By Sasha Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: March 4, 2015
Major: Business
Height: 5’6’’
Position: Point Guard
Celeste Dyck took the leadership role in stride as senior point guard in her fifth year with the Cascades. She is a strong facilitator, finishing top 10 in the CIS in assists. As she heads toward graduation in June, Dyck looks back on five years with the Cascades.
Why did you pick UFV?
The more obvious reason was it was close to home so I could live at home. It wasn’t expensive. I wanted to play CIS. I was in Junior Cascades the year before and I loved Al, the coach, and I loved the place.
What’s it like playing for Al Tuchscherer?
He’s one of the best coaches in Canada. I mean, words can’t explain. He’s very passionate about his job. He’s always willing to make us better, throughout the whole year. He’s smart, he’s loving, he’s kind; he really cares about this school, and about us — what’s going on in our lives. In a way he’s become a father figure. So, it’s kind of cool to see that. You don’t get a lot of coaches that care about your personal life — they just care about basketball.
You’ve been playing with the Cascades for five years. Tell me about the team’s evolution.
It’s been a huge difference from year one. Our team was young [when I came in]; there was a [core] group that went through their first year already. When I came in, it was scary. They had this core group ready to go for five years and I was kind of in the back-up position. But as the group got to year five, it became more of a family. It was a tight knit group. Then when that group left, I was in the position where I’m in my fifth year now and now I have to lead this team. I’ve never had that opportunity, I’ve always been behind Aieisha [Luyken]. It was a big change. I think I grew as a person, and I think I grew as a leader.
What was taking on that leadership role like?
It was intimidating. But also I was like, okay, this is my time, I’ve got one shot. I was ready for it. I’ve been under Aieisha for four years and she’s taught me a lot so, I was ready for the position to take on that role. It’s been a cool experience, just going back to my high school days, to think where I was as a point guard those days to now. It’s just amazing. I’ve grown so much skill-wise and person-wise.
You’ve done really well with assists, which points to a very selfless style of play. Tell me about your approach to being point guard.
I have a lot of patience. I am more of a chill, laidback kind of point guard. I don’t care much for scoring. I’d rather have assists than points. For me, I like to set up my teammates more than score buckets. It’s nice to score buckets, I feel great about that, but it’s nice to give that one more pass for them to score. I’ve always been [one to] pass first, score second.
Can you comment on the conference structure this year? How has being in the Explorer division rather than the Pioneer affected your team?
I didn’t like it. I hated it. You have to verse a team four times — it gets repetitive. And our school takes a hit, recruiting-wise, because [strong players] might say, “Oh, I don’t want to go to an Explorer team,” you know, they want to go to the Pioneer league. But yeah, it kind of gets boring. I like versing the hard schools, like UBC and Saskatchewan. And we just didn’t get that opportunity this year.
How do you balance academics and athletics?
For me, I’ll say this: this girl hates school. The balance is tough. You know, you just got to put out effort. A lot of time you’re on the road. You always have to catch up throughout the whole year. It’s kind of hard at times if you’re taking four classes — I like to stick with taking three, it’s a good balance between basketball and school. You just have to find time. It’s all about time management. You definitely can’t procrastinate, though I do. But I always pull through, and that’s what counts!
What’s next for you?
Well, I have one more semester in the fall, and I’ll graduate in June. I don’t want to start my life [immediately]. I really want to travel — and I haven’t had time to because of basketball. I’ll see where it takes me. I’d really like to have my own business in the future. I would love to have my own basketball store, that’s on my future goals list. If Al [Tuchscherer] needs me, if he needs an extra coach, I’d for sure come back. I’ll always have a place here, and Al will always keep a place for me here.
