Different Towns.
One Team.

Five boys’ tournaments. Two boys’ teams for the final two weekends. A first girls’ team in July. How Small Town Select began connecting athletes across British Columbia and Washington.

By Legacy North AcademyFirst Season · 2026Story + Community Acknowledgments

Time with coaches, teammates and a new level of competition.

The first season grew to include a girls’ team of its own.

The first Small Town Select uniforms were still being made when the boys’ first event arrived. The instructions were simple: Legacy North jerseys and black shorts. It was time to begin.

In March 2026, the first group headed to Washington for training at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, followed by the Rain City Extravaganza in Auburn. New teammates would have a short window to learn each other’s games before competing together.

Small Town Select began with a purpose: connect players from small towns and Indigenous communities with coaching, competitive basketball and experiences they could carry home.

The Partnership That Made It Possible.

Travis Nystoruk and the Williams Lake Basketball Association (WLBA) were essential to making Small Town Select happen. Working alongside Coach Eby, Travis helped develop the idea and connect it with athletes and families in small towns across the region.

Travis leads WLBA, and his contribution ran through both sides of the program: helping build and coach the boys’ teams, while also helping build the girls’ opportunity. The partnership between Legacy North Academy and WLBA turned those relationships and a shared belief in young people into a season on the court.

A Starting Point With a Personal Connection.

The opening training camp began on March 26 at South Puget Sound Community College. For Coach Eby, the gym had a personal connection: this was the junior college where his own college basketball journey began.

The first event combined two days of training with tournament basketball on March 28–29. The schedule also made room for a team lunch and time together away from the games. Getting to know the person beside you was part of becoming a team.

That approach would carry through the season: prepare together, compete together, and use the experience to keep developing. The goal was to help athletes see what another step in their game could look like, while staying connected to the communities that shaped them.

By July, the Circle Had Grown.

The boys’ season grew across five tournaments: the Rain City Extravaganza, NW Easter Showdown, NW Memorial Day Classic, PNW Summer Challenge and NW Summer Finale. New athletes joined returning players, bringing different experiences into the same gym.

The PNW Summer Challenge on July 10–12 marked the first tournament weekend with two boys’ teams. That continued at the NW Summer Finale on July 25–26, when the first girls’ team joined them. What began with one group in March had grown into three teams sharing a July weekend.

Coach Russell Steplight served as both a head coach and an assistant coach with the boys throughout the season. Alongside Coach Eby and Coach Travis, he helped build the coaching relationships that supported the players as the program grew.

Coach Brianna Falk — known to her athletes as Coach Breezy — made her Small Town Select debut in July, working as both a head coach and an assistant coach across the boys’ and girls’ teams. She led the first girls’ team, with Molly Brown contributing as an assistant coach. Travis had helped build that opportunity before heading to coach the North Central Zone team at the BC Summer Games the same weekend.

Small Town Select’s first girls’ team and coaches. A first chapter they share.

The First Girls’ Team.

The full group’s first gathering was July 23 at South Puget Sound Community College. The next day’s training plan took them outdoors in Olympia and into the gym at Annie Wright Schools in Tacoma, before the tournament weekend.

Ten athletes were named to that first girls’ roster. Building a team meant learning names, understanding roles and beginning to trust one another within a few days. Brianna’s coaching approach gave that work a clear direction.

“My coaching approach is using basketball as a vehicle to develop confident, resilient leaders.”
Brianna Falk · Head Coach, STS Girls

In describing her work with Legacy North, Brianna puts connection, trust and the whole person at the centre. The opportunity to compete matters. So does having coaches who notice the person wearing the jersey.

Connections Across Communities.

The first-season teams brought together athletes from across British Columbia and Washington. From Enderby and Williams Lake to Pemberton, Bella Coola and Taholah, players arrived with different home communities and a shared love of the game.

Those connections included athletes from Taholah, a village of the Quinault Indian Nation. Their participation is part of the story of Small Town Select connecting athletes across small towns and Indigenous communities.

Explore the Communities Our Athletes Called Home

Home communities represented across the first-season boys’ and girls’ teams included:

100 Mile House
Barriere
Bella Coola
Castlegar
Chehalis
Dawson Creek
Duncan
Enderby
Hagensborg
Lacey
Lynnwood
Olympia
Osoyoos
Pemberton
Prince George
Revelstoke
Riske Creek
Shawnigan Lake
Tacoma
Taholah
Vernon
Williams Lake

Each player brought a home community, relationships and a basketball journey of their own. Small Town Select gave them a shared place to train and compete. We want those experiences to strengthen the players and the relationships they take home.

In Taholah, relationships with Jordan St.Germaine, Coach Crossguns, Eddie Sr. and the local basketball community were part of the connection with young people. Small Town Select’s work sits alongside the coaching and youth leadership already happening there.

Families were part of the work too: arranging travel, coordinating schedules and supporting the teams. A program that crosses communities and a border depends on that commitment. We are grateful for the trust behind it.

The People Who Helped Open the Door.

Chelsea Farms and the Lentz family provided leading support for Small Town Select in 2026, alongside support from Neptune Seafood. Their contribution helped make the season’s opportunities possible.

Red Tomato Pies — Williams Lake supported the girls’ uniforms. Mel’s Pizza — Enderby supported an athlete through our spring Adopt an Athlete initiative. Alongside the program-building work of WLBA, these contributions show how businesses and local basketball leaders can help young people take a next step.Support also grew athlete by athlete. Enderby Guardian Pharmacy, Osoyoos Golf Club, McLean Construction, Gold Standard Drywall and a wider circle of businesses and individuals helped young people take part. Their encouragement belongs in the story alongside the work on the court.

These are part of the same story as the uniforms and tournament weekends: people choosing to stand behind a young person’s next step. We want the athletes to know those names, and the supporters to see where their care belongs.

The first season gave Small Town Select something to build from: boys’ and girls’ teams, new coaching relationships and athletes connected through a shared experience. Our job now is to keep earning the trust that made that beginning possible.

The People Behind the Opportunity

The Team Behind the Teams.Program partners, businesses, community groups, families and individual supporters all helped young athletes reach this opportunity. We are grateful for the care behind every contribution.

Program Partners & Leading SupportView Names & Contributions

Williams Lake Basketball AssociationThe program-building partner led by Travis Nystoruk, helping develop the idea, connect communities and build both the boys’ and girls’ opportunities.
Chelsea Farms and the Lentz FamilyLeading support for Small Town Select’s first season in 2026.
Neptune SeafoodRecognized alongside Chelsea Farms with gratitude for the Lentz family’s support.
Red Tomato Pies — Williams LakeSponsorship of the first girls’ team uniforms.

Businesses & Community Groups Backing AthletesView Names & Contributions

Mel’s Pizza — EnderbySpring Adopt an Athlete support for Grayson Eby.
Enderby Guardian PharmacySupport for athlete participation through the spring Adopt an Athlete initiative.
Osoyoos Golf ClubSupport for Mila Keller’s first Small Town Select girls’ experience.
McLean ConstructionSupporting athlete participation in Small Town Select.
Gold Standard DrywallSupport for Logan Keeping across his Small Town Select trips.
UnitySupporting athlete participation in Small Town Select.
Kensington Prairie FarmSupporting athlete participation in Small Town Select.
InsideOutSupporting athlete participation in Small Town Select.
Levia Wellness SpaSupporting athlete participation in Small Town Select.
Helping Hands Senior Care ServicesSupporting athlete participation in Small Town Select.
Grapevine OpticalSupporting athlete participation in Small Town Select.
Home HardwareSupporting athlete participation in Small Town Select.
Coleton Claus & Ryker’s Reindeer FundraiserCommunity fundraising support for athlete participation.

The People Behind Individual OpportunitiesView Names & Contributions

Mila’s Circle of SupportBryan, Jody, Matt, Kathleen, Herman and Alana at Osoyoos Golf Club; Logan Keeping; Lindsay, Chantal and Lennox Toepfer; Derek, Janine and Krew Keller; Nicole and Jean Hudon; Janyce Keller; Allison Baskett; and Nick Cathead Warner.
Logan’s Circle of SupportMila Keller; Lisa Lewis; Charles Skavinsky; Tara Moore; Hazel and Ted Keeping; and Christina Klassen.
Families and Local ConnectorsThank you to the families who arranged travel, shared lifts, welcomed new teammates and helped young people reach the opportunity.
Craig Douglass and the Families Sharing PhotosHelping document the first season and the people who made it possible.

Visit the Small Town Select Partner Directory ↗