Players on the Houston Christian School’s upper grade level volleyball teams will be wearing new jerseys this fall thanks to a $3,000 grant from the Bulkley Valley Community Foundation.
“The teams have jerseys now but they are quite outdated and worn, especially the Grade 8 ones,” said Sarah Sutton, a parent who is one of the Grade 8 team’s coaches.
“The new ones will be more durable, light weight, and with modern designs. We will be ordering them through Smokescreen Graphics in Smithers. They will include the Houston Christian School Wildcats logo as well as the community foundation logo,” said Sutton.
There are three girls volleyball teams at the Christian Christian School when there are enough students to fill each squad — the Grade 8 one, a Grade 9/10 junior team and a senior Grade 11/12 squad.
The jerseys will be ordered before the end of this school year and will be ready by the fall.
“We start practices by the second week of school in September so we would want them in our hands by the first day of school,” said Sutton of the volleyball season which runs to November.
The school’s volleyball teams play in the Northwest Zone of BC School Sports, which includes teams from Smithers, Hazelton, Terrace, Prince Rupert, Haida Gwai and Kitimat.
Schools are placed in A or B zone finals depending upon size and the Houston Christian School is a ‘B’ school. The Grade 8 girls team placed third in zone finals held in Terrace last fall.
Sutton is a Houston Christian School alumnus who played volleyball and basketball when she was in school and this year was able to coach her oldest daughter who is in Grade 8.
“I will likely be involved in girls school sports for many years to come,” added Sutton who has four daughters in all.