Sports
Focus keeps Ng at the top of her game
An inherent love for sports keeps Teagan Ng
busy. An uncompromising desire to succeed keeps her at the top of her game.
Whatever the challenge, on the field of play
or in the classroom, the young Richmondite continually displays the
characteristics of a born leader and achiever.
Going into Grade 9 at McMath Secondary where
she has played for the school’s volleyball, basketball and soccer teams while
maintaining straight As, Ng is a self-motivator who leads by example.
“Teagan is self-motivated on and off the
field,” says her dad Greg, a physical education teacher. “She has a quiet
confidence any time she plays sports, but she is not necessarily the loud,
motivational voice of her teams. Her willingness to take the ball and have that
hunger to score is what sets her apart.”
Ng’s sporting prowess recently took her to
Halifax for the Canadian Bantam Girls Lacrosse Championships, where she earned
all-star honours after leading Team BC to gold (with back-to-back victories
over previously-undefeated Alberta) and leading the club in scoring. It was the
second year in a row she was named to the five-player national tournament
all-star team. She also spent last weekend in Los Angeles, helping Denver Elite
win a title at the U.S. box lacrosse nationals.
Ng’s affinity for lacrosse began early. Her
grandfather, a former New Westminster Salmonbellie, gave her a little pink
lacrosse stick when she was three years old. She started playing for the
Richmond boys’ team when she was five.
“I like playing with my lacrosse family, the
boys and girls that I’ve grown up playing with,” she says. “It’s the lacrosse
community that I really like. I want to compete at the highest levels and be
seen by colleges. Hopefully, I can get a scholarship.”
Ng also shows a particular talent for soccer,
a sport both her parents played. She and her under-14 Richmond Strikers
teammates recently netted bronze medals at the Provincial A Cup played in
Richmond. The bulk of the team, under the guidance of head coach Mandhir Punia,
has played together since under-10 and is expected to remain mostly intact next
season.
Ng has been fortunate to play with “great
teammates” and been coached by some “amazing local coaches,” dating back to her
elementary school years at Dixon, says Greg. She is happy to share her
accomplishments with them, but prefers not to be the centre of attention.
But Greg is most proud that she is able to
play multiple sports at a high level without compromising her academics and
social life.
Listing Vancouver Whitecaps’ teen star
Alphonso Davies, who will play for Bayern Munich beginning next season, as her
favourite pro athlete “because he accomplished so much at a such a young age
and because he works so hard,” Ng relaxes by playing guitar and walking her
dog.
Ng is enrolled in the McMath Explorations
program, a three-year program in which students from Grades 8 to 10 move
through three core subject areas in science, English and social studies as a
group. It provides the opportunity for student-centered learning and assists
students in developing leadership skills and the tools to learn both
co-operatively and independently. It is designed to meet the needs of
potentially high-ability and well-motivated learners.
Ng was also the Grade 8 female athlete of the
year at the school, and received a principal’s distinction award for achieving
those impressive academic marks—further indicators of a young person going
places.