Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 36

SPORTS CM TUESDAY. MAY 26, 2015 CALGARY HERALD I've gained a lot of Ha admits HA FROM CIO "I've gained a lot of confidence just knowing I have an entire program and even an entire country behind me." Ha learned first-hand of that strong Canuck golf support during the 2014 Canadian Pacific Women's Open LPGA Tour event, where she made the cut and was cheered in London, giving her confidence she can play with the best. Success this week would further her career advancement. The winner at Glencoe will receive an ex-emption into the LPGA Tour's 2015 Canadian Pacific Women's Open, Aug. 17-23 at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C "We have anything from amateurs to professionals here," she noted of a strong field, which will also include locals Kim Carrington, Nicole Forshner, Andrea Kosa, Jac-lyn Lee, Grace Howie and Sydney MacDonald.

"It's been great because this tournament provides such a great opportunity for women to earn exemptions into big tournaments like the Canadian Open. Especially with everyone trying to turn pro, it gives great exemptions for Q-school." Since the 2016 tournament will be at Calgary's Priddis Greens, there is even more urgency for quick success as a pro. As a 15-year-old, a was in the gallery for 2009's event, inspired toward greatness by what she saw. "I was watching Suzann Pet-tersen, she was unreal. She ended up winning the event.

It was great to see all those pros out there and just to think I could be out there one day, it's really exciting. "Priddis Greens is a great course. It's definitely one that fits to my game and I'm really excited if I have the opportunity to play it" But first the Glencoe, which also sets up well for Ha, who was a member in heryoungeryears. The tourney will go off of the Slopes and Bridges nines at the 45-hole facility. "I like the Bridges a lot because you have to be a longer hitter to have easier irons going into the holes," she said.

"I'm definitely going to use that to my advantage. The par fives aren't really reachable, so I'm going to work hard on my wedges and see where that takes me. "I think I have an advantage in my distance," added I la, who often outdrove her amateur male playing partners in Monday's media scramble. "I hit it pretty far off the tee. It just allows me to have shorter clubs going into the green.

That's definitely an advantage and I'd say I'm pretty good within 15 feet of the hole. I make a lot of putts." All skills needed for success this week. jhagencalgaryherald.com Devon Kershaw, left, and Len Valjas, athletes with Canada's national XC ski team, train at Sunshine resort. NOEL ROGERSCROSS COUNTRY CANADA Skiers find Sunshine amid ff yodiong cote High-altitude May snow training gives national team members a boost Andrew Buckley Dino's Buckley invited to camp Hec Crighton Trophy winner Andrew Buckley is among 10 players the Calgary Stampeders added to their rookie camp roster, the CFL team announced Thursday. The star University of Calgary Dinos quarterback, who was a seventh-round pick of the Stamps in the 2015 CFL draft, will be joined by fellow Canadians DB Tevaughn Campbell out the University of Regina (2015 third rounder) and DB Dexter Janke out of the Okanagan Sun (2015 fifth rounder).

As well, the team announced internationals DB Royce Adams, DB Trevor Rico Forbes, LB Maleki Harris, LB Tahj Jones, receiver Greg Wilson and DL Anthony Woodard. Rookie camp begins at 10 a.m. on Thursday at McMahon Stadium. The Stamps also announced that they've released RB Bo Palmer, LB Maalik Bomar and receiver Nicholas Johnson, while OL Cory Brandon has been placed on the retired list. Daniels headed to Pan Am games Calgary's Haley Daniels is one of four athletes nominated to represent Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto this July, CanoeKayak Canada announced Monday.

"I'm really excited I get to carry on the legacy from my grandpa who competed in the Pan American Games when it was in Canada, so that's a big deal for me," Daniels, who will compete in the women's CI event, said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to being a part of a multi-sport games when all of the sports come together and we get to feel the excitement of being part of Team Canada." Calgary's Michael Holroyd coaches the team, along with Gatineau, Quebec's Michal Staniszewski. Edmonton's Ben Jazmyne Denhollander and Dunrobin, Ontario's Cameron Smedley are also on the team. The Canadians will head to Europe to compete in three World Cups prior to returning to Ottawa for a final preparation camp before heading to the Games on July 12. Junior golf winners far flung With players coming from all over Western Canada, the winners at the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour's Bow Valley Credit Union Classic at Banff Springs GC on the weekend were far flung.

Manitoban Garrett Kristjanson won the low overall and junior boys title (17-19) with rounds of 74 and 69, while the juvenile boys 05-16) crown went to Saskatoon's Matt Bean (72 73). B.C was also represented in the win column as Summerlands Rachelle Nielsen claimed the girls (15-19) title with back-to-back rounds of 79. Red Deer's Carter Graf (74-71) won the bantam boys (13-14) crown. Can-more Amanda Graham (So- 85) claimed the U15 girls title and Canmore Thomas Sluka (79 SI) won the peewee boys 12 title. the run-out is really hard on the athletes' bodies.

"The glacier itself is great for skiing, but we don't have the budget this year. So, this year it will be more dry land roller skiing." Wadsworth said the team will hold its second camp in Canmore, while the third will have some altitude training in Park City, Utah. All of their camps are open to the development teams, providing an opportunity for the younger athletes to learn from the national team members. During the year, the team will also do a tour of Canada, with stops in Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Canmore and Lake Louise. Although the Lake Louise race has yet to be approved by Parks Canada, a test race last winter has already led to some environmental concerns by locals.

"It's funny, you have the Chateau and the alpine area ope rating with snow cats and the backcountry lodges that are having stuff flown in there," said Wadsworth of the concerns. "We're talking about one crosscountry ski race with one chopper for an hour. "It will be a relatively low-impact event that should showcase the beauty of that area." Before the tour, though, there's a lot more training and hard work for the skiers particularly the up-and-coming skiers who are trying to make their mark on the national stage. Beatty, who's in her second year on the team, said she liked the team atmosphere of the first training camp at Sunshine. "It's always nice to be on snow and remember the key technique points that you wanted to work on from the previous year's racing and get those dialed in and transfer them to dryland season," said the 21-year okl Whitehorse native.

'It an awesome opportunity to get a bit of altitude and volume and enjoy the amazing skiing. "It reminds you why you love it so much. Its a good way to start the season because you just have that excitement of skiing." jJmrorir Trritten akrworiz COLETTE DERWORIZ CALGARY HERALD BANFF NATIONAL PARK At Sunshine Village, partygoers traded their ski jackets and snow pants for bikini tops and board shorts on the final weekend of the season. Less than a kilometre away, just outside the ski boundary in Sunshine Meadows, some of the country's top athletes were just getting their season started. National ski team members Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt, Dahria Beatty, Emily Nishikawa, Ivan Babikov, Devon Kershaw and Len Valjas along with others from the national team, the biathlon team, the paralympic team and several development teams skied loops around a makeshift cross-country ski course groomed by Sunshine Village staff.

It's their first training camp of the season. "At this time of year, it's really nice to start the training season back on snow," Kershaw, a three-time Olympian, said between laps on the five-kilometre track on the May king weekend. "You can start workingon technique and start the season on the right foot and start the season with that ski feeling. "There's an old adage that says skiers are made in the summer so that's why you've got to start the work early." The national senior team, which is made up of 12 members, was named earlier this month. "This is the first kickoff," said Cross Country Canada head coach Justin Wadsworth.

"This is the kind of the lead-up to the nest Olympics. That's always a big push. We had a really tough Sochi Olympics" Everyone expected medals from the team, but he said they had some problems with skis due to issues with wax in the soft, wet snow caused by the warm weather. Sx they left empty-handed. Wadsworth, who has coached the Canadian team for six years, said athletes redeemed themselves on the world stage in the past year with medals and some of the best skis in their field.

Alex Harvey, a resident of St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, reached the podium four times: twice at World Championships and twice on the World Cup circuit Others also had breakthrough seasons in 2014 including Babikov and Nishikawa, who recorded top-20 and top-30 finishes respectively. Babikov, who immigrated to Canada from Russia in 2003, said they're lucky to train on snow in May. "It's our first training camp, so it's good to get the ski feeling back and get some shape back," he said during one of the training sessions. "Most of the days we've been here have been blue skies. "If we have the opportunity to ski, of course we'll take it." "Anytime we can get on snow is great," added Nishikawa, a resident ofWhitehorse whocompctedinthe 2010 Winter Games.

"The closest thing we have to snow on ground is roller skiing and it's just not quite the same. So when we have the opportunity to be on snow and skiing, well always jump on thaL" Normally, the national crosscountry ski team would spend every month of the year on snow, travelling up to the Haig Glacier during the early summer and then heading out to New Zealand for another camp in AugusL The course at Sunshine, however, is even more important this year after the team had its funding cut at the national levcL "We lost a quarter-million dollars off our budget from Own the Podium," said Wadsworth. "So we're not going to New Zealand." They also wont make it up to the Haig Glacier a camp that's been operating in the heart of Kan an. ts-kis Country since 1989 to provide skiing for Canada's elite crosscountry ski in the summer. "As the World Cup team, we re not going to be using it this year," he saitl'In the past, we've flown in and flown out, especially because rf 9 Oct, I Jennifer Ha.

seen 2010 at age 16, fines up a putt with the help of her caddy father John, who is never far from her skte at events. CALettr HFJMID. FJI FS.