2018 County Clippers recap

By Myla DeBoef and Thomas Davies
2018 has been another great year for Clippers Basketball in the County. The 2017/18 season consisted of six rep teams that played a combination of 150 games, had countless practices, played in 18 tournaments, and hosted three home tournaments. All teams achieved vast improvements and players developed into strong, well-rounded and confident teammates.

Throughout the season the U14 girls pulled out many wins and even ended up capturing a bronze medal at a tournament in Brockville. The impressive U12 girls team participated in the Ontario Cup. Not only did the team clean sweep their pool, but they ended up playing in the gold medal game and went home as silver medalists. The U16 girls didn’t capture many wins, but had lots of fun and learned plenty about the game.

From start to finish the U12 boys gave it their all, what they lacked in size they made up for with hard work and determination. Throughout the course of the season they learned how to play as a team, improve their game individually as well as strengthen their love for the game of basketball.

The U14 boys team focused on one very important goal all season which was perseverance – when the going gets tough, stay focused on the task at hand. They didn’t get as many wins as they would have liked but they ended on a high note, winning 57-54 in their final competition.

The U16 boys finished their season with 10 wins and 19 loses, a respectable tally, competing against some of the top programs in the province. When the boys were outmatched they made up for it showing that “County grit”, never giving up on a game.

Following the rep season County Clippers hosted another incredible house league season last spring with an impressive 194 players participating.

This year, program received the most positive house league feedback in Clippers history, due to awesome coaches. High school students – mostly PECI Panther players, as well as 12 adults volunteered their time and energy every Wednesday for nine weeks in order to grow the future of basketball in the County.

At the end of season awards ceremony, the County Clippers renamed its two major awards the “Rob Garden Coach of the Year Award” and the “Steve O’Brien Volunteer of the year award” in honour of the two founders of County Clippers.

The club is looking forward to the 2019 portion of its 10th season. There are to be four rep teams, U10 co-ed, U13 girls, U14 boys and U16 boys.

Kicking off the 10th anniversary was a road trip to see the Duke Blue Devils play Ryerson and the U10 team was excited to travel to Toronto and practice in the Toronto Raptors’ practice facility.

For more information about the County Clippers basketball programs, visit http://www.countyclippers.ca