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By Corinne Fitzherbert

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There weren’t many hazy, lazy days for summer for Hilary Goodine. The soon to be 15-year-old Anfield resident spent a busy season traveling the province and beyond as a member of the U-15 provincial girls’ developmental basketball team.

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Corinne Fitzherbert photo

Hilary Goodine of Anfield spent much of her summer traveling throughout the province as part of the girls’ U-15 developmental basketball team. They took part in weekly practices and games as well as playing tournaments, including the Bluenose Classic in Halifax, NS, where they captured the winning title.

“Every weekend, we went to practice,” Goodine explained of a summer spent criss-crossing to Miramichi, Saint John, Fredericton or Moncton. “We’d practice on Saturday and again on Sunday morning and then on Sunday afternoons we’d usually have a game against the high school team from whatever community we were in.”

Goodine is the daughter of Wade and Heather Goodine of Anfield and one of two Tobique Valley Middle High School students to attend open try-outs for the U-15 provincial team. Heather Goodine explained they were in Oromocto when the open try-outs were held and figured they had nothing to lose by taking Hilary and her friend Melissa Ouellette. Both girls were selected to be on a 12-member squad that went to further try-outs held at UNB in Fredericton later in the spring. The girls played a mini tournament there and then returned home. They were advised later that Melissa had been named to the U-15 provincial team and Hilary to the developmental team, both great accomplishments for young players that had never tried out before.

“It was a good experience and I learned a lot,” Hilary said of her summer. “I liked meeting new people and learning new skills.”

Hilary’s teammates were from most of the major centers in the province, including Fredericton, Moncton, Miramichi along with one player from Woodstock. Head coach was Liz Doyle from Miramichi while the assistant coaches are players on the Dalhousie University team.

While Hilary usually plays forward or post, the head coach took all members back to basics and told them they were going to learn to play every position on the team. Even dribbling was back on the list of skills to be rediscovered.

Hilary noted all the girls got along well together and their families often hosted players when the team was in their community.

Parents held barbecues for the team members and their families and cheered on everyone’s daughters when they took part in tournaments. The team did well in competition, successfully capturing the winning title at a Summerfest tournament in Saint John as well as at the Bluenose Classic tournament held in Halifax, NS over the July 15 weekend.

“We beat the Nova Scotia U-15 developmental team for the win,” Hilary explained. An avid athlete who also plays soccer and volleyball, Hilary is looking forward to trying out again next year.

The team that will be selected from among the U-16, U-15 provincial and developmental players will be the one to be groomed for the next Canada Games.

Until then, Hilary is looking forward to playing on the senior girls’ basketball team at Tobique Valley Middle High School while in Grade 10 this year and building on what she learned over the summer. She noted she is grateful to her dad Wade for doing a lot of driving and giving her a lot of support over the season.

“It was a lot of traveling but definitely a very worthwhile experience,” she affirmed.