Entering the winter break with a 7-1 record, most people would assume the Carleton varsity men’s basketball team would get some well-deserved rest and relaxation over the holidays.
Rest and relaxation didn’t win the Ravens last year’s national championship.
In what has become a tradition during Dave Smart’s head coach years, the active roster flies to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to take part in intense physical training, and to re-energize and shake off holiday rust before the team’s first game after the break.
Team captain and senior guard Mike Kenny said going there is not about taking in the sights and basking in the warm Atlantic Ocean waters.
“We’re there to get better,” Kenny said. “Although it is nice to get away from all the snow,” he added.
The program usually consists of two practices each day, with one taking place during the morning and the other in the late afternoon.
The team also occasionally scrimmages and plays in a tournament against local community colleges.
Kenny said he believes the practice is important because it gets the team back into the swing of things after a long layoff and well before most other teams resume their practices.
“Most other teams don’t convene until about a week before their first game,” he said.
The weeklong session will help the Ravens further develop team chemistry and allow them to go into 2010 with a full head of steam.
The team leaves Dec. 27, and will play its first game of 2010 back in Ontario Jan. 8 against Laurentian University.