Sports | DrumhellerMail

Drumheller Skiers headed to Special Olympics

Mitchell Pennington, Quinn Delisle, Jay Dekeyser, Patrick May and Brian Taber stand together in full skiing gear on Sunday, January 28, for the Special Olympics Alberta Alpine Qualifier.

Martin McSween has led a successful skiing team for approximately 22 years.
After attending the Special Olympics Alberta Alpine Qualifier held at Canada Olympic Park (COP) in Calgary on Sunday, January 28, Jay Dekeyser, Quinn Delisle, Mitchell Pennington, and Brian Taber are headed to the Special Olympics Alberta Winter Games in 2019.
Dekeyser, Delisle, and Pennington represent the Drumheller contingency while Brian Taber represents Olds.
“It was great,” began Martin McSween, head coach of Drumheller and Olds special skiing teams.
Dekeyser won silver this time and has competed at the national level before in 2008 when he travelled to Quebec.
“That was very cool and he still talks about it, he wants to go back again,” said McSween.
Brian Taber of Olds swept up a gold medal as well.
Over 70 skiers were taking on the slopes in -25 degree weather.
Since the team did so well, they will all be participating in provincials in Calgary next year.
If any of the athletes do well, they can become members of Team Alberta who will attend the national games in 2020. Successful candidates from that level will move up to Team Canada where they will participate in the World Games in 2021.
Training consists of dryland training sessions at the Badlands Community Facility (BCF). Nakiska is their main venture for snow covered trails. They tend to travel three to four times a season.
“The dryland really helps and the longer runs at Nakiska give us a really good, full day of training,” said McSween.
Delisle fell during one of the races at the event but managed to keep himself in control. Each participant has a minute to get back up and must go through each gate properly.
“He was amazing, he did everything that he was supposed to do and I was really proud of him for doing that actually. I guess he impressed all the other coaches so that was cool,” said McSween.
Each member will face three different courses at provincials; slalom, giant slalom, and super giant slalom.
A slalom is a track that has gates that are closer together, a giant slalom has wider turns and a super giant slalom has the widest of turns.
Points, times, and the specific age groups determine who will move on to the next level.

Pictured above: (l-r) Mitchell Pennington, Quinn Delisle, Jay Dekeyser, Patrick May and Brian Taber stand together in full skiing gear on Sunday, January 28, for the Special Olympics Alberta Alpine Qualifier. submitted.

Building season for DVSS Junior A Girls

20180118 DVSS Jr. A Girls BBall TJH 0165

   This season has been all about building blocks for the DVSS Junior A girls basketball team. Their single league game win has been the driving power behind wanting to do better.
   “This year has been challenging so far as we are a young A team with only two grade 9 girls and the remaining all grade 8’s,” said coach Elesha Wright. “This year is a building year for our team, so we have only had one win in league so far but the girls are improving each week.”
   Since the team is so young, the lessons are focused on individual skills and teamwork out on the court.
   “Each game the girls get more confident and are improving not only as a team but individually,” said Wright. “We are focusing and working on building their individual skills, this will allow the team to be much stronger next year.”
   This past weekend, the girls placed second at the Junior High Tournament in Red Deer Lake School in south-west Calgary.

Junior Boys Basketball build strong foundation

20180111 Junior B Basketball TJH 0056

   The Drumheller Valley Secondary School (DVSS) Junior B Boys Basketball team consisting of mostly rookies is making waves this season.
   The team is made up of 10 grade seven students and two grade eight students.
   “Only two players have ever played any organized basketball before, so it is all new for them, and I am very impressed how quickly they have picked up on what our focus is this year, and how eager they all are to learn to get better,” said head coach Jeff Messom in an email.
   The team has been undefeated in league play, winning by double figures each time.
   They still continue to battle it out at tournaments, accepting the challenge.
   “The one tournament we went to before Christmas in Calgary, we went 0 – 3, but lost all close games to teams that were mainly made up of Grade 8’s,” continued Messom.
   Their next tournament is on Friday, January 19, and Saturday, January 20 at the Red Deer Lake School in south Calgary.
   “This tournament will be a good test for us to see how much we have improved from the last time we were in a tournament in Calgary,” he said.
   Messom is impressed by how the team controls the situation, keeping up with the pace of the sport.
   “Currently, the best thing our team does is pushing the ball up the court and playing uptempo basketball,” said Messom.
   Lack of height seems to be the largest disadvantage. Messom believes that this is just the age level and will change as they grow throughout the next five to six years.
   “... but what we lack in height, we make up for in hustle and a no quit attitude,” said Messom.
   The team has an emphasised goal on running the floor, spacing the floor, and player movements.
   “We have kept everything pretty simple, but as they understand more and more of the game of Basketball, we can add concepts. Our goal is looking six years down the road when these kids are in Grade 12. We are trying to build a strong foundation that we can continue to build on every year.”

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