Basketball is a family affair for the ADSS senior girls team, who eagerly await the chance to compete in front of loved ones at B.C.’s oldest high school hoops tournament.
Totem 69 is scheduled to light up Alberni District Secondary’s court Jan. 9 – 11, drawing a dozen boys and girls teams from across Vancouver Island. The tournament began in 1955 with four boys teams, then in 1982 expanded to eight male squads. It wasn’t until 2011 that Totem included girls, but now the female teams share representation with the boys at six senior squads each.
In 2025 the Alberni’s senior girls are following a second-place finish from Totem 68, which was claimed by Victoria’s Pacific Christian School with a 73-41 win in the final. Alberni’s senior boys took third in the last Totem, but won the tournament in 2023.
Senior girls coach Greg Freethy expected that his team would play about 10 games between late November and Totem, but when practices started in the fall they already appeared ready to compete. The squad even spent a week training in the summer at Western Washington University in Bellingham.
“I think we really hit the ground running this year and I think we’re in much better shape at this point in the year than we normally would be,” said Freethy. “We’ve been running a lot and getting ready.”
The coach is expecting tough competition again in Totem 69, and wouldn’t be surprised if it resulted in a rematch with Pacific Christian in the finals.
“They’ll be highly motivated,” said Freethy of his team, noting that the biggest challenge for the group might be to restrain their exuberance and focus on the fundamentals of the game. “It might be almost managing that - not being too excited and not forgetting about the basics, not getting distracted by 500 people that are screaming at them.”
“Stepping out there every year and having people call out my name and chant, I love it,” said Jaidin Knighton, a Grade 12 player who is in her fourth year with the Alberni team for this Totem tournament. “Obviously a little bit of nerves, but mostly I’m super excited to be out there. I’m in love with the crowd.”
Kura Rorick and Mary Robinson are also in their fourth year with the team. They have some experience in managing the excitement that Totem brings.
“You block it all out,” said Robinson of hearing the crowd noise.
“Once you’re on the court, it kind of feels like nobody is there,” added Rorick.
Half of the seniors girls team this year is Indigenous and most come from Nuu-chah-nulth backgrounds, where basketball roots run deep amongst west coast communities. Rorick started the sport in Grade 4, and spent part of her childhood playing in Hot Spring Cove’s school gym, a remote Hesquiaht community of a few dozen residents north of Tofino.
Robinson also started playing in Grade 4 while attending Haahuupayak, which is located on the Tseshaht First Nation reserve by Port Alberni. One day competing in the All Native Basketball Tournament remains an aspiration for the young players.
“We know a lot of older people that play basketball. They always talk about it,” said Robinson of the provincial contest for Indigenous teams. “It’s something that we also want to experience.”
Rorick was inspired to see her aunt Mariah Charleson make it to the finals at the last All Native in Prince Rupert. The Hesquiaht Descendants came second to Similkameen in February 2024.
Knighton looks further back to the career of her grandfather, Tom Watts, who won the senior A men’s national championship in 1965 with the Alberni Athletics. She grew up hearing about Watts’ legacy on the court.
“He shows up to all of my games,” said Knighton of her grandfather.
“I wish I could give him a uniform today, he probably can still play,” commented Freethy of the elder.
Freethy guides the team with the experience of playing for ADSS at Totem a generation ago.
“Many years later - 30, 35 years later - my best friends today are still the people I played with in Totem,” he reflected. “There’s lifelong friendships that are forming that they don’t even know.”
Several players on the senior girls team have also played for the Tseshaht Pride, an under-17 squad that took second at the Junior All Native Basketball Tournament in 2024 and third the year before.
“I have grown up with these people, so I’ve been playing with them for years,” said Knighton. “My friends started playing it and it really was just a way for me to meet new people.”
“You’re working hard to help your team,” added Rorick. “It gives you a sense of belonging. You become part of a bigger family.”
“It made me motivated to go to school,” said Robinson. “I have to show up in order to play.”
The tournament has grown to encompass more than basketball, with performances by the ADSS cheer and dance teams. Eight Grade 12 students have also been recognized “for their efforts in promoting the tournament and providing great school spirit,” according to material released by the high school. These candidates will be considered for the 2025 Totem Spirit award.
“It’s hard to explain Totem to somebody, it’s such a huge basketball tournament, but there’s so much more that comes with it,” said Noelani Watts, a Totem Spirit contender who is on the cheer team.
Noelani has watched the tournament since Grade 7, inspired by the acrobatics and excitement of the cheerleaders. After practicing with the cheer team in the afternoon, she goes to dance, which she trains in a variety of styles.
“It’s really important for me to set an example for younger Indigenous students,” said Watts, a Tseshaht member who wants to inspire her younger brother. “I just want him to know that anything is possible.”
