by John Austen

Three Concordia Stinger soccer players have been named All-Canadians.

Fabien Thomas was named first team All-Canadian, while Ammar Badawieh and Stefan Takac were named to the second team.

Thomas, an engineering student from France, is in his first year at Concordia but in his fifth year of studies. As a midfielder, the rookie didn’t get too many scoring opportunities, but he did show a lot of drive and talent. The 22-year-old played professional soccer in his native country, suiting up for Estac Troyes.

Takac is also a rookie on the Stingers and comes from Falkoping, Sweden. He studies commerce at Concordia and is in his third year of studies. The 23-year-old scored seven goals this season playing at the midfield position.

Badawieh, from Amman in Jordan, is the veteran. The forward is in his fourth year at Concordia. The 22-year-old is studying civil engineering. He scored seven goals this past year.

Figsby named all-star coach

Kevin Figsby, the head coach of the Stingers men’s hockey team, has been named head coach of the OUA All-star team. The team will play the junior national team on Dec. 17 and 18. Last season, Figsby served as an assistant coach on the team.

This year, he will be assisted by Ed Kirsten from Ryerson University and Kelly Nobes from the Royal Military College.

Figsby has been the head coach of Stingers since January 2000. Last year he led his team to a second-place finish in the OUA east with 10-9-5 record.

Figsby has 15 years of coaching experience at the provincial, national and international levels. Figsby is perhaps known best for his work with the Lac St. Louis Midget AAA Lions.

He was also the head coach of the Quebec Under-17 team, which won a bronze medal at the world championships in 1995, and was a guest coach with the Canadian national senior team at evaluation camps in 1995 and 1997. In addition, he was co-coach at John Abbott College from 1985 to 1992.

The All-star game will be played at the Toronto Beatrice Ice Gardens.

Cagers stung in openers

It wasn’t a great start for the Stingers men’s and women’s basketball teams as they both lost to Laval last Saturday at Concordia Gym. The Rouge et Or rolled to a 102-80 win in men’s action, while the Lady Stingers were dumped 72-58 in the earlier game.

Guard Rastko Popovic led the Stingers, coming of the bench to score 17 points. Philippe Langlois and Gavin Musgrave chipped in with 10 points each. The Stingers were out-rebounded 43-26 by the talented Laval squad.

The Lady Stingers got 21 points from ex John Abbott Islander Kristina Steinfort. She was followed by Marie-Pierre Veilleux, another John Abbott grad, who had 15 points.