McGill's Babineau to play soccer for Canada at World University Games

MONTREAL  -- Olivier Babineau, a midfielder with the McGill University Redmen, has been selected among 20 CIS student-athletes to  represent Canada in men's soccer at the 26th Summer Universiade in August in Shenzhen, China.

The 24-year-old graduate student in kinesiology and physical education hails from Moncton, N.B., and played his final year of eligibility for the Redmen in 2010-11 after three years at the Universite de Moncton and one season with the Monreal Carabins.

The Canadian roster is comprised of 18 standouts from CIS and a pair from the NCAA. The reigning CIS champion York University Lions dominate the selection with five players, while three come from the UBC Thunderbirds, who claimed CIS silver last fall.

Four players return from the team that finished a 12th - out of 16 - at the last world university games in 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia. Returnees include UBC defender Jason Gill of Abbotsford, B.C., York defender Jamaal Smith of Mississauga, Ont., as well as Saskatchewan teammates Josh Northey, a midfielder from Saskatoon, and Jerson Barandica Hamilton, a Mexican-born forward from Saskatoon.

"The challenge to select the squad started last November at the CIS national championship in Toronto and then took us coast to coast to look at over 100 players," says University of Windsor sideline boss Steve Hart, who was announced as Team Canada's head coach in April of 2010. "To create a successful, well-rounded squad, we broke the team down and thoroughly examined each individual position and set out to find the best players to fill the role. The coaching staff strongly believes that our selection has those top 20 university athletes necessary to get the job done."

Goalkeepers JP Crescenzi, a Calgary native and U of C student, and Sotiri Varlokostas, a York student from Toronto, will be in charge of protecting the Canadian net in Shenzhen.

Joining Gill and Smith in the backfield are Alberta teammates Harman Braich and Cameron Schmidt, both of Edmonton, York's Dominic Antonini of Winnipeg, Niagara's Anthony DiBiase of Richmond Hill, Ont., and St. Francis Xavier's Stephen Lumley of Mississauga.

Northey is joined at midfield by McGill's Olivier Babineau of Montreal, StFX's AJ Gray of Brampton, Ont., Niagara's Carl Haworth of Barrie, Ont., UBC's Navid Mashinchi of Port Moody, B.C., Windsor's Massimo Megna of Calgary, and York's Ilya Orlov of Woodbridge, Ont.

In addition to Barandica Hamilton, the forwards who hope to put Canada on the scoreboard are UBC's Gagandeep Dosanjh of Abbotsford, Guelph's Robbie Murphy of Ottawa, as well as York's Adrian Pena of Woodbridge.

A first-team all-Canadian in 2010, Pena was named CIS championship MVP last fall after he scored all four York goals at the tournament to lead the Lions to their second national title in three years.

Gill, Smith, Braich and Northey were also CIS all-Canadians last season.

In China, Canada will compete in the preliminary round in Pool D against Great Britain, Ghana and reigning Universiade bronze medalist Japan. A total of 16 countries are entered in the tournament.

The defending Universiade champion is the Ukraine, which edged the Canadians 2-1 in pool play in 2009. The Ukrainians beat Italy in the gold-medal final.

In six previous world university games appearances, Canada's best result is a fourth-place finish in 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, which marked the first time the Red and White advanced to the medal round.

"Our expectations are high but realistic," says Hart. "Our first team goal is to advance from the group stages. Great Britain and Ghana will provide strong opposition, as will Japan, who has a rich history in this tournament. After that, we will take each game as it comes and do our best to represent Canada on the world soccer stage. Everyone is excited and honoured to be a part of the FISU Games."

Rounding out the team's support staff are assistant coach Keith Mason and team leader Brandon Rees, both from the University of Guelph, and athletic therapist Kelly Scott.

Mason is the only staff member with previous Universiade experience. He was Canada's men's soccer team leader in 2003 in Daegu, South Korea.

TEAM CANADA ROSTER

Position           Name                          University       Hometown

Goalkeeper      JP Crescenzi                Calgary            Calgary, Alta.

Goalkeeper      Sotiri Varlokostas        York                Toronto, Ont.

Defender         Dominic Antonini        York                Winnipeg, Man.

Defender         Harman Braich            Alberta             Edmonton, Alta.

Defender         Anthony DiBiase         Niagara            Richmond Hill, Ont.

Defender         Jason Gill                     UBC                Abbotsford, B.C.

Defender         Stephen Lumley           StFX                Mississauga, Ont.

Defender         Cameron Schmidt        Alberta             Edmonton, Alta.

Defender         Jamaal Smith               York                Mississauga, Ont.

Midfielder        Olivier Babineau          McGill             Montreal, Que.

Midfielder        AJ Gray                       StFX                Brampton, Ont.

Midfielder        Carl Haworth               Niagara            Barrie, Ont.

Midfielder        Navid Mashinchi         UBC                Port Moody, B.C.

Midfielder        Massimo Megna           Windsor           Calgary, Alta.

Midfielder        Josh Northey               Saskatchewan  Saskatoon, Sask.

Midfielder        Ilya Orlov                    York                Woodbridge, Ont.

Forward           Jerson Barandica Hamilton      Saskatchewan  Saskatoon, Sask.

Forward           Gagandeep Dosanjh     UBC                Abbotsford, B.C.

Forward           Robbie Murphy           Guelph             Ottawa, Ont.

Forward           Adrian Pena                 York                Woodbridge, Ont.

STAFF

Position                       Name                          University       Hometown

Head coach                  Steve Hart                    Windsor           Liverpool, England

Assistant coach            Keith Mason                Guelph             West Bromwich, England

Team leader                 Brandon Rees              Guelph             Brantford, Ont.

Athletic therapist          Kelly Scott                   -                       -

UNIVERSIADE POOLS:

The Universiade men's soccer tournament will run from August 11-22. The detailed schedule will be announced at a later date.

Pool A: China, South Korea, Colombia, South Africa

Pool B: Ukraine, Brazil, Russia, Malaysia

Pool C: Italy, Czech Republic, Uruguay, Thailand

Pool D: Japan, Great Britain, CANADA, Ghana

CANADA'S RESULTS IN MEN'S SOCCER AT THE UNIVERSIADE:

2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): 12th / 16 teams

2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 4th / 16

2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 15th / 16

1995 (Fukuoka, Japan): 16th / 16

1993 (Buffalo, USA): 16th / 16

1979 (Mexico City, Mexico): 12th / 24

About the Summer Universiade

The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

2011 Summer Universiade website: http://www.sz2011.org/Universiade

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012