Paul Vallier, who by his own admission “sucked” at basketball while playing for Brooks Secondary School in the 2009/2010 season, has shattered expectations this season and played in the Vancouver Island Seniors Classic High School Basketball All-Star Game.
Despite a losing record as a team, Vallier attracted enough attention with his play on the court that the organizer of the the all-star game asked him to take part. The organizer approached Vallier after watching him play a game during the North Island championships. With his team down by 22 points in the fourth quarter Vallier, a shooting guard, lit it up and scored 18 points in the quarter.
Not bad for a player who scored a total of four points in the entire previous season. Far from starting out as a strong player, Vallier spent last summer training, losing weight and honing his basketball skills. Working out five or six days per week, Vallier lost 45 pounds and worked on his fundamental basketball skills during pickup games. This season he averaged about 23 points per game.
The all-star team incorporates all the best senior players from high school teams north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, as well as Powell River. The team plays another all-star team of the best players from Victoria. In the last nine years three players from Powell River have made it to the all-star team, with Vallier being the third. The first to go, Tyler Pitton, runs the pick-up basketball games that Vallier attends and Vallier credits him with helping to take his game to the next level.
Vallier saw 12 minutes of time on the court and went five for seven to score 12 points for the team. The North Island team came into the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead but ended up losing by one point, 87 to 86, a “horrible” defeat that Vallier had to watch from the bench. He said that he appreciated the opportunity to play with some truly talented players and to have the chance to play in front of a big crowd in a highly competitive game.
“It was really cool,” said Vallier. “It’s fun, I’m good at it. I like playing really competitive stuff and in basketball a lot of the players get really into it and are intense and you get crowds. It’s just so much fun.”
Coach Chris Bratseth said that it has been inspiring and exciting to watch Vallier’s transformation as a player. His talent and hard work has lifted up the team as a whole, said Bratseth, and being invited to play in the all-star game was a testament to his hard work and talent.
“Paul has made an incredible commitment to his own personal development,” said Bratseth. “It was a culmination of three years of really hard work for him. It was a great celebration for our basketball team to have someone represented among the elite players on Vancouver Island. I was absolutely thrilled for him and inspired.”
After taking a year off from school to work, Vallier plans to try out for a college basketball team in Victoria and keep improving his game.
