#RepYourRegion: BC Blazers ready to impress at Bballnationals
A club from Delta, British Columbia the BC Blazers are hoping that Bballnationals will help spark a flame that ignites the rest of their basketball careers.
For head coach Sharon Butler, the experience of watching her oldest daughter play for the Split Second Cobras last year inspired her to give her youngest daughter and her friends a similar experience this year.
“I thought it was just a fantastic tournament,” she said. “It’s so well run, way more than any other one we’ve been to. So I wanted my youngest one to do it [as well] and the parents we’re kind of pushing me to put a team in.”
Butler is currently coaching the junior team at South Delta Secondary, and she’s excited to see how her teams stacks up against a competitive field.
“We didn’t get to see that many teams from across the country this year,” she said. “We want to see the best local teams and play top competition from across the country. [We want to use it] as a measuring stick and really it was just so well run I was blown away.”
Her U13 team should benefit from the tournament she explained, by gaining confidence for future games.
“At this age it’s all about the more games and more experience and the more times you can be put in tough competition and where you have to make decisions on the fly,” she explained. “It’s all about getting them confidence and learning and how to compete at the highest level.”
She’s also convinced that Bballnationals is important for the growth of the game in Canada.
“Most of these girls go down to the US to get the best competition,” she said. "They never get a chance to compete against teams from across the country. [. . .] they’re going to see a team from Ontario, a team from Saskatchewan that might be a couple of years older than them, but just to see the level of basketball in different parts of the country [is huge]."
Bballnationals starts Monday at noon. BC Sports Hub will have coverage of the entire event all the way through.
Written by: Nick Bondi