by Bob Carter
The Moscrop Boys team huddles before the start of a match.
Coach David Tam’s experienced Moscrop team is off to a good start, ranked fourth in AAA. The Panthers from Burnaby won 14 of their first 17 matches (4-0 in league, 5-1 at the Douglas Tournament and 5-2 at the UBC tourney). They hadn’t dropped a set in their first four league matches, Tam said, and started well in the two tournaments.
“We have been battling injuries all season,” Coach David Tam said, “which has limited the availability of some players. As a result, we haven’t been able to participate in as many tournaments as we would have liked.”
Moscrop has beaten AAA teams McMath, Delta, Van Tech and Burnaby North, as well as AA teams McRoberts and Pacific Academy. “Even though we returned a large core from last year,” Tam said, “we are working on trying to build the team chemistry and integrate some of the Grade 11 players. We have a few solid offensive players, so we’ve been able to attack fairly efficiently all season.” “We’re still trying to improve in our defence, specifically our blocking.” The Panthers’ top players, Tam said, have been Jerry Yan (Grade 12), Justin Yee (12) and Aleks Ristic (11).
