PICS athletics started this fall season off with a bang! We had a big change this year as we are now officially a 2A school! Crazy to reflect on how much PICS has grown over the years! God is good! In the fall we run cross country, junior high soccer, senior high volleyball, and junior high volleyball.
In cross-country their season was a massive success! We had 40 runners on the team altogether, 25 from junior high and 15 from senior high. Most of the runners spent a good portion, if not all, of the summer training for the upcoming fall season.
The season started off with a trip over September long weekend to Kalispell, Montana with our Grade 9-12 runners to compete against a very large, competitive group of High School athletes. It was a great trip of bonding and memories made! After that, we had our 10th Annual Waddle! This was a great event and 40+ former PICS runners showed up to help celebrate 10 years of the event. It is such a blessing to have been able to grow the cross-country program and to hit such an incredible milestone! Also, we were able to host our first Adoration Colour Run! Over 100 society members came out and supported this endeavor to raise money, over $12,000, for the Adoration home in Haiti!
As the rest of the season went on, we had the following major highlights!
Five school records were broken this year, we once again were Junior High City Champions for Tier 3 for what is now the ninth year in a row and second overall out of all schools in Edmonton. We placed fourth out of 50 2A schools at Provincials, which was a great introduction to PICS now being 2A. We also had many personal bests records sprinkled throughout the season and great leadership was displayed by our captains. Most importantly, we were able to focus on improving our efforts for God’s glory!
The junior high soccer team also had a very fast paced start. Practices and league began right away for the team. We also had the pleasure to once again go down to Calgary and participate in the Tyndale Christian School’s soccer tournament. We are very thankful for all the parents who volunteered their time to take on driving the students down to Calgary.
Our senior high volleyball teams always have a quick start to the season, but this year the boys had some extra pressure on them since last year’s team didn’t make it to metro playoffs. They had to prove they could make it as a division 3 team by having to play in ability rounds. The boys did great and throughout the season had a great year.
The season began with a tournament in Camrose where there were 24 boys' teams. The team played seven matches on their way to the semi-finals, where they lost in a tight 3-set match to the tournament champions. Our next two tournaments came in Fort Saskatchewan. One was hosted by Fort High, and the other by St. Andre Bessette. Both tournaments saw our boys go to the final against Fort High Stingers, with our boys coming out on top both times to secure gold. The final tournament of the season was in Beaumont. The team reached the final and matched against the home team, the Beaumont Bandits. In a thrilling 3-set match that finished 25-18, the boys took home the gold again.
Aside from tournaments, our boys played Division 3 volleyball in Edmonton’s Metro league. They finished with a record of 8-3. They won their quarterfinals and semifinal matchups to reach the finals, finishing the season with silver medals. The last game of the season for the Sr. Boys team was their provincial qualifier match to go to 2A provincials. Our boys played Millwood’s Christian, a top division 2 team, and lost in a tight match, losing multiple sets by only 2 points. It was an incredible volleyball year for these boys, many of whom will be returning for next year’s season and the team also wants thanks their captain, Liam De Boer, their only grade 12 player, for the leadership, dedication, and passion he brought to their team.
The senior girl’s volleyball team also had an exciting season. The team had two grade 12, five grade 11, and five grade 10 girls. The season was off to a quick start in the first week of school already. The girls played in Div 3 this year against much larger schools such as J. Percy Page and Holy Trinity. Throughout the season we attended 4 tournaments where we placed 6th out of 32 in Vermillion, 4th out of 8 in Fort Saskatchewan, 3rd out of 10 in St. Andre Bessette, and 6th out of 10 at a difficult tournament in Beaumont. At our Beaumont tournament the girls played some of their best games of the season. We lost a heart breaker against Ponoka winning the first set but unfortunately lost the next two sets by 2 points. This game was the highlight of the season because the girls played incredibly well! At the end of the season, we played the top two teams in our division. The girls put in a solid effort but unfortunately the other teams were just too strong and a loss to both these teams meant the girl’s chance at a playoff run was over. With a 2-week break, we prepared to play a Provincial Qualifier. Our season ended when we lost this hard-fought game.
As we reflect on the season, we have seen growth in the girls over the last 3 months which is promising for the program. Thank you to the parents and community for your support this season as your love and support does not go unnoticed by players and coaches. Also, as it happens every year, and is pretty typical in girls' sports, the tears flow and the hugs are many. We say goodbye and thank you to our grade 12s as they played their final high school volleyball game. We would like to thank Elianna Van Orizande and April Kippers, who have played with each other since grade 7, for their efforts and dedication to the program and may God grant you strength as you walk the path he sets before you in faith, love and hope. God bless you both. We also look forward to all the girls who will be joining next year!
Congratulations to this year's Junior Boys Volleyball team who finished their season winning bronze in the Tier 2 City Playoffs! Coming into the season, we had just one player returning from last year's team; for some of the boys it was their first season playing organized volleyball! We made great strides through the season honing our skills, learning new rotations, transitioning between offensive and defensive positioning, and seeking to encourage and build each other up. One of the special moments was early in the season, when one of the boys on our team suggested that each player take a turn to pray before each game - a true testament to their Christian character and leadership! A big thank-you to the parents for your support throughout the season, and for being patient with us as we navigated coaching your sons this year.
The junior girls’ volleyball team had an incredible season of growth this year! Only four players remained from last years’ team, so we welcomed 7 new girls to the A team. It is always a jump coming to the senior-junior high level of volleyball as intense serving, big hits, and complicated rotations are introduced right away. The girls met these challenges head on. Our first tournament was here at PICS. The girls had a tough pool, and played some very strong teams, but did not make it to playoffs this year. However, the next week they had the Edmonton Christian tournament which had the girls playing back-to-back games for a total of 5 games in one evening and another game first thing in the morning! It was incredible seeing them grow through each of their games! In the end they took home the silver medal! For league play, the girls went up in their division to tier 2, after having won tier 3 last year. We were excited for some bigger competition that would continue to challenge the girls and help them grow. The girls met that challenge head on and came out first in their pool! As they headed into tier 2 premier playoffs, the girls came in strong and won both the quarter finals and semi finals in 3 sets! The finals was a late Friday night game. The girls fought really hard against Millwoods and took the game to 5 sets, but overall placed second. It has been such an incredible season for the girls! As coaches we are very proud of all their hard work, team spirit, sportsmanship, and integrity that they displayed throughout the season!
Once again, we had enough girls interested in volleyball that we were able to have a junior high triple ball team. The girls had a quick season. They played in a couple of tournaments and ended up on the consolation side for both. One of the tournaments was at our sister school in Neerlandia. It is always a blast to get together with CCRS and continue to foster relationships between our schools! The girls did not make it to playoffs this year in their league play, but, overall, they had a very fun season.
It is always incredible to reflect on an entire season of play and all those involved in helping make it possible. A huge thank you to our coaches who put in so much time and effort so that we can provide these opportunities to our students. The impact you have on your players is huge and the school thanks you for the great role models you have been for our students this past season. A big thank you to our community and for all those who come out to cheer our athletes on! It really does have a massive impact on the athletes who greatly appreciate your support. Finally, a thank you to our students who display tremendous sportsmanship and determination throughout their games, and who have also helped volunteer with scorekeeping and refereeing to make each event hosted by the school possible. We have so much to be thankful for, especially to God who equips us with his Holy Spirit to be ambassadors for him. We thank the Lord for all he has blessed us with this fall season and look forward to starting up the basketball season this winter.
Brittany Larson
PICS Athletic Director