Marie and Kristen

Marie Elise Vanderwal – Athletic Therapist

Marie has lived in Abbotsford her whole life and currently attends Trinity Western University and will begin her fourth year in September. She finished her Athletic Training certificate in Calgary this past year at Mount Royal College. She has worked with the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association volleyball and soccer leagues as well as at various club national championships. She lives on a dairy farm and is responsible for a herd of 550 Holstein cows.


Kristen Hollander -- Coach

Kristen has been associated with NBC for 26 years! Not always actively involved, but it was never far from her thoughts and it definitely influenced her life through the years. Her first year as a camper was in 1982. She went every summer and went on tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1985. It is a family affair - one sister went on tour in 1982 and another went somewhere around 1992. She played high school basketball at Manhattan Christian in Manhattan, Montana (a LOOOOONG time ago!) and college basketball at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. While in college, she coached one full summer of NBC (Alaska, Oregon and Washington sites at that time), and then another summer she coached part time. She stayed in close contact with several people from NBC, and when she got married Danny Beard (NBC Sr. Vice-President) married her and her husband. She and Danny stay in touch regularly. For years he has asked her to come and coach but she has always been pregnant, or had an infant in her arms...finally, last year she had a daughter old enough to take to camp as a camper and could then justify the time spent away from the rest of her family (she has 4 daughters). So she’s back! And so excited to be an active part of NBC again!

Prior to having children she was an assistant women’s basketball coach at Western Washington University for. As well, she was a State Certified High School, Community College, and Division II & III basketball referee for many, many years. She loved refereeing but had to retire after having her third daughter. Currently she coaches her daughters' 7th and 5th grade AAU basketball teams, which she loves. Basketball is truly her passion and she so enjoy passing some of that enjoyment off to her girls and their friends. When asked why she participated in NBC she had this to say “I think basketball can teach you so much life - how to work as a team, how to push yourself beyond what you think are your physical limits, being mentally tough, etc. NBC taught me the importance of setting high, yet attainable, goals, how your attitude affects all areas of your life and so much more. I look forward to coaching at NBC because I hope to have a positive influence on a girl's life. To show her that being a good person, a good daughter, a good sister and friend is so much more important than being a good basketball player. But that by being a good person, setting high goals for yourself, being considerate of others, respecting yourself and your body...it all works towards making you a great basketball player. In the game of life basketball is a small thing - but it is so MUCH FUN! It's supposed to be fun. It brings such joy to my life - I devour games at our high school and I just love passing along that passion and joy. That's why I come back to NBC - to give back some of the joy that NBC and basketball has brought to my life." And then she added:

"The other day my 10 year old said 'mom - you know what my favorite smell is? The smell of the gym - you know that smell?' And I know exactly what she means because it's my favorite smell too - the early morning smell of wood floor, leather basketballs, lingering (not overpowering) sweat...there's nothing like it. My mom thinks we're both insane."