Sun Learn to Speak the Same Language
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T H E O K ANAGAN W E EKEND JULY 13, 2019 SPORTS B1 MARISSA BAECKER/Shoot the Breeze Quarterback Kai Sampson drops back to pass during Okanagan Sun training camp outside the Apple Bowl on Friday night. Sun learn to speak Special to The Daily Courier the same Kelowna’s George Athans Jr. from his competitive water-skiing heyday. language The book signing and By DAVID TRIFUNOV The Okanagan Weekend An estimated 75 players from across the country landed in Kelowna on Friday night for Day 1 of Okanagan Sun training camp at the Apple Bowl. the world champion As you might imagine, communica- tion was goal No. 1 for new head coach Jamie Boreham. George Athans Jr. home to “People have got to speak the same language,” he said. “People are com- celebrate — finally ing from across the country, and dif- ferent programs.” By STEVE MacNAULL The coach said that while they won’t The Okanagan Weekend start the season until Aug. 3 against the Kamloops Broncos, there is much George Athans Jr. whips out his phone to to accomplish this weekend. show off a photo of the front page of the Sept. Friday night, coaches split offence 18, 1971, issue of The Daily Courier. and defence into smaller groups. “I’d just won my first water-ski world cham- They’re teaching players how the sea- pionship at the age of 19 (in Barcelona), and son will “sound.” Even the veterans there I was on the front page of my hometown need to learn new shorthand with a newspaper,” said Athans, a Kelowna native. new head coach at the helm. “Your first world championship, of course, is “We need to make sure certain special. But they say to defend it and win is things happen,” Boreham said, and even more special.” “get the simplicities taken care of.” That’s why Athans returned to the every- Boreham takes over from the depart- other-year Water Ski World Championships ed Ben Macauley, who led the Sun to in 1973 in Bogota, Colombia, to win both the the B.C. Football Conference final last slalom and overall titles. season. The Sun lost 39-7 to the In between, in 1972, he won the U.S. Masters Langley Rams after finishing 7-2-1 and Tournament in Georgia, which Athans said STEVE MACNAULL/The Okanagan Weekend first in the regular season. Days later, was actually more competitive than the world At an event Friday at Hotel Eldorado celebrating world water-ski champion George Athans Macauley resigned to spend more time championships because of the depth of Jr. and the coffee table book Spirit of the El are hotel owner Ted Callahan of Argus Properties, with a young family. American water-skiers in attendance. Gary Athans and Olympic alpine skiier and Spirit author and photographer Tarynn Parker. Boreham, a Grey Cup winner with On Friday, Athans, who has lived and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, has worked in Montreal since going to McGill Athans is shown sending up a wicked roos- He jokingly presented the certificate to Jim stepped in to become a head football University there, was in Kelowna reminisc- ter tail of spray while water skiing in Nixon, who owned the hotel in the 1980s and coach for the first time. ing at the Hotel Eldorado. California a year before his first world cham- 1990s, but never got a room then, either. He’s a former Sun assistant, but of The occasion was a book signing for The pionship victory and his dad diving. Callahan said he’d be happy to honour the five- course it will be a different team un- Spirit of the El, a commemorative glossy hard- George Sr. won a diving gold medal at the decade-old certificate. der his watch. cover that features the Athans family’s athlet- British Empire Games. But Athans is staying with family while in “I’m guessing,” he said after prac- ic prowess. Page 27 contains a family biography outlin- town and on Friday morning before the book tice on Friday night. “I’m different. I It was an event three years in the making. ing the accomplishments of Geroge Sr., wife signing, they did something poignant. coach different. I’ve been around, so The book was originally released in 2016 to Irene Athans and their three sons. They went water-skiing on Okanagan Lake I’m a different person. We’ll definite- mark the waterfront hotel’s 90th anniversary. Irene was a Manitoba swimming and syn- and sprinkled Irene’s ashes on the water in ly have, probably, a different intensi- Hotel Eldorado owner Ted Callahan wanted chronized swimming champion. front of where the family used to live. ty to us. We’ll make sure we’re ac- Athans to sign his book, and vice versa. Gary was a Canadian water-ski champion It’s the same place where George Sr.’s and countable on and off the field.” But the timing never worked out, until now. and competed at the 1984 Olympics in alpine Greg’s ashes were spread. Boreham said he likes his group. With Athans in town for a family holiday, skiing. The late Greg won seven world cham- “I really only water-ski when I’m in “We’ve got a good bunch of good top- the hotel threw a party Friday and invited the pionships in alpine skiing and was also a Kelowna. It’s calm and warm and no one is end guys and older vets that have been media and public to buy a book and have it Canadian water-skiing champ. watching,” Athans said with a laugh. around and understand what this is signed by Athans, Callahan and author and “We grew up in a little cottage just two doors After taking film studies and communica- and understand exactly why we’re photographer Tarynn Parker. down from where the Hotel Eldorado is now,” tions at university in Montreal, Athans here,” Boreham said. “Spirit of the El is not a story about the said Athans. worked as a sports commentator on CBC-TV Not that it’s all about wins and loss- bricks and mortar of the Hotel Eldorado,” said “I learned to water-ski on an old ironing for 16 years before starting a Montreal-based es for Boreham. Callahan. “It’s a celebration of Okanagan life. board of my mother’s when I was four. I re- TV production company that he still operates “I think that’s just big in terms of It’s about the spirit of our history, Kelowna’s member playing hockey on the frozen pond today called Athans Communications. helping these guys grow as individu- people and Okanagan food and wine. that is now the hotel’s parking lot.” He has produced hundreds of TV shows, als, not only in football, but in life, too. “It’s the same spirit we’re keeping alive to- In the mid-1960s as a teenager, Athans won a commercials and corporate videos. We want them to come here and play day at the El.” weekend at the Hotel Eldorado by jumping the The longest-runnning was a TV exercise football and be successful here, but we In the book’s opening collage of old photos, wide wake of then owner John Hindle’s big show called Caribbean Workout that ran on want them to be successful in life, too.” both Athans, and his late father, George Sr., speedboat called The Shepherd. TSN and in syndication for 16 years. Email: [email protected] are featured. He didn’t redeem it at the time. Email: [email protected].