Posted with Permission from Kamloops Daily News By MARK HUNTER Daily News Sports Reporter After 28 years, Brad Pape is stepping down as head coach of the TRU WolfPack badminton team. Now, he finally will have the chance to focus on playing badminton. Pape said Wednesday that he has filed his resignation papers with Ken Olynyk, TRU's director of athletics and recreation. It was a long run at TRU for Pape, who plans to focus mainly on his work as a realtor and his golf game. Also, he plans to focus a little more on his badminton playing career. "I still play competitively - masters tournaments - when I have time," Pape said. "That's one thing coaching cuts into is my tournaments, so . . . my playing schedule will get bigger." Pape Coaching (Andrew Snucins photo) Pape's love for badminton won't soon fade, and he'll be glad to serve as a spectator - starting with the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championship, which starts today at the Tournament Capital Centre. The tournament runs through Saturday, but none of the WolfPack's athletes qualified. Pape with radio personality JT Pape walked into his job as WolfPack head coach in 1984, when Pat O'Brien, the former UCC/Cariboo College A.D., was looking for a good man to start the team. "Pat O'Brien said there were some players who wanted to form a team," Pape said. "(I) went out and volunteered, went to some tournaments and had some fun. . . . I've been doing it since." (Andrew Snucins photo) Pape figures he took athletes to about six national championships, and he won the B.C. Colleges Athletic Association (now PacWest) coach of the year award five times. Pape last won the award in 2009-10, which came after he won his only CCAA award in 2007-08. "I've lost track, but I've probably been to half a dozen nationals, and they're always good," Pape said. "Nationals, you've got the best badminton, and the spirit is good - I would guess those are my favourite moments. (Andrew Snucins photo) "I've had other fun times - even sitting on the Coquihalla in a 15-passenger van in a snowstorm and people are in their cars and we're in the middle of the highway having a snowball fight. . . ." There are a lot of memories, and Pape won't soon forget about the WolfPack. He sincerely hopes the athletic department will find someone to take over as head coach. Robin Barlow was assistant coach this season, with wife Becky working as team manager. "I've been doing it 28 years in a row," Pape said. "I started the program, and hopefully I'm not finishing it. "There are a couple of people who might step forward, if the college wishes it." p p p There will be 48 athletes taking part in the CCAA tournament. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday, with medal matches to go Saturday - the gold-medal matches will start at 1:30 p.m. All the matches are at the Tournament Capital Centre. Today's action runs from 9:30 a.m., to 5:30 p.m., and it should be a good show. p p p The CCAA held its award banquet at TRU's Mountains Room on Wednesday, with two of the three major awards going to the NAIT Ooks of Edmonton. Richey with WolfPack head coach Brad Pape (Andrew Snucins photo)  Jordan Richey was named coach of the year, while Dan Kai took home the male MVP award. RuiLin Huang of the Coquitlam's Douglas Royals was female MVP. Dan Kai (left) and RuiLan Huang (right) (Andrew Snucins photo) Huang was one of four CCAA female All-Canadians, along with Heather Murray of Mount Allison (Atlantic), Humber's Tracy Wong (Ontario) and NAIT's Jessica Yu. The male All-Canadians were Kai, Douglas's Logan Campbell, Ontario's Dayvon Reid of George Brown College and Bryan Downey of Mount Allison. Read Mark Hunter in the Kamloops Daily News or online at http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/section/kamloops02