Over one hundred student-athletes from across northern BC participated in the inaugural School Wheelchair Basketball Championships; the Caribou Cup. Held at the Dr. Charles Jago Northern Sports Centre in Prince George, BC; the event highlighted months of hard work and dedication by tournament organizer, Nancy Harris.
"This is just amazing!" exclaimed Harris; "I am thrilled to see this all come together". Building on the popular BC Wheelchair Basketball’ initiative, "Let’s Play - Northern BC" which promotes physical literacy and inclusive participation for kids 4-8 years old; Harris’ used this model and envisioned a tournament that would include female and male students of any abilities from an older group, grades 6 to 12 the opportunity to wear their school colours. "For many students, this is the only opportunity to participate with alongside their school peers", explained Harris. "...and it's great to see the number of girls competing in the tournament too". Even the students of the arts were involved in the festivities as Prince George Secondary School’s dance class performed an exciting dance routine to pop icon Adele’s smash hit, "Rolling in the Deep".
However, the crescendo of the event was the district championship games played on the home court of the UNBC Timberwolves. In the junior division (Grades 6-7) championship game, the Nukko Lake Dragons defeated the St.Mary’s Huskies in a hard fought battle. Despite being undersized, the Dragons relied on speed and chair skills to whip pass the Huskies on route to a 12-6 victory.
In the Intermediate (Grades 8-10) division, the Prince George Polars’ overpowered the St. Mary’s Sloths by a score of 20-8. Despite playing up a division, the young and talented students from St. Mary's were definitely not sloths! Coasting through the preliminary rounds with an undefeated record, the Sloth were simply out sized against the Polars in the finals.
In the Senior division (Grades 11-12), D.P. Todd Trojans’ size, power and speed proved too much for opponents as they finished the tournament undefeated. In the championship game, the Mackenzie Sabres kept the game close in the first half, but the Trojans pulled away in the last ten minutes to take the coveted Caribou Cup crown which was presented by Dr. Charles Jago.
"My hat is off to Nancy [Harris], the School Districts, and the City of Prince George." said Brian McLennon. As the developmental wheelchair basketball coach for BC Wheelchair Basketball, he stated, "The energy, enthusiasm and excitement are inspiring; and the tournament has raised the level of awareness as well as the benefits of inclusive participation". Based on the laughter and cheers that filled the gym throughout the day, it would be fair to say the event was a hit with everyone.
Photo Credit: Rob Stiles
