St. Francis boys earn silver

With many of the players at last weekend’s elementary school volleyball tournament in Atikokan playing the game competitively for the first time, it’s safe to say their first taste of action would be a learning experience.
The St. Francis grade seven boys’ team turned out to be the quickest learners.
St. Francis finished the seven-team round-robin with a 4-2 record, tied with Robert Moore for second spot. Then after beating Robert Moore 15-7 in the semi-finals, St. Francis took eventual champion Atikokan to a third and decisive game before losing.
Their four wins in the round-robin portion came against Baibombeh (15-3), Robert Moore (15-12), Riverview (15-11), and Our Lady of the Way (15-6). They lost 15-10 to Atikokan and 15-2 to St. Pat’s.
St. Francis coach Dick Botsford said he was pleased with their silver-medal performance, adding the key was the team’s ability to play within its limits.
In fact, he noted they played a simple game–even by grade seven standards.
“There’s not a lot of spiking, and there’s no design setter or set plays like in grade eight,” said Botsford, who has coached at St. Francis for the past nine years.
“There’s serving and bumping, and a little bit of spiking, but basically our guys played within their limits,” he added. “Guys realized their underhand serves would work better than their overhand ones.”
Admitting he didn’t know what to expect regarding his team’s chances against other schools in the area, Botsford said communication on the court among his players helped them overcome any inexperience.
“They started to talk to each other and they played within their limits,” he said, adding all of his players improved immensely since the start of the season. “It [volleyball] is good for the kids because there’s a lot of kids who don’t want to play football so they start with volleyball.”
Cynthia Donald, who coached the grade seven girls’ team at Robert Moore to a 3-4 record Saturday, agreed all the kids improved by leaps and bounds by the end of the tournament.
“For me, personally, I took everyone and didn’t cut anyone so we split our teams into two different teams and everyone improved so much by the end of the tournament,” said Donald, who plays in the women’s league here every Thursday.
“Their serving was so much better and their reaction to the ball was better,” she added.
With as many as seven games played during the one-day tourney, all the players were able to see a significant amount of court time to improve their skills while gaining valuable playing experience.
Donald said despite the fact the girls’ grade seven season is now over, they will continue to work on their skills at practice. The idea, she noted, is to continue to improve so the players can make an easier transition once they reach the high school level.
“We’re going to continue to work with them because I think, in the past, we haven’t had as many kids make the high school teams due to a lack of exposure at tournaments,” she added.
St. Francis also was the top town team in the girls’ division, winning a bronze medal. Co-coach Patrick Tougas said he was proud of the way his team fought back after losing their first three games.
“They really played well after losing the first three games. It was like a totally different team,” he said. “They came back and beat some good teams. They did so many things better.”
Tougas said his club was the epitome of what elementary volleyball is all about. It’s doesn’t matter how good–or bad–a team or the players are when they first start playing, but rather how well they learn the skills and the game.
“Basically it’s to teach them the skills and make sure they have fun doing them,” said Tougas, adding a dozen girls made the trip from the original 20 who tried out.
And as good as the St. Francis team was in Atikokan, the grade eight girls’ team from Mine Centre was one step better as they cruised to a gold-medal finish with a 16-14 victory over Whitefish Bay. Mine Centre finished the round-robin in first place with just one loss.
Members of the winning team included Kelly Kabatay, Shannon Kabatay, Ashley Potson, Jennifer Johnson, Hilary Johnson, Leanne Potson, Carmen Jones, and Melanie Jones.
The Mine Centre grade eight boys’ team also took home a medal, defeating Rainy River 15-13 in the bronze-medal game.