Having 28 potential players to choose from is a good problem to have for any coach.

It means the interest is there.

Cole Marshall, head coach of the DT Electric Futures U14 boys basketball team, had the chore of finding the best of the bunch that tried out this past weekend.

鈥淚 think it's the most we've ever had try out,鈥� said Marshall.

One thing that stood out was the amount of Grade 5 students that tried out and one even made the final cut, he added.

鈥淲e have another project player, if you want to call it that,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have five players that all started out in Grade 5 and they're all really good players. The good thing about that is you put them in the situation where they're going to be learning from older kids and that's going to make them better.鈥�

Unlike some teams, everyone had to play their way onto the team with no veteran holdovers whatsoever, said Marshall, but the ones who knew what they were doing stood out.

鈥淵ou could tell who the players who have been on the team before were,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he footwork was there and their approach to things were there. If you have a terrible tryout or if you have attitude, you won't make the team, but I can't say I had any attitude from any of those 28 kids all weekend.鈥�

A total of 11 players are returning to the squad for this season and the goal of the team is to mould them for future opportunities, such as the junior high-performance team as well as other big events where Team NT is involved, such as the Arctic Winter Games and the various national championships. Several of the boys on last year's squad featured at the Canada Basketball U15 Nationals in B.C. this past summer.

For the team itself, Marshall said there are tournaments planned with at least two trips coming up this season.

鈥淕etting them out of town is the goal,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to get them out of here and show them what basketball looks like in other parts of the country. We have a big group of Grade 7 and 8 players so the thing was trying to stock the shelves, if you will, for the future.鈥�

There were the inevitable questions from the older players about where they were going this year, he added, but nothing has been decided as of yet.

鈥淲e did have aspirations of going to Hawaii over Christmas, but that just got too expensive too quickly,鈥� he said.

When they're not travelling for tournaments, the Futures will be playing games against the Diamonds, the girls version of the Futures, something that was started last year.

鈥淲e'll keep doing that and just get games in when we can,鈥� said Marshall. 鈥淚t's not a perfect science, but it's something and it gives them a chance to have some close games and pressure with referees and whistles. It gives them an opportunity to see what games are all about so when we go to tournaments, they aren't shell-shocked.鈥�