Point guard steals the show

CTV Calgary: Lisa Bowes has the AOW Sara Astorga is the Athlete of the Week

The SAIT Trojans women's basketball team finished the first half on a four-game winning streak and as a result gave head coach Donovan Martin his 400th career ACAC coaching victory.

This year the team has added Sara Astorga to its offence.

“I used to play guard and now I’m playing point guard. Its really hard, like you have to take care of the ball and ya, it’s a really tough position. Everybody counts on you and the pressure sometimes is on but I like it. I love it now, it’s really cool,” said Astorga.

Astorga is originally from Venezuela and got her first taste of Canadian ball at Red Deer College last year

She wanted to come to SAIT because of its Construction Project Management degree program and is now in her second year.

“Venezuela is all about oil and I like math, I like those kind of stuff and my stepdad actually works, he’s a manager, he’s a construction project manager and so this is what I want to do,” said Astorga.

The transfer also gives her a chance to play with one of the top coaches in the country.

“She's probably the most athletic girl on the team in terms of speed and quickness and jumping ability and strength and so forth. The best combination of all those things,” said Martin. “Her ability to handle the ball and see the court, she’s kinda evolved into the floor general on our team.”

Sara Astorga has done an amazing job learning English over the last three years but she says sometimes things can get lost in translation.

“It was supposed to be green. That’s the name of the play and the other play that is called grey. So I was bringing the ball,  I was like grey, grey, grey, everybody like half thought that I was saying grey and the other half thought I was saying green so everyone was so confused,” said Astorga. “I was saying grey not green.”

“She's gonna be an all star by next year. I would bet on that,” said Coach Martin.

For her tenacity and perseverance, Sara Astorga is the CTV Calgary Athlete of the Week for Friday, November 30, 2012.