Whoever said teenagers can’t get out of bed in the morning obviously hasn’t met Madison Yule, Tyana Sacree, Casper Poelen and Austin Brown, all students at Brooks Secondary School.
The four were among nearly 3,000 athletes who competed at the BC Summer Games last month. Not only did they manage to get up early, but they all emerged victorious from bronze-medal games that took place on Sunday, July 20, before the clock had even struck 9 am.
Brown and Poelen competed in baseball and basketball respectively as members of regional teams assembled from athletes in the Vancouver Island-Central Coast areas. Yule and Sacree, who also play on the same local Aces team, competed in volleyball. Events were held from July 17 to 20 at venues around Nanaimo.
“Me and Maddie have been best friends for as long as I can remember so getting to go through that experience with her was great,” said Sacree. “We know how each other plays.”
One of the biggest challenges, she explained, was getting used to a team full of other people she didn’t know nearly as well. “It was tough playing with a team I have never played with because we are so used to playing with our team so we had to figure out how everyone played.”
By the time the bronze medals were being placed around their necks, however, everyone on the Zone 6 volleyball team was feeling pretty tight-knit. “Winning our crossover was the highlight because it was an extremely close game and it brought us together,” said Sacree.
This year’s Summer Games were the 29th in BC’s history. Athletes have already set their sights on the next, which will be held from July 21 to 24, 2016 in Abbotsford.
