Home
About Us
News Flashes
Archives
Sports
Entertainment
Jr. Black Achievement Awards
Advertising and Subscription Rates
Contact Us
Community Links
ARCHIVES - SPORTS
CONTENTS
Player Profiles:
Track Stars Speak To Young Athletes: (Bruny Surin, Mark Boswell, Kwaku Boateng) (2002)
Jarome Iginla - Hockey
Jarome Iginla - Hockey(2)
Jeremy Jackson - Hockey
Player Profiles
Track Stars Speak To Young Athletes:
(Bruny Surin, Mark Boswell, Kwaku Boateng) (2002)
“First of all Track is not easy. Track is definitely not easy. When I started, I had many ups and downs - there were times when I wondered if I really wanted to do it because there is a lot of sacrifice, especially at the beginning of the season when you have to work harder and harder - like running 300’s - and everyday when your training is finished you have cramps - you’re tired - you need massages and you begin to wonder “why am I doing this”. But in the end, the result of it is that you’re always pushing yourself to the limit. So first of all, you have to like the sport and when you become successful and get good results you feel that all the pain you’ve been going through in training as paid off - Believe me, all your sacrifices are worth it in the end.”
TAN: “What can you say to young athletes who are struggling with the decision of going to the U.S. or staying home?”
“When I was starting out, I had an offer to go to the States - but it was not an environment that I liked. I like to stay home. My own coach is there and I could afford to do training camps of two weeks or one month in Miami in order to improve. I don’t think you have to go to the States to advance as long as you have a good environment, good coaching and are able to attend (short duration) training camps. You can succeed in whatever event you choose.” Bruny concluded that talent aside, it all comes down to dedication, hard work and the belief that you can do it - you can succeed.
Kwaku Boateng: “For youth considering a career in track and field, it helps to have role models that can go into the schools and talk to the kids about how to stay focussed on their goals. People like myself and Mark (Boswell) can tell them that they can make it happen.” To stay motivated on his way to the Olympics, Kwaku keeps his goals in the forefront and thinks of his own role models - athletes like Michael Johnson and others who had great success, and says to himself “If they can do it, I can do it too”. He says he continues to work very hard - “it’s what keeps me going.” Besides the High Jump, Kwaku also loves soccer and played for his home country Ghana in the World Cup.
Mark Boswell:(above far right) “To succeed you must stay focussed and no matter how hard it gets, work through your problems, listen to your parents use your resources, for example, your teachers, your family, your friends. Stay positive and work hard. Everybody goes through times when it gets tough - I had times when it was rough - when maybe you lost a friend or someone close to you passed away - it could be something simple like you worked too hard all through a semester and didn’t get the results you expected. That’s the time to stay focussed and work harder, God will always bless you. The worst times are those when you don’t even want to get up in the morning but you have to dig deep and think about your goals and where you want to be a few years from now - for me, If I feel that way, I have to realize that when I get to the Olympics I want to do well, so I’ve just got to do what I need to do to achieve.”
Top of Page
JAROME IGINLA: A STAR IS BORN
by Ken Henry
| The
way Jarome Iginla’s season has gone this year, it’s as if he’s living
a dream and can’t wake up. Not even a Hollywood producer could have
scripted his season any better. In the span of five months Iginla, 24, has become one of the most dominant power forwards in the NHL, led the league in goals and is tied for the most points, and will represent Canada in this year’s Olympics. Even he can’t believe what’s happened. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself because things have gone so well,” he says in his polite, soft-spoken manner. “I’ve been very lucky this year.” Well, most would attribute his excellent season to a lot more than luck. There are so many things this young man has accomplished this year it’s hard to keep track of them all. He had a 15-game consecutive points streak from Oct. 18 to Nov. 22, amassing 18 goals and 31 points; he is the only player in the league to hit the 30-goal plateau; and he played himself onto Team Canada after barely being considered in October. |
 Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Vancouver Canucks |
|
Top
of Page |
|
Getting to be in my first All-Star Game and especially being a part of Team Canada at the Olympics. That was by far the most exciting hockey I've played in, and I’ve gotten all of this experience. Scoring 50 goals, that was exciting, too, so I feel very fortunate and very blessed because it does feel like a lot of dreams have come true.”
One of those dreams was representing his country at the Olympics. Iginla was huge for Team Canada, especially in the gold medal game against the Americans where he scored two goals to lead the team to victory. He also established himself as a big-game player.
Iginla has just been named Player of the Year by Sporting News and named to their first all-star team. And if he wins the Hart Trophy as league MVP - many expect him to beat out Patrick Roy and Jose Theodore - Iginla’s stock will rise even more. “I'm very honoured to be named a finalist,” said Iginla. “Reading articles and seeing things like that, it's almost a little overwhelming. I've watched so many big names and great players that have won the award and so many players have had great seasons for their team this year. It is a real honour to be a finalist, and once again, it feels almost a little unreal.”
Top of Page
The money Iginla will earn next season will be unreal. Since Iginla’s a restricted free agent this summer - meaning his contract is expired but the Flames still retain his rights - he’ll probably earn about four or five times the $1.7 million US he’s currently making. Many say the small-market Flames don’t have enough dough to re-sign the Edmonton native. Many others, such as Wayne Gretzky, say the Flames can’t afford not to re-sign him.
For his part, Iginla said he is committed to staying with the Flames. “I really do enjoy playing here,” he said. “I think the franchise is a strong franchise and a very first-class organization. I think as a team we can win, and I think we have a lot of good pieces in place. I'm hopeful that [the contract] will get worked out. We are all professionals and there is a business side to it, but I really do enjoy playing here and I think that with my agent, Don Meehan, one of the best in the business, and the Calgary Flames and myself, we can definitely work out something.” For professional hockey to remain in Calgary for much longer, fans better hope something does get worked out between the two sides.
Top of Page
Jeremy Jackson: Potential Galore
by Peter Sheldon:
 Jeremy Jackson photo by Mark Okoth |
Jeremy Jackson,
the Vancouver Giants’ top scorer, was traded to Lethbridge on December
28, 2001. I spoke with coach Milan Dragicevic concerning the move.
He stated that the team needed to strengthen their defence and although
Jeremy’s offence was a great asset to the team it was felt that
the Giants needed to move in a different direction. Prior to the trade, I sat down with Jackson to discuss his hockey career to date, his season so far with the Giants and his plans for the future. |
| It
must be difficult for NHL scouts to rate Jackson. His balance sheet
doesn’t exactly work in his favor. Jackson has superior talent and
his ex-GM, Scott Bonner believes that he will “probably be one of
the top five scorers in the league.” Jackson says of his skill: “I think I am a creative and speedy player. That’s what I bring to the game. I try to create things offensively as well as defensively every time I’m on the ice - I try to be a well-rounded player.” Top of Page It was this talent that got him to the Giants. “I think I bring a dimension to the game that we’re (Giants) lacking in right now. I bring goal scoring and playmaking abilities to my team and that allows us to be in some hockey games.” Negating some of Jackson’s talent is his size, which he acknowledges. “I definitely have to work on evading being 5’9, 165 lbs., and still be a presence out there” he says. “The further up you go, the more you run into the physical aspect of the game and I think that’s what I have had to adjust to the most these last couple of years.”Related to this lack of size is Jackson’s lack of strength. “I think it’s going to take some strength training,” he admits, “and some hard work. I have been told that my skill is there. It’s just a matter of putting on some weight and focusing on a few aspects off the ice.” Jackson’s skill and size cancel each other out. What pushed him into the red is his off-ice activities. He believes it cost him in the draft last June: “Unfortunately I was ranked in the 3rd round of the draft and didn’t get picked up. I was told that it was mostly to do with off ice things such as dress code, and people I choose to associate myself with,etc. But hopefully this year will leave no question in anybody’s mind as to whether I’m capable of playing in the NHL.” Jackson says of Giants’ coach Milan Dragicevic: “He’s helped me out with a lot of things off the ice - to be more presentable to scouts and stuff like that - who may not see the things I do off the ice as normal or want to take a gamble on someone like me. So he’s tried to teach me some of the things that I need to work on.” Top of Page The Giants apparently gave up on this when they traded him to Lethbridge. Giants’ GM Scott Bonner said: “With Jeremy, there were some distractions. We had to take a stand for team discipline.” Ironically, the players who Jackson admires the most are highly disciplined players who have always been above reproach: “My influences are Paul Kariya, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and lately my brother Jarome Iginla, because he’s doin’ it right now - I’d like to pattern myself after Paul Kariya - his quickness and his speed and the way he gets his shot off is just incredible. He’s a very dynamic player who’s capable of exploding at any time.” Ironically, the players who Jackson admires the most are highly disciplined players who have always been above reproach: “My influences are Paul Kariya, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and lately my brother Jarome Iginla, because he’s doin’ it right now - I’d like to pattern myself after Paul Kariya - his quickness and his speed and the way he gets his shot off is just incredible. He’s a very dynamic player who’s capable of exploding at any time.” These players are all leaders and role models both on and off the ice. Jackson on the other hand believes that the two are separate entities. When asked what advice he would give to younger players growing up, he says: “I think you should just worry about yourself and when you’re at the arena just think of it almost like a job. You’re here to do something. You ain’t here to like everybody. You ain’t here to get along with everybody. You ain’t here to listen to the same music as everybody. You ain’t here to dress the same as everybody! Top of Page “When I leave the rink I am my own person and I do my own thing but when I come to the rink I try to leave that outside because I realize its not worth bashing your head against a brick wall trying to make people understand it’s the game of hockey, its not basketball or football. I just try to be myself outside the ice and not worry about what the expectations are of me in the hockey world and when I come to the rink I try to live up to those (hockey) expectations that are on me as best I can.” The Black hockey players who Jackson has met are also quite conservative and above approach. “I met Kevin Weekes a couple of years back,” Jackson says. “He’s good friends with one of my boys Paul who works in the Surrey Police department - I also got to meet Fred Brathwaite. “I met Willie O’Ree when I was at Michigan State - the first Black player in the NHL. He made an appearance because me and Eric Bowen, an African American from California, were on the US National team in the same year. So he came to the opening game to drop the ceremonial puck and that was definitely a thrill for me because it kind of puts things in perspective of what I have to go through to make it. It’s not half of what he had to go through to make it. It definitely was a thrill to meet him.” O’Ree met racism in hockey rinks that Jackson can only dream of. Although Jackson is no stranger to racism. Jackson first lived in the predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood of Inglewood in southern California. Next he lived in Richmond, B.C. before moving again to South Delta. “Out in South Delta,” he says, “it’s a pretty White society, not many brothers and sisters out there. It’s very anti-diverse, and it was kind of rough growing up in that area. I started playing hockey there at the age of 8. At age 12/13 I got moved out to Langley and it became a little bit more diverse for me there. Eventually I branched off to Michigan where I lived for a couple years and where it was almost 50/50.” Top of Page Along the way he experienced racism. “It goes in different areas,” he says. “Growing up in school you get people making fun of your dress code and the music you listen to and you’d always be wearing your headphones just trying not to hear what anybody’s saying. In sports, its more a matter of you’ve got to be that much better than everybody else in order to prove yourself and get the credit that you deserve. Everybody is wondering why their kid can’t be on the team and if you’re on the team, they are looking for anything different about you that may justify why their kid didn’t make the team and you did. You deal with a lot of that growing up, especially in areas like South Delta and Langley.” Jackson has experienced some pockets of racism in Vancouver. “Every place has racism,” he says, “whether it’s towards Black people or Asian people or East Indian people or whatever. You hear it all the time. If you say it doesn’t exist, then you’re just fooling yourself. I think it’s definitely something as a society that we need to work on and its going to exist no matter where you go. But it’s just a matter of dealing with it and rising above it and I think Vancouver’s taught me to do that quite nicely.” |
|
| Jackson has also experienced some isolated racism in hockey. “You still get it from time to time,” he says. “There’s a couple of punks on the other team that want to start to try to get under your skin with “n......” this or “Black bitch” that, or guys on other teams swearing, cursing at you telling you, “I’ll slap you back to Africa!” Whatever they are trying to tell you, it’s all irrelevant. You’ve got to stick to the game and stick to what’s important. |
 Jeremy Jackson (left) prior to being traded to Lethbridge. photo by Mark Okoth |
| Top
of Page You just try to maintain your composure and make your mark on the scoreboard and hopefully they can look at the score sheet after the game and realize that it’s not a problem. It’s not about the color you are. On the ice it’s about what you bring to the game. And if you can go out there and shut them down the way that you know how and go out there and perform the way that you can or the way that I can, that’s what I aim to do every game.” Jackson realizes he won’t get further on the ice without cleaning up off the ice - but it was on the ice that kept him out of trouble off the ice. He has to make a decision real soon. He says, “Since I first started playing hockey at eight, I told my Mom I was going to be in the NHL and that goal was pretty much what kept me off the streets - what kept me out of trouble.” Top of Page |
|
Home | About Us | News Flashes |
Archives - Sports | Archives - News | Archives - Arts/Entertainment | Archives - Miscellaneous
Basketball | Football | Hockey | Horse Racing | Lacrosse | Other Sports | Soccer| Track & Field
Entertainment | Advertising and Subscription Rates | Contact
All material copyright 1996-2005 The Afro News
Site maintained by In The Loop Web Design