山ǿ's Scholefield to play for Canada at World University Games
MONTREAL – 山ǿ midfielder Jamie Scholefield of Senneville, Que., is among 18 players selected to represent Canada in men’s soccer at the 25th World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia, July 1-12.
The 5-foot-7, 160-pound senior is a four-time conference all-star
and twice earned all-Canadian second-team honours. Last fall, he
tied for the team scoring lead and finished fourth among league
leaders with four goals in 11 games.
Scholefield, a 22-year-old management student majoring in
international business, joins Steven Bielby of Pointe Claire, Que.,
as the only 山ǿ athletes scheduled to compete at the Games. Also
representing 山ǿ in an administrative capacity will be Drew
Love, director of athletics and recreation, who will be serving as
Canada’s chef-de-mission.
Canada is coming off its best performance in history at the
Universiade in men’s soccer with a fourth-place finish at the 2007
Games in Bangkok, Thailand. Prior to 2007, the Canadians had never
advanced past group play in four previous appearances at the
tournament.
“We showed the last time around we can be competitive at that
level,” said UBC head coach Mike Mosher, who will lead the national
side in Belgrade after serving as an assistant under Montreal’s Pat
Raimondo two years ago. “We see the fourth-place finish from 2007
as a real positive, as motivation, not as extra pressure.”
The 2009 edition of Team Canada is comprised of 15 players from CIS
schools and three from NCAA universities.
The team looks to be in good hands in goals with Montreal’s Gerardo
Argento and Western Ontario’s Haidar Al-Shaibani set to protect the
Canadian cage. Argento of Montreal is a four-time all-Canadian in
as many varsity seasons, while Al-Shaibani of London, Ont., was a
first-team all-Canadian in his fourth campaign at Western in 2007.
Both have led their teams to a pair of CIS bronze
medals.
The defensive unit is comprised of UBC teammates Jason Gill and
Graham Smith, both of Abbotsford, B.C., Laval’s Alexandre
Lévesque-Tremblay of Baie-Saint-Paul, Que., Western’s Paul Seymour
of Ottawa and York’s Jamaal Smith of Mississauga, Ont.
Gill and Graham Smith helped UBC capture the CIS banner in 2007
with Smith, a two-time all-Canadian, earning MVP honours at the
national championship. The Thunderbirds also won the title in
Smith’s freshman season in 2005.
Lévesque-Tremblay earned all-Canadian nods the past two seasons.
The CIS rookie of the year in 2006, Jamall Smith led York to its
first CIS title since 1977 last fall, anchoring a Lions defence
that did not allow a single goal at the national tourney.
“Any team that has success internationally must be strong and
responsible defensively. My history playing for Canada and my
experience at the last FISU Games tell me this had better be the
case for our team to succeed,” said Mosher, who suited up for
Canada at the 1995 Universiade in Fukuoka, Japan, and represented
the country at the Under-20 and U23 levels from 1987-1992.
“At the same time we need to be able to possess the ball and keep
the ball to keep the pressure off our defenders, and I think we
have a good mix of players in attacking positions whereby we can be
creative with several threats in attack. We selected a number of
these players based upon their speed and versatility so we can play
different styles and formations depending on what is needed on that
day.”
Heading the group of midfielders is Francesco Bruno of Toronto, a
first-team all-Canadian each of his first two CIS seasons, the
reigning CIS player of the year, the OUA finalist for the 2009 BLG
Award as CIS male athlete of the year, and a national champion with
York last fall. Bruno represented Canada at the 2003 FIFA Under-20
world championship in the United Arab Emirates, where the team
reached the quarterfinals.
Bruno will be accompanied at midfield by Scholefield, plus
Montreal’s Guillaume Couturier of Candiac, Que., College of
Charleston’s Branko Gavric of Kitchener, Ont., Buffalo’s Alexander
Marrello of Burnaby, B.C., and Saskatchewan’s Josh Northey of
Saskatoon..
Offensively, Team Canada can count on Carleton’s Matthew D’Angelo
of Ottawa, Alberta’s John Konye of Edmonton, Saskatchewan’s Jerson
Barandica-Hamilton of Saskatoon, Victoria’s Cole McFarlane of
Calgary, and Winthrop’s Daniel Revivo of Richmond Hill, Ont.
D’Angelo, who played four years at Saint Mary’s before finishing
his CIS eligibility at Carleton last season, and McFarlane are both
two-time all-Canadians.
D’Angelo led all CIS players with 13 goals last fall, while Bruno
was second in the nation with 10 markers. McFarlane and
Barandica-Hamilton scored nine times apiece.
Revivo was named Big South Conference player of the year and a
second-team all-American in 2008 when he netted 14 goals in 22
games. He has been named to 11 junior national teams over the
course of his career.
Team Canada flies out of Montreal on June 21 and will hold a
one-week training camp in Belgrade before kicking off the 16-team
Universiade tournament with Group B contests against the Czech
Republic on June 30, Morocco on July 2 and the Ukraine on July
4.
The quarterfinal round is set for July 6, the semi-finals for July
8, and the bronze and gold-medal games for July 10.
The Canadians are in tough in Group B as the Ukraine is reigning
Universiade champion, while Morocco and the Czech Republic claimed
bronze medals in 2005 and 2003, respectively.
“We don’t have an easy draw. But then again I don’t think anyone
has an easy draw,” said Mosher. “It’s a difficult tourney, period.
No opponents can be taken lightly.”
“Fortunately, I have a terrific coaching staff with a ton of
experience,” added Mosher, who has led UBC to a pair of CIS crowns
in the last four years. “We all have national or international
games experience, so that should be a big help.”
A two-time CIS coach of the year who led 山ǿ to a CIS title in
1997 before moving on to Montreal, Raimondo is reunited with Mosher
and will be making his third Universiade appearance after assuming
head-coaching duties in 2007 and acting as an assistant in 2003 in
Daegu, South Korea.
The other assistant coach, Allan Errington from Fraser Valley, is a
former assistant with Canada’s senior national team, including
stints with the World Cup (1992-98) and Olympic (1992-98)
squads.
Team leader Randy Bardock has been a CIS coach at Lethbridge for
over 20 years and has been part of many provincial programs in
Alberta.
2009 Summer Universiade website:
Team Canada website:
TEAM CANADA ROSTER
Position
Name
University
Eligibility
*
Hometown
Goalkeeper
Haidar
Al-Shaibani
Western
A
London, Ont.
Goalkeeper
Gerardo
Argento
Montreal
4
Montreal, Que.
Defence
Alexandre
Lévesque-Tremblay
Laval
4
Baie-Saint-Paul, Que.
Defence
Paul
Seymour
Western
4
Ottawa, Ont.
Defence
Jason
Gill
UBC
2
Abbotsford, B.C.
Defence
Jamaal
Smith
York
3
Mississauga, Ont.
Defence
Graham
Smith
UBC
4
Abbotsford, B.C.
Midfield
Guillaume
Couturier
Montreal
3
Candiac, Que.
Midfield
Branko
Gavric
Charleston #
3
Kitchener, Ont.
Midfield
Francesco
Bruno
York
3
Toronto, Ont.
Midfield
Alexander
Marrello
Buffalo
3
Burnaby, B.C.
Midfield
Josh
Northey
Saskatchewan
2
Saskatoon, Sask.
Midfield
James
Scholefield
山ǿ
5
Pointe-Claire, Que.
Mid. /
Forw.
John
Konye
Alberta
5
Edmonton,
Alta.
Forward
Jerson Barandica
Hamilton
Saskatchewan
2
Saskatoon, Sask.
Forward
Matthew
D’Angelo
Carleton +
5
Ottawa, Ont.
Forward
Cole
McFarlane
Victoria
4
Calgary, Alta.
Forward
Daniel
Revivo
Winthrop
4
Richmond Hill, Ont.
* Indicates year of eligibility used in 2008 CIS / NCAA
season;
A - Al-Shaibani used his fourth year of eligibility in 2007. He did
not play university soccer in 2008 but is eligible for the
Universiade as he graduated from Western in the Spring of
2008;
# College of Charleston;
+ D’Angelo played four years at Saint Mary’s before suiting up for
Carleton in 2008.
մ
Team leader: Randy Bardock, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge,
Alta.
Head coach: Mike Mosher, UBC, Vancouver,
B.C.
Assistant coach: Allan Errington, University of the Fraser Valley,
Port Coquitlam,
B.C.
Assistant coach: Pat Raimondo, University of Montreal,
Pointe-Claire, Que.
Physiotherapist: David Fleming, Prince George, B.C.
CANADA’S SCHEDULE AND DRAW:
June
30
Preliminary Group B: Canada vs. Czech Republic
July
2
Preliminary Group B: Canada vs. Morocco
July
4
Preliminary Group B: Canada vs. Ukraine
July
6
Quarterfinals
July 8 Semi-finals
July 10 Bronze & Final
Group A: Serbia, Mexico, Great Britain, Ghana
Group B: Ukraine, Canada, Czech Republic, Morocco
Group C: Italy, Uruguay, Ireland, Korea
Group D: Thailand, Japan, France, Brazil
CANADA’S RESULTS IN MEN’S SOCCER AT PAST SUMMER UNIVERSIADE:
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 4th
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 15th
1995 (Fukuoka, Japan): 15th
1993 (Buffalo, USA): 16th
1979 (Mexico City, Mexico): 12th
About the Summer Universiade
The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that
takes place every two years, and is second only to the Olympic
Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The
Universiade is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in
the year of the Games who are full-time students at a
post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have
graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding
the event.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman, Communications Officer, 山ǿ Athletics & Recreation, (514) 398-7012
Michel Belanger, CIS Communications Manager, (613) 447-6334