A hard fought season has finally come to an end for the Drumheller Valley Secondary School (DVSS) Senior High Boys Basketball team.
The team competed at South Central zones hosted at Brooks Composite High School on Friday, March 9 and Saturday, March 10.
They lost their first match but then won the next two ultimately placing fifth and winning the consolation side.
“I thought they actually played quite well as a whole all weekend,” said co-coach Will Belliveau. “The team we lost to ended up making it to the finals so they are a very strong team and the second game was against the other weaker team where our guys performed really well and then the third team we played was actually very evenly matched and the guys actually came out ahead so I thought overall they played really well throughout the weekend.”
Both coaches are pleased with the end result but Belliveau is both excited and nervous for the upcoming season.
“We are losing a good group of guys that we’ve had for a couple years so it will be an interesting year next year,” said Belliveau.
Overall, Belliveau felt it was a good season full of highs and lows. Highlights included performing well against ranked 1A schools despite the smaller school population and lowlights of the season involved mental ruts and ‘growing pains’.
“This year we really struggled to play a full game of basketball,” explained the coach. “We would have the teams beat and then we let them off the hook for like ten minutes and then they would crawl back into the game so that was one our lowlights and something that we struggled with all year.”
A spring league is set to begin in May and will run until June. This league is open to high school students in DVSS, St. Anthony’s, and Morrin Schools. Registration will be open within the next two weeks.
“All the kids sign up that want to play, we divide them in to teams, we makeup schedules and then it’s just kind of a chance for the ones who maybe didn’t make the team or just want to continue to play Basketball in some kind of a structure to play through the next couple of months,” said Belliveau.

Jerry Schuler is a man often known for his successful Lock and Key business but what most do not know is that he is an avid blood donor and has been donating since he was 18 years old.
The entire process takes approximately one hour including paperwork, questionnaires, and cookies and juice afterward.
“First time that I donated blood, I didn’t know that you weren’t supposed to exert yourself,” began Schuler. “I was at the General Hospital in Calgary up on the sixth floor and was about to donate blood [...] and I had to run down six flights of stairs. I get down there and blood was pumping a little bit but I learned.”
He plans on donating at least 100 times before he will finally quit. His donations happen three times per year on average.
“I just like to donate the blood,” said Schuler. “It doesn’t bother me, it takes a little bit of time, roughly an hour by the time you check in and go through the questions. When I’m giving the blood I’m usually giving a pint within four minutes.”
Schuler worked for a bread company at the time of his first donation. The bakery was located across the street from the General Hospital which eventually prompted him to donate.
“It was spur of the moment, nothing else,” said Schuler.
Schuler explained the blood donation is also good for a person’s health as it helps the body replace older blood cells and create new ones.
If a person has any previously unknown diseases they can be discovered as each sample of blood donated is tested before seeing a hospital room.
“It’s a good way to keep an eye on things if you come up with something,” said Schuler. “Let’s say you get bit by a bug and you get diseased. They will go through [the sample] and let you know. Where if you didn’t donate blood, by the time you realize you have something it might be too late.”
During the 2016/2017 year, Canadian Blood Services made several changes to their eligibility criteria.
First-time donors over the age of 71 are no longer required to have a physician assessment. Most donors with a history of cancer — not including blood-related cancers such as lymphomas and leukemia — can now donate if they have been cancer-free for five years. The waiting period for men who have sex with other men was reduced from five years to one year.
“Blood is needed,” Schuler said. “We don’t have enough donors. With all these different surgeries there is always going to be a need for blood so if you got it, give it.”
Drumheller’s next blood drive will at the Badlands Community Facility (BCF) next month.