Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The games meant nothing. The scores were an afterthought.

Yet coach Michael Botermans said he believed there were still many things his players could pick up at a fun volleyball tournament held in Yellowknife on Oct. 11.

"Most of my players are soccer players," said Botermans, the volleyball coach for Behchoko's Chief Jimmy Bruneau school.

"So they learn a lot when they come to these kinds of tournaments."

Games began on Friday, Oct. 10 and his team drove in from Behchoko on Saturday to play a flurry of matches.

Botermans made the trip to get his players some valuable game experience in advance of two upcoming volleyball tournaments in the NWT he plans to attend - one in Fort Smith from Oct. 24 to 26 and the annual Spike It! tournament in Yellowknife in early November.

"My senior girls should do well," he said, "and the senior boys will be learning."

Botermans said he appreciated the opportunity the tournament gave his players.

"We're one of the only teams that can afford to come (to Yellowknife for events like this) because we're only an hour away," he said.

"This means they can learn the game more. For some, it is the first time they get to play," he said. "It is a great opportunity for skills development."

The coach said the community of Behchoko has traditionally been a soccer hotbed, where kids mostly come out to play that sport.

"Soccer is really our main game," he said, but added the school is now rebuilding after most of their high-performance players have grown up.

"We've lost most of our main players," he said.

"We've had 20 good years of soccer."

Botermans said not as many kids play volleyball in the community but as long as kids are active and playing sports, he's happy.

The volleyball tournament and other recreation activities are aimed at getting young players motivated and to develop skills.

"They need to play," said Botermans.

"They need to feel that they belong to a team and that they are developing and that is self-motivating once they see they can get better," he said.

On Saturday, it wasn't just the players that got into action.

Botermans himself stepped onto the court to play in order to fill out the six-person squad.

He was only able to bring two girls and three boys from his teams in Behchoko.

The team was busy all day, playing six games in total.

"I was able to coach them and play beside them," he said. "Teaching them as you go along."

For the players it was about practice, he said.

"For older guys like me, it was exercise," he joked.

-with files from Jason Emiry