The basketball season is well underway at Sundre High School, with four teams busy practising and competing in games.
The basketball coaches this year are residents within the community, rather than teachers at the school, said principal Jason Drent.
Jamie Letoski and Kayne Suiter are coaching the junior boys team and Taylor Jenkins, John Toews and Chris Newton are coaching the senior boys team. Velvet Hogarth is coaching the junior varsity girls team and Kent Janz is coaching the senior girls team. Drent is assisting with the senior girls team.
ìAll of our coaches this year are community coaches,î said Drent. ìIt's just so nice to have that community support. When we struggle to find teachers to coach the teams the community always helps to step up.î
ìOftentimes a teacher might need a break for a year and that's specifically what's happened in basketball this year. Maybe they've got some family commitments, maybe their academic load is a little bit heavier this year.î
The time commitment to coach a basketball team from the beginning to the end of a season could involve 200 to 300 hours, he said.
Having played basketball himself for many years and having coached at the high school for 20 plus years, Drent enjoys being involved.
ìI think it's important as much as possible to build relationships with kids outside of the classroom,î he said. ìWe can't forget how important that relationship piece is. If you don't have a relationship with students in your building, students in your classroom, then it becomes that much more difficult for kids to be successful.î
Athletics is a great way to build relationships, he said.
ìStudents that feel that adults in the building care about them and understand them, they are that much more successful.î
He believes basketball is a good sport to get into for teenagers who grew up playing hockey.
ìAt the high school level, basketball is such a nice connection with hockey. A lot of times for kids the hockey road starts to end when they get into high school, that competition level, if they don't move on to AA or AAA hockey,î he explained.
ìSome of my best basketball players are ex-hockey players or hockey players that maybe play in town still.î
Hockey players are competitive athletes, he said, adding that there are similarities in hockey and basketball strategies.
There are many benefits in playing basketball, including playing in a team atmosphere and building relationships with teammates, he added.
ìThey're building relationships with other people that they wouldn't normally associate with, which I think is fantastic.î
He is happy with how the season is going so far.
ìWe're not necessarily winning all our games but we're definitely enjoying it. We've got some young teams and some really good talent developing and so I think you're going to see some pretty competitive teams in the next couple years.î
He said the educational component is his favourite part of basketball.
ìTo teach kids what can happen when things don't go their way. When they're upset about some of the negatives that happen on the court, when they didn't feel like they played as well as they could, there's an educational component there to say ëOK now how are you going to react to that?',î he explained.
ìHow do you react to that in a positive situation so that you can grow and become not only a better athlete but a better person.î
