Renewed Determination

Welcome back to the start of another basketball season! The ‘Birds have been training hard with a renewed determination in the off-season to make some noise this year on the court.

The ‘Birds are in full stride and have been busy over the past four weeks re-immersing into university academics and intense training.

With mid-terms, papers and presentations descending upon us it does not take long for the academic term to be well underway.

On the court the team has been working hard and with recent scrimmages against local college teams under our belts and a team building retreat in Whistler behind us, the team is preparing for our first test against CIS competition this week.

First up the ‘Birds tip off against the University of Guelph Gryphons on Thursday, October 2nd at 6 pm and we are excited to host an out of conference team and to get a taste of a different style of play.

Cross conference play is critical to develop a perspective beyond the confines of Canada West.

Next up is a Saturday afternoon tilt (4 pm) against UBC Okanagan, a Canada West team competing in the Explorer Division.

With a new divisional league structure in place and UBC competing in the Pioneer Division of CW, this will be the only head to head meeting of these teams until potentially in the post-season.

Both games will provide the opportunity to compete against CIS schools and represent the beginning of our pre-season exhibition schedule. We are fortunate to be hosting four pre-season games and look forward to getting the season underway.

We have an interesting mix of returning players lead by 5th year seniors Kris Young and Harleen Sidhu. Both players had strong seasons last year and will be looked to to provide leadership and consistency on and off the court.

The coming of age of 4th year players Cass Knievel, Adrienne Parkin and Steph Bell will have a big impact on the team’s depth and performance.

The addition of highly skilled NCAA transfers Diana Lee and Kara Spotton brings a heightened competitive spirit, toughness and leadership on and off the court.

We are looking forward to hosting these exhibition games and for the chance to compete and grow as a team.

We hope to see you in War Memorial this week.
Go ‘Birds.
Deb