For the second time in three years, the Okanagan College’s women’s basketball team is off to nationals, but the team is in need of financial support to make it happen.
The OC Coyotes hosted B.C.’s best at this year’s provincial tournament. OC was ranked as the last seed at 6th place in the tournament, and yet, managed to pull off the unthinkable.
“We were definitely an underdog going into provincials,” said head coach Andrew Gini. “(We) had an upset in our first game in overtime which was actually our third overtime game in the last couple months. We ended up playing Capilano in the semis and they were ranked two and top 10 in the country and we ended up betting them.”
The Coyotes went on to the finals and won it all in front of their home fans, clinching a birth at nationals in Lloydminster, Alberta.
“It was definitely nice, especially since we have five seniors so that was definitely a big part of it and I think that was part of our advantage too because we had players that really knew what it took to get there,” said Gini.
Soleil Wilding is one of those senior players — about to close in on her fifth and final season as a member of the women’s basketball team at OC. She’s keeping a positive attitude ahead of her team’s trip to Lloydminster and hopes to cap off her playing career with one final title.
“This is another opportunity to just come in and get it done and having that belief that we can – we came off a few really exciting wins at the end of the season in overtime so that’s really fueling our fire,” said OC College Coyotes player, Soleil Wilding.
“We’re exciting to be playing in more games.”
But getting the team to the national stage comes at a steep cost.
“Its going to cost 25-$30,000 which is a big chunk considering we had to do the same thing a couple years ago,” said Gini.
The team has created a GoFundMe page, and are hoping for some last-minute donations.
Players and team staff will board a plane on Monday, with the tournament beginning on Wednesday. If you’d like to make a donation, or want to learn more about the Coyotes, click here.