By Jeremy Fraser
As a child, Gary McDonald always dreamed of playing in the Coal Bowl Classic for the Breton Education Centre Bears.
The excitement of playing in front of a jammed pack crowd at the BEC gym motivated him to continue playing basketball.
Today, the New Waterford native gets ready to play in his second straight Coal Bowl Classic when the Bears open the tournament against Polyvalente de L'Ancienne-Lorette of Quebec City, following opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. on Monday.
The graduating forward would like nothing more than to win a Coal Bowl title in his final season.
"Words can't describe how important winning a title this year would be. It would be the peak of my grad year, every kid dreams of winning a yellow banner in front of the whole town."
The Coal Bowl experience is something special, said McDonald.
"Coal Bowl is the best week of the year, with it being so much more then just basketball. Living in the school with all the teams is such a great experience, you meet so many new people."
McDonald started his career in Grade 4, playing common school basketball for Greenfield Elementary School. In high school, he played with the Bears junior 'B' team, while also being committed to hockey.
The six-foot-four centre has enjoyed every moment playing with the Bears.
"It's been an amazing journey playing with the team the last couple years. A lot of people think it's all about Coal Bowl, but we have been in five tournaments this year. It's a lot of fun."
Last year, the Bears failed to reach the tournament semifinals, posting two wins and two losses.
Although it was disappointing, McDonald gained a lot of experience, he said.
"It helped a lot with the nerves. Going out and playing in front of that many people can be very nerve racking, but once you get used to it, you lock in and focus on basketball."
Last year's loss gives McDonald extra motivation heading into this year's tournament.
"It gives us tons of motivation, especially for our returning players. We feel we let people down last year. It would be heartbreaking if we didn't make the semifinals in back-to-back years."
Breton Education Centre will continue the round robin portion of the tournament with games against
Yorkton Regional High School at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Elwood Regional High School at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
McDonald has high expectations for the team.
"We have had a pretty up and down season, but have been playing some good basketball the last two weeks, leading up to Coal Bowl. We play our best with our backs to the wall."
The team's success will come from hard work, said McDonald.
"We have a pretty young group of guys this year, two in Grade 9, two in Grade 10 and two first year Grade 11 players, so we have to out work teams, stay calm and take care of the ball."
McDonald has personal goals for his final Coal Bowl Classic.
"Like every year, my goal is to win the tournament, but anything less than semifinals this year would be absolutely heartbreaking."
McDonald expects the atmosphere in the gym for Monday's game to be outstanding.
"The opening ceremonies brings in a very big crowd and gets everyone into the basketball spirit, and lucky for us we play right after it, so everyone is excited."
