Congratulations to Ashcroft Secondary School’s Junior Girls Basketball team who were the champions at their home tournament this month! This team of enthusiastic, hard working and talented young ladies have been turning heads.
Playing in the West Zone Junior girls league means playing schools that are much larger, usually with a Junior team of girls who are 14 and 15 with a year or more of basketball experience. The Ashcroft Rams however put together a group of 13 and 14 year old girls with most having no basketball experience at all.
The first few practices included what a “key” is, how to substitute into the game and how to hold the ball correctly. Both Patty and I told the team from the beginning that this would be a difficult season, but if they didn’t give up, we believed they had what it takes to one day be a great team, maybe not this year, but next year and the years following.
The Rams first game was played in December at Valleyview Secondary School, a school with five times the population and with a year or more of basketball experience. Needless to say, the score was 60-9 for Valleyview.
A number of losses followed that first game, the team however did not lose heart. They continued to believe their coaches, trust the process and kept working harder, practicing with purpose and playing with heart. The Jr. Girls Rams continued to learn, practice and improve, and in January the Rams began closing the gap. They got their first win at a Princeton tournament and that gave them a turbo boost to take it to the next level. Last weekend, the Rams hosted a tournament and won every game finishing with the championship trophy!
Oh, and what about that Valleyview team we played at the beginning of the season? We just played them this week and lost by 8 points. I’d say that’s a major improvement and that’s probably why other coaches are coming up to us to express their unbelief at a team that just doesn’t quit!
So proud of these girls and can’t wait to see what kind of greatness lies ahead!
Coach Vicky Trill