouver’s The Retainers.

Tickets are $99, and are available by calling the Whistler Mountain Ski Club at 604-932-4644 or by emailing tickets@wmsc.info . There is also an online order form at www.whistlermountainskiclub.com .

Special rates at the hotel are available to ticket holders.

 

General Motors signs new deal with Alpine Canada

General Motors of Canada has inked a new deal with Alpine Canada that extends their sponsorship of the national ski team and Pontiac GMC Cup series through 2011. GM has been a headline sponsor of Alpine Canada for almost 40 years.

According to Ken Read, chief executive officer at Alpine Canada, “As our Platinum level partner, General Motors’ commitment is critical to our goal of becoming a world leading alpine racing country by 2010. The renewal of their partnership for five more years provides innovative technical and financial resources our athletes need to win.”

GM will also continue to sponsor the national Pontiac GMC series, which consists of 32 races in four provinces, with east and west divisions, as well as the national championships.

The value of the sponsorship was not announced.

In the same week, Northwest Mutual Funds joined Alpine Canada as a partner for the 2006-07 season, providing funds to the team while taking over as the title sponsor for seven Canadian Nor-Am Cup races. The agreement is multi-year, but otherwise the details have yet to be released.

Currently Alpine Canada has 13 official sponsors. GM is the only platinum level sponsor. There are five summit sponsors, and seven champion partners. Northwest Mutual Fund will be a champion partner.

 

Canada Post continues to back freestyle team

For the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team, once again the cheque is in the mail. Last week the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association and Canada Post inked a sponsorship agreement that extends the postal service’s support of the team through 2012, two years after Canada hosts the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The deal is worth $1 million a year, which will go towards coaching, travel, accommodation and other training and competition expenses. Canada Post will also become the title sponsor for a series of international, North American and national events taking place over the next few years, and that will be billed as the “Canada Post Freestyle Frenzy.”

Canada has cemented its position as one of the top freestyle nations in the world over the past two seasons, winning the overall Nations Cup in 2004-05, and placing a close second in 2005-06 — a year when many of the top athletes from the previous year were sidelined with injuries.

The new sponsorship agreement was announced at a news conference in Montreal, along with a new logo that depicts a pair of skis overlaid with the Canada Post logo.

 

Legacies Now kicks in $2 million for coaching

Canadian coaches have been in the spotlight more and more recently, with new funding coming from everywhere; from the federal government to Petro Canada to the B.C. Lottery Corporation — recognizing at last the contribution that good coaching makes to the success of athletes, and the fact that coaching is a career as much as a calling.

The latest round of coach appreciation comes from the 2010 Legacies Now society, which has announced more than $2 million in additional coaching and athlete support.

The money will go to more than 30 sports, based on the Integrated Performance System adopted by Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee, which directs funds to the athletes and sports that have the best chance of winning medals.

“International best-practices indicate that a successful system must target sports and athletes with a good probability of success, providing concentrated coaching and technical support to those sports and athletes,” said Scott Braley, executive director for sport and recreation at Legacies Now.

“We’ve taken the national targeted sport strategy and applied it with a B.C. set of priorities, which will result in better performances at all levels.”

So far 26 of 30 full time provincial coaches have been hired and are working within the selected sport organizations. The new Legacies Now funding will support those coaches, and enable PacificSport to hire three sport performance directors to assist the chosen sports with technical planning and coach development. SportsMed B.C. also received funding.

The $2.02 million investment includes:

• $800,000 for 20 full-time provincial coaches, matched by the national sport organization and provincial sport organization by up to another $40,000 per coach.

• $600,000 for 60 part-time region coaches for priority sports, or $10,000 per coach. The money will be matched by national sport organizations, provincial sport organizations, and clubs for a total of $20,000 per coach.

• $200,000 for 10 full-time provincial performance coaches, matched by provincial sport organizations for $40,000 per coach. Each sport is also eligible for an average of two regional centre coaches.

• $200,000 for 20 part-time regional coaches for performance sports, or $10,000 per coach, matched by the provincial sport organization and local clubs.

• $160,000 for up to 16 regional coach “wildcard” positions — available through PacificSport and Legacies Now to assist other coaches.

• $60,000 for professional development for coaches.

The list of sports that qualify for the funding includes alpine skiing, para-alpine skiing, athletics, biathlon, badminton, basketball, canoe/kayak, cross country skiing, curling, cycling, diving, field hockey, figure skating, freestyle skiing, gymnastics, women’s hockey, rowing, rugby, sailing, snowboarding, speed skating, synchronized swimming, swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair sports (athletics, rugby and tennis), and wrestling.

 

For the Record

In our story last week about the La Ruta de los Conquistadores bike race in Costa Rica we overlooked one local rider, Pemberton’s Greg McDougall. McDougall raced in the Veteran’s 50-plus category, where he placed sixth. Only seven out of 28 starters in his age category made it to the finish, with the heat and exertion knocking over 300 riders out of the race. We apologize for the omission.