The addition of Sarain Soonias to the RDC Kings roster at Christmas paid immediate dividends.
The 29 year-old from Red Deer played a huge role, especially defensively, as the Kings opened the second half of the Alberta Colleges Men’s Basketball League schedule with an impressive 70-65 win over the NAIT Ooks, who came into the game ranked fifth in Canada.
But the six-foot-seven Soonias had to laugh when talking about his skill level.
“The offensive touch and fitting in with the team will take a while, but if I can haul my lazy butt up and down the court and slow down their big men that’s what I need to do. I’ll try to be a reliable post defender and rebounder . . . that’s what I can hope for for now.
“You get older and your skill level deteriorates and you don’t jump as well, but you learn the tricks. Basically the old guy you used to hate to play against when you’re 18, I’m that guy.”
Soonias grew up in Red Deer and later played post-secondary at Medicine Hat College, the University of Lethbridge and the U of Regina.
“It was a revolving door because of my attitude,” he said honestly. “By the end I couldn’t even play as I couldn’t handle the responsibility. Really I had a lot of growing up to do.”
Soonias did get a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, but it wasn’t something he felt great about. He wanted to get a business degree, looking toward marketing.
“That’s something I’ve always been interested in,” said Soonias, whose brother Dallas is with the national senior men’s volleyball team. “The way it was going it was one entry job after another and I wasn’t going anywhere.”
He thought about joining the Kings in September, but decided to work with head coach Clayton Pottinger as an assistant coach.
“But I finally hit rock bottom with the jobs and at 29 I figured if I wanted a full-time career, even if it takes me four years, it was time to start.”
He also figured he could help pay for the schooling by playing with the Kings and get the Jimmy Condon Scholarship.
After working with the team as an assistant coach Soonias isn’t a stranger to the Kings’ systems.
“That helped a little bit, plus I knew the guys a bit,” he said.
Soonias will also be able to do some coaching while playing. He’ll work with six-foot-seven Corrie Thomas, who also joined the team during the break.
“I’ll try to. He’s very athletic and enthusiastic and the more reps he gets the better he’ll be. We’ll need him as we don’t have a lot of inside players and seeing I’m pushing 46 once he’s ready to go it’ll help us all.
“We do need him, but it will take some time as he hasn’t played for a while either.”
The Kings and Queens are at home Saturday as they host Grande Prairie. The women tip off at 6 p.m. with the men to follow.
l The volleyball squads see their first action of the second half as they travel to Lethbridge for matches Friday and Saturday.
The Queens visited Japan during the break while the Kings played in an all-Canadian tournament in San Diego.
“It went well,” said Kings head coach Aaron Schulha. “The first couple of matches weren’t great, but we finished well and we got a chance to see some things we need to work on. In terms of our starters some of them were getting comfortable and the bench guys stepped up and are pushing them.”
The Kings opened losing 25-15, 11-25, 19-25, 18-25 to Vancouver Island University of Nanaimo, and dropped a 21-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-17, 13-15 decision to Redeemer College of Ancaster, Ont. They then stepped it up and beat Limoilou College of Quebec City 25-23, 25-22, 25-22, tied defending Canadian champion Columbia Bible College of Abbotsford, B.C., 25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 17-25 and beat Grande Prairie 19-25, 25-14, 26-24, 25-20.
“The last match was tough to play as it was both team’s fifth five-set match in three days,” said Schulha. “But overall it was nice to get away and play several tough matches, plus get some practice time in.”
l The hockey Queens face NAIT in a home-and-home series — Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Arena and Saturday at NAIT.
l Hoop Kings Jacob Cusumano and hockey Queens Megan Abt were the Boston Pizza RDC athletes of the week.
Cusumano had 18 points, including four three-pointers, in the win over NAIT.
Abt scored the overtime goal in the Queens 1-0 win over Grant MacEwan on Thursday.
l The women’s curling team will compete in the Sylvan Lake bonspiel this weekend. The men’s team won the Sylvan ‘spiel last weekend.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com