It was the experience of a lifetime for six young Barnwell girls.
Earlier this month, six members of the Barnwell school girls basketball team returned from a trip to Hawaii, which was just as much about experiencing the island as it was about basketball.
The trip was the brainchild of Shelley Platt, who took a Hawaiian vacation last Christmas, where she visited her sister, Deveney, and her husband, Cliff Walters. During that time, Platt discovered there was a basketball tournament going on at the time, and two Canadian teams were in Hawaii for the event.
“My daughter and I talked to them and immediately, I called Lorell (Zanolli),” said Platt, as the seeds for a Barnwell trip to Hawaii were planted.
With the help of Cliff Walters, work began to set up exhibition games for the Barnwell crew. Back in Alberta, the wheels were quickly put in motion to organize the trip.
“We did a lot of fundraising,” said Platt, who added donations also flooded in.
At the beginning, the idea was to hold off on the trip for maybe a year, so every girl that decided to go would be 100-per-cent free. In the end, Platt and Zanolli decided they wanted to make the trip available this year, so the Grade 9 players on the team could experience it.
“The team as a whole was phenomenal,” said Zanolli, who added the group was special and as such, she wanted to reward them. “Out of all the years I have coached, it was one of the best groups I’ve had.”
When it was all said and done, six of the 12 girls on the team decided to make the trip. Two players each from Grade 7, Grade 8 and Grade 9 made it to Hawaii, which made it tough for Barnwell to compete.
“We played some phenomenal teams,” said Platt.
“There was a girl there that was voted player of the year for the entire island,” added Zanolli.
The coaches added the Hawaiian teams were big, skilled and fast, which made it tough for the southern Albertans.
“We only had two Grade 9s, and that hurt us,” said Platt. “The other teams didn’t have any Grade 7 players, but that was OK.”
Barnwell’s short bench also made it tough.
“Our kids were dying in that heat and that humidity,” said Platt, who added the team subbed frequently, just to keep from overheating.
The coaches added the level of play they witnessed in Hawaii certainly gave their players something to aspire to.
But while there may have been a few loses on the court, there were more than enough wins in terms of life experience for the Barnwell girls. Aside from seeing the sights and engrossing themselves in the culture, Platt added the team showed a level of togetherness she was very impressed with.
“The coolest experience was how these girls bonded. They had basically a big slumber party every night.”
There was, of course, a lot of sight seeing as well.
“We did everything that we possibly could on the island, except maybe two things,” said Platt.
Zanolli added there were plenty of opportunities for learning, as Hawaii presented a very diverse experience.
“That island has mountains, deserts, beaches and a black sand beach. Cultural wise, it was just a phenomenal experience for those six girls from Barnwell, Alberta, Canada.”
“They really saw the island,” added Platt. “Out of the 13 climate zones in the world, Hawaii has 11 of them. From an educational standpoint,  nothing beats that.”
Platt and Zanolli made a point to have the girls experience as much Hawaiian culture as possible, whether it was sampling the local food, attending a live hula dance or participating in activities like parasailing, snorkeling or boogie boarding. The group even experienced an American ranch-style luau at the top of a mountain.
The hope is, a similar basketball trip will be made in the future, perhaps to Hawaii again, or maybe another destination.
“I think they came back with the experience of a lifetime, which will make it easier to do next time,” said Platt. “We want to set a precedent to give the opportunity to every kid in Barnwell.”
Another potential trip down the road is just another way the school is promoting its basketball program, said the coaches. With so few students, nearly everyone is needed on the court in order to fill out teams.
“We had 12 girls on our team, and that’s almost all the girls we have in junior high,” said Platt, who added there were only five Grade 9 girls in the entire school last year, and four Grade 8 students.
Despite that fact, Barnwell went on to win the Horizon School Division league, and placed second in divisionals.