CiTR -- Thunderbird Eye

For the first time we have a guest returning to the show for a second time, as Jake sits down with former UBC women's hockey player Mikayla Ogrodniczuk to discuss the UBC Athlete's Hub, a mental health resource specifically for student athletes that she co-founded. Also, the Thunderbirds community mourns the loss of UBC and Canadian Olympic rowing great Kathleen Heddle.

After a few weeks off we are BACK with our first episode of 2021, where Jake sits down with Kavie Toor, UBC's Athletic Director, to discuss his personal history with UBC, his rise through the athletic department's ranks and how he has handled taking over his current position during the pandemic. Also, we wrap up some of the most important Thunderbird stories from over the winter break.

In our FINAL show of the 2020 calendar year, Mike sits down with former Thunderbird and current Canadian Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee, to discuss his time at UBC and how the pandemic has affected his preparations for the upcoming Olympics. We will now be going on a short hiatus over winter break, but we will be back in January with plenty more content!

After attending a UBC Men's Volleyball practice, we have two interviews to share! First, Coltyn Liu and Michael Dowhaniuk talk about how they've dealt with the cancelled season, and how they're preparing for next year. Then, Coach Mike Hawkins talks about how he's had to change up what he's doing from a coaching perspective, and the challenges that has entailed.

Cory sits down with UBC Men's Golf star Ethan de Graaf to discuss his time at UBC, how he’s handled the big changes to competitions this season, and nearly breaking the school single-round record the other week. Also, Thunderbird athletes were honoured virtually for their academic achievements, and before the province's new health guidelines were put in place there was some long-awaited action for the UBC Women's Hockey team.

This week, Diana Hong sat down with two-time Canadian National Champion figure skater, and current UBC kinesiology student, Alaine Chartrand! She spoke about her career to this point, why she decided to come to UBC, and why she feels becoming a student was a great decision. Also, UBC golf wrapped up the fall portion of its BC Rivalry Series with a pair of good performances.

On this week's episode, we hear from the head coach of one of UBC's most dominant programs: swimming! Derrick Schoof sat down with Alan and Byron to discuss his beginnings as a coach, what it's like coaching such a strong team, and his time as one of the head coaches for Team Canada. Also, women's golf continued to roll, and while the men's team didn't reach the same heights as a collective, one individual had quite a stellar week.

What's better than playing a varsity sport at UBC? How about playing two? Jake sat down with Jessica Williams of UBC women's soccer & track and Sophia Kramer of women's soccer & basketball to discuss what it's like being a dual-sport athlete, and the benefits and challenges that decision entails. Elsewhere, UBC golf continued their BC series with a pair of rounds, women's soccer played another exhibition match, and Canada West made a major (and sad) announcement on the status of second semester sports.

In this week's episode Cory Branson sat down with former UBC men's soccer and current Pacific FC player Jordan Haynes to discuss the wide range of experiences he's had in his career to this point, as well as what it was like playing the Canadian Premier League's bubble setup in PEI. Also, the defending national champion UBC women's soccer team took to the field in a friendly for their first competitive action in nearly a year.

For this week's show, Ryan Alfonso sat down for an in-depth interview with Conner Pierce, a UBC varsity track runner who is also a successful para-athlete with cerebral palsy. Conner shared his story as an athlete - his beginnings as a teenager, his recruitment to UBC, his most memorable events to this point and what his goals are for the future. Also, we had new sports action for the first time this semester, as the UBC golf teams played two rounds over the weekend in Kelowna in the first event of a new BC Rivalry Series.