Merritt Secondary awarded B.C. School Sports, School of the Year

“I think it’s pretty awesome as we are a smaller school, and we have all the opportunities for different sports, and we can continue to thrive through harsh times for our community,” said grade 12 student Allie van Rossum.

“I think it shows that we can still come back from having floods and fires, and bring a lot of kids into playing sports,” added Mike Sterling, grade 12.

“I think it’s so cool, especially since we’re a small school, in a town that had two natural disaster happen to it. I think it’s good for the school and the community to kind of be recognized for that,” said Nate Willey, grade 11.

The honour is not simply awarded based off the final score, public service is also considered. So, with the community still reeling from the evacuation, the students and their teams all rallied together to support their city,

“The junior boys basketball team we moved stuff from Central (Elementary) and MSS to the middle school and some of the churches that were used as classrooms following the flood,” said Carson Mouland, Grade 9.

“Basically helped out in the community, helped out with the food drive,” added Semiah Oppenheim, grade 12.

The teams we’re also helping organize and unpack donations and the local food bank.

“It’s hard for me to talk about because it makes me quite emotional. It just goes to show the kind of kids we have here in Merritt and the Nicola Valley. We have great kids here who not only think about themselves but think about those around them as well. The best part was the kids came up with the ideas to help the community.”

Throughout the experience the teams came together with the junior boys volleyball team even making it all the way to provincials. But for all the kids, the bonding between the players and community was unforgettable.

“A hundred per cent, I think some of those experiences we had, especially since it’s such a rare occurrence. A lot of people will remember that for the rest of their lives, what we did and what we were doing was so cool man,” said Nate.

“We we’re still able to rally around each other and get through it,” said Allie. “We had so much fun as a team throughout the year.”

The award will say Merritt Secondary School, 2021-22. But without a little, or maybe a lot of help, from their friends throughout the interior, it wouldn’t have been possible.

“The best part was we had so much support from around the province, especially the Okanagan. They were calling us saying, we will give you our gym to practice in, we’ll give you fields to practice on., you tell us what you need, we’ll provide it for you. In the end it was kind of a win because it just showed us how great our province is,” said Gian. “I hope the province recognizes that even though Merritt won this award it was thanks to many other communities that were behind us the whole way.”

Exactly where the new trophy will live has not yet been decided, but the Panthers are already looking ahead with a soccer tournament set for later this month, and then the provincial girls volleyball championship later this year.

by Michael Reeve

Merritt Secondary awarded B.C. School Sports, School of the Year

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