BY JOSHUA WADE / STAFF WRITER

It is no secret that the Augustana Vikings’ various sports teams enjoy many successes and a good deal of viewership, uniting the university in recognition of our athletes. For this issue of the Dagligtale, I chose to spotlight the Vikings women’s basketball team, which has been successful so far in the season, but also no stranger to defeat. To learn more about a team I had been unable to watch yet this year, I figured the best avenue would be to ask someone who had access to “insider” info.

Emma Fraser, member of the Augustana Vikings basketball team. Photo from web.

Emma Fraser is number 23 on the team, and currently plays the position of forward. She was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta and attended school at Ross Sheppard High School, which is where she began her basketball career: “I got started pretty late, I started around Grade 9, which is usually later than most would start … I’ve always loved it, since elementary school when I gravitated towards basketball at recess. It was my aunt, actually, who convinced my dad to get me into clubs and teams, and I just went from there.”

While it was her love for the sport that brought her to Augustana, she acknowledges that what she loves even more is what she’s able to do with the team: “I just love playing on the team, being so close with my teammates, that family that we create … it’s just amazing.”

When I asked Emma how she feels about the progress of the season so far, she responded positively. “I think we’ve been doing well this season–we have a really talented team. We’ve had some struggles with some of our games, you know, but we’ve really started to pick it up.” She singled out their November 19th game against SAIT as an example of their improvement, saying that she believes the team has started to show what kind of group they are and where they belong. Conversely, she admitted that there has been no shortage of struggle. “I think a lot of it starts in practices,” she said, “in picking up our pace and focusing on what we need to work on … at the beginning of practice we set goals for ourselves, but we really just need to commit to it. There’ve been a few games, too, where we started off not as strong, and that definitely hurt us. But it starts with that commitment and hard work. And taking care of ourselves on and off the court. We’ve been doing better at that, but there’s still room to improve.” 

She added as well that she feels the team has made great strides in their confidence about the season, stating that it feels as if all players are eager to commit to the team and want to work hard to win as the season progresses. “We’re good at keeping each other accountable.” The team’s ultimate goal, Emma explains, is obviously to succeed everywhere they can, but she and her teammates look a bit further: “Our goal, kind of, is definitely to go to nationals … and win! I really think that we can do that, yeah, and that this is a team that can go forward with that.”

The next home game will be on Friday the 13th of December against Concordia. Games can also be watched after the fact online at ACACTV.ca.

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