It was more than just a stroke of luck that had golfers from two local schools heading to provincials.
Grade 11 Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) student Mia De Freitas claimed first in the individual female division during the North East Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association golf zones on Monday, Sept. 16, while Notre Dame High School (NDHS) Grade 11 students Kendal Rinas, Alex Dechaine, and Jocelyne Zalaski won gold in the team category. NDHS found themselves on the podium in the singles event as well, after Rinas won bronze.
The golfers hit the green in Red Deer on Sept. 23 and 24 for a shot at the provincial podium.
Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) Grade 11 student Mia De Freitas won gold in the Sr. girls category during the northeastern golf Zones in Mundare last week. She’ll be representing her school at provincials
De Freitas isn’t a stranger to stepping up to the tee against players from across the province.
“I actually compete in other forms of provincial tournaments across Alberta during the summer,” she said.
The lifetime golfer challenged herself to leave it all on the green, and was proud to walk away with a gold medal.
“I definitely reached my goals that I wanted to, I was able to complete them, and do good like I wanted to.”
She described the day as overwhelming because her grandfather, who got her in the sport, went for open-heart surgery the same day as zones.
“I kept him in the back of my mind. I wrote his name on my golf balls, going shot-for-shot for him, absolutely thinking about him while I was playing. It was really rewarding knowing I won, not only for myself and my school, but for him. I was telling him after my tournament, and I said, ‘I won for both of us.’ He was so overjoyed, and both he and my mom were crying.”
De Freitas remembers golfing “as soon as you could put those plastic golf clubs in my hands.”
She hopes to one day play in division one for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Last year, Rinas and Zalaski came in first and second, respectively, during zones to qualify for provincials.
“There was more competition this year compared to last year,” noted Zalaski.
Regardless of what they were up against, the local golfing team kept their eye on the prize.
“We’re all pretty decent golfers, but there were a lot more teams there this year than there was last year,” Rinas recalled. “A lot of them looked like they were doing pretty good, and none of us had a super awesome game.”
For Dechaine, this was her first time taking a swing at zones.
“It was a little stressful for me, because I didn’t want to let anyone down,” she expressed. “We had a lot of people from our school there, and I knew a lot of people there, a lot of them were my cousins. It was less stressful having a team, because it’s not just on you, there’s more than one person representing it and you’ll all do your best. If you win or lose, you know you tried your best, so you did well.”
All of the girls agreed the course at Mundare’s Whitetail Crossing Golf Club was difficult, but overall didn’t have too many obstacles to overcome.
Jason Cey, head coach of the NDHS golf team, felt they did well considering they weren’t used to an advanced field.
“At the difficulty level, everybody had scores that were maybe a little elevated from their normal, but the girls did very well. They golfed a pretty consistent round, all of them, and were able to score well enough to finish first in the team event.”
Cey recalls the group waiting anxiously to hear the results and learn how they fared.
“We knew it was going to be close… So it was a nice surprise in the end when we were called for first place, received our medals, and it was very exciting. Going to provincials to compete isn’t easy to do in any sport, and to have our girls qualify is just really a thrill,” he exclaimed.
All three grew up golfing with their families, and were glad to be able to represent their school at the competition.
Due to press time, the Nouvelle will be posting an update on how the girls did on our website bonnyvillenouvelle.ca.
