Wesmen women’s basketball co-captain Jessica Stromberg is in her fifth year with the program. In her first four years, Stromberg has been to the Prairies Finals four times and the CanWest finals twice. In her final year, she hopes to make it to the National Championships.

Unfortunately, a lower-back injury has kept Stromberg out of play and practice for almost a month.

“It’s hard to sit out, especially in my last year, but I want to be healthy when we start the season,” she said.

The Wesmen will have their fifth-year starter back this weekend (Oct. 23-25) when they take on the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Manitoba and the University of Toronto in a tournament at the U of M.

Stromberg has many great memories from her years with the Wesmen. She remembers an intense game last season when the Wesmen came from behind to beat the Regina Cougars in a regular season game.

“I took my first technical foul in that game, but it was worth it because it was a turning point for us and we came from behind to win.”

She also remembers ending the Bisons’ season every year of her career.

“The feeling when your team ends the Bisons’ season is amazing ... It never changes.”

Stromberg’s favourite Wesmen memory, however, is not directly related to basketball.

“Last December we went to England and it was incredible.”

The Wesmen played against the semi-pro team, the Nottingham Wildcats. While in England, they also did a lot of sightseeing and visited historic Stonehenge, Oxford University, the Nottingham Caves, Wallington Castle, Windsor Castle and the city of London.

“The whole trip was great. We squeezed a lot into one week, but it was amazing,” she said.

Stromberg has enjoyed her entire university basketball experience so much that she is considering playing on a professional team abroad after she concludes her Wesmen career next spring.

“My family is from Finland and I would love to be able to keep playing basketball while travelling around Finland.”

Published in Volume 64, Number 8 of The Uniter (October 22, 2009)