After red shirting with the UBC Okanagan Heat for the past year, Sarah Allison is looking forward to finally being able to don a uniform this fall.
Allison, who played last season with the University of Calgary Dinos, comes to the Heat with an impressive high school resume and will add another dimension to Heather Semeniuk’s women’s basketball program.
She helped Surrey’s Elgin Park Orcas record a B.C. championship in her Grade 10 year (with only seven players on the squad), followed by bronze a year later. In her Grade 12 year, Allison was named Fraser Valley championship MVP.
Courted by schools all over the country, Allison chose the Dinos for their up-tempo style.
“I’ve always played a fast-paced game – I love to press, I love to run the floor,” said Allison, who says the Heat will have to use speed to make up for a lack of size. “I find that because we are an undersized team, especially in the CIS, that is going to have to be a big stress this year.”
Semeniuk has witnessed Allison’s work ethic every day in practice this past season, and looks forward to finally having the sharpshooter on the roster this fall.
“She will bring such an element of competition to our team,” said Semeniuk. “She has the drive and she understands what it takes to win. When you come from a winning program, you know it and you do it.
“When all of the pieces are in place in September I’ll look at what I’ve got and structure the team accordingly. One thing I will say is Sarah will be a dangerous player for us in an up-tempo game. She can really shoot the ball and also score in transition.”
Allison, an honours student, showed up last September to start her human kinetics program, but had never met her teammates, nor her coach.
“Since coming to UBC Okanagan I have felt not only welcomed by coach Sem, my teammates and the athletic program, but also as if I am valued,” she said. “It was just so positive, and the atmosphere just kind of rekindled my desire to play again.”
