March Sports Review

Championship Season March is normally a quiet time for our students and while there was not too much happening on campus, there was certainly a great deal of activity off it. The first group that deserves some notice is the Senior Boys Basketball team which kicked off March by winning it’s second consecutive AA Provincial Basketball title! The boys went into the tournament as the number one seed and did not disappoint. They played some of their best basketball of the year and every single player on the team was focused and energized throughout the tournament. On their way to the championship Brentwood defeated Grand Forks 94-30, Shawnigan Lake 75-55 and Seycove 95-57. While these performances were impressive, their final game against a very strong King George squad was an absolute pleasure to watch. Brentwood’s combination of defensive intensity and offensive execution was as good as it had been all year and they cruised to a 97-59 win. For the season, the team went 34-3 with their most challenging competition coming against the top 4A teams in the province and included wins over the #1 4A ranked teams from both BC and Alberta. It was a terrific season for this group: we are most proud of the way they played for each other and for the way they conducted themselves at all times both on and off the court. They were wonderful ambassadors for the school. Spring Break Camps & Tours Rowing Meanwhile, on the water, our new Head of Rowing, Ms Laryssa Biesenthal, developed a new format for the spring break training camp for the rowing team. Instead of the one-week camp, she set up two five-day camps on either end of the break. The first weekend of the break the team trained out of the National Team boat bay at the Shawnigan Lake School boathouse. Five days and 140 kilometers on the water provided a great training ground for the team. The boys stayed at Camp Pringle with our friends from Ridley College of St. Catharines, Ontario. We had the opportunity to train with Ridley and their men’s eight and quad over five days. The second camp took place on Quamichan Lake in Duncan during the Easter weekend. Twelve senior boys attended the camp with ten of them staying at Camp Allard. This was a sculling camp dedicated to specific training goals. Another 80 kilometers and the athletes rowed over 220 kilometers during the break. Highlight of the last weekend was the Easter dinner at Andrew and Lesley Layton’s house up in Lantzville. Hosted by the Laytons and with extra help from Clare Carson, Melanie Toporowski and Donna and Saad Hasan, there was enough food to feed an army. Now back at the School, the rowing team is gearing up for a busy spring term of racing. A special thanks to Ms Biesenthal for all of her organization for these two exceptional camps. Rugby Our Boys Rugby program was also on tour as they headed down to the San Francisco Bay area. Our first stop was Oracle Arena to watch the Golden State Warriors take on the Sacramento Kings in a NBA game. After spending the night in Oakland, the team headed across to the city. For the next few days they were able to view numerous areas such as the Civic Centre during the St. Patrick’s Day parade, a walk-through China Town, Pier 39, and then they drove up the coast to Sausalito and took advantage of the Golden Gate Bridge Vista viewpoint. One of the highlights for the team was practicing at Ocean Beach where we trained on the sand in bare feet followed by jumping into the Pacific Ocean for a hydro session. They played two matches, the first game was against Golden Gate Rugby Club and the second was against Pleasanton: we left with one loss and one win. The Senior Boys Rugby team had a great experience traveling around San Francisco: there was so much to do in a short amount of time. Countless memories were made, and a good experience was had by all while creating strong bonds amongst the players. Meanwhile, with our return from break, Spring has sprung, and so has third term sport. The Brentwood fields, courts and waterfront are flooded with a full array of sports action. Our Golf (co-ed), Tennis (boys and girls), Rugby (boys and girls) and our Girls Soccer teams are all gearing up for their competitive seasons.  Looking ahead, the main event for the school in April will be the 46th annual Brentwood Regatta running April 27-29. While this regatta is one of the largest and most highly regarded high-school regattas in North America, it has become much more than just a series of rowing races.  With almost 4,000 visitors to Brentwood’s campus, the entire school will work all weekend long to ensure these guests have a first class experience. Entrepreneurship classes will be running their ventures, our musicians will be displaying their talent on stage, many of our buildings will be converted to dormitories and our fields turned into parking lots. The dining hall and facilities staff will be working overtime and each and every student and teacher will have a set of tasks to complete, but the end project is always well worth the work and the festival atmosphere is one that all will certainly enjoy. Amidst all of the hustle and bustle will be some 1,800 rowers competing on the water.   With the sun shining and so much action to be taken in outdoors, the third term is always an exciting one for Brentwood Athletics and we look forward to what lies ahead.