The Innisfail High School basketball squads have hit the courts in preparation to build on the success they had last year.
The Innisfail High School basketball squads have hit the courts in preparation to build on the success they had last year.
Both boys and girls basketball teams held tryouts the week of November 2 to 5 in the high school gymnasiums with as many as 15 players attending for both teams. Ed Coles, who coaches the junior varsity (JV) boys and Derek Baird, who is the coach of the junior varsity girls, have hard choices.
"We have had a good turnout for tryouts so far," said Coles. "There is a good mix of grades 10 to 12 and the Grade 10s are coming off a successful season last year taking the Chinook's Edge North Athletic Association (CENAA) title."
He noted the team will be cut to the 10 best players based on a number of skills graded during practice.
"My rubric (chart) is based on skill, play, coachibility, awareness and teamwork," said Coles, who has been coaching basketball for 11 years, three of which have been in Innisfail. Two years ago he coached the junior team to a division title, and moved to the senior team last year. Prior to Innisfail, he coached in the Northlands School Division. "There are certain things I cannot coach, and the boys who have tried out have height. I can coach skills, but I can't coach six foot four."
Coles' practices have been tough but the coach said his potential players have responded positively to the drills and skill development sessions. The final team will be posted on Nov. 12 after which the boys will not have much time to gel as a team.
"Our first tournament will be in New Norway up by Wetaskiwin on November 28 and our first league game is on December 3," said Coles, who has high expectations of his players for the season.
Meanwhile, Baird got the "big" gymnasium for his team to brush up on their skills.
"We didn't have a full squad out to practice every night as some of the team was at volleyball," said Baird, whose team won the CENAA and Chinook's Edge Athletic Association title last year. "But I do put them through the paces when they are here. Conditioning is one of the challenges we have early in the season."
The coach noted he has an assistant coach this year in Kevin Meyers, who has been out to all the practices so far.
"I love the eagerness from the girls to play basketball," said Baird. "We have a good returning squad from last year but only have one Grade 12 returnee with a core of grade 10 and 11 girls. Natasha Lester is the heartbeat of our team and will be bringing her best to every game."
With the team playing in the junior varsity league, they will be competing in five tournaments throughout the season of which only one will be JV and the remainder being senior competitions.
"I think we will have a good season," added Baird, while looking over his team list. "The senior tournaments will be tough but you don't improve if you don't play higher level teams."
