First Sask Cup a learning experience for Thunder, Lightning

Sarsons said nerves were clear in the beginning, but that they improved as the two-day tournament went on. He also said a big problem was the team wasn’t quite ready mentally, for whatever reason.

“[After the first two games], our skill level was equal to or above those of our competition. Mentally, we just weren’t ready,” he said. “Unfortunately we lost one of those games against a lower opponent and we were ahead at multiple points during the one match but just couldn’t stick it out, so that was where the mental aspect of the tournament comes in with digging dip.”

Sarsons approach to coaching has changed.

If things get tough on the court, the old Sarsons would take it upon himself to send a strong message to the team. But now, he believes much of the team’s learning needs to come from each other, instead of the coach.

It’s something he’s learned from other coaches around the province who have helped mentor him.

“I used to coach how I was coached when I was playing, where the coach maybe yells or the coach is telling you what’s wrong,” Sarsons explained. “[Coaches have] given me a lot of guidance about how to approach a game…When you pull a team off, you don’t talk about the negatives, you talk about the corrections in the game. And then having them always look to each other for support instead of always looking back to the coach. It has made a difference since I’ve adopted that.”

And although the results this past weekend certainly could have been better, that hasn’t changed Sarsons’ optimism, which began last week when his club split sets with one of the top teams in an exhibition game.

“That [match] showed a lot of optimism and the optimism hasn’t changed yet,” he said. “The way we plan our season is the first, second, third tournaments are all developmental tournaments so that we’re peaking for provincial weekend.”

The provincials aren’t until April 22-24, and the second Sask Cup is in Prince Albert on April 1. Between now and then, there aren’t a lot of other tournaments, but the team will ramp up practicing from twice a week to three times a week, as other sports, like hockey and basketball, begin to slow down.

Almost the entire team is also involved in a school sport like basketball or curling, or hockey, and those sports come to an end soon.

As far as the 15U Lightning team goes, Sarsons didn’t get a chance to watch them too often but did note they improved over the course of the tournament as well, perhaps even more so than his own Thunder squad.

“They went from being very nervous [and] very tentative, to being able to fight through and play with a lot of the teams that they faced,” Sarsons said of the Lightning. “They are a very young group. There’s a few players who can actually play down an age category.”

Finishing first on the weekend in tier 1 was Prince Albert Volleyball Club’s 16U Smashing Bananas, as they defeated the Meadow Lake Heat 16U team in three sets in the finals. The Estevan Southeast Giants 16U team won in tier 2 over the Saskatoon Attack.

All in all, with this past weekend bringing 20 teams to the Battlefords, it was certainly a success, and Sarsons said it couldn’t have happened without lots of help.

“Kudos to the NationsWEST Field House and the city of North Battleford for having built a great facility for us to be able to host these things in,” he said. “The Battlefords got a great name from hosting a great tournament this weekend. Lots of good comments from the facilities to how the tournament went.

“All of our food was purchased from and made by the cafeteria at North Battleford Comprehensive High Sschool. Janice Staff in particular and Evelyn were super important when it came to making the food and having it ready for us so the parents didn’t actually have to make any of the food.”

Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

@NathanKanter11

by Nathan Kanter

First Sask Cup a learning experience for Thunder, Lightning

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