Jade Belmore has already accomplished a ton as an individual from the College of Regina Cougars, yet she has fallen shy of one of her ultimate goals.
The third-year wing has yet to play in the U Games ladies’ basketball championship tournament.
“At this moment, we have our responsibility to take care of with Canada West,” Belmore said. “It means a ton; it has always been a goal of mine to assist this team with getting to nationals. We without a doubt have the team to do it this year and that makes me really energized.
“That is always the goal and we missed the mark concerning that last year, so we are coming back for some retribution.”
Cougars head coach Dave Taylor agrees that Belmore is just centered around one goal this season.
“That gathering hasn’t made it to nationals yet. She would be quick to let you know that’s her No. 1 goal,” Taylor said.
Belmore and the Cougars will open the Canada West playoffs Wednesday against the Manitoba Buffaloes in Abbotsford B.C. The two teams that make the meeting final will get compartments into the U Games national title tournament.
On the off chance that the College of Alberta reaches the final, that might actually open up a billet for a third Canada West team since the national tournament is being held in Edmonton.
“It’s super-exciting. We have been looking forward to this all year, clearly. (It’s) an alternate playoff format now, however (we’re) actually looking forward to it nonetheless,” Belmore said.
“It means a ton to us. I think as a team we have developed without a doubt. After Christmas we have been doing great and have some energy, so it for sure means a ton to us and ideally we can continue that in playoffs.”
While the Regina product hasn’t played in a national tournament, she has become one of the first class players in Canada West.
The previous LeBoldus Brilliant Suns star was named the meeting’s player of the year on Wednesday after leading Canada West with 18.3 points per game. She is the third player from the school to win the award, joining Cymone Bouchard (2004) and Joanna Zalesiak (2012).
At the point when Taylor was recruiting Belmore, he had placed goals for her consistently and she has managed to hit all of them. She was the Canada West thenew hotness in the 2021-22 season and was the college’s female athlete of the year in 2022-23.
This year, she also was named a Canada West first-team all-star, earning that distinction briefly straight season.
Taylor said Belmore’s potential was easy to see when she was playing secondary school basketball.
“I used to tell her when she was playing secondary school that she would have these ‘Jade Minutes.’ She would simply take over the game,” Taylor said. “She always wants to get her teammates involved, however there would be extends where every individual who walked into the rec center would look and go, ‘Gracious yeah, that’s the best player by a long shot.’
“She would simply dominate the game for stretches and you saw those flashes and realized those would translate to a higher level.”
At the point when it came to deciding where she would play her college basketball, Belmore chose to stay home in the Sovereign City.
“Regina has a great local area. Some of the time you don’t realize that until you’re actually in the exercise center with 2,000 people watching you,” she said. “That to me struck more than other places.
“I love to be home with my family, however the local area and the emotionally supportive network that I have here is outstanding and the local area cares about our program. We have fostered a great program and ideally continue to do as such. It meant a great deal for me to stay home and presently start providing back to my local area.
“At the point when I used to admire the Cougars when I was very little and used to go to the games, it meant a ton to me, so presently I wanted to do that and start the same thing and give that to my local area as well.”
She also has had a taste of international basketball after playing with the Canadian under-23 team at last summer’s GloblJam in Toronto.
“It was a particularly cool encounter,” Belmore said. “I was playing an unexpected job in comparison to I do with the Cougars. I learned a ton and it was a really cool atmosphere and I was exceptionally grateful to address my nation and U Games as prosperity the main U Games player there.
“It was educational for myself and I’m super-happy I got to have that experience. Ideally that’s going to be the same case this mid year however we will see. (I) just set forth a ton of effort for that. It was super-cool and I can’t wait to rehash that following summer ideally.”
At the tournament, Canada ultimately fell 68-66 in the final to the American team.
“It’s an alternate game of basketball, I can let you know that — worse or more terrible however it is an alternate game and I think I learned that while playing in those games that it’s not the same. There are a few young ladies down there who play and are exceptionally physical,” Belmore said.
“It was so cool to simply have the option to encounter that and play with certain athletes who were raised in the Canadian game and are presently playing in the U.S. It’s exceptionally cool to learn and get that experience from an alternate game of basketball.”
However, while Belmore desires to have a fruitful career representing Canada on the world stage, her eyes remained center around getting to the U Games Final 8.
“Kind of wild I’m more than halfway done my career; it seems like I’m as yet a newbie,” she said. “I’m grateful I have a few additional potential open doors as well however I want to take care of business now with the team.
“That’s been my goal for these five years – I said that to Dave coming in (to the program). I said I want to win a national championship with this team and that’s always on my mind. I’m happy I have a couple more years to do as such, however ideally the current year’s the year.”
The Cougars men’s team also is in action Wednesday. Regina is to face the Fraser Valley Cascades in playoff action in Winnipeg.
Thomaidis named coach of the year
After the College of Saskatchewan Huskies battled their way to a 19-1 Canada West record, head coach Lisa Thomaidis is adding to her prize case.
The U of S coach, who is in her 25th season, was named the Canada West coach of the year. She has recently won the award in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2016.
The Huskies are the No. 1-ranked team in the meeting and ranked second in U Games, behind just the Carleton Ravens.
Thomaidis is seeking her ninth gathering title with the Huskies, with the last coming in 2022.
She has also added to her international list of references as well, helping the German ladies’ team qualify for the Olympics without precedent for that program’s set of experiences.