Marcie Schlick grew up hearing stories about her mom's experiences at the BC Summer Games. By the end of the weekend, Schlick will be able to tell a few tales of her own.
Schlick is all set to compete at the 2012 Games, which run through Sunday in Surrey. She's a member of an under-14 girls basketball team that will represent Zone 8 (North East) at the multi-sport gathering.
Schlick, 13, is looking forward to the on-court battles but is equally eager to discover everything else the Games have to offer.
"I'm really excited to be staying at a school with all my teammates, and they're having dances and stuff so I think it will be fun to meet people from all different places," she said.
"I've been waiting a long time for this because my mom [Debbie] has told me about when she went to Summer Games, how fun it was and how much fun I'll have."
Basketball was Debbie's sport too. Her daughter already has the perfect frame for the game because she stands slightly over six-foot-two and has a long wingspan.
"It's easy to shoot when I'm in the key," Schlick said with a chuckle. "I've got a pretty big advantage."
The Zone 8 girls play their first two games today. On the court in Cloverdale, they'll tip off against Zone 6 (Vancouver Island) at 11 a.m. and Zone 1 (Kootenay) at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday at Lord Tweedsmuir secondary in Surrey, their opponent will be Zone 3 (Fraser Valley).
Teams in the other pool are Zone 2 (Okanagan), Zone 4 (Fraser River-Delta), Zone 5 (Vancouver-North Shore) and Zone 7 (North West). The top two clubs from each pool will meet in cross-over semifinal games on Saturday night and medal contests will be held on Sunday.
At a pre-Games jamboree in June, the Zone 8 all-stars got an idea of the type of competition they'll be facing this weekend. The jamboree featured multiple top-notch clubs from Vancouver, and they have now been brought together as the Vancouver-North Shore squad. Schlick, not surprisingly, expects Vancouver-North Shore to be a powerhouse.
At the jamboree, however, Schlick's Zone 8 team fared well. A 2-3 record gave the club seventh place in field of 16 so she's confident more victories are possible this weekend.
"We've been really good at setting up for offence and we're really good working as a team. And we have lots of good players. One of our players, Madison Landry, she played for the BC team this year."
Tryouts for the Zone 8 team were in May and the club has been practicing and playing together ever since. Other members are Jenna Van Delft, Erin Cole, Krystal Gregory, Miriam Thalmann, Eden Gladesdahl, Madyson Campbell, Nicola Erricson and Keishja Fawcett. All but Fawcett are from Prince George. Al Erricson is the head coach and his assistant is Dahne Harding.
Two of the players, Van Delft and Cole, are fresh out of Grade 7 and the rest are a year older. Given the fact he has a fairly young team and one that is more of a city all-star team than a regional rep club, Al Erricson is keeping his goals for the BC Games realistic. He said he wants to be competitive with the Kootenay and North West entries, which will be in similar circumstances regarding their lineups. Outside of that, Erricson wants his players to bring their usual energy and enthusiasm to the floor and play as hard as they can.
"They just enjoy being around each other and they enjoy having fun," he said. "They all get along well so it's that spirit that's nice. They have all improved considerably and taken some significant strides in their basketball skills."
