You spend enough time on the hardwood, it’s going to pay off.
Between high school, club ball and elite-team tryouts, Cochrane High School Cobras’ Jake Nielson knows the gym inside out, upside down. More precisely, he knows the basketball court like the back of his hand.
It’s why he’s been selected to Team Alberta’s under-17-year-old (U17) boy’s basketball team headed to Halifax for the national championships in August.
Following a rigorous audition process in which Alberta’s top U17 players took part, Nielson was chosen for the final roster in mid-April. It’s his second-straight Team Alberta appearance, playing U16 last summer at the western Canadian regional tournament. This summer, the 6-foot-3, 165-pound small-forward/shooting guard plays the top teams from across Canada.
“We have a pretty good team this year,” Nielson says prior to the Cochrane Red Jackets U17 boy’s third game May 16 at the Genesis Basketball Classic in Calgary, won 47-29 over CBA. Nielson plays club ball with the Red Jackets in spring, following the end of the high-school hoops season. “I kind of know what to expect. There are going to be athletic guys, talented guys. You just have to go out there and compete.”
Cobras junior-varsity girl’s head coach Jackson Parker is also making the trip as Team Alberta’s U17 boy’s head coach. Nielson like the composition of this year’s team.
“No guys with big egos or anything,” Nielson relates. “They’re all level-headed guys.”
Given the blinding pace of his club team’s scheme, it’s no surprise team Alberta will run a game plan similar to that of Red Jackets.
“Running transition,” Nielson answers when asked about Alberta’s U17 game plan. “We have a lot of shooters, and I think we can defend pretty well.”
Playing at the Genesis tournament May 15-17 at Calgary’s Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Nielson and the Cochrane Red Jackets finished 3-1, going 3-0 in round-robin play against Calgary foes before falling 68-48 to tournament champs Oakland Soldiers from California on May 17.
