When one hears the name “Carkner” in Richmond, most recall fond memories of positive interactions with the late Bob Carkner who, as a long-time educator and basketball aficionado in Richmond, touched the lives of many of its former and current residents.
However, in recent years, there’s been another Carkner who’s been blazing a trail of his own in basketball circles, not only in Richmond, but throughout the entire province.
Bob’s son, Tim, has been coaching girls basketball in Richmond for the past five years and during that time, he coached as many as three different Richmond Youth Basketball Association (RYBL) girls rep teams, as well as the Dixon Dragons intermediate girls team at the same time. He held three weekly practices for the combined RYBL club teams and several more for the Dixon team during the fall/winter and spring seasons.
This past year, Tim’s love of the game, dedication to it, and tireless efforts paid off in big way. In the fall/winter, his RYBL U13 girls rep team, the Raccoons, on which his daughter, Kate, was a key member, competed in the Basketball BC Metro League’s competitive “A” Division and went 10-0 in league play and captured the playoff championship undefeated. The following spring, Tim’s Raccoons went on to win the Basketball BC Club Championships at the Richmond Oval; 3D Spring Showcase at University of Fraser Valley; and U14 Spring Madness Tournament at Mulgrave Secondary School.
Tim didn’t stop there; this summer, he coached two teams of five female players each in the inaugural U13 3x3 basketball event at the Biennial BC Summer Games held in Abbotsford July 21-24, 2016. His teams represented Zone 5 Vancouver-Coastal (Richmond) in the games as Vancouver-Coastal (VC) and Vancouver-Coastal A (VCA) and eight of the 10 players were from the Raccoons, so Tim was already well aware of his players’ strengths and skills.
As his tireless efforts continued, so did his success. After day one seeding games, VC went 3-0 and VCA went 2-1 and both finished at the top of their pools. In day two playoffs, VC went 3-0 again, which secured their place in the gold medal game, and after VCA won their first two games, it appeared like it was going to be an all Vancouver-Coastal Gold Medal game — but VCA ended up losing a heartbreaker at the buzzer in their third game which secured their place in the bronze medal game.
Both VC teams went on to win their medal games and took home gold and bronze medals.
Tim humbly credits his incredible work ethic to his father and success to being blessed with incredible player talent, dedicated support of a great group of parents, and phenomenal assistant coaches.
Coach recounts 'Games' win
My daughter Kate and I got home Sunday night after an amazing four days out in Abbotsford at the BC Summer Games. Our two U13 Vancouver Coastal basketball teams started their “seeding” games Friday. Basically, the 16 teams were broken down into groups of four with the VC team winning all three and the Vancouver-Coastal A team going 2-1.
Saturday was the beginning of a 16-team, U13 three-onthree half-court tournament. You keep winning and you have a chance at a medal.
Because both our teams finished first in their pool, our Saturday morning games were a tad easier.
The kids were nervous (and a little tired from the Hawaiian theme dance that the Games organizers put on for the athletes the night before!) but came out and won both.
After that was the quarter finals. These were tougher games but again both teams took control in the relatively short three on three game of 12 minutes and won. The pressure and excitement was beginning to build.
Then, in the evening, came the semi finals. Both teams were up against two outstanding teams from Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley. The match-ups would be key as these teams had a huge size advantage.
My daughter Kate’s VC squad was up first against their arch rival Fraser Valley. The gym Abbostford Middle School gym was packed, noisy, and hot! Back and forth we went until it came down to just a 18 seconds left on the clock, we were up 14-13 and the other team had two chances to score but could not — so, off to the gold medal game on Sunday!
Next was our VCA team versus Vancouver Island. Another battle but with three seconds left on the clock, game tied, their player chucks a long shot outside shot for the win. So now, they are off to play for bronze Sunday morning.
First up was VCA versus Fraser Valley. The girls played their hearts out and were rewarded with a win and the bronze medal!
Next was the finals, VC versus Vancouver Island. By this time the boys three on three had finished, so the gym was overflowing with other teams, parents, and coaches.
We start off strong then we got into early foul trouble, so my assistant coach, Connie Chan, and I were forced to sit Kate more than we wanted. The girls battled it out and we head into the last three minutes with the Mina Chong, Kate, and Kaila Fong line. The girls used their speed, aggressive play and outstanding shooting/driving to the hoop without fear to get a one point lead. Then with four seconds left, Vancouver Island had the ball at the top, we’re up 11-10. Our kids stopped them and we took gold! The gym erupted!
We are all beyond proud of these 10 outstanding players — seven from Richmond and three from Vancouver, all RYBL players. Simply a fantastic accomplishment!
