In the coming school year, the HPA is going to allow more McMaster teams to use its space, free of charge
Created in 2021, the McMaster University High Performance Area was built to give varsity athletes a space to be coached for sport-specific workouts. The space houses an array of equipment including squat racks, Keiser units and a turf field.
The facility is a world-class space, bringing prestige to the university and, most importantly, helping the student athletes that attend McMaster to reach their full potential.
While the HPA has been up and running for the past two years, only teams within the U SPORTS league—including sports such as, swimming, wrestling, soccer and women’s rugby—were allowed to make use of the space without payment.
While the HPA has been up and running for the past two years, only teams within the U SPORTS league—including sports such as, swimming, wrestling, soccer and women’s rugby—were allowed to make use of the space without payment.
This set up left teams that participate in the Ontario University Athletics league, such as the baseball, fencing and golf teams, without a space to weightlift, train and be coached in the strength and conditioning field.
In the past, the only way for these teams to access the HPA was to pay out of pocket. Compounded with other payments these athletes need to make for their sport, such transportation and equipment fees, these costs have often not been reasonable for them to pay.
“Last year what we did was [OUA sports teams] paid per coach, so they only paid for the coach’s time. But really the students had to pay for a building in their own facility,” said manager of HPA and High Performance Programs Ben Bahrami.
This year, Bahrami opted to change this set up. As of this semester, OUA teams will be allowed to train in the HPA free of charge during specified open hours.
“I’ve proposed removing the team-specific training for any essentially teams that aren’t U SPORTS level and anyone that’s OUA, and some of our U Sports teams that just have a lot of class conflicts with their team times. Anyone in that category essentially comes in during open hours. This way they can have access more than the one or two hours they’re scheduled in,” said Bahrami.
The goal is to allow more athletes to use the space, help to maintain their health throughout the season and the offseason, and help them reach their goals.
“We want to provide a high enough product for students who came to McMaster to then go to the professional ranks or to play for a national team, so you have to provide that high level but also provide a basic program for someone that just wants to stay healthy and play sports for a few years,” said Bahrami.
“We want to provide a high enough product for students who came to McMaster to then go to the professional ranks or to play for a national team, so you have to provide that high level but also provide a basic program for someone that just wants to stay healthy and play sports for a few years,”
Ben Bahrami, HPA and High Performance Programs Manager
This change could bring some drawbacks, with the HPA space being a limited 3700 square feet and containing only 10 racks, which can lend itself to overcrowding.
“That's kind of the biggest challenge is balancing out the resources versus everything you want to do and everyone that wants to do X, Y and Z for their own development,” said Bahrami.
Ultimately though, this change will hopefully be a great step for McMaster sports moving forward as allowing more athletes to access high performance spaces will improve the student athlete experience and help teams and athletes reach their goals.
By: Coby Zucker
In week one of the College League of Legends tournament, McMaster’s team was rated 11th overall by ESPN. That’s 11th out of 350 teams across North America.
“We didn't expect it to be that high,” said coach Pedro “Photograph” Ribeiro. “We knew that we had to make a name for ourselves because a lot of teams, typically when they see McMaster, they underestimate our ability just because a lot of these other schools on these rankings do have esports programs at their schools.”
Ribeiro and the team let the pressure fuel them throughout their strong 5-1 regular season performance, only dropping games in their set loss to York University. The hiccup in their otherwise dominant season meant they had to face off against the Rochester Institute of Technology in the first round, while other playoff teams were granted an automatic bye into the second round.
“It was a pretty thrilling series,” said Ribeiro. “I've never really been through something like that.”
The first game in the series against Rochester went Mac’s way in a fairly one-sided victory. In the next game, the team’s collective focus wavered, and Rochester snapped up a quick response to level the score at one game apiece.
Game three was a 42-minute slugfest that eventually went in the favour of Rochester. After the game, Mac put in their substitute Jungler in an effort to shake something loose. The result was an assertive win to put the series score at 2-2. More than four hours into the series, the last game of McMaster’s season began.
“I don't know how to describe that final game,” said Ribeiro. “It was just a really exceptionally played game by both sides, and it was a true skill match up. They were definitely on par with our abilities which, going into it, we didn't expect them to actually put up too much of a fight. But they really did give it their all.”
The early exit for the highly-touted squad was particularly difficult as a number of players and staff are graduating this year, including Ribeiro and the team’s Support player, Marty “Diminish” Kyorskis. Nonetheless, Ribeiro thinks that the remaining players will be back with a vengeance.
“That’s unfinished business,” said Ribeiro. “They want to avenge us next year. At least some of the guys, that's what they're saying. I know they're probably going to go hard and try to make up for the mistakes and get better.”
The season might be over, but Kyorskis still has much to be proud of at the end of his collegiate career. As a progenitor of the McMaster Esports club, Kyorskis was able to help start legitimizing competitive League of Legends and the rest of the esports scene at Mac. He feels that even more can be done in the coming years.
“I think [McMaster] is reluctant to support gaming, as they see themselves as more of an academic institution,” said Kyorskis. “They think that it's going to affect their image, for example. But as the sort of train departs the station, more schools will say, ‘Okay, we need to get on this because it's a big thing’. It is a thing. And we don't want to look like that school that's stuck in the past.”
Kyorskis would encourage anyone interested to take the same dive into the world of collegiate esports that he made in his first year at Mac.
“Work hard at it,” said Kyorskis. “It's not a walk in the park. It's a serious commitment. You're going to have to put in a lot of work and you're going to have to be able to balance your life around getting better at the game and surviving school, because naturally we don't want to give up academics in favour of playing the game. The potential is there because we've set up the structure. So work for it, earn it, and you can do it.”
So what’s next for Kyorskis and Ribeiro after they graduate? Kyorskis, as one of the best Support players in North America, seriously considered pursuing a career as a pro-gamer before deciding that it was not for him. Instead he is going to work on growing his Twitch.tv following to stay involved with the game.
Similarly, Ribeiro can see himself involved with pro or semi-pro League of Legends but feels that he will more likely keep up his competitive League of Legends presence by supporting the McMaster team as an alumnus.
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In Canada there are no National Football League teams, so the way fans choose who they will support is by following in the footsteps of their family or friends, or by becoming in awe of a certain player that leads them to a team.
For Vanessa Matyas, marketing & media manager for NFL Canada, the former is how her journey with the NFL began. Growing up Canadian, Toronto teams like the Toronto Raptors and the Maple Leafs were all she really knew.
That is until she got older and became a student at McMaster University, where football became a part of her social life. But it was not just the social aspect of football that caught her attention, the New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees did too.
C/O Kyle West
“I started falling in love with Drew Brees as a person because he just seemed so nice and personable, and that really got me more interested in the New Orleans Saints,” said Matyas. “The year that the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans was the same year they won a Super Bowl, and it really brought back so much joy to that city. That is when I started really to see the magic behind football and really get into the battles in the on-field action and the whole story around everything.”
Though Matyas knew that she had a new-found love for football, she was not entirely sure what she wanted after her undergrad in communication studies at Mac. This uncertainty led her to apply for her Master of Arts in communications and new media at McMaster.
“Part of the reason I decided to do my master’s was because I wasn't sure what my next step was going to be,” Matyas said. “So I thought getting a master’s would help set me apart from other job candidates.”
Following her master’s, Matyas got the opportunity to move to Geneva, Switzerland to work for a non-governmental organization. Although it was an amazing opportunity and everything she thought she would love, her mind kept going back to how much she loved sports and how amazing it would be to work in media or sports. When she returned to Canada, she applied and was lucky enough to land a digital marketing job with Rogers Media.
“While I was there, I was very vocal with my boss about how I wanted to take on other brands if I had the opportunity,” said Matyas. “So just from being partially in the right place and the right time and also being my own personal advocate, I got to expand to other brands which were two sports brands.”
C/O Vanessa Matyas
In Matyas’ three years with Rogers, she focused on working on the skills that would help her do a great job in the sports world. Instead of worrying about not having that dream job of working in sports, she focused on getting the skill set that she needed to apply that to her passion later on.
This ability to focus on the big picture is something she credits McMaster for giving her. Along with education, connections, lifelong best friends and memories, she left with a valuable lesson that ultimately got her where she is today.
“Looking at the big picture of things is what Mac really showed me. I think when you're here, you're so focused on looking at the task at hand, but you don't really see what it is leading towards or what you're working towards,” said Matyas. “I think Mac really showed me the value of the big picture and not sweating the small stuff along the way.”
When she applied for the role with NFL Canada, she had not only the passion for the role, but the actual skills the job required. Now she wakes up every day working for a company that not only she loves, but one where she deserves to be. Matyas works with NFL Canada’s media partners to further promote the NFL in Canada and marketing initiatives such as influencer and public relations programs, player marketing and social and digital campaigns.
#SuperBowlLlll was definitely a weekend to remember! #SBLIII #NFLCanada pic.twitter.com/rKgJqp3dbA
— Vanessa Matyas (@vmats14) February 5, 2019
But one of her most rewarding tasks is that she gets to bring little pieces of the NFL to Canada, so people can bond with the players and ultimately start following teams. One of her most memorable moments so far has been the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta. Not only was being in ‘NFL-land’ surreal for her, being able to bring Canadians to experience the joy of football was something that will stick with her forever.
“The experience and bringing [fans] down is very special for them, but it will always be such a big memory for me too,” said Matyas. “To see what the passion of sports does, helps us to remember why we do what we do.”
When the game becomes more than just a game! 🙌
Tell us your stories Canada, let us know why you love the @NFL! 🇨🇦🏈 #SuperBowlSurprise pic.twitter.com/MhPvZ7bcng
— NFL Canada (@NFLCanada) March 3, 2019
To those who look at Matyas’ journey, it may seem like she had it all figured out, but she constantly reminds those who are just starting out that there are always going to be challenges along the way, and to not let them discourage you from your goal.
“My career wasn't a clear path of sports, so getting back into what I wanted was hard when I was ready to leave Rogers. I was looking for other jobs which was very discouraging because there were many nos before there was a yes,” said Matyas. “That can be really hard to take in especially when you feel like you're prepared for the role and you have a skill set that you need, but you can’t let it get you off your path. Just know that you're working towards something better and all of those nos and let downs are going in a direction that you're supposed to be.”
Matyas’ journey to the NFL is an example for all of us, those who want to work in the sports industry and those who do not. If you work hard, even when it is not what you love, eventually you will see the return on your investment and find the way to be rewarded for your passion.
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