Athletes from Vanier, Porter Creek, and F.H. Collins secondary schools took to the Porter Creek hardwood on Saturday morning for a 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

With the regular season officially underway this week, the 3-on-3 structure allowed the players to begin their transition back into the game and recapture their familiarity and passion for the sport.

The junior boys and girls teams from each school were split into six squads and battled each other in a round robin tournament.

The focus of the day of was on individual skill development and grasping the fundamentals.

The athletes officiated themselves with the coaches watching from the sidelines, occasionally interrupting with some advice but otherwise letting the young athletes figure out the game on their own.

"The nice thing about this is basically they are just getting out there and playing,” said Sean McCarron, head coach of the Vanier boys squad.

"There isn't a lot of pressure to win or lose. Some of the kids who may not get to play as much later in the season get a lot of opportunity today, which is a good way to build some confidence and for the coaches to see where the strengths and weaknesses are.”

With a short basketball season, Vanier is hoping to play around 12 games, any opportunity to evaluate talent and gain extra practice is welcomed.

"Some of the kids are great in practice but you can see the nerves when they come out on the floor against an actual team,” said McCarron.

"This is a low-stress way to get them playing again.”

Jalena Roots, a grade 10 player at F.H. Collins said the tournament allowed players to see how they stack up against their competition.

"You get to play against players you might not normally match-up against and everyone gets the ball a lot,” she said.

She said the opportunity to play against the competition and gain knowledge about their players will benefit the teams later in the season when the play-offs roll around.

Roots has high hopes for the ladies squad and believes the team has the talent to play deep into the season.

"I think our team is going to be really good, we're really athletic,” she said.

"We can outrun teams and we're also big, bigger than most teams, in a few more weeks of practice we'll be a really good team.”

Jonathan Hale, the Porter Creek boys head coach, said that at the grade 9 and 10 level, the earlier in the season a focus can be placed on learning the fundamentals of the game the better the results will be later in the year.

"They aren't being officiated so it's up to them to learn about game situations,” he said.

"Learning what is a foul and what's not. We told them the rules and they're doing a great job at officiating themselves.”

Sarah Crane, the F.H. Collins coach on the ladies side expressed a similar sentiment. Noting that the focus for her squad was to get familiar playing with each other and learn the fundamentals of the sport, without the pressure that can accompany a regular season game.

Colin LaForme, the boys coach at F.H. Collins and an Ontario-native said one of the biggest obstacles he faces as a coach is getting his players to narrow their focus to one sport.

"It's different from Ontario because the kids are doing everything up here,” he said.

"I have kids on my team who are playing five or six sports, whereas down south at this age you start to specialize, so any tournament like this is great.

"The kids come out and work hard and that's all you can really ask.”

Despite the tournament having no bearing on the regular season standings, the players were embracing the opportunity to play out of their regular positions and display their talent.

Players diving on loose balls, hustling for rebounds, and communicating on the floor were common occurrences throughout the day.

"You have to practice as hard as you can when you get the chance,” said Noah Kitchen, a member of the boys team at Vanier.

"We're going for the gold this season so we have to put the work in.”

McCarron highlighted the importance of getting the players to focus on the right habits at this stage in their athletic career.

"We want them to build good habits for the future,” he said.

"I tell my guys all the time if you want to be a great player your practice will determine the type of player you're going to be because we play so few games.

"The amount of work you put in at practice and in the summer determines what type of player you will be in the long term.”