November Sports Review 2019

A number of teams wrapped up very successful competitive seasons in November.  Soccer Our Senior Boys Soccer team had a thrilling playoff run to end their season. After capturing the Mid-Island league title and then the North Island Championship, they qualified for Islands where, despite being short-handed over midterm break, they managed to win bronze and earned their fourth consecutive berth to the AA Provincial Championship in Burnaby. At provincials, the boys played excellent soccer, winning their pool and advancing to the semi-final round. In the semis the team came up just short losing 2-0 to eventual champion Notre Dame. Nonetheless, coming top four in the province is a remarkable accomplishment. Indeed, it is the best ever finish for our senior boys soccer program! Mr Barrett was extremely proud of this group, not so much for the result, but for the way they battled through multiple significant injuries and left everything on the field each and every game. It was truly a terrific season for the boys. Our Junior Boys Soccer team also had a strong finish to the year. They walked away with another Mid-Island title and earned a berth to Islands which we hosted here on our beautiful Brentwood fields. The boys more than held their own against the top teams on the island and won their final game 3-0 over Brooks to finish fifth. Cross Country Brentwood sent a record number of athletes to compete in the Cross Country Championship in Burnaby over November midterm. The senior boys finished 10th as a team and Keaton Heisterman ran a remarkable race finishing second in the province!   Volleyball In volleyball, our Junior Girls showed tremendous growth over the course of the season, captured gold at the Mid-Island Championship and represented the school well at the islands. Our development volleyball teams also worked hard and had excellent seasons. The highlight, however, was unquestionably our Grade 9 development team winning the Mid-Island Grade 10 tournament that was hosted at the Foote Athletic Centre.  Meanwhile, the Senior Girls also hosted the Island Championship where they played outstanding volleyball and captured silver thereby earning a berth to provincials in Vernon. At provincials, the girls were slow out of the gate which set up a challenging draw. They did not back down, however, and were extremely competitive with the very best teams in BC. They went 5-4 for the tournament and ultimately finished 13th in the 20 team draw. Ms Fougner was extremely proud of how hard these girls played for each other; they pushed through all sorts of obstacles and never quit. They definitely made Brentwood proud. Field Hockey It was a young and inexperienced group of girls who started the season with our Senior Field Hockey team, and it was remarkable to see how much they improved over the course of the term. They really started to click at the Island Championship where they won bronze, which usually is enough to earn a provincial berth, but this year the team had to jump on a bus 48hrs later and venture over to Vancouver to play a challenge game with a provincial berth on the line. The girls embraced the adventure and went over and won in a convincing 8-0 affair and qualified, yet again, for the provincials. The girls were placed in a very challenging pool but showed well; indeed, they tied for second in their pool, but because of a goal differential formula they were placed on the consolation side of the draw. It was interesting to see how such a young team would respond to this setback. These girls just dug in and competed harder. They won their next three games to finish Provincials with a final record of 4-1-1 and were winners of the consolation side of the tournament. It was a wonderful way to finish an excellent season for the girls. Winter Season With December upon us, second term sport gets underway. Already our hockey and basketball teams are off to nice starts. In ice hockey, the Shawood - a hybrid team with girls from both Shawnigan Lake and Brentwood College - have begun their combined practices and are looking forward to a major event in Vancouver in early 2020. The Second Squad got off to a strong start with highly competitive games against Cowichan and Kelsey. Finally, the Senior squad is off to a strong start with a couple of wins already under their belts. They will be headed to Vancouver on Friday for a couple of exhibitions games. The competitive hockey squad has started the year well going 2-1 to start the season.  Meanwhile, half of the Junior Girls basketball team went 3-1, losing only to Belmont, the tournament champions, to start the year at the Victoria Tip-Off tournament while the other half of the team won the VIU Tournament in Nanaimo going 3-0. At the same Tip-Off  tournament, the Junior Boys basketball team lost a heart-breaker in the final to current #1 ranked Walnut Grove 62-61.   Our Senior Girls Basketball team is off to Kwalikum for their first game of the season this week while the Senior Boys head off to the No Regrets tournament in Vancouver after earning bronze at the ISAs this weekend. We look forward to watching our basketball, squash and hockey teams in competitive action in the months ahead.