Justin Bennett grew up with boards attached to his feet.
That started when he was two years old and his grandfather, Ivan Hansen, got him shuffling on a pair of cross-country skis. Now that summer is just about here, and his passion for ski racing has been put on the backburner, the 15-year-old Bennett has turned his attention to boards of a different kind.
As a basketball forward, the lanky forward was a backboard hawk hauling in rebounds as a zone all-star for the D.P. Todd Trojans junior team. From there, Bennett emerged as one of the top players at a regional camp and he went on to earn one of only 12 spots on the Basketball B.C. under-15 boys provincial red team at the tryouts, May 27-29 in North Vancouver.
He's the only player from north of Kamloops to make team and he can hardly wait for what's coming his way.
"It's exciting, it's way different playing with those guys, they're really high-calibre and lot faster than the players here," he said. "It's just more fun playing with guys that are at your level. We've only had one practice but we had a tournament against the senior teams [which the U-15s won]."
Bennett has played basketball for only three years, having started out in the Prince George Minor Basketball Association.
"I didn't do a lot because I had a lot of skiing, but I came to high school and made the junior A team and it all fell into place from there," Bennett said. "Training will be different now and I'll have to get a different schedule for my skiing [with less travel to ski races during the December-to-March basketball season].
"But I've skied forever and I'm not going to stop that. My grandpa took me out every day from when I was two until now."
As a result of his winter activities, Bennett's engine is of thoroughbred quality. He was a silver medalist at the Western Canadian cross-country championships in February in Kelowna and that helped him develop his running speed and high-capacity lung power that makes such a force on the basketball court.
Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks is the player Bennett tries to pattern himself after, and at a shade under six-foot-five and still growing, Bennett has the necessary stature to be effective as a forward.
He's looking forward to a busy summer on the basketball court. As soon as he's written his Grade 9 final exams at D.P. Todd he'll be off to Vancouver to join the provincial team. He'll spend at least six weeks being billeted with one of his provincial teammates, which will allow him to practice up to four hours every day. Team B.C. is entered in a tournament in Bellingham, Wash., which starts July 1. That team will also compete in the Western Canada Summer Games in Kamloops, Aug. 5-14.
Bennett knows he's in for a great learning experience when he starts working out with his provincial teammates. Brian Meier of the provincial triple-A champion R.C. Palmer Griffins of Richmond is the U-15 boys head coach.
"I'm looking forward to getting better at basketball," Bennett said. "Training four hours a day with the best coaches in the province, that's going to be good for next year's basketball.
"Getting the training from the provincial team coaching down there, with this height, it's way better for me. Teams down [in the Lower Mainland] play year-round on club teams and we don't have that here."
Bennett is one of five Prince George basketball players who made the grade for provincial teams. Montell Lindgren of Duchess Park is on the U-16 boys team coached by Todd Jordan, the UNBC men's team head coach. Kayla Gordon of Cedars Christian made the U-16 girls squad, while Riley Brennan of Duchess Park and Danielle Brbot of Kelly Road will be part of the U-14 girls team.
