College basketball a Siksika family's tradition

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On a late November night in Calgary there's a chill in the air as Old Man Winter approaches slowly but surely, but at the Mount Royal College gymnasium, Candace McMaster, 18, is making things hot for the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Trojans.

Candace and her 22-year-old cousin, Keisha, add to the bite of Mount Royal Cougars women's basketball team and tonight they're strutting their stuff. The two cousins are the latest of a long line of McMasters to add to a Siksika Nation tradition at the college.

"They're all sport oriented," Candace said of her family, "and I just developed a love for basketball."

Candace and Keisha were raised on the Siksika Nation, east of cowtown on the high plains of Southern Alberta. In the Nation, the McMaster name is synonymous with sports; everyone in the family is playing or has played hoops.

Candace started when she was 10 years old and hasn't looked back, moving from community teams to high school teams and now to the Cougars.

"I made the Strathmore (junior high) basketball team and that's when I seriously started playing organized ball. Other than that I was just screwing around at home," she said.

Strathmore is only a few miles from the Siksika Nation and the schools have a large Siksika student population but Candace was the only Aboriginal person on the girls' team.

"It was a little awkward at first," she said, "but I am not a shy person so I got along with everybody easily. When I was in my senior year I knew everybody so it wasn't hard at all."

Cougar coach Avery Harrison has been watching her play since she was in Grade 11 and, when she graduated from high school, he quickly snatched her up for Mount Royal.

"Her shooting ability and natural athletic ability I thought would just blend in really well with our team," the coach explained. "She just brings a new dimension to the team."

Most of the McMaster clan is in the bleachers at every Cougar home stand and tonight is no exception. Lydia, Candace's mom, sits down in the front row, surrounded by family members. She's there to share each tense moment and every triumph. As any loving, supportive mother would be, Lydia will be there for the losses as well. But tonight, Candace and the Cougars are undefeated.

"I'm very proud of her." Lydia said, "Her hard work and determination has gotten her where she's at. We're all really proud of her."

Lydia is no slouch herself; she plays in a senior women's 'A' league in Calgary along with Cougar coach Jill Sutherland.

Keisha's been playing organized ball for only two years but that's not counting the scrimmages she's played since she was 12 years old. Her desire to play at a higher level led her to tryout for the Cougars.

"I've been trying out for them since June. I'm a redshirt and I travel with the team and do everything with them. I play in tournaments but I don't play in league games," she said.

Being 'red-shirted' for regular games gives Keisha the time to play on the same women's team as Candace's mom.

Candace's heavy involvement in the game has naturally led her to choose a career in sports administration. After graduation, she hopes to be able to "run sports facilities and design sports programs."

Watching her grandmother Ann "take care of all us kids, helping the community" inspired Keisha to set her sights on a career in medicine.

Besides the inspiration and support they receive from their family "they're always there giving us tips" on improving their game.

McMasters on the Cougars team are a family tradition. The current players' aunt Laverna began the Cougar tradition way back in 1971. She attends most of the games and remarked that she has now seen bell-bottom pants come into fashion twice among the spectators.

Laverna just recently retired from organized ball. She was playing with a senior women's team in Calgary's 'A' league at the time of her retirement.

Harlan McMaster was a Cougar from 1982 to 84 and more recently, Lawrence McMaster played guad from 1991 to 93.