The event, totally free, offers a hybrid program this year, as it’s on the Web and at the Multicultural Library.

Virtual reality, musical creation, coding, online escape room games, digital art installations, light-up video murals, robot building and many more activities are offered for children aged six and older, teenagers and their parents.

“Mastering the integration of technologies represents an increasingly essential know-how, which however, can seem difficult to access,” said Flavia Alexandra Novac, municipal councillor of Sainte-Rose and responsible for cultural files, via press release. The NUM Festival was precisely designed to offer everyone a fun immersion into the digital world. »

More than 40 varied activities are on the program this year. For example, escape room games, which have grown in popularity in recent years, will be available online, both individually and with the family. Also, a digital musical composition and a digital drawing and animation workshop will also be offered.

Key Figure

Five-time esports world champion, Stephanie Harvey, is one of the pioneers of women’s esports, and has been working to raise awareness about good gaming practices, gender equality, and the fight against online toxicity . She’ll be an ambassador for the NUM Festival this year. (A.B.)

L’article More Than 40 Activities at the NUM Festival est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

That team, that will be named the Laval VC, thus becomes the main version of the hockey club of the same name. Laval’s organization already had several AAA-level training courses for the youngest, including at the U16 and U18 levels.

The awarding of this expansion team was confirmed in July, allowing the VC to become the 13th club in the LHJAAAQ. “We will provide an ideal new home market for the league in the future,” said President Mario Nobili via press release.

A few weeks later, Michel Barrette was hired as head coach and general manager of the team.

Building a Team

Since it’s a new team, VC leaders needed to build a roster in just a few months.

The first step was the expansion draft, in which they selected a player from each of the 12 other LHJAAAQ clubs. They then drafted about 20 young hockey players during the league’s annual draft, benefiting from two selections in each round.

“We’re going to have six 20-year-old players in our roster,”Barrette said. “We don’t want to be just an expansion club, and have a few tough seasons to build a project. We’re coming into the league wanting to be on top.”

Although he’s aiming for the first place, the head coach believes that making it to the top seven teams would be a positive result for this year.

Offensive philosophy

Barrette thinks Tristan Gagné, Yan Nadon and Justin Charette are players to watch. To no one’s surprise, they’re all forwards, which fits with the model preconized in the LHJAAAQ.

“It’s an offensive league,” Barrette said. “We’ll be honest, it won’t often be 1-0 games. We need to produce a lot of offence, and we have surrounded our offensive elements with physical players who are working hard on the ice. We’re also having a lot of speed.”

Laval’s VC first regular season game will take place on Friday, Sept. 9, against the Cégep Beauce-Appalaches Condors. The home opening game will be on Sunday, Sept. 11, against the Collège Français de Longueuil.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article The Laval VC, New Junior AAA Expansion Club est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

“I think it’s a little bit arrogant to give a precise position, but we want to finish as high as possible in the standings this year,” said team’s head coach Boubacar Coulibaly. “Our goal is to take control of every game in order to win, and we’re not afraid of anyone in the league.”

The FC Laval lost its first 7 games last year, but concluded the season with 7 wins in its last 10 battles, while having one of the youngest rosters in the PLSQ.

“You have to give the players credit because they have developed much faster than what I was expecting,” Coulibaly said.

Laval’s team already made sure to make it a better start this season with a 1-1 draw against the Celtix du Haut-Richelieu in its opening game, before defeating the Royal-Sélect de Beauport 2-1. Coulibaly’s team showed resilience by scoring its two goals in the last five minutes of play.

“The content of our games is very satisfying,” the head coach ensures. “[…] We can’t ask for much more than what our players gave. I think the results should have favored us a bit more.”

Youth

At its beginning in 2021, the FC Laval had a plan in mind, which was to offer as much playing time as possible to its young athletes in order to help them climb the ladder of the soccer world.

Again this year, a dozen of players from the first team are aged from 18 to 20. They’re helped by a few veterans, including Wandrille Lefebvre, who played with the Montreal Impact (now CF Montréal) in the MLS, and Adama Makan Sissoko.

“The way they’re preparing for practices and matches is pushing our young players to pay attention and look at how we manage a week of work,” Coulibaly pointed out when talking about his two veterans. “They’re examples and models who want to get closer to our young players. We’re really lucky to have them.”

The presence of many young athletes also allows the Laval coach to establish a game system that puts a lot of pressure on the opposite team.

“We have a team with very technical players who are moving forward quickly,” he said. “We like to have the ball, but often, we’re going toward the offensive zone really quickly. Sometimes, we can also let them have the ball, and decide to go take it at a specific time in order to dictate the rhythm.”

New Arrival

The PLSQ is counting on 12 teams for the 2022 season. Among them, there’s the arrival of the CF Montréal reserve team, which is playing in the MLS.

“That arrival is a very good thing for us,” Coulibaly said. “It will be a young and well-organized team. It’s also a partner of the FC Laval. It will allow them to see that there are some good young players in the league.”

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article The FC Laval is Aiming for the Top for the 2022 Season est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.