Welcome to an exciting new school year for our student-athletes! Are you planning on attending a Penguins event this year? Then you’ll probably want some Penguin gear! Visit the online Igloo Store on the PICS website and then come by the office to purchase what you need! The office is now in charge of all PICS gear.

The seasons start quickly for our cross country, junior high soccer, and volleyball teams. The 24-Hour Waddle will officially kick off the season for the cross-country team and is scheduled for September 2, 2022. The location for the Waddle is will be determined at a later date. If you have any questions, please direct them to Mr. Patten ([email protected]).

The co-ed Junior High soccer team will be coached by Brad Stiksma. Tryouts will be on Tuesday, September 6th and Wednesday the 7th. Tryouts will take place at 5:00pm on those dates. The first practices are Monday, September 12 and Wednesday the 14th from 3:30-5. League play will begin the week of September 9. The Calgary tournament is still being determined as the regular location is under construction.

Micah Duker (boys) & Drew Frost (girls) will coach senior high volleyball. The girls will have tryouts on Wednesday, September 7 & Thursday, September 8 from 7-9pm and then practice on Thursday, September 15 from 7-9 pm. The boys' tryouts will be on the same days, but from 5-7 pm and practice on Wednesday, September 14 from 5:15-7:15. Both teams have a tournament on September 9 & 10. The girls will be in Vermillion, boys in Camrose. League play will begin later in September. Before the volleyball season kicks off, PICS will be hosting volleyball open gym nights on August 30, 31, and September 1 from 8 -10pm.

The Junior High girls and boys will also each have a team. The junior high girls will be coached by Brittany Larson and the junior high boys will be coached by John Jagersma. Tryouts will be announced at a later date.

Please find several documents and files on the school website, as well as links to our league websites. One of the important documents on the website is the Parent Handbook; all parents are expected to read through the handbook if they plan to have a child on a sports team. If you have a Senior High student playing sports, you must sign the “Metro Student/Guardian Acknowledgement and Agreement”; please hand in the entire contract (all 3 pages) to the office. All parents who will be driving children other than their own will also need to sign and hand in the Volunteer Driver Declaration. It would be wise to do so within the first week of school, even if you aren’t sure if you will be driving during the school year.

We look forward to an exciting year with all our sports teams and student-athletes and would love to see many spectators at our games and events. If you do come out to the gym, please do not bring any food or drink. Adults leading by example goes a long way in helping to keep our gym clean and tidy.

We wish all teams safe travels and enjoyable experiences!

Brittany Larson [email protected]

PICS has two spring sports: track & field and senior high
soccer.

The boys soccer team had very good season;
they started the season with a good showing at our
home tournament, beating the only other 1A soccer
team we know of. They were in a competitive Division 4
and finished in the middle of the pack with several close
games. The girls had the best season of any senior
soccer team we’ve had, winning our home tournament,
going undefeated in league play, and then winning the
Division 4 Championship over Maurice Lavallee: PICS
first soccer banner!

The track & field team had a fantastic season. In junior
high, each student was a rookie this year, and the team
had a lot of fun learning new things and enjoying new
opportunities. We sent 6 athletes to the city
championships and had some great results. The senior
high team was a special group of athletes who
performed incredibly well all season. We had 8 athletes
win medals in the Edmonton Metro Zone Championship,
and 7 qualify for Provincials. The Provincial
Championship in Medicine Hat was a memorable
weekend. All of PICS representatives competed very
well, and special mentions go to April Kippers (silver in
the pole vault & bronze in the 80m hurdles) and Tyson
Versteeg, who is the first Penguin ever to win an
individual event (gold in the 1500m & 3000m). The team
was the first in school history to win the 1A provincial
team banner!

Ultimately, we compete to bring praise and glory to God
by using our talents to our utmost. In track & field that is
often reflected by setting new personal bests and I am
confident that every student did that this year. The
updated school records can be found on the track & field
page of the PICS website.

The Metro League holds an athlete’s lunch every year to
honour all-stars in football, volleyball, and basketball.
This year PICS had two athletes (along with their
coaches) get invited: Jenna de Haan for volleyball, and
Julia Devries for basketball. Congratulations to these
students for a well-deserved award!

As this is my last season recap, I want to thank this
community for the support and encouragement I have
received over the past decade. I am thankful for the
opportunities this community provides for school sport
and have been blessed immensely; all praise and glory
go to our Heavenly Father.

Have a wonderful summer!

Brad Van Raalte