In the spirit of the New Year, the T-Birds get the chance to reflect on both the future and the past. In this edition of the 5-on-5, secrets of the traditional childhood family fishing trip will be revealed. These athletes hold nothing back.
These are students who ate their Lunchables just like everyone else, but these days, they have moved on to the big kid snacks — available at University Village.
Avril Li (AL): golf
Brandon Underwood (BU): hockey
Joe Antilla (JA): hockey
Joel Regehr (JR): volleyball
Rowan Harris (RH): field hockey
1) What are your New Year’s resolutions?
AL: Make 2016 better than 2017.
BU: To make it to a few more Thursday morning classes.
JA: Firstly, losing that baby weight I have carried around my whole life is always a priority when a new year comes around. I think maybe mixing in a salad or two would be my best resolution — I eat far too much bad food. Secondly, I watched Cuban Fury recently and got really interested in salsa dancing, so I think I might take up some lessons.
JR: I didn't have any formal New Year's resolutions, but I am trying to meal prep as much as possible.
RH: I don’t do those.
2) What’s your favourite snack or snack-place on campus?
AL: Uppercase!
BU: Omio Japan in the Village — can't beat the lunch box.
JA: McDonald’s for sure, which is probably why I should go to more places with salad.
JR: You can't go wrong with a Delly sandwich.
RH: Omio for sushi in the Village. Snacks, lunch, dinner — you can always find me there.
3) Growing up, what makeshift equipment did you use to practice your sport?
AL: When I was younger, I used to use baseball bats or tennis rackets to hit the golf ball as strength and speed practice.
BU: I used to use my dad’s old sticks when he got new ones. They were so stiff I couldn't even shoot or flex them at all.
JA: My uncle made my brothers and I a Plexiglas shooting platform. I would go out in the yard and rip pucks at an old net. The frustrating part about it was we didn’t have a goalie, so my older brothers and I put pads on my little brother, and put him in net to make it more realistic.
JR: It’s not necessarily makeshift, but my sister and I would sometimes use a badminton net to play volleyball in our backyard.
RH: I didn't start playing field hockey until part way through high school, but when I did, I made some rebound boards out of bins in my basement and hit balls around to improve my reflexes.
4) Tennis or badminton?
AL: Tough one, but badminton because I am better at it.
BU: Tennis because I'm really good at Wii tennis, so it would translate to the court for sure.
JA: To be honest, I suck at both of those sports, but I suck less at badminton. So I would have to say badminton because I can’t even serve or return a tennis ball over the net.
JR: Although we had a badminton net, I'm going to have to go with tennis. It’s lots of fun to watch and I always get a kick out of their grunts during rallies.
RH: Neither — field hockey is my one true love.
5) Have you ever gone fishing? Did you use a net, a rod or your bare hands?
AL: Nope, I’ve never gone fishing, but I would love to someday. Maybe when I’m old.
BU: The only fishing I do is for likes on Instagram.
JA: This is a great question, as I have spent all my summers commercial fishing on the Pacific Ocean since I was 10. So to answer the question, I would say all of the above because I believe that catching fish in copious amounts is one of the greatest experiences someone can have, although smoothing a cold one while holding a rod does sound appealing. Who am I kidding? It doesn't.
JR: I'm from Vancouver Island, so I've been fishing lots of times. Usually with a rod, but I have done the old string with a hook tied to it on occasion.
RH: Nets, rods, bare hands, fishing line and hook — you name it and I've done it.