For as long as there has been sports there has been the argument that urban centres have more opportunities for young athletes thus forming better teams.
The simple reason for that is the focused attention on one certain sport and year-round training. That may be the case, but a handful of girls from the Northwest played their first games together and proved that sometimes heart, determination and pride can compete and beat the big cities.
Zone 7 sent seven girls, who had 10 practices together and no games, to a girls' under 14 basketball tournament in Saskatoon against five other zone teams from across Saskatchewan.
Two locals, Jordin Wilkinson, who has been playing basketball since Grade 3 and Keanna Price, who played club basketball for years, joined five others from Meadow Lake to form the team.
The two locals had much more experience than their Meadow Lake teammates, but coaches Leonard Timmer and Brian Brander had the task of forming the individuals into a competitive team in five weeks.
They did that and then some.
The team had modest expectations heading into the tournament according to one the players' parents. In Zone 7's first game, July 8 against Zone 6 from Saskatoon, it appeared to be a sloppy first half, as the girls were learning on the fly how to work together as a team. The girls rallied on hard work and determination in the second half and came away with a 40-25 win.
The next morning, Zone 7 played Zone 9 and this time the chemistry appeared there from the beginning, as Zone 7 won by more than 50 points.
Zone 5 was the next opponent later that day, in a rough hard-fought game, but Zone 7 prevailed after both teams faced foul trouble late in the game.
After the two days of tournament action, it was already determined Zone 7 would play Zone 2 from Regina in the final, before the two teams faced off in their final round robin match. Zone 2 was one of the favourites coming into the tournament as defending champs and had played a number of tournaments in the United States together during the season and had 12 players compared to Zone 7's seven.
In the first round robin game, Zone 7 fought hard, but fell short against Regina. Later in the day, the rematch was played for the gold medal. In a exciting final game, the two teams were locked 18-18 at half time. The defensive play continued and Zone 7 held their opponents all but off the board in the second half and the final score was 32-21, as Zone 7 pulled off the remarkable underdog story.
The two locals, Jordin and Keanna, were keys to Zone 7 far exceeding their expectations, and the coaches named them co-winners of the player of game honour in the final. Jordin was also named the team MVP for her play throughout the tournament.
