School Awards Nights

We had our annual Blue & Gold Night (Sports Awards) at the end of the school year.  Rich and I were there with three of our daughters.  They recognize the kids who played on each team, and then three special awards are given to each team for various things.

Carlee (in red) being recognized for playing Grade 8 Volleyball.

Jordyn (in fuschia) with the Grade 9 Volleyball team.

Jas (in brown) with the Varsity Volleyball team.  She received the Volleyball Leadership Award.

Carlee with the Grade 8 Basketball team.

Jasmine and the Varsity Basketball team.

Jasmine as part of the High School Track and Field team.

The Track Teams combined points earned enough for them to win the banner for the fourth year in a row.  Jas and two others were the top contributors with 10 points each.  She had the option of going to Provincials to compete in the 3000m, but chose not to as she had already missed a lot of school due to track meets and softball.  Preparing for her final Diploma exams was more important to her than driving 6 hours one way to compete in a race.

Jasmine and Russell hanging the banner.  These were the two Seniors with the most points.  Jas also competed in 1500m and Triple Jump.

And then they were stuck up in the Genie for a little while.  Rich yells out "Kiss her!" and her basketball coach who was sitting across from us said "Do you want us to bring you your Biology notes?" (Jas was studying between awards!).  It was funny!

Jordyn being recognized for playing on the High School Softball team.

Jas was on the Softball team as well and received the Offensive MVP Award.

And then Jasmine received another completely wonderful award.  She got the school Female Athlete of the Year Award!  We were thrilled for her because she really did work hard in all she did, and used her time so wisely to balance sports and studying.  The stats sheets didn't recognize how hard she worked, especially in basketball. Our principal once told her, "You are the unsung hero on the basketball court."

Male and Female Athletes of the Year - Kwade and Jasmine.  The large plaque stays in the school trophy case and they keep the smaller one.  And a nice bonus was a cheque that came along with this award.

We were proud of our girls and all their hard work through the year regarding sports.

The next night was the Fine Arts Awards night for the Band and Choir students.

They all received a participation pin and certificate.  Again, three awards were given to each grade and Carlee received the Grade 8 Band Citizenship Award.  Great job Carlee!



Jenna's Triathlon

Jenna chose to participate in the Grade 5 True Triathlon this year.  That means she does the whole thing herself, not as part of a team.  So for her that means five lengths of the pool, five laps of the track on a bike, and five laps running.  Only three kids from her grade chose to do the True.

In the pool and ready to begin.  They start in the shallow end so they can end in the deep end and have easier access to the exit.

Jenna did a lot better with the swimming than we thought she would (she hadn't really had any chance to practice because the pool only opened a few days before this event!).  Her and the other girl climbed out of the pool at the same time, with the boy about half a length ahead.

Modesty is important to Jenna and she didn't want to be running and biking in just her bathing suit.  She wanted to take the time to put her shirt on, even if it put her behind.  Proud of you for that Jenna!!!

Jordyn eating up the track with those big tires - exactly the reason she borrowed Jordyn's bike for this event.

The transition:  Daddy catching her bike and helping her get off and start running.  She tossed the helmet off as she ran.

Unfortunately Jenna got a cramp in her side as she started running.  Big sister Jas came to her rescue and helped her calm down and just walk for awhile til it went away.  Jas ran beside her on the grass the whole way (you can see her behind the girls). 

One thing that I love most about the triathlon is the support from their peers.  See these girls running along beside Jenna, just giving their support - it's awesome!  Other kids pass out cups of water and everyone cheers as they run past.

Jenna walked around for a while, looking pretty much dead.

Ah, she looks a better now - great job Jenna!!!

It takes a lot of courage to do an event like that - an even when you were hurting, you dug deep and kept going.  We're sure proud of you!  And in complete awe of you!



Junior Softball

I helped organize Junior Co-Ed Softball again this year.  Carlee and Jenna played and Richelle and Jasmine coached.  Carlee designed the T-shirts again too.

Jenna playing backcatch and Carlee by the fence waiting for her turn to bat.

Carlee hits and is ready to run!

Jenna at bat and Jas trying to be in the picture too!

We were short players one week so Coach Richelle and . . .

. . . her boyfriend Logan went out in the field to help out.  As you can see, they're paying close attention to the game and catching many fly balls!

 

After everyone else left, we stuck around for a while and did some batting.  I even had my turn at bat and the girls were surprised that I could actually hit!  Did they think they got all their talents from their Daddy?

Chelle batting and Logan catching.

She's still got it!!!

Logan at the bat - he can hit too!!!

 

Lots of fun just playing around together!

Spring Leage BB for Carlee

Carlee played lots of basketball this year.  She played on the Grade 8 school team for the regular season, and then she played in the U15 Girls Spring League.  I didn't get any photos of her on her school team so made sure I got some of Spring League.  These were taken at their final tournament

Playing at the University.

She passes the ball in.

She dribbles around a purple player.

 

She was on the floor going after the ball.

And the cute little back view of our #3.

Good season Carlee!!!

Pandas Softball

We had two girls playing on the school softball team this year - Jas as a senior, and Jordyn as one of two grade nine rookies.

It's always fun to have a sister on the team!

Softball is great - so fun to watch and it's a short season too, with crazy weather so you never know if games/practices will be cancelled or carry on as scheduled.

Let's look at Jordyn . . .

Batting in a tournament - she hits it . . .

. . . and runs. 
She's gotten to be a really good little hitter.  From her first game of the season when her bat was just shaking with her nerves, to her final hit of the season, which was a most magnificent slam out to center field {too bad it got caught!} - she has improved greatly!

Waiting on third to run home.

Jordy usually played backcatch . . .

. . . or right field.  She got her share of people out in both places.

Great season Jordyn - looking forward to three more years of watching you!

Now to look at Jasmine . . .

. . . on deck.

Jas usually played pitcher or shortstop.  Pitching was her favourite until that hit in the face which made her a little wary for awhile {check that out here}.

Running the bases.  She got a couple of home runs during the season, unfortunately I wasn't at any of those games!

We had seven senior players this year - a good strong team.  Lots of fun!!!

Our team, right before their final game in their final tournament.  They were playing for the gold in the league championships!

And unfortunately, we won silver by literally inches.  Our tying run was called out at home, and our winning run was on third.  Twas a heartbreaker, but such a great game and season!  Proud of you Pandas!!!

Lining up to get the silver medals.  Jas is #5, Jordyn is #7.

The silver medalists!


After this tournament, two girls from each team were selected to play in the All-Star Game.

Jas and Alyssa were chosen from the Pandas team.

This line up of girls made up the Western Team.  This was a fun game to watch!

Jas played backcatcher for a while - they kind of rotated positions.  The Western team started off strong and were well ahead for many innings.  But then the Eastern team slowly caught up and passed  us.  Luckily we had last bat and it was a good inning for us.

 

This is Jas running for home which gave us the tying run, and the winning run followed after.

And so the final score was . . .

. . . with the Western team winning!  Yay!!!

Thanks for a great season Pandas and coaches!!!