Kuzbyt nets pro contract overseas

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This article was published 10/08/2020 (1879 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Maples resident and Sisler High School alumna will return to Germany this fall, after re-signing a pro basketball contract with the Göttingen-based ASC Royal Blues for the 2020-21 season.

Kerri Kuzbyt, a five-foot-seven point guard who previously played five years for the University of Winnipeg Wesmen team, while also working towards her bachelor of education, is looking forward to rejoining her team overseas after the last season was cut short by two games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I love the style of the European game. I got exposed to it in my first year of university, which is where I kind of really started to see pro after university,” she said.

Kuzbyt finished sixth in the league with an average of 13 points and 6.6 assists per game.

After a successful season in Division 3, the team will move up to the second division in the upcoming season, which will entail a full 22-game schedule, plus playoffs.

“The first season went great,” Kuzbyt said, adding that it was the club’s first appearance in the league.

“The girls were just nervous being in league. I said, ‘Hey, you gotta have confidence like, no one knows you. There’s no pressure.’ And we ended up going into the Christmas break undefeated (9-0), and we were killing teams.”

Kuzbyt was first introduced to basketball at four years old. She played on the boys team until age 12, at which point she switched to the girls team. Kuzbyt spent four years on the provincial team, and trained briefly in Australia and Spain, before landing in Germany.

Though the style of play is different in Europe, Kuzbyt said the biggest challenge was actually the language barrier — the reason why, in her contract extension, she negotiated for access to German-language classes, which she will take between practices and training, she said.

Kuzbyt hopes to inspire young female athletes, showing them there are opportunities to play basketball after high school and university.

“My biggest advice is that if you want to do something, and you’re confident you could do it — do it, write it down and then work every day trying to obtain it,” she said.

Kuzbyt added that setting small goals will help players progress.

“Setting small, achievable goals definitely helps make the bigger picture look smaller,” she said.

Growing up, one of Kuzbyt’s goals was to make the Winnipeg Sun’s annual Top 10 Coaches Poll, which she topped in 2012.

“My role model growing up, who played at U of W, I took her Top 10 article — and I actually still have it in my room — and I put it up and I said, ‘Oh, I want to be that person (in) the article.’ And when I came to my Grade 12 year I was the number one, and (I said) ‘Okay, I checked that off.’”

As for how long she’ll continue playing basketball full time, Kuzbyt said she isn’t sure.

“I’m just going to be focused on this season … being present, enjoying the moment, because you honestly don’t know when you’ll have another one.”