Soccer summer camps
Former Olympian and member of Canadian women’s national soccer team Martina Franko is launching her Peak Soccer Academy.
Peak Soccer Academy is a high performance academy for soccer players ages 5 to 14. Young players can be new to soccer and will be separated into appropriate skill levels to learn essential skills. The summer camps will be set up in a rotational format where the players experience a new coach every 30 minutes to learn a new skill or tactic.
The camps will run July 18 to 22 and Aug. 22 to 26, from 9 to 11 a.m. Other coaches include Charles Impey and Kyle Kirkegaard from Quest University, Othmane Kabbadj, a former professional player from Morocco and France, and Jamey-Lyn Horth Wessels of Squamish who played at Quest University.
For more information, see peaksoccer.ca.
Elson finishes second
Nick Elson of Squamish took second at the Mount Marathon Race, one of North America’s toughest trail races, in Seward, Alaska on July 4.
He came in with a time of 43:06, second to Anchorage, Alaska’s David Norris, who set a course record of 41:26.
The race, first run in 1915, starts at about 30 feet or 10 metres above sea level and finishes on top of the mountain at 921 metres, or just over 3,000 feet. On their way up, runners tackle slope with an average gradient of 34 degrees, the steepest being 60 degrees.
Surfski Championships
The 3rd Annual Canadian Surfski Championships happens July 16 from Porteau Cove to Squamish.
The event is sponsored by Deep Cove Outdoors and the Squamish Paddling Club.
The 21-kilometre downwind race will take over 110 competitors along a spectacular course on Howe Sound starting in Porteau Cove and finishing in Squamish. Spectators can view from Highway 99. Check-in is at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
The event typically attracts renowned world champions and locals alike. For more information, see http://canadiansurfskichamps.com/.
Fincham eighth at worlds
Squamish’s Sean Fincham got Canada off to a strong start at the Mountain Bike World Championships on July 1 in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, with an eighth-place result in the junior men’s cross-country.
Two other Canadian men finished in the top-20, with Quinton Disera of Barrie, Ont., finishing 12th and Gunnar Holmgren of Orillia, Ont., 16th.
“I’m so happy to get top ten,” Fincham said in a Cycling Canada news release. “My goal was top 15 and I beat it; I can’t believe it. I had a bad start and got pushed into the fencing and fell back, but I just kept hammering and picking people off. The climbs are so steep, but there are so many fans cheering you on and pumping you up that you can get through it. This is a highlight, for sure.”
