The fall semester of high school sports is well underway at Mount Baker Secondary School in Cranbrook.
While it’s easy to focus on the athletic side of the equation, Mount Baker vice-principal and athletic director Dan Noble suggests there is more to it.
“The most important thing is we want our school teams to be good ambassadors for the school and the city of Cranbrook,” Noble said. “Obviously, any team wants to win and losing is a part of any athletic event. But we want for people to say, ‘We played Mount Baker and we might have won or lost, but the kids played with respect and dignity.’
“School sports are an extension of the school. We want the community to be aware of what Mount Baker does and the importance in the community.”
The Wild senior girls volleyball team got the season off to a roaring start, posting an undefeated record of 7-0 en route to a gold-medal finish in the team’s season-opening tournament in Brooks, Alta., during the weekend of Sept. 18 to 20.
Volleyball remains the flagship sport for Wild athletics, with both the senior girls and senior boys hoping for strong showings this fall.
Senior boys soccer is also up and running at Mount Baker, as is seven-aside rugby.
New to Mount Baker this fall is a field lacrosse pilot program of sorts, put on by Russ Sheppard, who is heavily involved with the Cranbrook Minor Lacrosse Association.
“Russ Sheppard runs lacrosse here in town and he’s going to see if he can get a team up and going to go on a trip to Spokane to see what the interest is,” Noble said. “Lacrosse is a growing support in Cranbrook and Mr. Sheppard showed a desire to try it. He has some boys that played box lacrosse and field lacrosse is big in the [United] States.
“We thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give it a go. Plus, there’s lots of scholarships available for U.S. schools for field lacrosse.”
Due to the population of Mount Baker Secondary, all Wild athletics programs see the bulk of their competition away from Cranbrook.
“Because of the size of our school, we do a lot of travelling to play schools of similar size,” Noble said.
The senior boys and senior girls volleyball teams will be co-hosting a home tournament at Mount Baker Secondary in November.