BONNYVILLE – On May 13, École Notre Dame High School’s senior men’s handball team headed to Lacombe to compete in the Tier II Provincial Championships – and came home with gold.
“It was probably one of our strongest seasons to date,” said head coach Daniel Dargis.
The team of 17 players had a significant number of returning players from last year, where the Wildcats had swiped third place at provincials.
“We have been really strong at this particular sport and having those boys come back, I knew that I had something special and another chance to compete for a provincial gold medal,” Dargis said.
For most of Alberta, handball has remained a relatively obscure sport. However, since Dargis began teaching and coaching handball in Notre Dame starting in 2012, the sport has been fostered and continues to grow more competitive each year.
“We have been pretty successful at handball here at Notre Dame. We have been the zone champions for the northeast boys ever since 2016 and we've competed and been finalist at provincials pretty much every year since 2016.”
In 2016, the Wildcats’ senior boys won provincial gold. From 2017 to 2019 the team earned second place for three straight years.
This year, the senior men’s handball team spent the season punching above their weight, competing in Tier I tournaments held in Sherwood Park and Red Deer.
“We were competing against larger schools and played against a lot of tougher competition. But the boys were successful... and our little, small school was able to compete well against those schools,” noted Dargis.
In the Red Deer tournament, the Wildcats took home silver.
With the 2023 handball season coming to an end, the team will be saying farewell to 10 of its graduating players that helped achieve this year’s astounding level of success.
For students entering high school next year or for anyone considering making a change, Dargis says, “Take chances and never to say no to new opportunities.”
He continued, “Never be scared to try something new. Even if it feels funny or it looks ridiculous, you never know where different and new opportunities can take you. That's what we did here in Notre Dame, we took a sport that wasn’t very well known, and took boys that didn't know how to play, and turn it into a perennial and strong team, who competes for provincial gold year after year.”
