CHESTERFIELD INLET - Players on the Chesterfield Inlet boy's basketball team picked up some pointers from one of the best coaches Manitoba has to offer, earlier this month.

Winnipeg's Irv Hanec has more than 30-years experience as a basketball coach, and is soon to be inducted into the Basketball Manitoba Hall of Fame.

The former executive director of Basketball Manitoba travelled to Chester earlier this month to help the local boy's team prepare for the upcoming Nunavut territorial event.

Chester coach David Penney said he and his players were honoured to have Hanec help them improve their game.

He said about a dozen players took part in Hanec's skills-development clinic during his stay.

"The boys were really excited when they found out such an experienced coach was coming here," said Penney.

"They were keen on learning a number of new drills, and I was also excited to have Irv here because I got to learn, as well."

Penney said his players are eager to get to Iqaluit this coming weekend to play for the 18-and-under title.

He said the players know they can be competitive, and they're looking forward to the chance of being selected for the Arctic Winter Games (AWG).

"We have a strong team for the size of our community.

"I don't have the privilege of 30 guys trying out and getting to pick the 10 best from among them," said Penney.

"I, pretty much, have to scrape 10 guys together to bring to a tournament.

"But we took silver at our last tournament of the season in Iqaluit last year, so maybe we're ready to take the next step."

Penney said no matter how his team fares in Iqaluit, his hope is for a number of his players to be given serious consideration for the AWG.

He said he still has the majority of his players from last year's team, and that should mean Chester will be competitive at the event.

"We worked on a number of areas with Irv, like ball movement, positioning on the floor and escaping from a full-court press.

"Those drills really helped strengthen our overall game.

"He was also very helpful to me, as a fellow coach, by explaining everything to me and writing down exactly what he was doing every day.

"I rewrote his notes in my own words, and have continued on with the exact same drills he was doing with the boys."

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