Coaches Corner: Looking ahead to a new season

According to a Fanshawe Athletics media release, 2017/18 was the most successful season in the Falcons’ 51 year history. The Falcons won 20 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) medals including seven championships. With all of the head coaches returning this season, the Falcons are gearing up for another successful year. The coaches are looking forward to what the upcoming season holds and spoke with the Interrobang about their goals for the year.

Women’s Softball:

Coach Catherine Arthur

According to Coach Arthur, last year was a building season for the women’s softball team. “We missed playoffs by losing one game so that was a little frustrating, but this year we are definitely looking to improve on that and make playoffs,” Arthur said. With eight returning players, Arthur expects a strong team this year. Returning notable players include Jacey Lochert, Mackenzie Kelly and Jen McDonald. In the 2018/2019 season, Arthur’s goal is to make the OCAA championships by working hard in the preseason to get the best team they can. “I am looking forward to the players that are coming back,” Arthur said. “We have a good core group of girls and they make it a lot of fun. Even though it is competitive and we want to make sure we are winning, the players and the atmosphere we have allow us to have a lot of fun”.

Women’s Basketball:

Coach Bill Carriere

Nicole Carriere, assistant coach of the women’s basketball team, spoke on behalf of Bill Carriere about the team. “We were very pleased with last year’s finish. We came second in Ontario falling only to a very talented and experienced Humber team who went on to win the National Championships,” Carriere said. “Second in Ontario is very good and we were very proud of everyone”. With a number of returning players this year, Carriere listed Mikhaila Wright, Chuot Angou and Claire Dechet as notable players for the upcoming season. The team’s goal is to win the Provincial Championships with their strong returning lineup and be a strong contender at the National Championships. “This year we are looking forward to having an experienced team for the first time ever. It is very rare in college sports where programs are two to three years that you get an experienced team because the turnover is so quick,” Carriere said. “This year we have an experienced team with some fourth and fifth year players so we are excited to push ourselves to that next level.”

Men’s Baseball:

Coach Brian Harvey

The men’s baseball team had a successful season last year finishing third at the OCAA Championships and second at the CCAA Championships. According to head coach Brian Harvey, key players that are returning this year include Tyler Wood, Matt Bowden, Kevin Bowden and Kale Bilger. Similar to the goal of other Falcon teams, Harvey’s goal is to win the Provincial and National Championships. “I always look forward to the new rookies coming into camp and them showing off their talent, skills and abilities and meshing and merging with the veterans,” Harvey said.

Badminton:

Coach Matt Plachta

According to the Fanshawe Falcons’ website, the badminton team had a successful season last year. Sahil Sahil won a silver medal in the men’s singles division at the OCAA Championships and Riley Hogan won an OCAA silver and a CCAA bronze medal and later went on to be named the female athlete of the year at Fanshawe. The badminton team will start off their year at a Humber tournament on Oct.12 to 13 and hopefully attend the OCAA Championships at University of Toronto Mississauga in February and the CCAA Championships in Halifax, NS in March. Coach Plachta could not be reached for comment, but the Interrobang wishes the entire team a great season.

Cross Country:

Coach Ashley Vandervecht

Coach Vandervecht was very pleased with the success that the cross country team had last season. “Our team did amazing and we won individual male and female gold medals at Provincials and we also won the team male and female gold medals at Provincials,” Vandervecht said. “Both teams went on to Nationals and the men’s team won silver”. Vandervecht discussed that there is an even number of returning athletes and new recruits with the notable returning players being Janelle Hanna, Sammie-Jo Burch, Hannah Carley, Dean VanHerpe and Kyle Luyt. “Our goal every year is to be strong, have fun and leave everything out there,” Vandervecht said. Vandervecht is predicting another amazing season and is looking forward to the season and is excited for the great dynamic that the cross country team has.

Curling:

Coach Barry Westman

According to Coach Westman, the curling team is coming off of a very successful season after winning the CCAA Championships on the women’s side and coming second on the men’s side.

The skips on both the men and women’s teams, Charlie Richard and Kaitlyn Poirier, will return this year and be strong assets to their teams. “Our goal is always to medal at Nationals and based on the players that we have returning, I think we have a good shot at that on both sides,” Westman said. Westman is looking forward to the upcoming season and discussed that he believes the team will have success this year. “It is nice having summers off, but I am anxious to get back and work with the students and I always enjoy the challenges and the opportunities that come with that,” Westman said.

Women’s Volleyball:

Coach Sean Pellow

According to Coach Pellow, the women’s volleyball team has seen a consistent build since he began as coach five years ago. “Last year was probably the most talented team that I have had at Fanshawe since I’ve been there and the best performance during regular season,” Pellow said. “Overall I saw it as a huge success. Our encore performance was better and team culture didn’t sacrifice for that.” Some notable members of the team include sisters Meghan and Shannon Morelli, but Pellow made note that since volleyball is such a strong team game, everyone was extremely important to their successes. Thanks to some very strong recruits coming in, Pellow said he hopes that the team will medal at Nationals this year. “I’m looking forward to the challenge of working with what I think will be Fanshawe’s best team ever,” Pellow said.

Men’s Basketball:

Coach Tony Marcotullio

Coach Marcotullio shared that last season was very close for the men’s basketball team. “All the games we lost were really close, it could’ve went either way and then we made it to the Provincial Tournament,” Marcotullio said. He went on to share that although they did not win there, “it was one of those things that wasn’t meant to be”. Marcotullio said he suspects that the number of players who are returning will mean positive results this season. “We have everyone back from last year except for one player...which makes us pretty good,” Marcotullio said. “We want to be one of the top teams in the league and I think we have the potential to do so.”

Men’s Soccer:

Coach Rob Pereira

According to Coach Pereira, last year was a major success for the men’s soccer team. “We were first place in our division, we went undefeated, we lost in our first crossover game and we ended up winning our final two games to win the consolation championships.” With a final record of one loss, two ties and ten wins, Pereira said he is quite proud of what was accomplished last season and looks forward to having Alberto Barquin back as team captain, along with many new team members. “We have a good crop of young players, Pereira said. “[I’m] looking forward to working with them and involving them in our program... and looking forward to some greater successes this season.”

Golf:

Coach Colin Robertson

According to Coach Robertson, the golf team had a strong 2017/18 season and said he believes that it was the best coaching season based on the results. “Thomas Code, our returning captain for the last couple of years, had a great season with a couple of victories and went on to compete in Nationals for the second year in a row,” Robertson said. Robertson discussed that he has high hopes for the coming year and the overall goal for the team is to win. “We have a strong enough team, we’ve been real close before… so those are things that we don’t look on as a negative, we look on as a positive because we were right there,” Robertson said. With some of players who have been on the team for a few years now, Roberston said “we have that character and the longevity built behind it that’s hopefully going to take us to that next level.”

Men’s Volleyball:

Coach Patrick Johnston

Coach Johnston recalled that the most notable highlight of last year was an, “undefeated season in OCCA play”. Johnston went on to share that this made last season “definitely the best season in Fanshawe volleyball history and [we are] hoping to get one win further this coming year”. Some noteworthy players on the team include Sebastian Lethbridge, David Gundrum and Cole Jordan. According to Johnston, Jordan “was also named all OCAA male athlete of the year, across all sports”. In this coming season, Johnston said he is making it a priority to not only win Provincials, but also win Nationals. “Nothing less than that,” Johnston said. Johnston is most looking forward to the new recruits coming in this season. “It’ll be exciting to see because this coming season will be our deepest by far. So it’s nice when you get a silver medal at Nationals and know that your team the following year is going to be even better,” Johnston said.

Women’s Soccer:

Coach Mike Marcoccia

The women’s soccer team saw a very successful season last year thanks to the guidance of Coach Marcoccia and the plethora of talented individuals on the team. Some players to note include Chelsea Zavitz who was awarded most valuable player and Allison Pike who won rookie of the year. After becoming OCAA West division Champions and OCAA bronze medalists, last year’s season had many high points for the Falcons. Coach Marcoccia could not be reached for comment, but the Interrobang wishes the team a successful season.