The 2016-17 basketball season is off to a strong start at Carihi.
They practice regularly, honing in on their skills and striving to achieve their maximum potential.
Hopes are that this practice and dedication will lead them to major competitions as the season progresses.
Like most school sports, there are four subdivisions based on age and gender.
These divisions include junior girls, senior girls, junior boys, and senior boys.
Junior players are in grades nine and 10, while senior players are in grades 11 and 12.
Of these, the senior boys are the favourites to be successful .
This year’s teams are predominantly young and high-energy.
The nature of the young team also means that they have many things to improve.
Coach Ray Wilson said that “the season is starting off reasonably well.
“Being early in the season they have things to work on, but they are having a good start”.
For the players, they will be continuously striving to reach their goals throughout the season.
Some of these goals involve individual success and improving as an athlete. This will come from hard work at practices and the process of learning from games and other basketball experiences.
For some, going beyond high school basketball and playing at the post-secondary level is also a possibility.
As basketball is a team sport, many of their goals are team-oriented. In general, the goal is to qualify for major regional competitions.
According to Coach Ray Wilson, “Islands is definitely the main goal, but we always have the dream of getting to Provincials. I think these goals are definitely achievable.”
Wilson also mentioned that the players were motivated to reach these competitions. “If you asked one of them, I think they’d say Provincials is the goal.”
Reaching Provincials would be a major accomplishment for any of the four divisions. It would follow in the footsteps of the Carihi Senior Boys soccer team reaching Provincials earlier this year.
At every game last year, the gymnasium bleachers are filled with energetic fans, including parents, teachers, and other Carihi students. Every one of them shares the same wish. They all wish the Carihi basketball players the best of luck for the season ahead.