orkton Regional High School competed against teams across Canada at the Coal Bowl in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia this past week, making it all the way to the semi-finals. The Raiders got to show the rest of the country why its reputation as a top-level team firsthand.
“It’s not just about the performance,” said justifiably proud coach Jason Payne.
“It’s about experiencing life in different communities and backgrounds, learning and bonding with them.
“It was great to get to know kids on other teams from across the country,” said foward Brenden McCubbing of the Raiders.
“They were spending time with teams from Quebec, French and English going back and forth.”
Yorkton won 92-74 against Northumberland on February 8th.
Noah Bymak, another star Raiders forward, also found the experience exhilirating.
“The atmosphere at the games was like nothing I have ever been a part of.”
With a larger stage comes larger pressures. The team was very cognizant of playing on someone else’s turf -- and when you don’t have the home team advantage, let alone playing halfway across the entire country, the stands are stacked with people rooting for their home team which can be unnerving.
“It can definitely be disconcerting for the guys,” said Payne.
“At home, even if you’re playing another school, you’ve got a section screaming for you since technically you’re still in your division and local enough so your supporters can cheer you on. When you live in Saskatchewan and your game is in Nova Scotia, you can’t really drive there -- so all the voices cheering are the ones you get from Nova Scotia rather than the ones for you.
“I have to say, though, the team really pushed through and kept their head on the court. I had plenty of people -- faculty and family -- comment on how fantastically our team handled themselves.
“They were fine representatives of our school, and I’m very proud of them. They should be very proud as well.”
That experience will, no doubt, make its way onto the court as they get back to it at home.
Armed with that experience and well-earned wins in front of the entire country, you can be sure of one thing.
Watch out. The Raiders are back.
