Local News
Junior Pilots on their way to Nationals after an incredible season
The 2024 season for the Junior Pilots 16U Navy volleyball team has become an unforgettable one for the girls and the community. In the regular season, the team competed in five U16 tournaments throughout Manitoba. They had a very successful season after winning first place at many tournaments including claiming the Provincial Championship title. Players Abby, Kristin, Danica, and Carly speak about their season and how they feel heading towards Nationals. “It has been an amazing season for us. We have been extremely successful,” says Abby. “This is my first year on the team and I am very happy with how it’s going. It’s an amazing group of girls and we have four amazing coaches who’ve been coaching us and putting in lots of time towards practices.” Abby goes on to recap some highlights of the season. “We’ve been through multiple tournaments, coming out first in almost every single one of them and ending with provincials being first. So that’s been amazing.” Kristin says that a highlight of the season was how the team stuck together, built confidence, and played so well throughout the year. The girls have been able to build long-lasting relationships with one another through this sport. “It’s my first season with these girls and I’ve grown so close to every single one of them,” says Danica. “I only knew a few of them coming into the season. Being on and off the court with them has really been amazing. They’re such an amazing group of girls, and the coaches are even better, I love it.” Coach Dylan Zacharias also speaks about the girl's building relationships on and off the court and how it plays a large role in their success. “Every year we’ve made new additions and something we look at seriously when adding new girls to the team is developing that dynamic and culture.” He also speaks about how the culture has grown among the parents and coaches and describes it as unique. The team competed at the ‘Best of the West’ tournament held in Calgary on March 29 – March 31, 2024. “Best of the West was a tough start for us, but we knew we were facing some good competition,” coach Kyla Zacharias explains. “We’re going in with a new perspective and we’ve gotten better, so we’re ready to go and we’re ready to show that we belong in top 16.” The Pilots U16 Navy team gets ready to head to Nationals in Edmonton on May 23 – May 26 and they couldn’t be more pleased. “It’s one of the first times we’ve experienced something like this and so we’re incredibly proud to be the coaches of this team,” Dylan states. The girls look forward to their time at nationals and will take a couple moments to appreciate and look back at how far they have come. “We’re going to have a lot of fun playing on the court and off the court,” says Carly. “We will spend a lot of time together as our last moments as a team.” -With files from Dave Anthony