Keyano College can certainly be proud of their sports teams.
The men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams survived the winter and warmed up at the right time.
Curtis Phillips, who spent 37 years as Huskies beat writer, broadcaster, and now the college’s sports information officer, says both have “great players”.
“A lot of these kids come from elsewhere and they’re here for three to five years, and they’re graduating and they’re making Fort McMurray their home. So, a lot of these student-athletes, you see at seventeen [and] eighteen coming in, are now ambassadors in Fort McMurray, which is really nice.”
Basketball
Both men’s and women’s team are shooting out the lights in their respective divisions.
While the men’s team qualified for the ACAC Elite 8 at Lakeland, the women’s squad will host the women’s tournament at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre from Feb. 28 to Mar. 2.
Although the host school automatically qualifies to play the “best of the best”, Phillips says Huskies women’s basketball coach and local product Dwayne Vigilance has done “quite well” leading the team.
Volleyball
Both Keyano Huskies have an opportunity to excel not just in Alberta, but nationally as well.
The men’s squad is ranked #2 in the CCAA national rankings.
Last year, they won silver in the ACAC championships, and then bronze in the national finals.
Phillips raved about their head coach and former Huskies player, Keegan Kuhr, and the transformation of the program into a provincial power.
“Since Keegan Kuhr took over the program in 2013-2014, they’ve gone to the CCAA a couple times, [and] They won a bronze. He won his 100th match as a coach recently at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre, which is quite impressive.”
This year’s ACAC men’s volleyball championships will be in Red Deer at NAIT from Mar. 6-9.
As for the women’s team, Phillips says they are fighting “tooth and nail” for a berth in the final round.
The Huskies women’s squad are currently in fifth place in their division and need outside help to claim the last spot in the playoffs.
