Learning from Defeat: How George Bergen Built a Basketball Powerhouse
By Bandits Contributing Writer: Grant Vassos • June 3, 2021
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Langley Times (Black Press)
Before he became one of only two individuals to win the B.C. provincial high school championship at the highest level as a player and coach, George Bergen had to learn what it felt like to lose first.
In his Grade 11 year at MEI Secondary, Bergen and the Eagles were upset by the Oak Bay Bays at the 1969 AA senior boys’ provincial tournament in double overtime. The near taste of victory Bergen experienced that game would appear again 43 years later as a head coach. That year, Bergen's Walnut Grove Gators lost to the Terry Fox Ravens in the final seconds of the AAA championship game. Then once again in the 2016 AAAA semi-finals by the talons of the Kelowna Owls.
With each of those three losses, he made sure to come away with a lesson. Each of the following three seasons, Bergen and his team went on to win the provincial title.
The legendary retired Gators head coach is reminded of those lessons through one of his quotes. Initially coined by Winston Churchill but tweaked to his liking.
"Success is never final, and failure is never fatal," Bergen said. "It is the courage to compete on every play that matters."
Bergen's desire to coach began at MEI when his head coach asked him to help with a Grade 7 boys basketball team at South Poplar Traditional Elementary. He resisted accepting it at first but agreed to take on the responsibility with another teammate.
Initially, Bergen thought of it as another way for his coach to recruit young players to come to the high school. But he also remembers his coach as a smart man who taught him how to be a leader, and allowed him to dip his toe into coaching.
"I didn't really have a clue what I was doing. But because we were good high school players and actually won a provincial championship, the kids looked up to us. So, no matter what we did, we could do no wrong," Bergen said with a laugh.
Bergen went on to coach a local Grade 8 team while attending the University of Manitoba, before arriving at Walnut Grove Secondary in 1991 after leaving his previous position as a teacher and coach at Aldergrove Community Secondary.
Entering his first season, the Gators had only eight players on the roster. Four of which were offered to him after he reached out to the high school's rugby coach to lend him players. In the team's inaugural season, the Gators mounted only one win to go along with 32 losses, with players – mainly from the rugby side – fouling out of almost every game.
"I wanted to teach those players to compete for every single inch of ground," Bergen said. "Every single play that happened, we were going to try to compete."
Competition was Bergen's favourite word when it came to how he ran his teams. Every day, he expected his players to compete in practice. An emphasis was placed on player and ball movement, team chemistry, strength and conditioning, accountability, and keeping the style of play simple.
They travelled frequently to the U.S. for tournaments and became regulars at Gonzaga University's Men's Basketball Team Camps held in June. While Bergen's teams often lost by a significant margin the first few games, he remembers those trips as a turning point in making his players more competitive when they returned home. Another step towards Bergen’s long-term plan to build the culture of excellence he envisioned when he first came to Walnut Grove.
More importantly, they were going to have fun doing it. Bergen remembers one practice where he instructed his players to race around the four-hundred-meter track outside the school. The winner would receive a jug of chocolate milk. Among those players was Jadon Cohee, the Gators' talented star point guard who eventually went on to play for Team Canada.
"I didn't think Jadon Cohee would win, but he dominated," Bergen said.
His teams also featured vital leaders such as De'Sean Monsanto, the 2012 provincial tournament's top defensive player, and who Bergen believed could have also been a safety in football. As well as Ethan McKean and Charles Luu, whom Bergen recalls making "some of the smartest plays I've seen in basketball."
His two sons, Jared and Paul, grew up to be members of competitive teams at Walnut Grove under the tutelage of Bergen. Jared went on to play two years for Cascades men’s basketball coach Pat Lee at the University of Fraser Valley before transitioning into a job in forestry. During those seven years, he also rejoined his alma-mater Gators to split time as an assistant coach for his father.
Bergen remembers him as a pillar of strength: with the voice and experience to connect with his players and their tendencies and who could challenge them to embrace what was needed to become better. Today, Jared works as a Vancouver firefighter.
“He had a really good understanding of my mind . . . and he’d always totally understand what I was trying to do, and he’d explain it to the players because, in the heat of the battle, there’s a lot of things to take care of as a coach,” Bergen said.
The following years had players like Ty Rowell, who possessed an unrivaled work ethic when it came to his craft. And James Woods, a terrific leader and a winner who understood the identity Bergen wanted his teams to have.
Bergen retired from head coaching in June of 2017, a few months before Woods was set to enter his Grade 12 year. Looking back, Bergen thinks it would have been fun to coach Woods' final season – whose heart and skill more than made up for his small frame.
"He never really was all that big in high school. I measured him at five-ten, and he always wanted me to list him at six feet,” Bergen said. “But he was five-ten.”
Nowadays, Bergen stays involved in the B.C. basketball community by consulting with coaches interested in learning from him. He took up officiating games and found enjoyment behind the position that made him go "crazy always trying to get the right call" when he was behind the bench. In addition to volunteering with the Gators’ basketball team, the annual provincial tournament and being a part of the all-star committee, Bergen also works as a Teacher on Call (TOC).
While he remained a committed father throughout his career, Bergen’s grateful for the extra time he’s been able to spend with his family and six grandkids after devoting so much time to his work. There’s a part of him that still believes he could have kept coaching until he was 70.
"There's something so satisfying about (coaching) that it's very difficult to just drop it and let it go. Even the schools that I go to as a TOC now, I say, 'Hey, how come you're not playing basketball? You're in Grade 8. You should be out there.' And usually, the kid will say something like, 'Oh, I'm no good at it.' And I go, 'I don't believe that. I think you could be good at it. It's my way of recruiting kids, and I've always done that," Bergen said.
Even after a lifetime of mentoring high school players, the passionate coach inside of him lingers on proudly the same way it did for 26 years at Walnut Grove. As a builder and as a teacher, passing on the lessons he learned never to forget.
LATEST NEWS
The Vancouver Bandits announced Tuesday that guard Kyle Mangas has signed an NBA Summer League contract with the San Antonio Spurs. The news was announced by the Spurs on social media and the club’s website in a release . Mangas was a member of the Spurs’ organization prior to joining the Bandits, dressing in 10 games for the club’s NBA G League affiliate, Austin Spurs, during the 2024-25 season. Mangas was an integral member for the Bandits during the first half of the 2025 CEBL season, appearing in and starting in 10 games. Establishing himself as sharpshooter and all-around player, he leads the Bandits in three-pointers made (3.7) while also ranking third on the roster in points (17.8), rebounds (5.3) and assists (3.8) per game. Mangas will be joined by 2025 NBA Draft selections Dylan Harper (2nd overall) and Carter Bryant (14th overall) on the Spurs’ roster, who will begin NBA Summer League play on July 5 with scheduled games running through July 17. The Bandits have placed Mangas on its Suspended List in order for him to participate in NBA Summer League play while also retaining his CEBL rights, with the option to return to the club at the conclusion of his commitments.
The Vancouver Bandits are proud to announce a three-year commitment to the Terry Fox Foundation, supporting cancer research across Canada.  The commitment includes the continuation of the club wearing its special edition Terry Fox tribute jersey, which will be worn during its upcoming Canada Day match-up versus the Scarborough Shooting Stars, which tips off at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET) on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, at Langley Events Centre. Tickets for the game are available for purchase and the game will be nationally televised on TSN. The special edition tribute jersey, which features iconic imagery of Terry Fox and celebrates the legacy of his Marathon of Hope, was launched in 2024. Proceeds from each jersey sold were donated to the Terry Fox Foundation in support of cancer research across Canada and public response was overwhelmingly positive. “Terry Fox is a national hero whose legacy continues to inspire generations. As a team rooted in community, we are honoured to partner with the Terry Fox Foundation over the next three years to carry forward Terry’s message of courage, hope, and determination, “ said Dylan Kular, Vancouver Bandits team president. “The special edition jersey pays tribute to Terry’s vision and a symbol of the strength we all strive to embody, on and off the court.” The jersey is available in both adult and youth sizes online at this link . A limited selection of replica jerseys will be available for sale at the Bandits’ Canada Day match-up, which is dedicated in Terry’s honour. Each replica version jersey available for fans to purchase features the no. 4, which was the number worn by Terry during his season as a member of Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) junior varsity basketball team in 1977. Despite an eventual cancer diagnosis that required his right leg to be amputated, as well as chemotherapy and surgery, Fox continued to excel in sports. He joined Rick Hansen as a member of his wheelchair basketball team and eventually won three national titles with the team before embarking on his Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980. Inscribed on the front and back of the special edition jersey are the names of all the cities, parks, and towns where Terry started and ended his daily run during his tremendous journey from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Fox’s goal was to run from Canada’s east coast in Newfoundland to its west coast in Victoria, British Columbia, raising awareness and funds for cancer research. Terry’s Marathon of Hope spanned 143 days and 5,373 kilometres before he fell too ill to continue. He ran an average of 26 miles daily – equivalent to the distance of running a marathon each day of his mission across Canada. Fox’s running route spanning Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario is etched on the jersey. Today, his legacy lives through various fundraising initiatives and the annual Terry Fox Run across the country and beyond. The jersey features a black, red, and white colour scheme, as well as colour blocked side panelling inspired by the patterning of Terry’s 1970s jersey worn at SFU. His no. 4 jersey has since been retired by the university as well as the high school he attended. The Bandits are one of 10 men’s professional basketball teams that annually compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). The Bandits are midway through the club’s sixth CEBL season. The club’s home venue of Langley Events Centre is located just a 20-minute drive from Terry’s high school alma mater, Port Coquitlam Senior Secondary School, which was later renamed as “Terry Fox Secondary School.” More information is available at thebandits.ca and @vancouverbandits on Instagram and TikTok , as well as @vancitybandits on Facebook and Twitter .
Sometimes it’s not about how you start, just how you finish. The Vancouver Bandits (9-3) proved as much with their 97-85 come-from-behind victory over the Saskatchewan Rattlers (3-10) on Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre. Vancouver won the second half by 22 points (52-30), turning what was a 10-point halftime deficit into a 12-point win that not only extended their lead atop the Western Conference but also snapped a two-game skid. Tyrese Samuel led that effort for the Bandits with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds on a team-best 7-for-11 shooting. Right behind him was a pair of returnees in Mitch Creek, who chipped in 23 points of his own, and Kyle Mangas, who scored 22 on 6-for-11 shooting from distance. Meanwhile, Nick Ward, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, made his season debut, albeit finishing with just two points on 1-of-4 shooting in seven minutes of action. Nate Pierre-Louis spearheaded Saskatchewan’s effort with a double-double as well, putting up 19 points and a game-high 11 assists. Jordan Bowden also scored 19 points to go with five rebounds and seven assists, while Deon Ejim (off the bench) and Grant Anticevich added 15 and 13 points, respectively. “It was a tough loss,” Ejim said with a tone of optimism post-game, noting how in the first two of four matchups against the Bandits this season, the Rattlers lost both by more than 20 points. “We didn’t have the ending that we wanted, but I was happy with the fight and the fact that we weren’t dominated like the last two games. Conventional wisdom would’ve said the Bandits ought to have led after the opening frame on Saturday, considering they finished the quarter 6-for-10 from distance, went 10-for-13 from the free throw line and forced three turnovers to their zero. Yet after Pierre-Louis’ triple in the final seconds of the frame capped off a 10-3 run, part of nine points in the first for him, it was the Rattlers that led 28-27 after 10 minutes. While Vancouver won the battle outside the arc, it was a completely different story on the interior as the Bandits were 0-for-6 on two-pointers throughout the first quarter, giving up an 8-0 edge on paint points to the Rattlers. Vancouver’s first two-point make didn’t come till 9:13 of the second. And after seizing the momentum, Saskatchewan made the most of it. Or rather, Ejim did, as the bench forward caught fire to the tune of 4-for-4 from distance in the second. His lights-out shooting led to a game-high 15 points at halftime as the Rattlers led 55-45 after winning the second quarter by nine points (26-17). “We’ve been in every single game this year,” Rattlers head coach Eric Magdanz said following the loss, noting how seven of the team’s losses have come by seven-or-fewer points. “We’re a team that competes hard … it’s a huge credit to our guys. “For us it’s about continued growth and we saw another step forward tonight.” It was a much-welcomed outburst for a Rattlers team that averaged just 8.6 makes from distance per game entering the night, third-fewest in the CEBL. They finished 13-for-28 (46 per cent) from distance as a team on Saturday. Whereas the taps turned off in the second for Vancouver after its perfect 5-for-5 start from distance on Saturday, as the Bandits made just one of their next 11 three-point attempts going into the break. That trend didn’t last, however, and ended up being a catalyst for their rally, making nine second-half threes on a 52 per cent clip. “We started off slow, we’ve had a lot of guys in and out of the lineup … so we really struggled in the first half to find our rhythm,” Creek said after the win. “It’s a bit of a chess match at the moment.” The first two of those makes came on back-to-back hits from Corey Davis. Jr and Mangas to open the third, they were part of a 14-4 run that was then capped off by a Creek fastbreak layup that gave Vancouver its first lead since the 0:41 mark of the opening quarter. And it was Mangas who punctuated that effort by Vancouver as he nailed a running, fading triple at the buzzer to extend the Bandits' lead to 72-68 after the third. The import had missed the last two games Vancouver had lost as he went through workouts south of the border with NBA clubs, and it didn’t take long for him to remind the 4,984 in attendance what he was capable of, as his six threes in the game put him up to first in the CEBL for total triples (40) this season. The Bandits didn’t slow down from there as they opened the fourth on a 10-2 run, carving out an 11-point lead at the start of Target Time on the heels of Creek’s second of three triples on the night. And while the Rattlers did go blow-for-blow with the Bandits once the clocks were stopped, they needed more to overcome the double-digit deficit. Ultimately, a 5-0 burst thanks to another Creek make from distance and a pair of Samuel free throws — finishing 8-of-9 from the charity stripe — were enough for Vancouver to walk away with a win. It was fitting that Saskatchewan committed back-to-back turnovers just before Samuel closed out the ball game, as it was an issue that underscored their loss. In a game where the Rattlers shot better across the board aside from the free throw line, and won the rebound and assist battle, it was self-inflicted miscues that loomed large. The usually disciplined Rattlers, who commit the third-fewest turnovers on average (13.4), finished with 18 as they gave up a 23-8 edge on points off giveaways. Meanwhile, they sent the Bandits to the line for 27 free throws (plus-13), of which Vancouver nailed 22 (plus-14). “They made us second-guess ourselves,” Ejim said. “And just that simple second-guess cost us the game.” The skid snapping victory capped off the Bandits' second-annual Filipino Celebration Game , an event that included fan activations, commemorative merch and special edition jerseys. All the while, the team wore a black-stiped patch with the word “Kapwa,” which describes the Filipino experience of community and shared humanity, to honour the lives tragically lost during the events following the Lapu-Lapu Day Festival on April 26. “It’s the sixth man that people don’t really notice sometimes,” Creek said of the raucous sellout crowd. “All of a sudden, the momentum is in your favour … there’s a different effect. That’s what basketball is all about.” Box Score https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2600621
The Vancouver Bandits have announced today the following roster updates in advance of its Saturday, June 28 game at home against the Saskatchewan Rattlers 7:00 p.m. PT: F Nick Ward has been added to Club's active roster and will be available for tonight's game. G Kyle Mangas and F Tyrese Samuel have been removed from the Club's Suspended List and will be available for tonight's game. G Zach Copeland and F James Karnik have been placed on the Club's Suspended List. G Curtis Hollis (illness) and G Tristan Jass (lower body) are ruled out for today's game. 
LATEST VIDEO
Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Calgary Surge on June 22, 2025.
Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Winnipeg Sea Bears on June 20th, 2025.
Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Montreal Alliance on June 14th, 2025.
Highlights of the Vancouver Bandits against the Saskatchewan Rattlers on June 8th, 2025.