The Alberni District Secondary School Armada senior girls’ basketball team is gearing up for the largest basketball tournament in the province happening at their high school.
Sixteen senior basketball teams—eight girls’ and eight boys’ teams—will take to the courts of the ADSS gym and the Alberni Athletic Hall from Thursday, Jan. 5 to Saturday, Jan. 7 to compete in the Totem 62 Tournament.
This year the Armada senior girls’ record for the season is currently sitting at four wins and one loss. They practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the season and have also practiced six times over the holiday break to be extra prepared for Totem.
“Last year we did okay, we didn’t win, I believe we came fourth out of eight,” said Armada player Mya Smith. “I think our team is more capable of winning. I’m really looking forward to being more competitive with some of the other teams that are known to be better.”
Smith said the senior team plays well together and that although she’s slightly nervous, she’s looking forward to the tournament.
“As soon as you get out there it’s all good and you realize everyone is there to cheer you on, so it’s a good feeling,” Smith said. “I haven’t done anything like this in my life so far. I haven’t played in front of a crowd really so it’s pretty cool.”
Al Seredick, who co-coaches the girls with Greg Freethy, agrees that the team has been playing well together this season.
“It’s always awkward at the beginning of the year, there’s the Grade 12s that are already here and then there’s the 11s that come up and sometimes there’s some difficulty jelling as a unit but it’s been really smooth sailing,” Seredick said. “It’s a really good group of kids. They’re good players.”
Seredick said the girls are strong defensively on the court, they’re smart and they put in a lot of effort.
Playing in Totem tournaments himself when he was in high school, Seredick said Totem is always an exciting time.
“It was fun to grow up as a kid and watch your heroes play and then one day you get a chance to play too. It was a wonderful experience with lots of excitement,” Seredick said. “As cliché as it sounds it’s kind of a big deal.”
The Armada girls are scheduled to play in five or six tournaments this season and will end up playing approximately 25 league games.
The team will kick off the tournament with the second feature game against Kwalikum in the ADSS gym on Thursday at 7 p.m.
For a full weekend schedule, visit https://www.facebook.com/totemtournament.