Horns’ Waknuk back with U17 provincial team

By Lethbridge Herald on July 22, 2022.

University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s basketball coach Dave Waknuk.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

University of Lethbridge women’s basketball coach Dave Waknuk is back coaching at the U17 level this summer.

Waknuk will coach the Team Alberta U17 girls team at the Canada National Basketball Championship for a fourth straight time  in Sherbrooke, Que. from Aug. 1-6.

The team held practices all week at U of L before departing for Edmonton next week for more training and then off to Quebec.

“An opportunity came up and Alberta Basketball offered me a chance to coach a team this summer and I was excited to do it,” said Waknuk.

“It had  been since 2019 (which) was the last summer since I had done it with Alberta Basketball. This is the first Nationals back since then and I think it’s always a good opportunity. It’s always a great  way for me to challenge myself and do it in a lot of levels for me as a coach. So ,I’m excited for the chance.”

Waknuk said it’s always a great experience to represent your province at a national level.

“I  enjoy the compete against the best coaches and players across Canada,” he said.

“And it’s always a great challenge for me as professional development for my abilities as a coach to challenge me to match up against the best in the country. I think from a university standpoint it’s always great too because obviously it’s a  great chance for me for recruiting purposes and a great chance for me to identify and see talent from across the country.”

Waknuk said these teams can be challenging for athletes because they’re essentially all-star teams.

“So a lot of these players at this level haven’t been a role player,” he said.

They’ve been a feature player and I think learning that and learning how to use the talent you have and to manage the team and build a culture about team and not about individuals, that’s always a challenge with these type of provincial teams that are so unique to this experience.”

Waknuk won silver with the team in 2019 and that was the best finish for Team Alberta in 11 years.