The Keyano Huskies Women's Cricket team is returning to Fort McMurray with their first trophy.
During this weekend's Canada Day Cup in Calgary, the Huskies came out on top against a trio of tough opponents, marking a historic first tournament win for the program following their first exhibition matches in May.
"We went to Calgary with the intention to win," Head Coach Irfan Bangash said. "The girls were very enthusiastic. Their aim was to win because they wanted to win the first-ever tournament they were going to.
"They wanted to show that they are the best of the best."
The four-team tournament featured the Meraloma Cricket Club from Vancouver, B.C., the Smashers, and the Alberta Strikers, who had bested the Huskies in Fort McMurray back in May.
"We started the tournament very well," Bangash continued. "We won our first game, but we lost our second game badly so I thought that would put our team morale low.
Then we reach the final, the girls were like 'we are here to win we have one more game and let's win it for ourselves, let's win it for the program, let's win it for the team'."
Squeaking just past the 130-run mark in Sunday's final, considered a par score in T20 cricket, the Huskies showed up big on the defensive side of the ball to claim the tournament win.
"The way our ballers and our fielders played in the second half of the game, was appreciated," Bangash said, crediting the play of Shaunte and Shai Carrington among many others.
The buildup to this weekend's win came because of the lessons learned in their first-ever matches earlier this season. With more lessons learned in their success, the Cricket Huskies were eager to take another step forward in their development.
"The first couple of games that we played in Fort McMurray, we were trying to find the right combination in the opening, middle order, who was going to be our ballers and stuff," Bangash said. "We're still in the building process of our team, but now I feel like there's a couple of players who can play in the top order.
"These games really helped."
