Author Archives: Scheila Masinda

Coming from the sprint legend himself, Canada’s De Grasse is the guy to beat

Posted on by
Reply

With Lamont Marcell Jacobs being the 100 meters Olympic champion now, it doesn’t seem to really matter with Andre De Grasse being the man to watch out for and that will likely put his stamp on the men’s sprints say’s Usain Bolt. With De Grasse taking silver in the Tokyo Olympics his consistently is what makes him the front runner to dominate the sport of sprint. He won gold for the 200m, but he has 10 Olympic and world champion medals. He has been on Bolts radar since he finished runner up to him in the 100m at the 2016 Rio Games.

During the 200m semi-finals, at the Summer Olympics 2016, the two athletes, Andre, and Bolt, shared an unforgettable moment. Even though they were engaged in a highly intense battle for the first place, they looked at each other and smiled. The candid moment was captured and turned into one of the most iconic Olympic pictures in the event’s history.

Bolt says “”Andre De Grasse is more consistent any time he is in shape he is always on the podium,” Bolt told Reuters. “So, if that continues this line, he would be the guy to watch, or he will be the guy to beat. “Everyone else has been up and down, win one meet lose the next and it is all about consistency.” When De Grasse crossed the line, he knew he had won gold, for the 200m sprint in Tokyo. He say’s “When I looked up at the scoreboard the camera was on me, and I knew I did it. I was just so proud of myself,” he said. “It feels amazing. Won the gold. Had a personal best. I couldn’t have asked for more. This was the race of my life,” “I’m so happy. I’m so proud of myself. I finally got it done. I’ve been working hard for this moment for the past five years.”

 

With his hard work, dedication, and humility towards the sport and just the willingness of smiling and having fun while doing it shows that he meant to be doing what he is doing. Once he gets that Gold maybe they will be no stopping him after especially if it’s coming from a winner itself.

 

 

 

 

The Canadian men’s soccer team is looking more like a World Cup team

Posted on by
Reply

It seems like Canada is in a great position to qualify but they still work to be doneThe Canadian men’s soccer team’s 4-1 victory against Panama World Cup qualifier in Toronto was conclusive and exciting on many levels for the fans watching.

To begin this has kept Canada undefeated through six of its 14 matches in the final stage of regional qualifying. They have two wins and four draws, and Canada is sitting in third place in the eight-team CONCACAF group (comprised of teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean). The best three teams after this round are set to receive a ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The fourth-place team gets another chance through an intercontinental playoff matchup. Canada’s two toughest-looking matches is Mexico and at the United States are already in the back of their minds, with Canada earning a 1-1 draw in both. So, with them nearing the halfway point of the final round, the Canadian men have been in a great position to qualify for their first World Cup since 1986.

The next World Cup qualifying is in mid-November, and Canada will host Costa Rica that are currently in fifth place on Nov. 12 and first-place Mexico on Nov. 16. Both matches will be at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, where the cold weather could possibly give Canada some little chance against its opponents from the warmer side.  With Canada’s home-field advantage that should continue to play a bigger role for them and their confidence. It seems like the crowed in Toronto see that the team has potential.

After such a long time of not having a Canadian team qualify for the World Cup it would be nice for us to even just have a chance to be in the running again. This shows that maybe we are closer to seeing the Canadian man make a mark for themselves, their country and for their fans.

 

 

Davie’s stellar solo effort is sending Canada to World Cup qualifier, and being compared to Sinclair

Posted on by
Reply

Soccer player Alphonso Davie’s remarkable goal is the 2nd half is what turned the tables around. Alphonso Davies delivered, the goal showcased his speed, acceleration, flair and not many people seem like they can score a goal like that. It seems like it got the Canadian rapper Drake’s attention since he has asked him if they can meet.

Canada greatly needed the win to climb back over top of Panama and build momentum going into next month when it plays a tricky pair of home games against table-toppers Mexico and Costa Rica. The occasion called for the Canadians to step up in a big way and they didn’t disappoint.

It seems like everyone wants a part of Davies these days, and it’s for good reasons, he has been compared to Christine Sinclair. He has gotten some accolades from his teammates and Coach Herdman, who said Davies’ skills and leadership reminded him of the greatest Canadian soccer player of all time and he should know, he coached her, too.  Herman also says that when Davies speaks people listen. So, people that really shows off his confidence and that he knows what he is doing.

Davies says, “I started picking up pace and after that, I just committed to it,” Davies said. “He’s a bigger body than me, so I knew he was going to come with his body, so I tried to slow down to avoid contact and try to keep the ball in. When I did that, it was a two against one and I tried to look for Buchanan, but I beat Escobar and in my mind, I was, ‘Just shoot the ball.’ “So, I shot the ball across the ‘keeper and I’m happy that it went in.”

So with him making great efforts to always being the best and making sure that his team feels supported by him and also being compared to a top legend like Sinclair definitely shows that he is just starting to do his big things, and we just have to wait to see where his potential will hit.

Canada’s Olympic Women soccer team set for Celebration Tour

Posted on by
Reply

All members of Canada’s Olympic champion women’s soccer team will take part in the celebration Tour. Canada soccer has confirmed Tuesday that captain Christine Sinclair and all other players on the team that won Gold in Tokyo this summer. This tour is important because the group deserves to share the moment with their fans. Coach Bev say’s they are all excited to get back on the pitch together and celebrate with the fans.

Canada is ranked now sixth in the world compared to number 23 for New Zealand.  Canadian women will play their first official matches next July at the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship.

Canada and New Zealand have faced before at the last two World Cups. Both teams played to a scoreless draw in Edmonton in 2015 and Canada won 2-0 in Grenoble France in 2019.Canada won 3-0 the last time they met at a tournament in China November 2019. Coach Bev says it’s important for them to take the opportunity for them to assess and build for the future by taking a look some newer players and asses’ players they know are in different positions around the training environment as they start their journey for the FIFA Women’s World cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 and the Olympic games in 2024.

She has also invited: Marie Levasseur from France’s Fleury FC, Victoria Pickett from the NWSL’s Kansas City team, Jade Rose from Harvard University, and Nikayla Small from Wake Forest University.

They will start off their tour on the 23rd of October at TD place in Ottawa.

If the Canadian Women were able to win Gold this Olympic in Tokyo we should really believe that they can do it again. Now if they are able to add some great assets to their team a long the way that will be great for them. It will just make it extra wonderful to win

The Salish Storm is making hockey accessible for Indigenous kids in Nanaimo.

Posted on by
Reply

Indigenous kids from Vancouver Island will be geared up and hitting the ice rink in prime time in this winter because of the support of the city of Nanaimo community sponsors and volunteers. The Salish Storm an organization that volunteers with Kw’umut Lelum Child and Family Services that are dedicated to making hockey more accessible to Indigenous you on Vancouver Island. In the winter they will be at the Frank Crane Arena Wednesday at 5 p.m. With the rising cost it has made it very costly for people to enjoy the beloved sport of hockey since it’s becoming so inaccessible for many children and communities.  The gear, high transportation costs and inconvenient ice times are challenges for many families.

If you want to play the sport of hockey it is anywhere between 400-500 to suit up says volunteer Coach Harris. Lucky for some sponsors have stepped in and are supporting the team and the cost of some gear and the coaches are volunteering their time. Harris who is from the Stz’uminus First Nation says landing the coveted time slot is at the massive arena is like waking up on Christmas morning. But he says that it’s not about training the next Carey Price as it is about developing the other kind of skills and bonds. It’s about giving them something to do, pushing themselves, learning something, socializing, making new friends, building self-esteem, and knowing that they have people out there that really do care about them. “Hockey is basically just a vehicle to get all the stuff that were wanting” Harris. The kids have received a warm reception, it takes a community to help raise kids and they are definitely seeing that there in the city of Nanaimo and seeing that support for their program.

It is nice for the children to find a place they can find some refuge in and just escape from their everyday and enjoy time with their friends and those that surround them with love.

Asisat Oshoala

Posted on by
Reply

How an African soccer superstar’s grandmother’s belief help her takeoff.

The Barcelona striker superstar Asisat Oshoala was born in Nigeria in the city of Ikorudu. Growing up she never got to wear a jersey with a female player’s name at the back, and now when she goes home to Nigeria people have a lot of Barcelona jersey with her name on it.

She has been on quite a journey, she talks about the African spirit and what she poses, she does things with honesty, passion, and humility. She says, “No matter the height you get too in life, you have to always remember where you come from”. Her past is a big part of her grounding mechanism. She say’s we’ve always been a people who fight for everything and are ready to sacrifice. When growing up she as a child saw that gender roles were really apparent and coming from a Muslim and polygamist family. She quickly realized that soccer was a source of escapism but also a challenge to the establishment. She had to hide to concoct stories about where she was. The one who truly believed in the possibility of an opportunity was her grandmother, when others doubted her ability, it was her who preached with wisdom and calmness.


She would tell her “Be a good and a nice person, be respectful and be disciplined”. Those ideas and beliefs are what is at the forefront of Oshoala’s mind every time she takes to the pitch. She says “ “I never had the dream of becoming a professional soccer player, and looking at where I am today, I mean, I’m really happy for what I’ve actually done for myself so far.” “The spirit of always wanting more, the spirit of not giving up is one thing that pushes me a lot.”

She has gone far with this mentality and it’s great to have had great wisdom from her grandmother to help her push so far.

How has the WNBA has come a long way in 25 years?

Posted on by
Reply

It’s looking like a brighter future for the league’s silver anniversary season soon.

The WNBA’s 25th season will tip-off tonight. In 2020 due to the pandemic the regular season was cut to only 22 games and played sequestered, and in a fanless environment in Florida. The same thing for the playoffs that capped things off with players Breanna Steward and Sue Bird.

 

All 12 teams are back playing in their home cities, and at least some fans will be in attendance everywhere. The schedule is 32 games — two less than normal, but not because of the pandemic. There’s a break from July 15-Aug. 11 to allow players to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. The WNBA is also welcoming back several players who chose to opt-out of last season either because of coronavirus concerns or to devote more time to social-justice causes. In 2020 the No. 1 overall draft pick Sabrina Ionescu returns from an ankle injury that cut her exciting rookie season to just three games.

The most important growth the WNBA has gone through is the player pay and benefits. In 1997, salaries ranged from $15,000-$50,000 US, and the players had to fight for their medical coverage to be extended into the off-season. Today, the minimum salary for players on their rookie contracts is close to $59,000, and $70K for their veterans. The best players can make about $220K. The new labor deal had struck in early 2020. Before the pandemic, it also included the perks of having full salaries for players on maternity leave, help with costs related to adoption, surrogacy, and fertility/infertility treatment, and individual hotel rooms on road trips.

These women-only still make a fraction of what their men in the NBA pull in. Many of them have to play overseas in the off-season to supplement their income. But the advances made in the last 25 years are a testament to the skill and determination of today’s players. Plus, the fact that their predecessors did the hard work of laying the foundation.

Canada has a shot to reach the women’s podium for the first time. They have been ranked fourth in the world, and three of their players are on WNBA opening-night rosters with Kia Nurse fourth-year guard, an All-Star in 2019, third-year forward Bridget Carleton, and veteran forward Natalie Achonwa.

Jessie Fleming, a Canadian growing her influence for the club during her first pro campaign.

Posted on by
Reply

This weekend for the 23-year-old midfielder if everything all goes well Jessie Flemming might get a second championship winner’s medal in eight days with Chelsea FC Women. In the last game on Sunday, she was on the pitch when the final whistle blew in Chelsea’s final match of the 2020-21 FA Women’s Super League season. If Chelsea wins the Spanish outfit, it’ll become only the second English side to win the Champions League since the start of the tournament in 2001. Jessie Fleming will have capped off her rookie campaign as a professional with the Blues in an extraordinary fashion.

If Jessie was to win and does collect a Champions League medal on Sunday, it would put her in the very elite company of Alphonso Davies and Kadeisha Buchanan they are the only other Canadians to have won the most prestigious club tournament in world soccer.

This 23-year-old native of London, Ont. Has been turning heads ever since she started for the Canadian women’s team as a 15-year-old in 2013. Ever since she started, she has been a key starter for Canada as its chief midfield creator and playmaker.

Her being a champion in England, she hopes she can add the title of European champion to her burgeoning resume ahead of the Tokyo Olympics where she’ll be looked upon by coach Priestman to orchestrate play in the heart of Canada’s midfield.

Her having played in two World Cups and helped the team win bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Along with her career, she has scored 11 times in 81 appearances for her country, and when Canadian coach Bev Priestman draws up her 18-player roster for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, Fleming’s name will for sure be among the first on the list.

 

 

The Canadian women will open up the Olympic soccer tournament against the host Japan.

Posted on by
Reply

The Canadian women will open up the Olympic soccer tournament against the host Japan. The Canadian team was ranked eighth and have won the bronze medalist at the last two Olympics. They drew Group E, they will play Japan, Britain, England, and Chile.

Canada will open July 21 against Japan at the Sapporo Dome, home to baseball’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. The game comes two days before the July 23 official start of the Tokyo Olympics.

The Women’s coach said this “What an opening game to play,” said Canada coach Bev Priestman. “it’s where we want to be, as coaches, as players.” “A relatively tough group, a great test. When you want to go win a medal, you’ve got to play the best teams and I think we got two very good teams in our group. And then you look at a Chile they’re a good side, they’re hard to beat.”

The coach hopes to play four more games before the Olympics, two during a June camp during the FIFA international window and two in the final lead-up to the Games. She plans on delaying naming her 18-woman roster until as late as possible to give injured players like forwarding Adrian Leon and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan time to get healthy.

                                             ( Canadian Premier League )

Canada is one of just five nations in the world that have qualified for each of the last four Women’s Olympic Football Tournaments. Canada is also the only nation in the world to reach the podium at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 in women’s football.

Canada is one of just five nations in the world that have qualified for each of the last four Women’s Olympic Football Tournaments. Canada is also the only nation in the world to reach the podium at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 in women’s football.

                                            ( Canada Soccer/ Twitter )

The last time Japan last lost to Japan 4-0 in October 2019, hopefully, this time things will be different, and they will win.

The women’s final will take place on Aug. 6 at Tokyo’s new Olympic Stadium, which will also host the opening and closing ceremonies.

Jennifer Abel, the most decorated Canadian Diver

Posted on by
Reply

Jennifer Abel, How she became the most decorated Canadian diver in history having performed on multiple podiums and multiple times in every major international event. She is only missing one elusive medal. She needs the individual medal at the Olympic games.

She started diving at the age of 5, she took part in her first regional competition when she was six and she says already then she was a sore loser and it made it clear for her that she had a competitive spirit.

Jennifer Abel got into the international scene in 2006 with a 3m bronze medal at the world junior championships, two years later at 16, she was the youngest Canadian diver at the Beijing 2008 Olympics at the London 2012 Olympics, it was Abel and her partner Émilie Heymans who won Canada’s first medal of the Games with their 3m synchro bronze.

                                                   (Olympics Canada )

With her partner Émilie, she also reached the podium at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 Pan American Games, the 2010 and 2012 FINA World Cups, as well as the 2011 FINA World Championships. After Émilie retired, Jennifer teamed up with Pamela Ware resulting in synchro podium success at the 2013 and 2015 FINA World Championships, the 2014 and 2016 FINA World Cups, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Individually, Jennifer was a bronze medalist at the 2011 FINA World Championships along with the 2014 and 2016 FINA World Cups. She also got 3m gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games. She had two near podium finishes at Rio 2016, placing fourth in both the individual and synchronized 3m events, the latter alongside Pamela. At the 2017 FINA World Championships, Abel won bronze individually in the 3m springboard and silver in the 3m synchro event with Mélissa Citrine-Beaulieu.

They also won silver at the 2018 FINA World Cup. Another highlight for Abel in 2018 was winning 3m gold at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. Abel has finished the FINA World Series as one of the top three ranked divers in the women’s 3m springboard each year since 2014, including a first-place finish in 2019.

She Recently booked her place with her partner Melissa Citrine won silver in the women’s synchro for the Tokyo Olympics

Now she ready to win her medal now at the Tokyo 2021, she is as motivated as ever as this is her last time performing before she retires.