By Cascades Media. On Saturday, Feb 15 the Cascades will officially honour the two fifth-year players on their roster in a Seniors Night ceremony. The event will follow the team’s final regular season home game, another chapter in their cross-valley rivalry with the TWU Spartans. In preparation we’ve asked each athlete two questions:
1. What do you remember about your rookie year?
2. How has your experience as a UFV Cascade changed or challenged you?
Come out on Saturday to celebrate the careers of some of UFV’s finest student athletes. We hope to see you there!
Klaus Figueredo
Klaus Figueredo came to UFV for the 2011-2012 season from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). He is the captain of this year’s Cascades squad, and is the only player on the current roster to have played in each of the last three years. Figueredo is an amazing athlete and the emotional centre of this UFV team. He will be missed.
Klaus Says:
1. My first year was a bit different, it was definitely a learning experience, and it was a whole different level of basketball beyond just athletics. It included smarts and basketball IQ as well.
2. Every year was kind of a new year. That first year we had Joel Friesen, and Sam Freeman, and all those guys. The second year everything changed and it was like we were starting from scratch again. And even this year, after the big three left, James York, Kyle Grewal, and Sam Freeman, it’s a whole different team again … I’ve learned that I depend on my teammates, and they depend on me as well. Being a captain, I’m not the only leader on the court or off the court.CCoach Friesen Says:
“Klaus Figueredo’s leadership abilities and character are right at the top of the list for why our season has turned out to be so much better than many outside observers thought it would be. Klaus continues a legacy from Sam Freeman, Kyle Grewal, and James York that has been a real blessing for me as a coach and a great example to our younger players. He has raised the bar for us in terms of what kind of intensity we play with and how hard we work, and that will be his legacy to our program.”
Jasper Moedt
Jasper Moedt came to UFV for the 2008-2009 season from Yale Secondary in Abbotsford. A big, punishing post player with a surprisingly soft touch, Moedt has grown into a leader on both ends of the court, often playing 30+ minutes a night for the Cascades. Moedt has become, in many senses, the spokesperson for the Cascades, and even spent a semester writing for UFV’s student newspaper, The Cascade. He will be missed.
Jasper Says:
1. My Rookie year seems so long ago looking back now. The thing that stood out to me most was how much work I needed to do to be able to be successful in this league. That year was really trial by fire for me, as I received significant minutes and took a significant beating each weekend that year. Looking back at it now that experience was a major reason I had any success in the following years — I had spent one year getting beat up, and I wanted to work to make sure that never happened again.
2. My time at UFV has challenged me to reexamine the way I look at life. I entered the school as a kid who just wanted to play basketball, and did not really care for any other aspects of my life, but my time at UFV has really instilled a passion for academics and community involvement to go along with my passion for my sport. Looking back at my time as a student athlete I would say the most powerful thing I ever learned came from one of my teammates who told me that I would never be truly successful unless I put the same amount of passion into all aspects of my life that I put into basketball. I feel I entered this university as a basketball player who had to also be a student and am leaving the university as an academic who has been given the opportunity to play basketball as well.
Leaving UFV is tough. It has been a home to me for six years. Although I am very excited to open a new chapter in my life, the friends, teammates, mentors I have found at the university will stick with me even as I move on to a new chapter in my life. I am very thankful for everyone who has been a part of my experience whether it is my teammates, coaches, professors, or UFV staff (especially medical staff that kept me in one piece through all these years!).
Coach Friesen Says:
“I have known Jasper since his high school days and to see how far he has come in his personal and basketball life has been great. He has been a leader on our team and a great teammate. Just like Klaus, Jasper wakes up every day and simply works. His combination of community service, classroom excellence, and on-court performance is remarkable. Jasper and I both graduated from the same school and it’s great to see another turtle winning the race.” [Legendary Yale coach Al Friesen was a firm and vocal believer in Aesop’s ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ fable.]
- Jasper Moedt (2008)
