Now that students have returned to work, they can also return to play.
Princess Margaret is hosting its senior girls Mustang Mania volleyball tournament Friday and Saturday.
“This is what kids love and remember about their time in school, the experiences and memories that are created on and off the court as a team will stick with them forever,” said Mustangs senior girls’ volleyball coach Tim Haberstock, adding it will be fun with the energy and enthusiasm of school athletics. “This is one of my favourite things about being an educator and I am just glad to be getting going so quickly.”
The Mustangs always host the first tournament in the area and had already planned and booked the tournament last spring before the strike.
“The only issue was if teams are ready to play with only a couple of practices,” he said. “Our numbers are down since many teams aren’t ready to travel on short notice, but most teams are eager and ready to go.”
The Mustangs practised four times leading into the tournament, which Haberstock admitted isn’t a lot, however, at the senior level players are able to play without spending a lot of time on defensive and offensive systems in practice.
“The girls are very excited to be back and back playing and are glad that they only missed one weekend of tournament play,” he added. “I plan on using the tournament as an opportunity to try different players at different positions to see where they will fit best with the athletes we have.”
It will also help shake off some rust for those that didn’t play much over the summer. The Mustangs won’t be concerned with wins or losses, but are focused on developing team chemistry and coming together as a new group.
The Mustangs open with a match against Rutland Secondary School at 3 p.m. They then take on Fulton Secondary (Vernon) and Vernon Secondary School at 4:15 and 5:30 p.m. Pen High is also playing with their first match at 3 p.m. against Immaculata from Kelowna, then face VSS at 4:15 and Rutland Secondary at 6:45 p.m. Playoff action in the tournament begins at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday.
The Mustangs senior boys’ volleyball team is traveling to Abbotsford as the Mennonite Educational Institute hosts a tournament.
Other fall sports the Mustangs have are girls field hockey, junior volleyball, cross country running and swimming. Mustangs athletics director John Buckley said all those teams sports will operate under a shortened schedules as B.C. Sports is keeping the seasons the same.