Coach takes team to the Games

Team B.C.’s squash squad will compete in the Winter Games in Prince George in February

Rebecca Vassilakakis of Castlegar, B.C., Is the manager and assistant coach who will accompany Team B.C.'s squash team to the Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C., in February 2015. — Photo courtesy Rebecca Vassilakakis

Rebecca Vassilakakis, a financial advisor with Krueckl Financial Services in Castlegar, B.C., is presently enjoying her maternity leave with her infant daughter and her two-year-old son. She is also the manager and assistant coach for the men and women of Team B.C.’s squash team and will accompany the athletes to the Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C., in February.

The eight squash team members are between the ages of 15 and 18 and were chosen from a provincial squad of 30 candidates.

“The kids on the squad are from Vancouver and Victoria,” Vassilakakis said. “None are from Castlegar. We’ll be going up to Prince George on February 20th—I’m excited, because that’s my hometown; it’s where I started playing squash.”

This will be Vassilakakis’s fifth time at the Winter Games. She played squash competitively from the age of 10, achieving the title of national junior champion three times in her career. She played on the provincial and national teams until she was about 18. After that she focused on her education but did some coaching and recreational playing. Vassilakakis went to the Winter Games as a competitor in 1995 and 1999, and to the 2007 and 2011 Games as a coach.

“In addition to the positive health aspects of sport,” she said, “I think that athletes get valuable training in goal setting and planning for how they are going to reach those goals. That transfers out into other aspects of their lives. I think sport helps to combat the attitude of entitlement that we sometimes see out there. Athletes have to work hard for any achievements and any glory that they get—it’s certainly not handed to them.

“I’m excited to give back to a sport that’s created a lot of opportunities for me and I’m excited to work with the athletes. We’re hoping to be successful in the Games, of course, and part of that is getting to know the athletes better and helping them to become stronger in sport and competition, and maybe acquire some new life skills. That will be rewarding, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”