Strathmore hosts high school volleyball provincials across local schools

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Strathmore Spartans played host to the boys and girls 3A volleyball provincial championships Nov. 23-25 at various schools in town. 

The boys’ team was successful in reaching the semifinals of the tournament, and secured a Top 4 placement within the province. The girls’ team, according to their coach, Jerry Flaws, placed 12th.

“The girls played well, but they had some inconsistencies that lead us to losses – but overall, I feel like we played the best games we could,” said Flaws. “I think we learned a lot this year and we had an interesting team. We won half and lost half of our games all year, so it was definitely a growing year.”

Flaws said the Lady Spartans really started to mesh towards the end of the season, but needed to work on their consistency – particularly with their serves.

Cole Hintz, who coached the boys, despite losing 2-1 in the semifinals, said it was an exciting experience to host provincials and participate at a level many other teams do not get the opportunity to.

“It is always fun to host. We have a really strong volleyball community in town, and any opportunity that we can get the best teams in the province into our gyms so that young up-and-coming athletes can watch some high-quality volleyball – that’s fantastic,” he said. “We’ve been strong all year. We started the year with a good result at U of A and U of C, and then we traveled to Swift Current … we have done a really good job all year competing against the Top 4A and the Top 3A teams in the province.”

For both coaches, the name of the game is to continue to see growth within their teams going into next year, and for those who are graduating out to be proud of their developments and achievements.

“I think the girls had a lot of fun. It is a neat experience that a lot of teams at our school do not get to experience, so it has been fun,” said Flaws. 

Hintz echoed those thoughts.

“We’ve really done a good job this year … focusing on measurable goals that we can commit to as a team, and ways to kind of break down the game one point at a time,” explained Hintz, “that allowed us to go out and compete.”