McRoberts Strikers ultimate team wrapped an amazing season by capturing the tier one provincial championship last weekend in Newton.
The feat completed a “triple crown” campaign for the South Richmond secondary school.
The memorable journey began in Burlington, Wa. back in late April where the Strikers prevailed at Spring Reign — the largest co-ed ultimate tournament for youth in the world. McRoberts then won a highly competitive Richmond district championship, before coming through against B.C.’s top teams in Surrey.
The tournament, overseen by the B.C. Ultimate Society, featured four coed divisions including two tiers at the senior level.
Although it was McRoberts’ debut at the championships, they entered the top tier based on their results throughout the season.
“There were a lot of traditional strong schools that were wondering what we were doing there,” laughed McRoberts principal Jane McFadyen, the team’s teacher/sponsor. “We were the underdog that had a lot of people cheering for us by the end.
“It’s just an amazing group of students and coaches.”
The team of 19 worked hard through the season and improved tremendously.
Led by seniors Kenny Wu, Emily Chiang, Kingbo Jan, Conor Rempel, Darren Pun, Darwyn Fitzpatrick, Esther Chiang, Jodie Tsai, Edmond Lin, Vino Cuenca and Andersen Ko, the Strikers showed grit and determination despite the downpour on Saturday and defeated much higher-ranked teams to win their pool group.
The strong play continued Sunday to the amaze of fans and opponents with long hucks, daring hammers (a type of throw) and crazy layouts.
The student athletes benefitted great from the outstanding coaching of alumni Nick Lin, Veronica Ng, JJ Cho, and Dillon Yeh. Lin and Ng played for Canada at last summer’s World U23 Championships.
The Strikers’ future looks bright too as Matt Shen, Vanessa Lee, Sophia Harms, Kaitlyn Lam, Josh Lin, Stephenie Ho, Kaylene Tong, and Amy Guo continue on.
McFadyen says ultimate is already a big hit among Richmond secondary schools and will only continue to grow.
“It’s on the rise within Richmond, the Lower Mainland and all of B.C. I think it will really take off to the point where we will see it in the Olympics one day,” she added.
“Not only is it a great cardio sport but it involves problem solving as well since there are no referees.
“When there is contact, the two players must discuss it among themselves to come up with a solution they both agree on. There is a strong emphasis on the ‘spirit of the game’ and sportsmanship.”
