Page 12 Watch out – Vancouver Island student basketball players in the Comox Valley and Nanaimo have been training hard and are ready to crash the hoops in the first-ever Special Olympics BC School Sport Championships competition! The inaugural Special Olympics British Columbia (SOBC) Vancouver Island 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament was be held on May 26 at Courtenay’s Georges P. Vanier Secondary, with four teams from Comox and one team from Nanaimo set to take the court. The participating students have been training in their schools since January, learning the sport skills and drills and creating game strategy. In Nanaimo, students Charlie and Sash along with Amy Nowicki, NLPS Special Needs Community Youth Worker, kindly took the time to share a report on their team with Special Olympics BC via email. Nowicki said the Nanaimo team has four members from Grades 10, 11, and 12, and the players “have enjoyed going out and practicing together.” Sash said their team’s practices have been “interesting [with] lots of laughs and fun,” while Charlie added that they are “tiring” – makes us think they must be working hard! They reported that team members have improved their basketball skills such as dribbling and layups, and they’ve learned about rules such as the over-and-back call. Charlie noted that basketball “is fun and you get to be with friends.” They used the words “nervous” and “excited” to describe their feelings in anticipation of the May 26 tournament! “Thanks for having the 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament. I cannot wait for May 26,” Sash said. Nowicki added that other students in the Skills for Life class have been showing interest and would like to play next year.“Our team is excited to travel to a tournament and compete with other school districts. This provides the players with an opportunity to compete for their school,” Nowicki said. Comox Valley School District staff have been incredibly supportive of the tournament and are being great hosts. WearethrilledthatGPVanierSecondary’sAthletic Director enlisted the school’s basketball team players to referee all the tournament games, and the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent attended the event to cheer on the teams. Special Olympics BC provided the participating schools with the technical package and weekly program content along with warmup and cooldown plans for the teachers and support workers. Schools were encouraged to invite basketball student-athletes to come out and help train the students from the special needs classes.