Woodland’s sports teams have a good fall session
Volleyball and basketball squads now heading to regionals with an eye on making it to the provincials
SPORTS TEAMS AT WOODLAND Christian High School had a stellar start to the year, with a number of them qualifying for the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association (CWOSSA) championships this week.
On Wednesday, the Breslau school hosted the junior and senior ‘A’ boys CWOSSA championships, inviting eight other teams from seven schools to compete.
Though scores were unavailable prior to print time for the volleyball championships, junior team coach Jamie Wright said he was feeling confident. Speaking before the games, Wright said his team’s play was reason for optimism.
“It’s been going very well. The boys have made excellent progress through the season. We knew coming into the season that we had a team that had a lot of opportunity to grow and to improve,” said Wright.
The junior team ranked second over the regular season in the Waterloo Country Secondary School Athletics Association (WCSSAA), just behind Resurrection Catholic Secondary School.
The senior team also claimed the second-place spot over the WCSSAA regular season. Like the junior team, the seniors competed yesterday in the CWOSSA regionals; but unlike the younger team, a good showing yesterday could mean a spot at the provincials.
Finally, the Woodland girls’ senior basketball team will be playing at the upcoming CWOSSA ‘A’ regionals tomorrow. Like the senior boys’ volleyball team, the girls will be battling for a chance to represent Woodland at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) provincials.
Assistant coach Matt Hazenberg attributed the girls’ success in part to a change of the school’s basketball team.
“A few years ago, there was a revamp of the basketball program. We got some community coaches to come in and help out with our school’s program, starting from the ground up with the junior girls,” said Hazenberg.
Still, the coach definitely does not discount the oldfashioned grit and determination of the Woodland team.
“The girls have done really, really well. They’ve been practicing hard, so they’re really looking to CWOSSA this weekend, because they want another shot at getting a medal this year at OFSAA,” he said.
The girls’ senior basketball CWOSSA championships will be held tomorrow (Friday) at Kincardine District Secondary School.