Kudos to volunteers from Olds High School, Olds College and the community at large for hosting two very successful provincial basketball championships this past week.
The ASAA 3A provincial championships for both boys and girls were held this past Thursday through Saturday in Olds and Didsbury – at the Ralph Klein Centre and other venues.
Initially, OHS had only been expected to host the senior girls' basketball provincials, but organizers were later asked to hold the boys tournament as well.
Organizing one provincial tournament is hard enough for a community this size, but to host two at the same time was an immense challenge.
However, it all went well.
The icing on the cake would have been for at least one – preferably both – OHS teams to win their respective tournaments, thereby becoming provincial champions.
Alas, that was not to be.
The W.R. Myers Rebels of Taber won the ASAA 3A provincial girls basketball championship and the Chestermere Lakers won the boys championship by beating the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles 97-94 in overtime.
Understandably, organizers are not in a hurry to take on such an enormous undertaking any time in the near future. But having done so well this time, it may not be long before they'll be asked to consider doing so.
In the meantime, the closer connection brought about by the co-operation of Olds High School and Olds College athletic departments can't help but be good for both departments.
