As a two-time national champion with her former team, Katie Miyazaki is confident that the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, too, are capable of a national title.

Miyazaki joined the Dogs last year after playing three seasons with the Simon Fraser University Clan.

Katie Miyazaki against the Regina Rams.

It is a decision that she does not look back on with regret.

“I am really happy with my decision to transfer here because of the great year I had last year and again this year,” said Miyazaki.

Over her years with SFU, Miyazaki played across every gym in the Canada West conference. In that time she saw the different atmospheres and support each team received. It was here in Saskatoon where the community support and the coaching staff impressed her the most. And when it came time to choose a new team, the idea of playing with the Huskies trumped the prospect of playing at any other school.

“This program takes pride in its work ethic and being tough and winning games because we are ‘grinders’ rather than [winning] purely on skill alone,” said Miyazaki. “It’s a great thing to see when hard work and toughness can win you games.”

Last year with the Huskies, Miyazaki was not only honoured with her second CIS defensive player of the year award, she was also given a tournament all-star award for her performance in the CIS playoffs. In that tournament she helped lead the Huskies to their best-ever finish — a CIS silver medal.

That team, however, was very different from this year’s team — four starters, three of whom were also league or tournament all-stars, graduated from the team.

This year, the team is younger and Miyazaki takes on an even more prominent leadership role.

With Miyazaki playing on a team  mainly made up of rookies, added pressure and expectations weigh more heavily on her.

“It provides me with the challenge of not just improving myself, but also helping the rest of the team get better and improving their understanding of the game,” she said.

Miyazaki added that she sees improvement each day with the young team and that constant growth is what is needed late in the season. She knows that continuous hard work and learning from their mistakes will help them leading into the playoffs.

“Our goal is to be at our peak at playoff time, so we need to remind ourselves that we need to keep improving and not be satisfied with our success so far,” said Miyazaki.

Miyazaki, who spent the summer representing Team Canada at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China, has played against the best players in the world.

While this experience will help the Huskies on the court, it is Miyazaki’s confidence in her teammates that is the key ingredient for the young Dogs team.

“I always think my team has a chance in playing and winning nationals.”

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Photo: Pete Yee