County Clippers

Basketball program celebrates ten years

(L-R): Libby Hudson (Most Improved Player) and Drew Spencer (Coaches Award) were key players on the Girls U-13 basketball team.

The County Clippers basketball league closed off a successful tenth season with an outdoor award banquet at CML Snider School in Wellington on Saturday afternoon. The organization has come a long way since Rob Garden and Steve O’Brien recognized the need for a kids basketball league in the County 10 years ago and started off with just 24 players from Grades Seven and Eight. Four years later, they started a rep program and now the organization has four rep teams and 225 house league players ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 10. On Saturday, the coaches gave a brief recap of their season and handed out awards to the players in three categories: Most Valuable Player, Most Improved Player, and the Coaches Award. In addition, the organization also selected a coach of the year and a volunteer of the year, with the awards going to Barbara Inrig-Pieterse and Shane Wilkinson respectively.

Inrig-Pieterse stepped up to coach the U- 14 boys team, and while she is an accomplished basketball player, she did not have any prior coaching experience. Nevertheless, she and her assistant coach, Christin Dickenson, led the team to the bronze medal game at the Ontario Cup, where they narrowly lost by one point. “We had such an amazing season,” she said. “If you look at where we started to where we are now, it’s amazing the growth the boys had. We won our own home tournament, and we went four and zero on some weekends. I love the game and I love what Rob [Garden] has done for the Clippers organization.” At the start of the season she had to work really hard to gain the respect of the players, and they soon came to appreciate her knowledge and skill of the game. “As upsetting as losing that final game was for us, looking back at the growth that we had was all I could have asked for. I didn’t need a medal. Seeing their progression was all I needed.”

Coach of the year Barbara Inrog-Pieterse stands with volunteer of the year Shane Wilkinson at the County Clippers Award Banquet at CML Snider School on Saturday.

The under-16 boys team had a slow start to their abbreviated season, but finished on a high note. Assistant coach Melanie Veenstra said their season was a fast and furious one. The regular season starts in September for all but the high school teams. These older players start to compete in March and their season ends in May, making for an intense sequences of practices and games. In a 20-game schedule, the U- 16 boys had seven wins and 13 losses, with most of their wins coming in the latter part of the season.

“These kids are awesome and amazing,” said Veenstra. “They’re in high school, most of them have part-time jobs and yet they are committed to practising twice a week and putting in a lot of game time as well. They play with a lot of heart and they have a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun to be on a basketball team, especially a County Clippers basketball team.”

This year Garden took a break from coaching and was able to watch the athletes develop all across the various teams. “We had great success on the courts,” he said. “But it was really great to step back and watch the kids grow. It shows me that everything we’re trying to accomplish with these young men and women is working, and they’re becoming leaders, and I think that’s bigger than sport, and that is what we want to focus on.”

For more information about the County Clippers, or to register for their summer camp, please visit countyclippers.ca.