While she has ambitious career plans outside of athletics, guard Sofia Simpson hopes sports are always a part of her life.
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The Lloydminster Comprehensive High School (LCHS) senior lists medicine and optometry as her possible fields of study at the post-secondary level.
In the meantime, she’s a standout guard and captain with the Barons’ senior varsity girls’ high school basketball team.
“I hope I get to keep sports as a bit of my life,” said Simpson, 17. “Maybe I’m coaching one year, or I have kids who play sports. It’s an amazing thing to keep in your life. It just makes things better.”
Simpson makes the Barons better. Her athleticism, speed and skill have been most evident this year, notably during the Barons’ silver-medal finishes at two January tournaments in Lloydminster — at Holy Rosary and Lloyd Comp.
“We’re very proud and very lucky to have Sofia as a player,” said Raff Delfin, one of the Barons’ assistant coaches working with head coach Keyanna Bannerman.
“Sofia is very humble. That is one thing. And she is very coachable.
“She’s got a lot of potential in her, and I think she can go far in basketball.”
While she’s mulling early interest from college basketball programs, including one team in the Alberta conference, Simpson knows any athletic plans she might pursue would be tied to her academic goals.
“I’m very interested in medicine,” she said. “If I play post-secondary, I’m looking at majoring in science and hopefully attending grad school, possibly in Edmonton, or I’m interested in optometry.
“So, that’s what I want to do right now. That’s what I’m thinking.”
After writing final exams for the first semester, Simpson and her Barons teammates returned to the basketball court at the end of January as LCHS hosted the 35th annual Hugh Morrell Memorial Border Classic, involving eight girls’ teams and eight boys’ clubs.
In both of their recent runner-up finishes in girls’ tournament play, the Barons believe they’ve benefited from facing high-calibre Alberta teams in preparation for zone playoffs against fellow Saskatchewan schools.
At the same time, Simpson and some of her teammates also bank on the experience of playing basketball essentially year-round, combining club and high school competition.
“It definitely helps, going from fall club to school season to spring club,” she said. “The more you play, like Ms. Bannerman said, and the higher skill you get to see, you’re going to get better and you’re going to develop more.
“I’ve been happy I’ve been able to play all that. It’s definitely helped me. I’ve improved a lot through Golden Ticket.”
As she punches her ticket to academic and athletic opportunities beyond high school, Simpson is making the most of her final year at LCHS. She intends to compete in track and field this spring, after winning a provincial gold medal last year in senior girls’ high jump.
‘SUPER EXCITED FOR TRACK SEASON’
“Yes, I’m very excited for high jump and long jump,” she said. “The more I play, I’m getting a lot stronger, so I think this year I’ll be able to jump higher. I might do some sprints as well, because people point out how fast I am, so I’m going to try sprints this year. Long jump, 100 metres and
high jump, I’m planning to do.
“I’m super excited for track season.”
Simpson is also encouraged that this year’s Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association track and field provincials are in Saskatoon, relatively close to home compared to last year’s host city, Moose Jaw.
For now, her focus is on readying for the Barons’ basketball regional playoffs in Warman, Sask., and shooting for a berth in the SHSAA provincials.
Simpson stands about five-foot-11, wearing shoes on the court, she estimated.
“Sofia has the potential to be one of the best (basketball) players to come out of Lloyd,” coach Delfin said. “She has the length, she has the size, and she has the speed.
“We’ve been working on her jump shot. We love her mid-range (ability). We’re working on shooting a little bit farther, being a threat from the
three-point line.
“But she also brings a lot of energy. She turns the game for us, when sometimes we think it’s impossible. She just has that little switch on her.”
Always on Simpson’s side is her family. Among those watching the Barons’ home tournament were her parents, both sets of grandparents, two cousins and her boyfriend Nikita Popovych, a Ukrainian student who plays football with the LCHS Barons.
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