Kerrobert Composite School staff and students joined proud parents and community members inside the school gymnasium for a special ceremony on Wednesday.
Hosting "Rebel Pride Day", the gathering was in honour of the Rebels senior girls' basketball team and their terrific season that ended with a prestigious award from their time at HOOPLA, the provincial basketball championship.
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Coach of the team Troy Snider, also the athletic director for the school, was gracious enough to give WestCentralOnline a front row seat Wednesday.
A few younger grades were involved as the ceremony began with a land acknowledgement from one class, and then the singing of O'Canada led by another class. They were introduced by emcee and teacher Beverly Kraft, who took the mic once again afterwards to share a few words on sportsmanship.
It was then passed off to principal Candice Kraft for some more inspiring words on sportsmanship, and the ever-elusive blue banner pictured above. A proud Kraft had been waiting for the day that an SHSAA sportsmanship banner would join the rafters in Kerrobert, and wants past, present, and future Rebels to be proud of the accomplishment too.
After that came the coaches address from Troy and Kate Snider. Kate opened with kind words to the team for such a great season, before handing off the mic to Troy who was met with applause after mentioning that this year's team was the first group of Rebels girls to make HOOPLA since 1999.
Snider then told a story about "one of the best basketball games" he has been a part of, the regional final this past year on their home court in Kerrobert. Drawing Asquith in the finals, with the winning team earning the right to move on, Snider knew his team needed a good effort if they wanted to make their first HOOPLA of the 21st century.
Making his final gameplans before addressing the team, any nervous feelings Snider had before coaching the final were quickly dispersed when he came across his girls dancing their hearts out to the song "Pink Pony Club", clearly locked in for what was ahead as the Rebels took a ten-point victory 71-61 in front of a passionate crowd of fans from both teams.
Rebels team captains and seniors Savannah Braithwaite and Journee Milne spoke next, reflecting on the successful year that was a true team effort. The Grade 12 girls were leaders on the court with their experience over the years and spoke to the overall talent on what's a very young team in Kerrobert that should be dangerous in the future.
SHSAA Executive Director Dave Sandomirsky was the final one to speak before the final presentation.
Before unveiling the beautiful blue banner above, Sandomirsky gave an eight-minute speech on the values of sportsmanship. The Rebels were selected by the HOOPLA host committee after they watched the blue and gold play for each other, humble in victory and respectful in defeat, as Sandomirsky gave massive props to Kerrobert Composite School as a whole for promoting traits that go towards sportsmanship and being an overall good person.
Each individual player was given a certificate by Sandomirsky to recognize their commitment to sportsmanship, and then the big moment took place as the banner was officially unfurled in front of the crowd.
With the blue banner shining bright the ceremony closed down, free milk being handed out at the door courtesy of SaskMilk and their partnership with the SHSAA.
After a photo-op for the media, and parents, we got a chance to catch up with the two Rebels seniors Braithwaite and Milne and ask them about the ceremony. Their speech mentioned a young Rebels core, as both players feel Kerrobert has a strong future ahead.
"As our team has never made it to HOOPLA before, I think because we have such a strong young team already, in the next few years our team is going to be doing very well." said Milne.
"Having such a (small number of girls play), everybody gets so much time and experience so young. So, they get that much better when they are in Grade 12." added Braithwaite.
Milne and Braithwaite likely thought their season was over after HOOPLA. Instead, they played in the Basketball Saskatchewan all-star classic for senior.
Likely thinking that had to be it for the season, they were happily surprised to be the inspiration for Wednesday's Rebel Pride Day.
"It was such an exciting thing to hear that we won this amazing achievement." said Milne. "Such a big deal, as we don't hang many banners at our school very often."
The blue banner will be raised in no time, joining the rest of the memories hanging from over the years as you can see below, alongside more pictures from Wednesday's gathering in Kerrobert.