Team NWT will be ready to hit the court this coming August at the Canada Basketball U15 Nationals.It's an exciting time, for sure, but both head coaches know it's going to be the uphill battle to end uphill battles.
In terms of the boys team, several community players managed to make the final cut, such as the Inuvik trio of Krish Sharma, Donovan Arey and Dwayne Raddi.
Sharma, 15, said he was shocked when he found out that he made the team.
"I knew I had to work harder now, because we're going to the big tournament in August," said Sharma.
The East Three Secondary School Grade 10 student said he was invited to try out for the team in February 2018.
"I've been pretty excited since," he said. "I didn't really think I'd make the team, but I did, so it's pretty cool."
Sharma, who will play center for the team, has been playing basketball for two years and hopes to play basketball in the Arctic Winter Games in the future.
He's most excited to have the opportunity to play against the top players in Canada in his age bracket and hopefully win a game or two, he said.
The team will face off against other territorial and provincial teams in Kamloops, B.C. in August 2018.
Matt Craig is this year's head coach and he'll be looking to his veterans for leadership.
"Those guys who have experience will know what it's like," Craig said. "This is a much higher level than these boys have ever seen and they know the expectations. We aren't going in with the mindset of causing a huge upset because it's such a different level of basketball than we play here."
The boys will be in a three-team pool as they take on Nova Scotia and B.C. in the round-robin. Their crossover games could see them play any one of the big four: Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan or Alberta.
Craig said if there's success to be had, it will come after the crossover games and in the seeding pool.
"It's going to be tough, I won't lie," he said. "I don't foresee us getting out of our pool and into the playoffs. We're looking at the games after the crossover against teams like P.E.I. and
Newfoundland and Labrador because those will be our competitive games. We need to be realistic about our chances because we can't compete with provinces like B.C. simply because of population."
When it comes to preparation, Craig is giving the boys the responsibility of keeping themselves in shape courtesy of workout plans that they need to follow.
"The players are taking it upon themselves to do the extra work," he said. "In past years, it was all about basketball but now they have the workouts and if we can get them fit, we'll be able to close the gap on the physical side and we could have a chance that way."
For the girls, there are players such as Deline's Naomi Yukon, who has Team NWT experience under her belt and Tori Bayha of Tulita that made the final cut.
The girls held their training camp late last month with a total of 21 hopefuls trying their luck. In the end, head coach Cole Marshall chose 14 players – 12 regulars and two alternates – to prepare for battle in Fredericton, N.B., the location of this year's girls event.
"We have girls who are Arctic Winter Games veterans and playing against teams like Alaska will help them," said Marshall. "They'll still be up against it and it's going to be an eye-opener, especially for the girls who have never seen this level before."
The tournament's round-robin format means the NWT won't play against the top teams, which includes Ontario, the defending champions, before the crossover round and even then, it's highly unlikely they would ever see them at that point. They will be in a three-team group for the round-robin, which will include themselves, Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador.
It's a set-up Marshall likes.
"It's never fun to play the big teams like Ontario and Quebec," he said.
This is only the second time a U15 girls team from the NWT will play at nationals, the last time being 2015, when Marshall also served as head coach. They played Newfoundland and Labrador back then as well and were in with a chance at halftime in that contest before falling off in the second half.
Marshall isn't sure of what to expect this time around.
"There's no way to tell what's coming," he said. "We lost by 30 points to them three years ago but they were a bigger and faster team than we were. That being said, if we play a good game and they have a bad game, you never know."
This year's girls squad is young with some players in Grade 7 making the cut and while there isn't a lot of veteran leadership like the team three years ago had, the one thing Marshall has is players who can move the ball, which will be key to keeping them competitive.
"Naomi Yukon, Mia MacInnis and Mali Straker can all move the ball well and get it over half," he said. "They'll be able to handle the pressure that I know will be coming from the other teams.
We're young but I don't see it as a disadvantage because the girls we have like to play that hard brand of basketball and aren't afraid to get physical."