Anyone watching the Cascades women’s basketball team recently may have noticed their deep bench of players who sub into games. Sure, they don’t start, but some of the most exciting players on any team happen to be bench players, as they routinely put out solid numbers and well-timed plays.
The same can be said for Veronica Kobes. A fourth-year forward, she’s slowly built herself up as a player to feature as one of the Cascades’ most important bench players, arguably deserving of a starting role on the team.
For her, basketball began not as a solo mission, but rather as a family sport. She started playing basketball in grade eight, following in her brother’s footsteps.
Unlike academic studies, which Kobes was a natural at, basketball was a difficult challenge for the forward who started building skills in highschool.
“I wasn’t very good, like, at all. Grade 10 I started to get a little bit better, then in grade 11 I got too aggressive so I fouled out almost every game. Then grade 12 it kind of fell together. It was kind of fun, but I was by no means good.”
Kobes is hesitant to heap praise on herself, but the fact that she plays for UFV betrays her value. Standing at 6’2, Kobes attributes her height to what started her in basketball, but it was her skills that got her onto the Cascades, a U SPORTS program playing at the highest level for a university team in a Canadian league.
Going from a single A high school to UFV was quite a journey — one that Kobes never imagined taking when she first started.
“I would say I’ve always enjoyed basketball but I was never in highschool like ‘Oh, I’m going to go play basketball at another place.’ It was just something fun to do … But now it’s become obviously a huge part of my life.”
For Kobes, her Cascades career really took off last season, and she had some memorable key games. In a frustrating pre-season game against UBC, she realized that she needed to keep grinding to get more minutes on the court. This led to a game against UBCO just before Christmas where she finally found what she had been looking for: a solid game, with minutes where she could showcase her ability not necessarily to others, but to herself.
“I would say the UBCO game was more like, okay maybe this will work out, because up to that point it was just determination,” Kobes said.
As to how Kobes views her own game, she sees herself as a valuable contributor in the way forwards usually are: the ability to rebound and play in the post.
“I’m mostly a rebounder. I’d say that’s my main thing. I love to run in transition and just rebound.”
Kobes’ main motivation is to keep pushing toward new goals.
“I just like to constantly challenge myself, to keep proving myself, whether that’s in basketball, in school, or even outside of that. I love school, I love learning. It kind of comes easy. I wouldn’t say it’s a huge challenge. I challenge myself to do as well as I can, but basketball does not come easy to me. I have to work a lot harder for it.”
Come watch the Cascades when they open their season at home later next month against UBCO on Nov. 15 and 16 with the games starting at 6 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively.
Image: UFV Athletics
