Caledonia Secondary School’s golf team is teeing off for the 2023 BCSS ‘AAA’ Golf Provincial Championship in Nanoose Bay, north of Nanaimo, on June 5-7. The school’s physical education teacher, David Lewis, will lead five students against 22 teams from across the province in this year’s tournament.
Going into the week, Lewis was optimistic about the team’s prospects. “I’m pretty confident that our boys will go down and do a good job representing our community and our school,” he said. Competing are Mark Pietralla, Kelton Shinde, Jovan Sangha, Matthew McDicken and Ashton Forsyth.
“They’ve gotten a lot stronger over the last year. I’m very excited to see how our seniors play at this year’s tournament,” added Lewis. Four students – Pietralla, Shinde, Sangha and McDicken – are returning to the provincial championship stage, with Forsyth making his debut this year.
The team received training from Skeena Valley Golf Club Manager Germain Francoeur.
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Their efforts come after placing 13th in the 2022 BCSS ‘AA’ Golf Provincial Championship.
Lewis is eager to see how the team performs against the tougher competition.
The Caledonia Secondary School golf program has been active for the last two years, with the boys training twice a week, even throughout the winter months. “They’ve worked really hard to improve their skill. I’m very excited for them and they’re ready for the opportunity as well,” said Lewis, emphasizing the importance of the program for the graduating students.
With a 16-strong team this year, Lewis aims to continue developing students into a strong group of performers.
“Another big objective for the golf program is to encourage other golf programs in northern B.C. to start programs and get more student athletes in the sport of golf,” Lewis said.
“There’s enough kids to golf, but there’s never enough sponsors to allow these kids to participate in school sport,” he added.
“The community was waiting for something like this to come along,” Lewis said.
Viktor Elias joined the Terrace Standard in April 2023.
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