For Sahvan Gill, there’s an athletic lineage that he’s happy to continue.
The Burnaby Winter Club hockey and high school basketball player has played sports for as long as he can remember, for the love of it and now pushing it to the elite level – especially as a member of the Burnaby Winter Club’s bantam AAA hockey team.
Groomed at BWC for the past eight years, including a provincial peewee title in 2013, 16-year-old Gill has built a resume as a dependable blueliner of 6-foot-1, 170-pounds.
Inspiring him to be his best is his family, including the memory of his great-grandfather Dara Singh, who was the 1968 wrestling World champion and a Bollywood movie star.
“My great-grandfather was pretty famous in India, a world champion wrestler,” notes Gill. “He was greatly respected and in the (wrestling) hall of fame.”
His heritage is an important element, as the teen was recently named the B.C. Punjabi Athlete of the Year for 2015.
His achievements across the board played a role in being chosen for such a lofty honour – including on his school’s honour roll, a leader on his basketball player, a community volunteer and contributor to charitable causes.
“I was kind of surprised,” he said. “It was pretty cool to win an award like that and kind of humbling.”
Nominating Gill was BWC director Dan Melanson.
Gill plans on playing major midget this coming season, and has received calls from major junior and junior A teams. The teen is keeping his options open at this stage.
A fan of Tampa Bay blueliner Victor Hedman, Gill is passionate about hockey, just as his dad Inder Gill was passionate about soccer as a youth.
“Hockey has been my favourite sport but I like a lot of sports, including basketball and soccer,” said Gill, who led his high school hoop team in scoring. “I guess my strengths (in hockey) are I play smart, make good decisions and I’m a two-way player who helps on breakouts.”
