Eleven locals compete at Alberta Winter Games

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

Strathmore was strongly represented at the 2020 Alberta Winter Games in Airdrie, Alta. Feb. 14-17, with 11 locals taking part.
Competing across four different tournament events of volleyball (male), hockey (male), hockey (female) and ringette, Strathmore was well represented with nine local competitors, one coach and one assistant coach.
Five local volleyball playing cousins – Isaac Dirks, Joshua Dirks, Matthew Dirks, Asher Rilling and Jared Rilling – played on the Zone 2 male volleyball team. They quickly fell to a 0-3 standing after playing three round robin games on Feb. 15, before losing in both the quarter and semi-final games on Feb. 16. Their luck never did pick up as they played against Zone 8 for the seven/eight place determiner game and lost for eighth place on Feb. 17.
Trip Jensen played as a forward on the Sunny South Zone 1 team in the male hockey tournament. Jensen’s team had a slow start on Feb. 15 as they lost their first two round robin games before picking up the pace and winning their Feb. 16 round robin game. That led the team to the consolation round where they won in a 7-5 victory against Peace Country to earn them the fifth overall spot in the tournament.
Tori Evans played defence for the Zone 2 female hockey team which lost two and tied one in their round robin games Feb. 15-16. The team tightened their skates and played a close 1-0 win against Zone 6 in the consolation final Feb. 17 to earn the team the fifth overall spot in the tournament.
Nineteen-year-old past ringette player, coach and Team Canada player Ann Sauve was assistant coach with the Zone 3 wild card ringette team at the games, which fell to eighth place in the tournament.
Coach Jan Wathen of the Zone 2 ringette team, along with her daughter Bailee Wathen and teammate Camille Gauvin, won the bronze medal at the ringette tournament. The team won their first round robin game before losing the following game on Feb. 15. They pulled through on Feb. 16 by winning their last round robin game but ultimately fell during the semi final game. They went on to beat the Zone 1 team 5-2 in the bronze medal final for a third-place win.
“We were in a must-win situation to advance to the semifinals and have a chance at medalling versus the wild card team; we came out hard and left everything on the ice and won 6-5,” said 14-year-old Bailee Wathen, who played centre in her first Alberta Winter Games.
Teammate and forward Gauvin, 16, participated in the 2018 Alberta Winter Games in Wood Buffalo and said although she knew what to expect of the games, there were some differences. She said it was fun, exciting, exhausting and that the biggest challenge was “losing games we could have won and the lack of sleep.”
The previous winter games held in Wood Buffalo in 2018 included nine locals representing the Town of Strathmore, resulting in one first place finish and five bronze medals in a team sport. The Alberta Winter Games are held every two years.
“The experience was fun, I felt lucky and honoured to be able to represent my zone,” said Wathen.