The Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School basketball program hit the ground running this season.
Senior boys head coach Andrew Steeves said that even before tryouts last week, several of his players spent September and October practicing at the former Buffalo Creek Elementary School’s gymnasium Wednesday nights. This earlier start allowed Steeves to help his players improve their skills and cohesion as a team.
“The season is shaping up well. We have a lot of the same guys from last year’s team coming out,” Steeves said. “It’s really been fun to see how the game is growing and that young guys are interested in coming out earlier in the year to play. They want to get better and be out there on a weekly basis.”
Steeves said that the junior boys’ basketball team has also seen a surge of interest this year. Junior boys coach Willie Hollet told Steeves there are enough players to form two teams. If the interest holds steady, Steeves said he is hopeful other volunteer coaches may step forward to help run a second team.
“It’s integral to the sport. You can’t just develop guys when they’re in Grades 11 and 12. We need more opportunities as a community to have people playing any sport, but I think we’ve demonstrated the need for more opportunity for basketball in the community, which is really exciting.”
Over the next month, Steeves said the team will be practicing Tuesdays and Wednesdays to get ready for basketball season, which kicks off Nov. 28. He plans to host a series of exhibition games on Nov. 25 and 26 followed by a round of games between Lake City Secondary School and Desert Sands Community School on Nov. 29 and Dec. 6.
After Christmas, Steeves said he will take the team to three away tournaments in Prince George, Merritt and Quesnel in January and February. Steves said from Feb.10 to 11 the Eagles will host a tournament of their own at PSO, the first of its kind for several years. At least six teams are slated to attend although Steeves said that number may grow to eight.
“We’re off to the races now and are going to have a very busy schedule compared to the past years, which is really awesome,” Steeves said. “Hopefully lots of people will come out and watch the team play. There’s a lot of guys who have put in the hard work over the last few years to get to this point.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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