Great year for Kings County school athletics

The 2006/ 2007 school athletic season is now history. For Kings County schools, it was quite a year.

The Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation had a total of 85 provincial athletic team banners up for grabs this season. We are proud to say teams from Kings County schools won 13 of those banners, and were runners-up for eight more. Together, that's close to 25 per cent.

NKEC won the D-2 boys' and girls' soccer (on the same day), D-2 boys' hockey, intermediate and senior badminton and intermediate boys' table tennis, and was runner-up in intermediate girls' and senior boys' and girls' table tennis and girls' slo-pitch. That's a pretty well-rounded record of success, and speaks highly of the quality of the young student-athletes attending NKEC - and the job being done by their coaches and teachers to prepare them for their games.

Horton won in boys' and girls' golf, JV girls' soccer and D-1 boys' basketball, was runner-up in D-1 boys' volleyball, girls' curling and snowboard and qualified for provincials in a number of other sports. While not quite as successful as NKEC, that's still an outstanding year, especially when you take into account Horton competes at the tougher Division 1 level. Horton had more than 60 athletes compete in track and field, 25 of whom advanced to provincials.

Central Kings won the D-2 boys' volleyball and the provincial D-2 banner in track and field and was runner-up in D-2 boys' basketball.

Wolfville won the provincial junior boys' table tennis banner, the school's second title in three years in the sport.

That's not to mention the provincial banners won by Kings County athletes as individuals. Some of the individual Kings County provincial champions included Tineke Vanderweit of EMS, Justin Barkhouse of Horton and Jacobi Vanderweit, Gillian Tetlow and Sarah Bennett, Mishelle Melvin and Christine Manning, Blake Brown and Ian Manning, Jenny McGinis and Paul Manning of NKEC, all in badminton. Britany MacArthur of NKEC was a provincial champion in cross-country. Marissa Walter and Brandon Patterson of Central Kings, the C.K. 4X100 intermediate girls' relay team, Emma Duinker of Horton, the Horton senior girls' 4X400 relay team, and Mason Foote and Ryan Carrie of NKEC were all provincial champions in track and field. Walter captured three provincial championships in track and field, two individually and one as part of a relay team. Foote won two provincial championships, and Jane Snyder of Horton was a provincial champion in two different sports, golf and track.

And this, lest we forget, was in direct competition with the best athletes and school teams from throughout Nova Scotia, including the populous Metro Halifax area.

We hear a lot about the migration of families from the rural areas of our province into urban centres like Halifax. It should go to follow: the more populated urban areas should also have the bulk of the success in areas such as interschool sport. While this does happen more often than not, Kings County athletes and teams continue to more than hold their own.

Kudos to our young athletes for the job they have done this school year, and to their coaches, teachers and parents, without whose help and guidance they would not be achieving the great things they are.