Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I stood up in the House and I congratulated our young boys who were at the basketball championship. I’m happy and proud to say that our 19-and-under boys won the championship again this weekend. It’s the first time in about 30 years that Inuvik has won that championship.
They had a real great game. They won 61 to 56 over a very hard, very sportsmanlike St. Pat’s team, and I want to thank the coach and the St. Pat’s boys for making the game very exciting for everybody who was in attendance.
I would say there are a few boys on that team that are going to be leaving high school this year, and it was really great to see them leave with such a great memory that they’re going to cherish for the rest of their lives.
This weekend was a great weekend of basketball. We had teams from Lutselk’e for the first time ever. We had a team from Deline win a school banner, and we had some from Cambridge Bay attend as well. But this couldn’t all be possible without sponsorship. The NWT Power Corporation has been sponsoring that tournament for years, so I want to give them the recognition that they deserve.
Just like last week, I want to take this opportunity to thank the volunteers, the chaperones and both schools for hosting a very successful Cager Tournament this weekend. I would also like to make a special thank you and acknowledgement to all the coaches for their dedication, their time, their guidance and their support for our youth in the small communities and throughout the Northwest Territories. Two in particular that I’d like to recognize are the coaches for the East Three Eagles Basketball Team, Mr. Will Logan and Mr. Al Gillis, who have worked with these boys for years. For them to finally win a championship, especially some of those boys leaving school this year, they deserve that championship. They worked hard, they gave sound advice to the athletes and they showed a lot of sportsmanship to the referees, to the other teams, to the coaches and they did a great job.
Just before I finish off my Member’s statement here, I’d like to recognize a young gentleman, Mr. Liam Larocque. He’s only 15 years old. He moved
up into the senior division and played for Inuvik and he was recognized as the tournament MVP. So, great job, boys, and I look forward to seeing more basketball championships in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.