Which means it鈥檚 back to work for both University of Victoria Vikes basketball teams, which jetted out to California for a pair of exhibition games over the holiday season.
Women鈥檚 coach Dani Sinclair welcomed her treasured gift, the delivery of second child Joseph, on 12/12/12, whom two-year-old brother James has been enjoying at home over the last two weeks.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been great and we鈥檙e enjoying him,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an easy birthday to remember, that鈥檚 for sure.鈥�
Sinclair will not be making the trip south, so assistant Leanne Evans will run the bench as the 6-4 (in conference play) Vikes get back after the Christmas break.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 good for everybody to get a break, but you need some game action before getting back into the regular season,鈥� Sinclair said of her team. 鈥淓very weekend is a big weekend for us and it鈥檚 an especially big road trip once we get back into the regular season into Winnipeg and Manitoba.
鈥淭his trip now gives us a chance to shake off the rust a little bit. It鈥檒l be quite a test. These are very good teams we will play down there,鈥� Sinclair said of the California excursion.
The women鈥檚 Vikes will face Biola University today in La Mirada and end the quick trip against Vanguard University in Costa Mesa on Saturday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity for some other girls to get some time and prove themselves,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for people to step up in the second half, so this will be an opportunity for some of the girls who maybe didn鈥檛 get much time. We shortened our bench during the regular season. We鈥檒l open it up and see what other people can do.鈥�
Craig Beaucamp鈥檚 men鈥檚 Vikes team will also face Biola University on Saturday, before tackling Concordia University in Irvine on Sunday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to play some teams outside of the conference and it鈥檚 always good competition down there,鈥� said Beaucamp, whose Vikes are 7-3 in conference play and 9-6 overall. 鈥淭hat conference usually has some of the top NAIA Division I teams.
鈥淭he nice thing about it is, it鈥檚 in the same time zone and relatively close and inexpensive to get to, especially when you look at air travel within sa国际传媒, to be honest. It鈥檚 probably cheaper to go to California than it is to go to Calgary.鈥�
The Vikes, who halted play in early December, had been practising until Dec. 18.
鈥淭he guys were in exam mode, but we still practised and we just want to obviously get back into game mode after Christmas,鈥� said Beaucamp.
They were slated to get back together for practice on Boxing Day and leave on Thursday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like pre-season games, in a way, in a sense that you鈥檙e trying to get back up into game speed,鈥� said Beaucamp. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long stretch in the CIS, where you go about a month without league games in December. You want to get your feet back underneath you and get back going again.鈥�
The time off will help the men鈥檚 Vikes, who have had several injuries to key people, like Chris McLaughlin, Brandon Dunlop and Pierce Anderson.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to get them back in the fold and get our rotations settled again,鈥� said Beaucamp.
Both Vikes teams return to sa国际传媒 West action on Jan. 11 when they travel to Winnipeg to face the Wesmen.
