It hardly seems like a suitable parting gift for one of the most successful girls basketball teams to come through Delta secondary in the past 25 years.
When a decision was made to create a new 12-team elite tier in the Fraser Valley senior girls league this season, the Delta Pacers were included thanks to a moderately successful 2010-11 campaign and the fact most of their key players were returning. What it means is the Ladner school will be getting a steady douse of the top teams in the province, with seven from the Valley in the latest top 15 rankings including No. 1 Riverside and No. 2 Brookswood who will be visiting DSS on Tuesday night.
Reality is the Pacers find themselves in no man's land.
They are a small group of multi-talented athletes who have enjoyed plenty of success in younger grades, appearing in three straight provincial tournaments and finishing second at the Fraser Valley Junior Championships two years ago. But to compete with the heavyweights of senior girls basketball in B.C. is an entirely different plateau - one that requires a much deeper talent base and basketball being a player's sole focus for 12 months of the year.
"I love my girls to death but they have a lot going on in their lives right now and there are probably only two where I can say basketball is their passion," said coach Kerrie Trotman who has been with the core of the team since it steamrolled through Delta League play in Grade 8. "We're in a situation where every game is going to be an immense challenge just trying to compete at that level."
The Pacers got a douse of what they are in for at last week's 16team Century 21 Tournament at Mouat secondary in Abbotsford where they dropped three of four games to finish 12th, including a 61-35 opening round loss to Riverside.
That's why Trotman is looking forward to this weekend's Delta Police Tournament at Delview secondary where the Pacers are expecting to dominate as the lone tier one entry.
She will be getting plenty of mileage this season out of four key players - Hayley FlowerAinge, Jesse Holowaty, Tessa Vincent and her own daughter Megan Trotman who typically leads the team in scoring each year.
