SOURIS, P.E.I. — Steven Acorn and Chloe LaBrech were anxiously awaiting the news.
The two seniors at Souris Regional School were thrilled to learn they will have the opportunity to continue playing Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association (PEISAA) basketball in their final year of high school.
The governing body for school sports in the province announced earlier this week the resumption of games. The intermediate leagues were scheduled to play Thursday, but those games were postponed due to a weather-related cancellation of after-school activities.
The senior leagues were scheduled to resume Friday.
"Sports have always been a big, important part of my life, so I have always wanted to play them and keep playing," said Acorn, an 18-year-old forward from Fortune. “With COVID and everything hitting this year, I was kind of worried about how my Grade 12 year would go.
“So far, it's been nice. We were able to get soccer in completely (in the fall), and being able to do basketball this year will be good, too."
The PEISAA basketball season was a week old when the province announced circuit-breaker measures on Dec. 6. It meant no extra-curricular activities at schools.
It then carried into the two-week Christmas break.
"Pretty much since Grade 7, I have always been looking forward to playing all my sports," said LaBrech, a 17-year-old guard from St. Peters Bay. "In my Grade 12 year, I am happy I get to do that."
Westisle
Belle Ashley and Ryan Leard, two Grade 12 basketball players at Westisle Composite High School in Rosebank, are equally as excited about the opportunity to return to the court in their final year of high school.
Ashley and Leard are members of the Westisle Team One teams.
“It’s probably going to be my last year playing basketball, so it’s good to be able to have that chance,” said Leard, a 17-year-old point guard from Mill River East.
Ashley, a forward, said it was exciting to learn the PEISAA basketball season would continue.
She is thankful for the opportunity, especially with people missing out on activities over the last 10 months due to COVID-19.
“We didn’t know if we were going to have a basketball season at all,” said Ashley, 17, who is from Northport. “We have a good team this year, so now we are back at the gym and have something to do because we can’t do much during the pandemic.”
Three Oaks
At Three Oaks Senior High School (TOSH) in Summerside, Grade 11 students Paige MacLean and Sean Matheson share their peer's excitement. MacLean and Matheson play with the Three Oaks Team One squads.
"We are pretty lucky here to be able to play a full season," said the 16-year-old Matheson, who is from Summerside and plays power forward. "We are excited. For two weeks, it wasn't looking great. Now we are back and ready to get in and play."
All six players agree it was nice to resume practising earlier this week, although, said Acorn, “we were a little rusty” after being off for a month. But it felt good to be back in the gym.
MacLean, a Summerside native who plays point guard, said although the Axewomen had not been in the gym during the pause, the coaching staff stressed the importance of maintaining physical conditioning.
“Our coaches wanted us to run, so we ran and did some workouts on our own,” said MacLean, 16. “It was tough, for sure, to be away for a month.”
Matheson was not out of the gym for that long. He had some gym time with the provincial program in Charlottetown over the Christmas holidays.
“I was lucky to get in the gym a few times, but I know there are some kids who would have been without it for a full month,” said Matheson. “It’s hard enough getting back into the season at the start, but to have it ripped away for a month after you’re finally back in rhythm is a little tough.”
The Souris, Three Oaks and Westisle teams were all scheduled to return to game action Friday night.
Leard said he was “looking forward to playing some games.” He watched a lot of NBA during the break in action.
Changes
Players across the province are learning to deal with some changes during COVID-19. For example, there are no jump-balls; the home team gets possession to start games. Also, when inbounding the ball, players have to give six feet of distance.
Players have to use hand sanitizer as they come on and off the court, and there are no tournaments.
“We are still playing basketball, so it’s good,” said MacLean.
Schedule
Here is Monday’s PEISAA senior basketball schedule:
Girls
5 p.m. – Colonel Gray Team Two at Souris.
5 p.m. – Westisle Team One at Colonel Gray Team One.
5 p.m. – Charlottetown Rural Team One at Bluefield Team One.
5 p.m. – Montague at Charlottetown Rural Team Two.
5:30 p.m. – Bluefield Team Two at Morell.
*****
Boys
5:30 p.m. – Three Oaks Team Two at Kensington.
5:30 p.m. – Kinkora at Francois Buote.
7:15 p.m. – Charlottetown Rural Team One at Bluefield Team One.
7:30 p.m. – Colonel Gray Team Two at Souris.
7:30 p.m. – Westisle at Colonel Gray Team One.
7:30 p.m. – Montague at Charlottetown Rural Team Two.
Another change is teams cannot travel to road games by bus and must travel individually with their parents. This certainly impacts Westisle.
The West Prince school's closest opponents are nearly 63 kilometres away at TOSH.
Ashley said the bus trips were “great for team bonding”, but she understands the decision.
LaBrech, who admitted she was “scared” that the season could end up cancelled, is thankful for the opportunity to play a sport she loves in her final year of high school.
“I definitely appreciate it more than I did last year,” said LaBrech. “Last year, we took it for granted and didn't realize this year would be like this."
Jason Simmonds is The Guardian's sports reporter. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @JpsportsJason.
