On the eve of the high school girls' basketball season in the Okanagan, coaches across the region are still feeling the long-standing impact COVID-19 had on the sport.

For Okanagan Mission (OKM) Huskies senior girls head coach Meghan Faust, dwindling participation numbers have been stark.

鈥淭hey kind of all shifted to volleyball since COVID,鈥� Faust told the Morning Star. 鈥淵ou can still see the effects of that four years after, and for example, for our junior (team) tryouts, there were probably 40 girls for volleyball and for basketball, it was about 20.鈥�

Faust had a stellar post-secondary career at the then-Okanagan University College (now UBC Okanagan) in the early aughts before making the switch to coaching 19 years ago. 

"I think volleyball is a lot easier to get into, because there's not as much contact, right,鈥� Faust explained. 鈥淲ith basketball, there is physical contact, and so perhaps that's part of it, and this is my own bias coming in, but I think that volleyball has less cardio, so it is not quite as hard.鈥�

Pete Guarasci, the Kelowna Secondary School (KSS) Owls senior girls head coach, agrees with Faust that since COVID-19, he's seen 鈥渁 big drop鈥� in the number of players trying out.

鈥淚 think that before COVID-19, you had a lot of athletes dabbling in the sport, starting to see if basketball was a sport for them,鈥� Guarasci said. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 the top tier of players, but they were skilled. Once COVID-19 hit, it knocked out that foundation of players who, at that age, were so young and could have developed year-to-year. It depleted a lot of that, and you were left with just the die-hards who were going to play basketball no matter what.鈥�

Dave Tetrault, current Vernon Secondary School (VSS) Panthers senior girls head coach, added that the lack of gym space during COVID-19 was a huge impediment to participation once the pandemic was over.

鈥淚 continued to coach all the way through (the pandemic), and likely spent more time in the gym with kids during COVID-19, because they had nothing else,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t really wasn't even about basketball. There was nothing else going on, but we were lucky enough to keep practicing. I know that there were many, many schools that did nothing and so there was nothing for those kids."

Tetreault added that once the pandemic was over, there was a set of 鈥渆xtremely鈥� strong programs because they had spent so much time in the gym.

鈥淔or those who spent no time in the gym, lots of kids just found other things to do.鈥�

Skill Development

Despite participation issues, the talent level of the players and the game have never been higher. 

Guarasci explained that, overall, players are 鈥渕uch more skilled than they used to be across all five positions.鈥� However, a reason behind the skill jump is that most elite basketball athletes are playing the sport year-round.

Tetrault, who has been coaching for 35 years at various skill levels, divisions, and genders, has seen it first-hand.

鈥淣ow, on my senior team, I have two kids who are playing volleyball, and the rest are basketball players year-round,鈥� he said. 鈥淜ids have now specialized in whatever sport that they feel good about, which is different than the past.鈥�

Year-round play has its pros and cons, which all three coaches emphasize.

鈥淚 think sometimes, kids do too much,鈥� Faust said. 鈥淚 truly still believe in multi-sport athletes and their value. And I think that some kids just think that, well, when you get to a certain age, you have to specialize, and have to pick, because there's commitments.鈥�

Gurasci feels that basketball has leaned into more of a club-based business model, where clubs and academies try to keep kids invested all year.

鈥淪ometimes, when you have a multi-sport athlete in basketball, you can see the skill and abilities from the other sports and how they transfer over, and then it's just a matter of time of them getting caught up on their basketball skills,鈥� he said. "It's unfortunate that there is a bit of pressure from the (basketball) businesses for players to stay in the game.鈥�

More opportunities to play, however, can also lead to more injuries, because the athletes are using the same set of muscles all the time. Tetrault has seen it first-hand. 

鈥淲hen kids were doing different sports, it required different parts of their bodies, and I think that was a good thing,鈥� he said.

鈥淭here is this push now that we have to practice and use the same skills all the time. I've got three or four girls who do basketball on their own six days a week. They're either pumping weights, shooting shots, or working on their skills. They are unbelievably dedicated to this, and I would have never had that in the past, because kids were doing multiple sports, right? So that's the good part.鈥�

Post-secondary 

At the university level, UBC Okanagan Heat women's head coach Bobby Mitchell acknowledged that the pandemic had a negative impact on the quality of play in women's basketball, but emphasized that the situation has since improved and corrected itself.

鈥淚 will say the has helped,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淭he WNBA and women's college basketball has really changed. The training and offseason preparation, they are watching film and coming in way more ready for U Sports than in the past. 鈥�

Mitchell said that now, 95 per cent of players coming into his program can play right away in terms of their conditioning and skill level.

鈥淭he attention that women's basketball has gotten over the past five years is a big part of that, and there are more games that are accessible, which has trickled down to the grassroots, and for a coach, that is great to see that these girls come in ready to play right away and are a bit more ready."

For Guarasci, Faust and Tetrault, coaching the women鈥檚 game means more to them because they all have daughters themselves and want to get them involved in the game.

鈥淚 have a daughter in Grade 5 and I'm trying to promote programs around the city for her friends and just get them interested in basketball,鈥� said Faust.

鈥淚t's a hard sport to pick up when you're younger, as it is very technical. Dribbling, hand-eye coordination, for example, at ages 5, 6, 7, and trying to shoot at a super high hoop is a lot harder than playing soccer. So I hope we can catch a lot of athletes early on."

Tetrault echoed Faust and explained that the impact of having high-level basketball so easily accessible to watch is a net positive. 

"The fact that my kids can drive 25 miles down the road and watch UBC Okanagan and watch former high school players play, and say, 'Hey, I could be there, right?' That is just so huge."