Congratulations to both the Grade 8 Girls team and the Grade 8 Boys team as they both advanced to the divisional finals, held at Acadia on Monday November 24th. Alas they both came up short in the final games, but that does nothing to diminish excellent seasons for both teams as they brought finalist banners home to Van Walleghem. Thanks to the strong leadership of Mme. Munro and Mme. Hutchinson the girls participated in 3 tournaments as well as league play and developed excellent skills and a love for the game of volleyball. Many of the girls are already looking forward to playing club volleyball and continuing to play at the next level in Grade 9. The same can be said for the boys as they came a long way in developing their skills, their team play and general knowledge of the game. They played a lot of volleyball between the start of September and the end of November and it was a memorable season in many ways. Thanks to Mr. Toews and Tom Toni who put in so many hours working with the boys. Also special thanks to Peter Posillippo, who stepped in to coach the boys at the Van Walleghem tournament. Both teams have a wind-up scheduled together at the University of Manitoba Bisons volleyball games on Saturday November 29th. They should get to see some excellent volleyball.

The Grade 7 boys and girls teams are also wrapping up their seasons this week. Both teams show a lot of potential for next year, as they worked under the guidance of Mrs. Babb for the girls and Mr. Lawson for the boys. A big thank-you to Mrs. Babb and Mr. Lawson, who both organized extra tournaments at Van Walleghem for their teams to play in.

Basketball season is now fast approaching. Both Grade 8 teams will be getting organized in the next few weeks. December will be used as a time to prepare for the season which begins league and tournament play in January and finishes up in early March. The Grade 7 teams usually start in early January and wrap it up in early March. We are still looking for help with coaching all our teams. If you are interested please contact Mr. Toews.

Finally we wish everyone an active and happy Christmas season. Here’s hoping for a little more snow for the skis and sleds over the holidays.