Local football players don SFU jerseys THREE NORTH Shore football players are ready, willing, and more than able for action in their inaugural season with the Simon Fraser Clansmen. Handsworth Royals Ian Cook and Moojan Azizi, and West Van- couver’s Paul Zuccato have signed with the Clansmen. They will be playing and studying on full $1500 per year scholarships for the next four years. At 5’9"’ and 165 pounds, Cook is the smallest of the three, but size hasn’t been a problem for this 18- year-old wide receiver. Cook was named to the B.C. All-Star team after Handsworth’s defeat in the B.C. Championship finals, as well as the all-star kicker and the conference team’s defen- sive back and wide receiver after a standout week at Football B.C.'s Senior Bowl. Clanmen coach Chris Beaton said Cook is ‘‘by far the best receiver’? he’d seen this year in high school play. “He always makes the tough catch. It doesn’t matter if people are aroun’ him. He’s a tough competiior,’’ Beaton said. And tough is what Cook is ex- pecting next vear to be. “It’s a lot quicker. The guys are probably a lot bigger. I don’t ex- pect to play a lot in the first year because they have two starting wide recievers so that’s good. It gives me a chance to get broken in,”’ Cook said. In preparation he’s going to work out with the weights to build on his leg strength and also work on his 40-yard time. At 6°1”’ and 275 pounds, defen- sive lineman Azizi will not only tower over Cook but outsize many Clansmen. Beaton said Azizi will add size to < «\TINEL {PaRTans & the team and added that he runs well for a big man. Azizi isn't daunted by playing university level football. “I’m sure it’ll be a lot tougher. The level of competition will be a lot higher but I’m sure I'll be able to handle it.” This summer Azizi is going to work on reading the plays and de- velop his speed. Named the defensive player of the Senior Bowl as well as B.C.’s defensive player of the year, linebacker Zuccato is expecting the transition next year to be a challenge. “I'm really looking forward to it. | think it'll be hard in the first year — the game will be a lot faster,’’ Zuccato, 17, said. Beaton was also long on praise for 6°1"’, 210-pound Zuccato. “*He’s the type of kid that prob- ably could have gone to the States. He's one of the best linesmen I’ve seen come out of the camp’’ Beaton said. According to Handsworth coach Jack Tasaka, hard work and dedication have paid off for these kids. All three players work out with weights and have attended football camps in previous summers which is actually where Beaton first spot- ted Cook. “A lot of coaches mentioned they liked his attitude and the way he hussled. Same with Zuccato and Mooj,"’ Beaton said. ns NEWS pholo NORTH VANCOUVER'’S Luke Meyer is making headway at the high performance centre in Tororo, The 18-year-otd decathtete is training to qualify for the World Junior Championships in West Germany this August. 13 - Wednesday, April - “ ee NOW phappeningf Page 19 7? NEWS photo Nei Lucente HIGH SCHOOL football aces (from left to right) Moojan Azizi, Ian Cook and Paul Zuccato are gearing up for their first season with the Clansmen. Simon Fraser recruited these three from the North Shore and signed them up for full scholarships. Mieyer scoring back east PERSISTANCE is paying off for decathlete Luke Meyer. Last Sepiember, just four months after he graduated from Sentinel Secondary, Meyer moved to Toronto to train with elite track and field coach Andy Higgins at the High Performance Centre at the University of Toronto. But he didn’t have much en- couragement from Higgins to make the move. “IT didn’t encourage Luke. In fact, I worked pretty hard to discourage him, says Higgins, in an interview before he gave the keynote presentation at a sports conference in North Vancouver last week. “What [ wanted to do is to paint a bleakly honest picture rather than a rosily painted picture.” But persist Meyer did, Higgins says, and since then has made a successful adjustment to working and living on his own in the big ¢i- ABETH CO News Reporter ty as well as to technical changes in his training. Higgins says it’s this transition that often’ makes or breaks an athlete. The athletes sometimes suffer what Higgins calls short term **neuro-muscular confusion’ from the new training techniques. They also may simply “think too much’’ in their first year about a sport that used to come to them natural- ly. A lot of athletes burn out or drop out at this stage which is why Higgins says he does his best to communicate the grim reality of the sport to potential track and, field athletes. But Mever, stall funded in. part by the NorWesters, has not only adjusted but seems to be thrivine in his new surroundings. “*He’s got a terrific attitude towards training. He’s not frightened by change. Before the summer is over he’s going to score some pretty good points,’” Higgins predicts. Meyer is now training to qualify for the World Junior Champion- ships in West Germany this August. Despite a limited training background, Higgins expects Meyer will reach the 6,800 points to qualify. Selected the top junior multi-events athlete last year by B.C. Athletics, Meyer was already approaching that marker in 1989. How far can Meyer go? ‘*He’s certainly got the physical potential to score quite a few points. 1 can easily see him as a 76 to 78 (hundred) point decathlete. But I’m not too keen on setting limits. People surprise you,”’ Higg- ing says, smiling.