KERROBERT ‑ Basketball season began for local schools in 2021, however Living Sky School Division directed a two week pause on extra-curricular activity to help curb the spread of COVID-19, driven by the Omicron variant.
Beverly Kraft, senior and junior boys’ basketball coach at Kerrobert School says the interruption in their season put a pause on hosting Kindersley and Plenty but remains hopeful the games can be rescheduled.
Kraft is helped by Clark Snider and Caiden Amola for the senior team while Snider and Amola along with Paige Feser assist with the junior squad.
“Being that my senior team is predominately made up of hockey players and I only have seven boys, the decision was made to opt out of league play this year and set up exhibition games instead, " said Kraft.
Kraft also adds,"Being that there is a small amount of 1A schools this year, it’s looking like the run to Hoopla may be narrowed down to one weekend rather than two. If the boys are able to play, it’s looking like March 18-19 could be the weekend. We don’t know much yet about how that weekend will look or where we might go.”
Kerrobert’s junior boys’ team consists of a core of 12 dedicated players who are full of great potential, according to coach Kraft. They joined the league this year and have only been able to experience two games due to COVID-19 interruptions. Once they are given the green light to go ahead, they are set to play Macklin and Unity as well as participate in a tournament in Kindersley.
For the time being, basketball teams are allowed to practise, which keeps them motivated. Battle West junior district playoffs are slated for Feb. 11-12.
Troy Snider leads both the Kerrobert junior girls' and senior girls’ teams.
“We are having an excellent year with 19 girls playing basketball this season. We are currently on pause from playing games, but continue to practise,” says Snider
The senior girls were able to host a successful tournament in December and play league games up until the pause. The junior girls have lost only two games all season and recently won a silver medal game in a tournament hosted in Unity.
