ROCHESTER – When the Alberta Summer Games start in Okotoks and Black Diamond July 20, there’s going to be at least one local athlete looking to bring back a gold medal.
Rochester’s Anna Ewasiw, 13, will be suiting up for the U14 Zone 5 basketball as part of the Games’ eight-team tournament July 20-23 — Zone 5 runs west of Edmonton to Jasper and east into the Lac La Biche area and south through Boyle.
Ewasiw is still a relative newcomer to the sport, only picking it up three years ago after watching her older brother Ben playing on the driveway or at local courts. She said that she went to the open tryout for the zone team and knew a couple of the girls, but hadn’t played with any of them previously.
“I’m really excited to be on a team with a lot of girls that just want to be there,” said Ewasiw, who’s a hybrid point guard/forward. “I’m hoping to find some new friends along the way as well.”
Although she lives in Rochester, Ewasiw attends the K-9 Pembina North Community School in Dapp. A major influence on her blossoming athletic career has been her school and club coach, Andria Carlyon, who was a standout at R.F. Staples School in Westlock and went on to an incredibly successful collegiate career at the University of Edmonton in the early 2010s.
“I really look up to her for playing at that level, she’s definitely one of the bigger people I would want to thank,” Ewasiw said.
Basketball has quickly become an all-year event for Ewasiw, who plays with the Morinville Sabretooths in the fall and then with the Westlock Selects in the spring. Ewasiw, who’s played everything from post to point guard depending on what’s needed, says the non-stop nature of the sport is what keeps her interested.
“I think my favorite part of it is how much intensity there is; you’re running a lot, you’re making new friends, but you’re also working your body as hard as you can for something.”
University is still a ways off, but she said that it’s something that she’s set her sights on.
“I would love to be able to play in university,” said the soon-to-be high school student. “It’s a long-way away, but if I can keep playing hard like my brother always made me, I think it’s doable.”
