Last weekend the DVSS Dynos participated in the Superman tournament held in Three Hills.
    On Friday the Dynos first action was against the number four ranked team in the province, the Immanuel Christian Eagles from Lethbridge. The Dynos jumped out to an early lead, however the Eagles fought back out scoring the Dynos 27 to 16 in the second quarter. In the end the Dynos continued to fight and pulled out a 72 to 62 win.
    In the second game on Friday the team played the Grand Trunk Grizzlies. The Dynos again jumped out to an early lead taking a 20 point lead into half time. In the third quarter the Grizzlies came out with a vengeance, while the Dynos struggled offensively and defensively, managing to take eight points off the Dynos’ lead. The fourth quarter saw both teams fight it out, and the Dynos came out top with a 75 to 62 victory.
    In the semifinal the Dynos played the Strathcona Christian Eagles from Edmonton. The Dynos continued to have a strong start to game taking an early 14 point lead before SCA managed to cut the lead to eight. In the third quarter the Dynos were unfortunate to lose Matt Herman to a broken wrist as he had sprinted back to prevent the SCA Eagle player from scoring an easy basket. The Dynos rallied from this injury and beat SCA 72 to 65.
    In the final the Dynos played the Acme Redmen who they had lost to earlier this week in overtime. The Dynos and Redmen played an even first quarter with the Dynos edging the Redmen by a point. In the second quarter the Dynos struggled to score and had a total collapse offensively and defensively. The Dynos continued their struggles in the third quarter going down by 26 points.
    It appeared as if the Redmen were going to walk away with the championship, but with 2 minutes left in the third the Dynos started to find some energy and began eating away at the lead. 
    The Dynos continued to fight and managed to get the lead down to  seven points, but they were unable to capitalize on a few key possessions down the stretch and the Redmen came away with a 76 to 65 victory.
    Throughout the weekend the team struggled with their free throw shooting, which played a factor in the droughts the team would go through at times. However the team showed a lot of fight and character in all of their games. The team’s next action will be against the PCA Sabres on Wednesday night in Drum at 6:30 p.m. We hope everyone can come out and cheer on the team.

    The days are counting down to when Alberta will be hosting all of Canada at the National Special Olympic Games, and local coach Martin McSween will be in the thick of it.
    Last January The Drumheller Mail reported that McSween was named head of the Alpine ski team representing Alberta at the games, and after a year of organizing and training, he has a squad of eight skiers from Calgary, Edmonton and the Crowsnest Pass ready to take to the slope. McSween said a couple local skiers were close to qualifying for the games, however the lack of facilities may have hurt their chances.
    The 2012 National Special Winter Olympic Games are from February 28  to March 3 and are being hosted by St. Albert.  All of the events will be held in the St. Albert area, with the exception of the Alpine Skiing, which will be in Jasper at Marmot Basin. There is expected to be 650 Special Olympic athletes representing all the provinces and territories in Canada.
    They will be accompanied by about 250 coaches, managers and mission staff, as well as thousands of family, friends and fans coming to cheer on the athletes. Events include speed skating, floor hockey, snowshoeing, figure skating, curling, cross country skiing and alpine events.
    This is McSween’s fourth national games and he was an assistant coach at the World Games in 2009. This is the first competition acting as head coach. He said the position brought different responsibilities, including more work behind the scenes other than just in the training arena.
    “It’s a lot of fun, but a lot more busy,” said McSween. “I am involved in a lot more meetings and putting together the technical packages.”
     He has some familiar faces on his team including athletes Chris Doty, Ambyr Lindon and Andrew Schur, who all went to the 2008 National Games. The team had their final training session at Rabbit Mountain on January 14.
     The games are criteria for athletes to qualify for the World Special Olympics.
    “It’s exciting to be involved with Alberta as the host, it’s our home turf,” said McSween.