Dawson Creek U17 girls volleyball team returns from Emperor’s Cup

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — The Dawson Creek Volleyball Club’s U17 girls team capped off their season by competing at the Emperor’s Cup in Las Vegas from May 3rd to May 5th.

The team, described as “underdogs” by team manager Kahla Bassett, banded together at the Alberta provincials last month, capturing gold before heading to Vegas.

Bassett said that funding the trip to Nevada came through some unique efforts.

“We had a leprechaun drive, where we put an inflatable leprechaun outside local businesses so people could donate,” said Bassett. “We placed it all over Dawson Creek and Fort St. John in March.”

Bassett also says the team hosted a pub night and held a raffle, which raised a “tremendous” amount of money.

According to the team’s head coach, Todd Mingo, the team decided to head to the Las Vegas tournament after a format change in the national championships held in Edmonton.

He said that, based on the initial interest from the team, heading to Vegas was a no-brainer.

“We found out that nationals weren’t a guaranteed spot, and we’d be in a lottery,” said Mingo. “We were already in Edmonton twice this year and played those teams. [The Emperor’s Cup] gave us a different experience.”

The team, consisting of girls who would normally play at the U15 and U16 levels, initially got off to a rocky start, dropping their opening games to teams from Washington, Arizona and Hawaii on Friday. 

Mingo says his squad, which includes Fort St. John players Emmy Bowler, Dani Steiner, and Chloe Vanberneulen, had to be reminded that despite Vegas’s bright lights and splendour, volleyball was still volleyball.

“There was a lot of communication involved,” Mingo said. “They were on cloud nine during day one, but on day two, they came to play.”

The girls rallied on Saturday, winning their opening game. This victory earned them a semi-final berth in the tournament’s copper division.

Ultimately, they fell during the semi-finals on Sunday, losing to a team from Northglenn, Colorado, in three sets.

Overall, they finished 15th out of 16 teams.  

However, the experience was immeasurable, according to Mingo.

“It’s huge for these girls. I felt like they were left to the side, and I took them on,” said Mingo. 

“At provincials, these were teams these girls lost to all year long, and they beat them when it counted. We had our ups and downs. We pulled it together, and then we went to Vegas and just had a grand old time, so it was just unreal.”

For more information on the Dawson Creek U-17 volleyball club, visit their Facebook page or website.