Carseland wins Wheatland Volleyball Tourney

Times Reporter 

 

Roughly 100 Grade 6 students took part in Wheatland Elementary’s annual

volleyball tournament on Dec. 11. Two teams from Carseland School, three teams from Westmount Elementary, three teams from Brentwood Elementary and four teams from Wheatland competed for first place.

“We did hand out medals at the end too, just like every year,” teacher Mike Smith said. “It was pretty crazy.”

Carseland’s Team 1 took home the gold, followed by Wheatland Yellow being awarded silver, and Wheatland Green earning bronze. 

“Carseland usually finishes somewhere in the medals, I don’t know if they have something in the water down there,” Smith said. “It’s very competitive. The teams are very even. It’s nail-biting, the games are close. The kids just have a blast.”

Michelle Rushford, vice principal at Wheatland, organizes the tournament each year with the help of her staff.

“It prepares them for when they start to get into junior high game,” Smith said. 

All kids make the teams, but come Grade 7, they may have to deal with the pressure of making cuts for not just volleyball teams, but all athletics.

“Here, you don’t have a cut you have to make, if we show up with that many kids, that’s how many teams we’re going to make,” Smith said. “It’s a short season, we only practice for a month or two, and then we have this big tournament. It just gives them a little bit of a taste for that junior high competition, with the parents watching and all the noise.”