Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: Welcome to the Canadian Basketball show, your go to spot for the latest news stories and analysis on Canadian basketball. I'm your host, Lee Ban Osmond. On this week's episode, I have a special guest joining me to talk about how their basketball program in Canada made history. Just about a month ago, I told you, I want this podcast to cover everything in terms of Canadian basketball from the NBA level, from the college level, the national team and the grassroots level. There's so many amazing Canadian basketball stories happening that we never hear about, and for this episode, I'm excited to dive deep into one and have Leanna Ose, the coach of the women's basketball team at Royal Crown, one of the top basketball programs in Canada, to talk about how her team in Scarborough made history in North America and how women's basketball has evolved on the grassroots level thanks to her help. But before we get to that interview, this past week, Canada Basketball announced a large list of players invited to the training camp for two specific age group teams. The under 16 team, which will compete at the 2025 FIBA Maricup set to take place from June 2 to June 8 in Mexico, and their U19 team, which will compete at the World cup in Switzerland, and that is set to run from June 28 to July 6. This training camp is something Canada Basketball hosts every year on the Easter long weekend, and it's called the Easter Camp. The point of this camp is for Canada Basketball to identify the top players, get them in their system, and those that impress will be invited to compete for a roster spot that consists of 12 players that Canada will send to compete this summer for both teams. I've had a lot of people reach out to me interested in some of the names, so I want to talk about it and what I know about some of these players. There's obviously been interest in two players with specific last name, which I'll get into in a bit. But let's start with the U16 invite list and I'll be honest, I'm still getting familiar with these names, so this tournament will give me a serious look at all these players. There's some players I know, some I've watched in person and some I've heard about from people. And a lot of hype. There's a lot of hype around this group of talent coming up, so it's good to get familiar with these names and next wave of talent coming up in Canada.
Let me go through some of the names. Not a huge list, but some names I've heard that I'm interested in first name is Kingston Montague, class of 2028. I believe he plays in Arizona, considered one of the top point guards in Canada. Coming up, a name that I'm excited to see. Maybe he makes a roster. But yeah, a lot of elite point guards, I would say, in this class coming up. So Kingston is a name that I've heard a lot from people. So Kingston Montague, hopefully I'm pronouncing that last correct, but a name that you should probably know. Kenyon St Louis Elite point guard, a name that I'm very, very familiar with just because of his father who coaches in the downtown area or coach in the downtown area and helped just a lot of youth that I know, a lot of people that I grew up with. So Kenyon is a rising talent coming up.
I talked to his pops not too long ago and they said, yeah, they are prepping for the U16 camp. So Kanan is a name to watch out for. Jordan Fisher, the brother of Elijah Fisher, who plays obviously college basketball. He just entered the transfer portal, played at Texas Tech, then went to the Paul and then recently at Pacific. Had a really good season at Pacific. So a name that you should watch might end up getting NBA buzz again. This is going to be his fourth year in NBA college. So yeah, Jordan Fisher, honestly just reminds me exactly like his brother already has. The size, the body, the strength. So expect him to be a name in the mix for the U16 team. Another point guard, Praise Bedejo.
Another elite player that I've seen just all across my social media feeds.
He's still growing, I believe, but just, yeah, credible feel. If you just watch the highlights of this kid. Praise is a name. I believe he plays at King Heights Academy.
Hopefully I'm pronouncing that school right. King Heights. King Heights is a school, but Praise is a name that I will definitely be on the lookout for. I believe he's playing AAU this summer. So, yeah, Praise is a name. A huge player that I think Canada basketball will look to get into their system is a guy named Jeremy Goher.
Hopefully I'm pronounced. That's French. So I got to fix up my French. My French. I want to extend a French, but, you know, I'm still losing touch. But Jeremy, a name at the age of 14. This guy's seven foot three. Yes, you heard me right. Seven foot three at 14. I want to know what they feeding them kids in Montreal because what is going. Is it the poutine? Because Montreal got something cooking. Olivia Rue is there, obviously Florida Kameki Richard. This past Year, but Germany is probably the next up. I think Canada is probably desperate, desperate for a 7 foot 3 at the age of 14. They obviously have a tall player program, if you don't know specifically for players that are seven foot, close to seven foot that they want to work with closely, help develop. Because you can't like think about it, 7 foot players don't just naturally grow on trees, you know, so he's a player if they can get him right, especially at 14 years old, a lot of potential if they can work with them, help him develop, get them in their system, teach them what they're looking for. I believe they did the same thing with Zach Edey. So yeah, Jeremy is a name that I will watch out for. Um, probably the most known player that I'm gonna probably say on this podcast on the U16 level is a guy named Isaiah Hamilton, freak athlete. You've probably seen his highlights on social media. He's gone viral several times. Um, this guy can probably do every dunk in the book. And he's young, he's a young cat. So Isaiah Hamilton, I watched him actually at provincials last summer and he comes as advertised. Uh, obviously still a long way to go for a lot of these players. But, um, Canada basketball, really good hands with a lot of these talents. Another name I've heard is Nicholas Wetrich. Hopefully I pronounced that last name right. I know he plays that royal crown.
Another good point guard. And the last name I'm, I'm familiar.
[00:06:25] Speaker C: With just because of the last name.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: Jalen Shepherd. I wonder when I saw this name, I'm like, is this related to Javon Shepherd? Javon shepherd, who obviously does. Commentating for the Toronto Raptors on TSN 1050.
Well known dude, played for the national team, well established guy. And Javon, I want to get the Sky Report. Give it to me if you, if you're hearing this, I saw the last name, I was obviously intrigued, but I saw that Jalen shepherd got an invite. So this is cool. I want to know what the relation is. But yeah, Jalen shepherd is also a name that I saw on the list. And yeah, yeah, those are the names. I've heard a lot of hype, like I said, around this group of talent coming up. So it's good to get familiar with these names in the next weave of talent coming up. And yeah, Canada's in good hands, good hands with the U16 I believe, and it should be a very, very competitive summer for them.
Now switching over to the U19 team. I'm honestly quite familiar with A lot of these names, watching them play in person for the age group teams. And I'll go through the notable ones that I think are in the mix for the U19 World Cup. But when the roster came out, there were two names, two names that jumped at me and I think jumped at a lot of people because of their last name. Abdulaziz Elijahwan and Abdelmalek Elijah were the two names. Very unique last name, Muslim last names. And you have to think, is this related to Hakeem the Dream Olajuwon, NBA legend? That was on my mind, I think a lot of people's mind. And I reached out to Canada basketball, and they confirmed to me, yes, these are the sons of Hakeem Olajuwon. And I put out a tweet, and people are wondering, what's the relation here?
If you remember, Elijah spent one season with the Raptors, kind of forgotten part of his legacy.
But from what I know, Hakeem also has relatives in the city, and I've known that for a while now. Just speaking to people, and yeah, Hakeem has a big, big, big legacy here in Toronto. There's a good book, the Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon, if you. It talks about just Hakeem's impact in the Muslim community here in Toronto. And from what I know, though, just about the kids, they're from Texas, but their mom is Canadian. So that's the relation here. And from speaking to someone that was at camp this past weekend for Canada basketball, Hakeem Olajuwon was in Toronto this weekend at Humber College to watch his sons at camp. So he was here, he was in the city.
And if you're wondering how are they legible and able to play for the national team. If you remember Aiden Holloway's story, I'll point you to that. He's one of the best playing point guards in college basketball right now, and his mom was born in Calgary and grew up in Toronto to American football player Dave Ramey. And all they had to do was kind of figure out the kind of Canadian passport situation. But, yeah, uh, David, Dave Rami was like a legendary CFL guy, played for a bunch of years. Uh, so, yeah, the situation isn't unheard of. I've seen a lot of excitement about them potentially suiting up for Canada. I wouldn't get ahead of ourselves yet. From what I've heard, there's not a guarantee that they'll even make the roster. I'll be shocked personally, if both of them did, just based on Canada potentially wanting continuity going into U19 World cup and have players that played last year for at the U18.
And Abdelmalek is the younger one, class of 2027. I doubt honestly that he makes it. He's the young one but from clips that I've seen from Abdulaziz, he's the class of 20, 26. He's 6 foot 6, a four star prospect and good defender, can shoot the ball, has a really good form and I would think if anybody he would be in the mix in making the roster. But yeah, that's kind of what I've heard just about the situation, about the Elijah situation. I think it's cool that Hakeem came to Toronto to watch kids playing camp like crazy, right?
But yeah, honestly it'd be. I think it's a long term play. Like this is a long term play from Canada basketball to have them in the system, get them familiar with it. And even if they don't make the roster, you keep an eye on them, right? You watch them develop in the long run. Say they're making the names for themselves in college basketball now you have them part of Canada basketball. So. But yeah, I'd be surprised if they do end up making the roster. I do think it's a really cool story. Elijah on having connection to Canada is really crazy. I've seen a lot of people joking we might have Kyle Lowry, Fred Van Vliet and Kawhi's kids playing for Canada one day. We'll see if that happens. But I like this move. I really like this move from Canada basketball involving people with family or some relation to Canada in their program. When I was in Portland, Oregon for the Hoop Summit, I was talking to someone that works in the NBA and they were asking me like, why hasn't Canada naturalized some guys like Pascal Siako, Jakob Pertle, who will probably never play for Austria, even Scotty Barnes. Scotty Barnes to me is kind of a tricky situation. Just because he made a name for himself playing with USA Basketball on the age group level, he's won medals at the highest level. So Scotty Barnes is probably a tricky situation. But if you ask yourself if Scotty. Scotty has a guaranteed spot if he wants to play for Canada basketball. Imagine just slotting Scottie at the 4. And yeah, just imagine what a lineup would look like with Shai, with RJ Barrett, with Scotty. Very familiar, right?
I think it'll be interesting and I think it's something that we should probably look at naturalizing more players. The Pascal one is to me a clear cut decision. I just saw Joan B. Play for USA Basketball. Like come on, Pascal can't play for for Canada. Like imagine, imagine. But I also get it from other people I've talked to being like it's kind of an insult, right, to we have a bunch of Canadians now in the NBA. What does that say if we're bringing in Raptors related players like Scottie with Pascal? But I honestly think it's a cool discussion that we could have. It's probably a podcast episode that I want to talk about in depth and the possibilities of it and whether it's even been explored by Canada basketball. So yeah, something to talk about in the future. But getting back to some of the names you should expect at this year's U19 World Cup. I have a long list of players that I know. I'm just going to go through some that I think are kind of in the mix that maybe Canada basketball should consider that. I like Spencer Aarons. He's committed to Boise State, I believe.
And I chatted with him in Portland. He was playing for the Portland Generals against the World Team scrimmaging and Spencer, I asked him, obviously you played for the U18 team last year. Are you playing again this summer? And he said that's the plan. Same with Jeon Pitt, who's headed to Arizona State. Spoke with both of them. They plan to play this summer. Another name I expect Tristan Beckford. He was probably the best player for Canada at the UA teams last year and yeah, he's a player that's rising. I think he had a really good high school season. One Canadian High School Player of the Year Tristan Beckford is the name I expect and I think the biggest spot that Canada needs help in is their point guard position and I think they should look at younger age group levels that have played for Canada in the past.
And Miles Saller is the name that comes to mind. He's probably the top point guard in Canada coming up right now. Jordan Charles had an impressive run at Basketball Without Borders playing in Arizona. Another good name, Promise Nilandu. Played at Fort Erie. Another good name, Justin Hazely. He played last year. I think he's probably in the mix. Kamai Samuels. I haven't seen this guy's name in a while. I think he played in SoCal. I don't think he's played since the U16s for Canada. Correct me if I'm wrong, somebody, but yeah, those I think we have a really good upcoming group of Canadian point guards that are just not graduating. But These are names. I will look at another name. Olivier Rue, redshirted this past year at Florida and I expect him to definitely be in the mix. Their Canada basketball is very like. They're very much prioritizing him as a, as a player going forward and yeah, it'll be really good to see him in action for the first time. Obviously he didn't get to play at Florida. They won the national championships this past year.
But he will be a player that I have an eye on because obviously he didn't play. Right. So where is he at in his development? Right. So a big name. Mario Kuntuk. Went to Texas Tech earlier this year, but I know last summer he was dealing with some injuries, but when he was playing for Canada, I thought he was their best big, to be honest with you. And I think he has a lot of potential. He's a name. Matthew Dan is also a reliable big that I think he's playing at Sam Houston this year, committed there. So that's another name. But if say Canada basketball dealing with some injuries, St. Mariel is not 100. Still, I will look at Paul Osuri. I think he's one of the probably the best big men coming out of Canada with a lot of potential. If there's anyone in the class of 2027 that should be invited, I think it's him and I think it's Godson Okoku.
Also a good upcoming big. But yeah, some of the names that I would consider at the big man position.
Another name played at Temple this past year, Babatunde.
Another name that I would consider. He didn't make the roster last year, but I think he will be in the mix. Maybe one of the last names that should be considered for the U19 roster. Quentin Ethier. He's a young shooter, good shooter, knock down. Like if he's open, he's headed.
But yeah, that's another name. Jacob Hammond. He's headed to Princeton following the Xavian Lee route.
Another name, freakish athlete. He's really good, but I wonder if there's too many. Like there's a clog right with his positions, right? Ifosa Ohyugu. Obviously Butler. He played last year. I expect him to be part of the mix for Canada this summer. Dante Sensori. Hercules. Um, I know some thought he was the best player in Canada this past year on the high school level. So I expect him to be a name to watch out for. Onyx Nanny. Played in Pennsylvania, same school as Will Riley, who's obviously headed to the NBA draft this year. Another 6, 9 interesting player. And I've seen a lot of people wondering if will will be playing. He's not playing, let's be real. I think they just included him just to show him that they're. They want him part of the future. Right. But he's going to be knee deep in working out for NBA teams. The NBA draft is June20, and yeah, the tournament starts like right after that. So literally impossible. No chance. But yeah, a ton of good names I like to see in the mix. I just want to shout out some other names that I kind of like. T.J. wall, tough shot maker. I know he impressed in front of the NBA scouts at Basketball Without Borders at NBA All Star weekend. I know the name. Jalen Good Shooter, Another name that played last year for Canada should probably be in the mix. Cole Grandison, Ote guy. Don't know much about him, but I've seen a lot of people rave about him. Austin Goode too. Another solid player that plays at Arizona Bella Vista Prep. But yeah, look, I'm just naming you off players and it's. It's deep, right? Like U19. I feel like Canada has a lot of options to choose from. A ton of good names. And yeah, those are just players that I've seen that I would like to see maybe in the mix. But yeah, I'm not acting like I'm a scout though, right. I'm not in the gym following these guys development. So I leave that to the people making the decisions that note best. But yeah, send me names if you guys have ideas of other players that you like to see in the mix.
It's so hard to go through the entire list of guys. I could shout out everybody, but those are the names that I kind of know have been in the mix that are kind of in the bubble. So yeah, let me know if I'm missing any other names. Rakeem Green, too. Another name that I think he didn't even get invited. I believe I want to learn more about that situation. He's a, I think one of the best players coming out of Canada, but I just want to shout them out. But yeah, so those are the names. Definitely excited to see what happens this summer. Exciting time for Canada. They definitely need to do better than their current ranking. I think they're 10th right now. The women's U19 team is expected to be stacked. So the men's, they need to match it. And yeah, we'll see if they do. But after this quick little break, I'll have Leanna Ose, the head coach of the women's basketball team at Royal Crown to talk about how historic of a season they had this past year and how the women's basketball game has been evolving on the grassroots level. This is the Canadian Basketball Show. I'm Lee Ben Osman.
[00:19:47] Speaker C: Welcome back to the Canadian Basketball Show. On the first episode of this podcast, I talked about how I wanted to tap into the grassroots scene here in Canada and share stories you often don't get to hear about, that you should know about and that we should be talking about in this country. And one of those stories about a basketball team in Canada that made history just a month ago. They became the first ever team in Canada to win the Grind Session. The Grind Session is one of the best high school basketball leagues not in just North America, but the world.
And the school out of Scarborough, Ontario, that's pretty well known, Royal Crown Academy became the first team to win it.
Royal Crown became the first Canadian team to win the championship on the women's side. And I want to talk about how they did it and what this means for basketball in this country. And to join me to do this is someone I think everyone on the grassroots level of basketball here in Canada knows. It's the head coach of that team that made history. Coach Leanna Ose. Welcome to the show.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: Thank you, Lee. Ben. Appreciate it. I'm excited to be on the Canadian Basketball Show.
[00:20:52] Speaker C: Appreciate you. Appreciate you.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: I feel like I've heard about you.
[00:20:55] Speaker C: For a while now, but I'm so excited to finally bring you on here. And just tell me, what's the last month been like for you, winning the grand session? And I don't want to forget the inaugural WMPA championship, too.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: It's been busy. It's been busy. I mean, our, you know, our school year is really busy. You know, we haven't. We have slowed down a little bit, but, you know, right after that, you know, we were competing for another championship. This past weekend, we won a coalition championship with our other age group. So it's been really exciting. It's been a lot of celebratory moments, and it's just been huge. It's been huge for our program. Obviously, winning something that big, you know, and doing it in consecutive weeks. And I just want to shout out our athletes because they really got the job done.
[00:21:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
Now prep season's over. What are you up to now?
[00:21:45] Speaker A: So we actually.
We're the biggest basketball program in the country, and we have 10 teams that are competing across all kind of leagues. So even though the prep season is done, our season at Royal Crown Isn't done yet. So we have three age groups still competing for different championships. Like I mentioned, we won the coalition championship championships last weekend, and then we're competing in the OBL Ontario Basketball League. And so that'll take us through to, like, the beginning of May, and then we'll be officially done.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: Yeah, that sounds like. I can't do that. I don't know how you do it. For those that don't know, I want.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: To talk about the grind session and the history you guys made.
[00:22:22] Speaker C: But for those that don't know about the grind Session, can you explain it? What is it? What's the league like? And it's FIBA certified.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: No.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: Yeah. So Grind Session, actually, it's like a. It's funny, they don't use all the FIBA rules, but it's like the grind session rules. So I think it's like a really cool mix of, like, FIBA and American style and even like the style that we play here.
And it's really dope. You know, I don't run the league, but participating in it as a team and coaching in it has been really exciting. In the fall, the grind session actually hosted a session here in Ontario, and it was the first time that that happened. We brought a ton of amazing talent and teams here to host them, and that was really exciting.
You know, a ton of competition, a ton of exposure and development, professional staff. The, you know, in terms of the game operations, I can't say enough. Officiating was great. And so for us on the girls side, it was our first year being in it. Our boys program actually made history last year. They were the first Canadian team to be in the final four of the Grand Session Championship. So they competed last year and this year as well. And then we were. We were excited to join this year.
[00:23:35] Speaker C: You guys also, I think on the outside it kind of looked like an upset, but I think you'll probably see other rise. But tell me a team of yours. I think you guys were the sixth seed going into that tournament.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:23:48] Speaker C: How do you guys end up winning the grind such against an undefeated team?
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, first of all, you know, DME Academy, they hosted a grind session earlier in the year. And, you know, we were really impressed with the environment. They got a ton of Division 1 prospects on the team. They're very well coached. And what a lot of people don't know is when we played them early in the year, we actually lost by, like, a basket. And so for us, we went in there highly confident because we knew that we weren't the same team that we were in 2024. And so the way that we do things at Crown is where we start isn't where we finish. And so we do periodization in terms of what our practices look like, in terms of what our skill development looks like. And so, you know, we expect to play our best basketball in March. And so that was our mindset at Crown. We just do things so differently. Even in terms of going in as a lower seed. Most of our kids didn't even know. And to be honest, they didn't care because we don't look at rankings and we don't, you know, we don't pay attention to that kind of stuff. We just look at it like this is an opportunity to show what we've been working on. It's an opportunity to show our level of greatness. And we instill so much confidence into our players that it doesn't matter what we're ranked or what they're ranked. Throughout different pockets of the season, we've played against very, very dominant teams. You know, we played in the Mecca Showcase in the Bronx, New York, and you know, that's probably one of the toughest events that we played. We played the number one team in the country at that time, Mount Verde. And so, you know, just having that experience was really good for us because we never lose. We say we win or we learn. And we took. We had a lot of learning moments throughout the season. And I think that all accumulated to how well we did in the grind session and then the NPA championships.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: Like we said, we've never seen a Canadian team win the grind session. How big is it? And like, what did you think this mean? What do you think this win means for the growth of, like, basketball here in Canada?
[00:25:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you know what? Just starting with kind of the people around me, I think it's a testament to all the hard work that our players have put in on a day to day basis. We've been grinding since August. That's when school starts for us. We go August until May. So we're like a month in when most people even start the season. So we ask a lot of our kids and there's a lot of strategic planning around when to give our kids breaks and, you know, how much is too much in terms of what it means to represent Canada. It was an honor. You know, I know a lot of our players, we actually have players on our team who represent the Canadian national team. And so it's really cool to say, hey, in a scholastic environment, in A year round environment, we could do something on this scale against some of America's best talent. So, you know, it was an honor to play in the grind session for us to be in it in year one and win. Highly unlikely for a team from, you know, Scarborough, Canada to do that, but we think that anything's possible. And when I first got hired at Royal Crown, our director of basketball operations, Patrick Shaw, and our athletic director, Chris Exilis, he sat me down and he said, we want to be the best program in the world. And we've stuck true to that mandate and that mission. And they've created an incredible environment where our kids can grow, our coaches can grow, and, you know, it's really like nothing that. It's really like nothing I've ever seen before. I've been a part of some really good prep school programs in the past and I can say, you know, and I've traveled around the provinces and to different states and it's just really different at Royal Crown in terms of what we're doing on the Canadian landscape.
[00:27:14] Speaker C: Like you mentioned, World Crown is different from any other program. What makes it different, in your opinion?
[00:27:20] Speaker A: Well, we talk a lot about family, we recruit specific kind of kids. And I think what makes us unique is we have players that are very, very talented and have been playing at the highest level for years and years and years. You know, we have players who also have just started the game. And so we pride ourselves on offering a product where we're going to put your academics first, but most importantly, we're going to get you better every single day. And I think a lot of programs struggle to do that. I could say, you know, even as a coach myself, what I'm doing right now at Crown, I've always envisioned myself doing this. It's just so hard because in our Canadian market, you can't do this as a full time job. You know, there's so many other things that you kind of have to balance. And so one of the things that I'm really blessed about is, you know, I'm really, I feel like I'm walking in my purpose because, you know, me and the incredible coaching staff that I work with, this is what we get to focus on like, you know, 24 7. And so some of our kids, you know, we see that, we joke, we say, you know, we see them more than their parents and so we don't take that lightly.
We don't teach them just the game of basketball, we teach them about life. We're trying to teach them how to be good People, we're trying to help them understand that if you're willing to put into a team concept that everybody wins.
You know, on our senior girls national team, we probably had, you know, 20 to 25 different starting lineups. We probably had, you know, we played over 40 games. We had multiple high scores in different games. And so from our mindset, it's about getting everybody better and elating that product and really understanding how can we strive for greatness. That's going to come with working as a team. And we know that's what translates to playing at the next level and preparing them for college. And so, you know, it is a transition period definitely when we bring our athletes in, but I think they're more the better for it. And it takes a lot of trust on the parts of the kids, themselves and their parents to say, hey, believe in us as a staff. You know, I work with people who are passionate about what they do, their experience in what they do. They've been the best at what they do. You know, you talk about Daniel Mullings and Olu Famutimi, and, you know, it's just. It's an incredible roster of coaches we have. And so walking in Mike DiGiorgio, like, it is really fun to go into work every day. And when you love what you do, you can't fake that. Like, you can't fake that every day from August 15th to May 30th. So your character really comes out. And so, you know, that's how we are. Whether it's our administration, whether it's our coaches and the different spectrum of athletes that we have that we're getting better. They know how genuine we are in terms of helping them accomplish their goals.
[00:29:58] Speaker C: Now, I kind of want to talk about your coaching journey because I kind of did some Googling, you know, I did some research.
I know you played D1 too.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:30:06] Speaker C: And then played U Sports, which I covered U Sports back in. Back in the days. I don't want to age myself, even though I'm still young. But when did coaching become a thing for you and that you wanted to pursue?
[00:30:18] Speaker A: Honestly, it was when I met coach Ro Russell. I knew I wanted to be a coach.
[00:30:21] Speaker C: Shout out to Ro Russell.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: Legend. Shout out to Ro Russell. I grew up in the Janet Finch area. My mom immigrated into Canada when she was 18. She was pregnant with my brother. She didn't know any English and she had like a fourth grade education. And she just came here to give her kids opportunity. I grew up in the connections area in Jane and Finch. And there wasn't a lot to do but play basketball or makeshift soccer, you know, use your backpacks as a. As a nets. And I really took to basketball. It became, like, an outlet for me. And when I was about 12 or 13, I was playing on, like, our girls and our boys team at our. At our local school, and one of the girls says to me, hey, have you ever played club ball? And I'm like, no. Like, what's that? And she's like, you never heard of Oba? I'm like, no, what's that? Next thing I know, I'm on a bus down Jane Street. I walk into Falstaff Community center, and I see, like, a whole gym of girls just like me playing basketball, which I'd never seen. I had, like, maybe one or two other girls that lived in the same area as me. That hoop. Other than that, it was all guys. And so I was like, holy smokes, what is this? What's going on? And that's when I first met Cultural, and they call him the Revolution, because he doesn't swear. If you swear in practice, you have, like, a hundred burpees. And so there was a lot of things that I learned from him just by watching. One of them was how to develop my talent early, but the other was how to scope out talent early. And so I watched him, you know, sacrifice a lot and do a lot, whether it was, you know, I remember driving to New Jersey with Mike Kavongo and Tristan Thompson and both their mothers driving them to prep school and seeing their mothers bawling their eyes out and hearing Coach Rose saying, trust me, trust me. This is what they need. And that was an opportunity that was well before we had prep school programs and stuff. Here I've seen him help children who are in my situation that weren't really getting support at home in a West African household. My mom didn't come here so I could play basketball, so it was like I didn't get any support from that. And she really didn't see the value of it until I was a junior, a senior in high school, and I got those scholarship offers. So when I met Coach Rowe, it changed everything. And I had a handful of other coaches that I was fortunate enough to play for, but that was, like, a big turning point for me, because he preached to me, work hard, read your Bible, get A's, and you could get a scholarship. And so that's all I had to go off of. And, you know, I've been through a lot in my life. When things got really, really Tough. I always had my basketball. I always turn back to my faith and those are the things that kept me going. So I knew when I was young, I was blessed enough to get taught how to play the game and see it as a point guard. I was fortunate enough to start coaching really early.
Imagine walking into the Jada Finch tournament 15 years ago and you see a five foot two girl coaching U17 guys. And we have six, 10 guys, you know, like, people are just like, who's that? And so I didn't see it. I didn't see myself as that. I just saw myself as like, you know, I really love coaching. Like, I think this is what I want to do. And so I made a decision, you know, back then that I wanted to coach when I transferred to Eastern Commerce High School. Eastern Eastern, yeah. When I transferred there in the 10th grade. Trevor Bullen and Roy Rana was our athletic director at the time. I actually started assistant coaching on the boys team. And so I coach guys like Emmanuel Diressa.
[00:33:43] Speaker C: Shout out to Manny.
[00:33:44] Speaker A: That's right. He plays the CEBL right now. Yeah, he was such a shy kid. Big hands. I was like, manny, you're gonna get really tall, you know, like, so I just loved coaching because I saw what it could do for your confidence. And so now when I kind of look at the role and position that I'm in, I'm grateful for a lot of the mentorship that I've had from different coaches. But I definitely gotta credit cultural for get me started.
[00:34:07] Speaker C: You mentioned Roy Russell, a guy that has helped a dozen people get to the D1 level, but also yourself can leets. Can you tell me for people that don't know what is can Leeds and the work that you've done on the grassroots level?
[00:34:22] Speaker A: Yeah. So Canton Leeds stands for Canadian athletes. And I spent some time in the US playing like. I started my athletic career playing at the University of Miami. I also spent a year at Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. And I was kind of like at a crossroads. I had committed to another Division 1 school. And I actually made the decision to come back home because my older brother was sick. He was two years older than me. And so that year I decided to take some time off, help out at home, help pay the bills. And I made an agreement with my mom. I said, look, if I'm gonna work full time and kind of help figure things out while my brother tries to get better, then I have to give back to the community. I have to do something. And so she was like, all right, whatever it is, whatever you want to do. And my brother at the time, he had his good days and his bad days, and he saw how much I really wanted to give back, and he actually gave me 50 bucks. And he said, hey, whatever you want to do, register as a business. Like, I really see you doing something like this. And so he encouraged me to do that. That was back in 2012. And so that's where CanLeads first started.
You know, can leads represents so much for the Canadian girls basketball community. Informally, it was a way where I was helping specifically, you know, young athletes train and get better, like kids in high school, kids in grade school. But also it became something that was like a launching pad for a lot of players, a lot of families that are trying to understand what is the recruitment process, how does that work, whether it be for prep programs, whether it be for college and university.
I'm really fortunate that some of my coaches actually took up cam leads while I finished school. And so calneets is sort of on a hiatus now. But there's so much that we've done. We've had, you know, multiple athletes, some who play in the WNBA now that have come through our program. Name.
[00:36:15] Speaker C: Drop them.
[00:36:15] Speaker B: Come on.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Latisha. Me here, L.A. that's my little sister, Aaliyah Edwards. You know, Aaliyah, actually her mom, when she come to Toronto, they would drive from Kingston. She actually would jump in the grassroots practices with the boys. And so that was really big time. But again, I took a lot of my encouragement and inspiration from what Coach Rowe was doing with his grassroots organization. And I kind of said, how do I make this so that we create something for the girls basketball space? Because that's what was missing. And I realized very quickly, especially when I came back, that as much as I had people to help me through my process, not everybody had that. Not everybody had a cultural. Not everybody had, like, a row around and saying, hey, this is what you should do, and so forth. And I said, you know, I feel like I can help in that, and there's no way that I could have done it by myself. And so there's been countless volunteers, whether it be parents of kids that we've helped, players and alumni themselves that have given back to the game in that way, but it's all about paying it forward. We run camps in multiple provinces across the country. We've partnered with numerous other organizations, like formal organizations, informal organizations, but it's just a way to give back to girls basketball. What's awesome now is we see so many groups that are, like, coming up and helping girls basketball grow. You know, shout out my young, my girl, KISA K hoop queens, you know, like, that's huge. But also shout out programs like girls addicted to basketball that started, you know, way, way, way back and have been giving back to the girls game. I was at, I was coaching at in Vaughan just last weekend and I saw Bob Messum. He's one of the longtime coaches for Toronto Triple Threat. He had a T shirt and on the back of it it said, I've been, you know, been supporting women's basketball since before it was popular, you know, so like that's a, that's a real fact.
[00:38:02] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a bore.
[00:38:03] Speaker A: There's people in this game who have been building the girls basketball game before it was a thing, you know, and I'm glad that we're not in that space right now. And you know, right now Calneets is on pause. But it's all good because there's so much that is happening for girls basketball and that's what I'm most happy about.
[00:38:19] Speaker C: Yeah, and I was just at the Hoop Summit and the talent there last year we had five Canadian women representing Canada. Three this past year. It's crazy just to see the talent and the wave that's coming from Canada. But like you mentioned, I feel like can Leads kind of provided an opportunity, a space that was needed, a program that was needed for girls coming up in Canada. What were the opportunities maybe when you were coming up and were there this influx like, or could you see the potential in it when you were playing?
[00:38:52] Speaker A: Man, there were so few and far between. I mean, if you didn't play for the right program, like, I was fortunate. I played for Grassroots in the summer, so I did Eastern Commerce. And you know, we dominated at the Toronto level and the city level, but we never traveled. And you know, I actually played AU for Grassroots. But then also we merged with a Buffalo based team called GC Ballers. Paul Harris used to play for that program. And so like it used to be, hey, you better have a good summer. Like, your coaches better be connected and then you better hit the circuit and you better be playing, you know, in the right gyms when you hit the circuit, you know, and back then it was only, you know, we didn't even have a Canadian team in the eybl. All that is like recent. We didn't have a ton of college coaches coming down and if we did, they were coming to watch our guys. And I know because I seen them, like I seen Caliperi walk into Falstaff come see some of our guys. But it's been incredible to see, like, you're saying, like, the rise of programs that can support girls basketball here domestically.
You know, Naira Fields, you know, she was from Montreal, Quebec. Like, she had to go all the way to Oak Hill Academy to give herself an opportunity to play high major basketball. She played at ucla. She had an incredible career, obviously a senior women's national team, just recently retired. And, you know, like, that's, like, that's what players had to do. Like, we had to go afar. I strongly considered taking the prep school route, but we always showed the potential for it because we had these little pockets of schools. You know, like, at Eastern, we had that rivalry with Oakwood, and Oakwood had a lot of players as well that would, you know, be able to get to that next level. But I still think it comes down to, you know, the. The real builders of the game. You know, I remember when Coach Row first started bringing guys across the board, people laughed. Like, people were like, what? Like, you're bringing Canadians to the US for what? You know, when he started taps Toronto, Toronto Academy Prep school, I think it was the acronym. Like. Like, technically, that was Canada's first prep program. And people were like, that'll never work. Like, I was there. I was in those rooms.
[00:40:59] Speaker C: Now, I can't count the amount of prep schools there are.
[00:41:01] Speaker A: 100%. 100%. So you gotta, you know, like, you can't reinvent the wheel. And, you know, even coming up, I see a lot of programs that were started from people that played, you know, for him as well. And so ultimately, what does that mean? It means these kids now have way more opportunities. And when I. When I look at the gender equity piece and the gender equality piece, I think the guys have always had people looking out for them. When I came back from the US I actually was writing for Tariq and Ilyas, and at the time, they had a company called Crown, like Crown Mag Online. And it turned into what we now know is North Pole Hoops. And so, again, that was. It was really great, but it was, like, very male dominant. And so the girls just didn't have enough.
You know, if you really wanted to know what was going on in the girls basketball space and who was doing what in the city, you go to hooptowngta.com and then that's where you'd see who scored what. Oh, man. Okay, look at this. You know, like, that's the only way we knew who in the West End was doing what. And now, like, you have you know, Drew Ebanks working his butt off getting to events and supporting and promoting. So I would say the potential was always there. We've always had Division 1 talent. I call a lot of the players that I coach young girl and I got that name when I was like 12 and 13 playing with the 16 and 17 year olds. They were going to say, hey young girl, come here. Hey young girl. And you know, those players I play with, you know, There was Division 1 talent in the gym, but they didn't necessarily have the same opportunities. And so I'm really, really happy that we're at a space that, you know, now fast forward at World Crown, like kids don't have to leave. Like, you know, we have a schedule, we have an infrastructure that actually supports your holistic development that still prepares you to play at the next level, whatever that may be. You know, look how much the USPORT product has grown.
You know, my last few years at Laurier we were nationally ranked. We went to, you know, we were able to compete at that level as well. And the product has grown so much. We see a lot of, you know what we say, Division one caliber talent also playing in the youth sport level. So overall I love the space that Canadian girls basketball is in.
[00:43:07] Speaker C: We talked about the growth.
Are there still barriers that you see on the grassroots level that maybe you deal with or see in terms of just maybe getting to that next level? Because I was just talking in Portland with Danaya, with Agat and they were saying like these Canadian teams can't compete with the US teams. You guys just proved it in grind session. But they mentioned, they talked about like better bump, better competition as in like the, the pool is more deeper. What are your thoughts on that? And just the barriers maybe that are still in the grassroots stuff or just like stuff that we need to get past?
[00:43:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I would say, you know, not all programs and not all schools are created, you know, the same. And so with that, I think as much as we are growing like to that point that Agad and Denaya made, you know, I think we can get better. You know, one of the things I do is I try to encourage a lot of coach education.
A few years ago I started an organization called the Black Canadian Coaches association and we actually ran Canada's first coach mentorship program for black, indigenous and people of color.
One of the things that we did is we launched Canada's first anti racism e learning module. And so to me what's really missing is from a top down standpoint, I think we need more professionalization of our coaches.
Personally, I saw a benefit in saying, hey, let me get my personal training certification. Because if I'm more knowledgeable about how the body moves and how the body works and technically that makes me a better coach because I can identify injuries earlier. It also helped me as a skills coach as well. But the problem is, you know, there is a lack of accessibility. You know, there's just not enough jobs. You know, I was fortunate enough, you know, some years back, I got an opportunity to coach at the youth sport level. I was one of the youngest coaches in the country. You know, I moved out east to pursue that endeavor. But there was only, you know, maybe 50 positions like that, like a full time basketball coaching position at university. There's only 50 of them. You compare that with like 500 at the NCAA level. But like, and that's head coaching position. You still gotta think about associate head coaches, assistant coaches, NIA D1, D2, junior college. And so I think naturally, I think our next step would be the more we can grow grassroots coaching. I think our players become better. And then, you know, Ontario's a hotbed right now. Like, we're like, you know, we say, you know, we're like the New York City of Canada. And so we've seen a lot of players come from outside of the province and come here and help create this different leagues and this product that is really, really good. A couple years ago at our OSPA championship game, you see the head coach at Duke University, that really wasn't a thing in the past. And now we have leagues like North Pole Hoops that are coming in. And I think it has really helped the grassroots level grow. But yeah, there is way more competition at the American level. I would say scholastically though from a school to school standpoint, you know, we know about the IMGs and the Mount Verdes and so forth. And now that, now that we have programs like World Crown that can create schedules where we play against them again, I think it just, it makes that gap a little bit smaller. If you look at what we're doing on the international side, like, you know, our youth ages are competing against Team usa, you know, the last few years, you know, in the FIBA Americas and the world, like our girls are competing. I remember when jasmine Bosco played U18, I think last summer, you know, it was like a two or three possession game. Like, you know, so we are right there. But I would say like from a grassroots level standpoint, we still have a long way to go.
We need more gyms that are accessible. We don't need to build another gym. We just need access to the million gyms that are here, you know, so, like, if we can make that easier for coaches where I don't have to now come up with money on my own to help out kids from the community that want to train because we can't do it outdoors, I think that would really help. And the US has got it figured out a little bit better than us right now.
[00:47:16] Speaker C: Yeah, you mentioned gyms. I'm kind of going to go on a rant a bit. There's a community center right here in the Esplanade area. Doesn't even let us, like, there's a gym. We got to pay to play basketball, which is like insane to me because we talk about accessibility, youth in this neighborhood. Where are you supposed to go if there's not a gym? If back in the day when I was hooping, like, that's where we'd be for free. But now it's. It's not like that. You mentioned we're Talking about the U.S. canada, the different aspects. I. I look at Toby Fournier, who played at Crestwood, didn't go to the States to play basketball, and I kind of want to get your thoughts on Jasmine Basco, too, the line of Gibb, too.
[00:47:56] Speaker B: Is there a push for more?
[00:47:58] Speaker C: Like, what's your thoughts on players going to the States to play basketball? I feel like it's very prevalent on the men's side, but is it prevalent.
[00:48:06] Speaker A: On the woman's side, on the girl's side? I wouldn't say it is, but I also think that's because so much comparable opportunities have presented itself here. And then you have kind of like your one offs, you know, like, you know, I got one, you know, won a lot last year playing here, and then she decided, I want to take it to another level and play at one of the top programs in the country. Respectfully, you know, but not everybody's going to go down that pathway. I would say from a college standpoint, in terms of getting full scholarships and getting funding paid for, and even from a prestige level, we do have both a lot of guys and girls that still see the US as like, that's the destination. That's where I want to go. We can't ignore the fact that funding is a major motivator for a lot of that as well. But there is a prestige part in it as well. But I would say, yeah, from a prep program standpoint, we're having a lot of kids that are, you know, homegrown products that are going on and playing at a high level, you know, and then you've had some guys who, you know, have made it to the NBA without having to go to American prep school. So I think it's all about fit and, and where you'll have an opportunity. And we talk a lot about that. And you know, it's really hard because in a, in a space where everybody's telling you you got to score this much, at World Crown, we don't do that. Like, we're really trying to help you be a good basketball player. We're trying to help you accentuate your strengths and work on your deficiencies. And we're telling you to trust the process. And so to have the year that we have, you know, it really shows that. But we wouldn't be where we are without, you know, those people that came before us. Cheyenne Day Wilson and Latasha Latimore are two alumni from Royal Crown School. And look at what they've been able to do. Canadian born products, you know, shy, was, you know, freshman of the year at Duke, has had an incredible career to date. Latasha, you know, her stock has gone through the roof. She's already on WNBA draft boards for the double machine, 100%. So I would say, yeah, like, you know, there's nothing wrong if you have like a special destined path for you. You know, Danaya's been to, you know, a couple prep schools as well and you know, her path is her path and so we respect that. You know, I really love the fact that we present that opportunity at Royal Crown.
[00:50:19] Speaker C: Yeah, I love it. There's not one perfect way to do it.
[00:50:21] Speaker A: Right.
[00:50:22] Speaker C: Whatever the player situation is, is best for them. And talking about US Canada, we just silver U17s AmeriCop silver. Also you're coaching on the sidelines against some of these top US Teams. Is Canada breaking that little glass barrier where in terms of U.S. canada, where we might end up with a gold U19 is coming up. What are your thoughts on just where Canada U.S. stands? And you obviously see the talent on a daily basis.
[00:50:50] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, I think we have to look at it like with, in terms of what's in front of us. And then we gotta look at the big picture. Like the big picture is the US just has, you know, 50 times our population. And so like, if you're looking at that statistically, like we are going up against, you know, a lot of girls who will be playing at wnba, a lot of guys who will be playing in the NBA. I think our job is to make sure that we're competitive enough to get to that point. And so one of the things that I like about where the national team program has gone is it has become much more inclusive. When I was coming up, there weren't many girls of color that played on the team and that coached the squad. And I can name the one or two because I looked up to the one or two. And, you know, a few years ago, I saw, you know, I witnessed, you know, a black female head coach coaching for our national team. And I remember talking to, you know, one of the women's high performance managers, saying, wow, Like, I never would have thought I'd see this day, you know, And I think that comes from intentionality. I think Covid helped a little bit, and Black Lives Matter. But, you know, at the end of the day, regardless of how we got there, we're here now. And so I think as long as we ensure that the right kids and the best group of kids are getting the opportunity to represent their country, then, you know, then I do think that we could compete with the US And I do foresee, you know, some gold medals. And I see senior women's national team has been, like, you know, third, fourth in the world for some time, and there's just some really special talent coming up. And so as long as, you know, the practices stay the same in terms of giving an opportunity that is equitable to players and to coaches, then, you know, I think we should expect that.
[00:52:32] Speaker C: We obviously talked about Canadian national team. Is there interest for you, whether it's on the age group level, to maybe coach? Cause I feel like people should be looking at what you just did 100%.
[00:52:42] Speaker A: I'm on the Canadian basketball podcast. I want to coach a national team. I'm waiting. I would love to learn. You heard it here, you heard it here.
[00:52:50] Speaker B: I would love to learn.
[00:52:51] Speaker A: I would love to represent my country. I feel like I've been doing that in a lot of different ways with the organizations I work with, whether it be with the Raptors or through the Basketball Africa League or just being somebody who's grown up in Toronto and we're getting ready to host a WNBA team. So definitely one of the goals of mine in my career.
[00:53:09] Speaker C: Steve Bauer, I'm about to get you on this podcast soon, so we'll talk about that when you're here.
Want to touch on your coaching journey? You mentioned coaching esports, Sanifex coaching on university level. What brought you back to the prep level to coach? Because esports is.
You probably have more insight on this, but I feel like the prep school level, I don't know, is there more enjoyment? Is there, like, what's it like? I feel like I don't know. What are your thoughts on. Just tell me about the move from esports to prep level.
[00:53:38] Speaker A: Yeah, so my first full time job as a coach was at the prep school level. I coach at a program called TRC Academ and shout out Tyrell Vernon. Cause he was a men's coach over on that side and he's the head coach at Saint FX now.
But we had a lot of national team athletes. It was, you know, it was an amazing experience. I was a den mother. I lived with, you know, nine teenagers, teenage females. And it was pretty crazy at times, but we did everything kind of the right way. And then I got an opportunity to coach at the youth sport level. And, you know, for someone like me, I relish opportunities for professional development. You know, if I could, I'd pack up and go to Europe for a month and, you know, do some job shadowing with, you know, some of the top European coaches. Because that's how much I love the game and how much I want to learn. And so, you know, moving out to Anaganish, Nova Scotia was not easy. I think there was some practical stuff in terms of why I wanted to be back in familiar territories.
You know, like I'm a homeowner here and it's kind of tough when you're kind of balancing things here and at home. There's something about Toronto that's just so unique.
And, you know, one of the things that I appreciated is when I lived on the east coast for almost four years, I saw what it felt like to be on the outside looking in. And so, you know, we're really lucky because here in Toronto and in different parts of Ontario, we have so much access to stuff. You know, you have the Toronto Raptors and hockey and baseball and prep programs, hoop league. You know, Nike ran a pro league. Nathaniel Mitchell was helping with the pro league before he jumped in the league. Like it's all at our fingertips, even though it's not all equally accessible. You could argue that, but it's much, much harder for someone who lives 18 hours driving distance away. And so it made me appreciate so much more what I had. I definitely missed African food and Caribbean food.
[00:55:35] Speaker C: I don't know if you think you're gonna get down on the East Coast.
[00:55:37] Speaker A: Yeah. But, you know, I'm very grateful for the opportunity. I was there for almost four years, actually.
One of my first graduating seniors that I had at Saint fx I work with now at Rural Crown. So she wanted to work in the sport business space. And so she's got a full time position with us as our executive advisor assistant. And you know, that's what it's about, it's about paying it forward.
Youth sports is, you know, a product that's growing. I'm really happy to see how much it's grown. The talent level is really good. I was coaching against some of the best coaches in the country and I learned so much even within the school itself, like just incredible coaches.
This opportunity that came at Crown, you know, I think everything happens for a reason. I made the decision to move back home a couple years ago. I actually went back to my community and I was asking how I could give back. I took a job as a youth manager at the Jane and Finch Boys and Girls Club, which is like literally across the street almost from where I grew up in Connections. And through that I was able to give back to youth in the community.
But what I did right away was also get back in the basketball space. So I was working at Westview Secondary School, which is one of our high risk high schools there, and we incentivize the kids to say, hey, if you want to get in the gym and train and get coached, then you're going to have to go to school each and every single day. And so that was a blessing as well. And so we were able to create some community based programs around skill development and coaching and everybody's just dreaming big and so that was big.
When I got the job opportunity at Royal Crown, I was also a finalist for the Toronto Raptors Theresa and Wayne Embry Fellowship. And then I also had another opportunity to coach at the youth sport level. So I was really blessed and I was like, man, I gotta really pray on this and see like what's the best bet. Because working with the Raptors, this might be like a once in a lifetime opportunity. And I thought that I interviewed really well and I was one of the finalists and I was able to sit down with Chris and Pat and they showed me the vision. And the program had already seen so much success on the senior boy side. And they said, listen, we're trying to be the best program in the world. And they pitched it to me. It didn't take much convincing. I've known Patrick Shaw since I was about 12. He used to be the head officer at Falstaff Community Center. So I know what he's about and it's about giving back to the game. It's about Helping young women. And then, obviously, I had an opportunity to get back to the youth sports coaching landscape. And when I prayed about it, I just thought, you know what? This is an opportunity to kind of lay that foundational piece and help some of these girls accomplish their goals in a space that I'm very familiar with. And it also helps that our practices are really competitive. I get to work with some of the best players in the country. I get to coach alongside some of the best players in the country. So it's not a job that I take, but it's one that, you know, I have no regrets about the decision that I made to coach at Royal Crown.
[00:58:42] Speaker C: You talked about the Raptors Fellowship. I know you also do work with the Raptors on the development side. Can you tell me about that and how that's been?
[00:58:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
Shout Out. V and Spencer. I interviewed. When I moved back home, I actually interviewed to work with the Toronto Raptors Community Coach development team. And throughout different pockets of the year, we do everything from. From coaching education clinics to kids events. Some that are run through Scotiabank arena, some that I run remotely. We do, like, things for adults through the corporate space and the Toronto Raptors. And that's also been, like, a very good opportunity to work on my professional development because I have, like, a situation where throughout the year I'm at Crown, but then in different pockets and especially in the off season, I now get to work with different coaches that, you know, I could take some of. Of how they teach and how they grow. And, you know, like, Coach Omar, who was coaching at George Brown recently, like, he's somebody that I really look up to in that space. And to say, hey, you know, we get to represent, you know, Canada's only, you know, national basketball organization and help these kids dream big, you know, it's huge. So I'm looking forward to the summer. I haven't worked my first RBA camp yet, like, the Raptors Basketball Academy camp yet, but I have done a number of events, and that has also been an opportunity for me to grow in terms of working with different age groups and different professionals. Sometimes the guys will come and help out as well, which is really dope.
[01:00:08] Speaker C: Yeah. I want to talk about the next steps in terms of growing the women's game here, but it'd be hard, not to mention the Toronto Temple. Coming to Toronto. The team was awarded, obviously, a WNBA team. Kind of want to know where were you at when you found out the tempo was coming to Toronto?
[01:00:25] Speaker A: You know what? I can't remember exactly where I was But I was like, I scour the Internet for any talk about college basketball, you know, EuroLeague, women's basketball, WNBA teams. And so for a few years we heard that rumor that, you know, a team is coming, a team is coming. And so when it became official, I just remember thinking to myself, wow, like, I never thought I'd see this day. I mean, if you take a. If you look at our landscape, it might be that much more obvious to someone. But as someone who grew up in Jane and Finch in Toronto, I never thought that we'd have a WNBA team here. So I'm really excited. I know one of our kids really early on, she did like an interview with like CBC around, you know, just how much it inspires her. But again, I think it just reinforces this idea that anything that you want to accomplish and achieve can be there. You know, I've had, you know, goals and aspirations to coach at the professional level one day, and I just assumed, well, that was always going to be somewhere in Europe and maybe the middle of nowhere, you know, but now, oh, my goodness, there's an opportunity. And so I love where we're going in the space. You know, I don't think I can afford to be a season ticket holder, but I definitely will be making some games and I hope that we recruit some homegrown talent, you know, so Leticia, you know, next year, you know, hopefully you. Yeah, hopefully she's. She's with Golden State this year. She just got traded from Atlanta, but yeah, I would love to see some players that I've coached repping the Toronto tempo.
[01:01:54] Speaker C: Yeah, you kind of touched on it. What's the excitement from girls that you coach that are coming up and seeing that? And what do you think it's going to mean for the community, just be able to attend games and have players to look up to from their own city?
[01:02:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I remember, I think it was the summer before last, they actually hosted like a WNBA game here. And I know they did one on the west coast as well, and it was just like so exciting, like for these kids to see us do it. I'm actually hoping that there's a ripple effect and we get some more people involved watching, like some of our college and Canadian university games, you know, and, you know, at Royal Crown, I mean, when we have a home game at, it sells out. But I think that's what makes us a little bit different than the US and even places where WNBA teams are really popular is usually there's colleges and universities that have a ton of people attending their games. And following that girl so that they could buy her jersey. And so I'm hoping that that kind of has a ripple effect. But overall, I think the girls are all excited. Everybody wants to compete at the highest level. And, you know, the WNBA coming to Toronto makes it that much more tangible. We have so many kids who've, you know, who want to play at the next level, who've never even been to, like, a college practice, like at the Canadian level or at the Division 1 level. You know, we have some kids that want to go D1. I'm like, have you ever sat in a practice or been to a campus? And they're like, no. You know what I mean? So for us to bring the tempo, like, it changes things because it really bridges that gap.
[01:03:23] Speaker C: Yeah. For you, I just want to know, what's your advice say for people looking to get into coaching?
Obviously, your journey's all over the place, right? You've been at the esports level, you've coached in prep, founded Kent Leeds.
In terms of people that are looking to make an impact, say that you've had. What's your advice?
[01:03:44] Speaker A: Don't be afraid to meet new people.
One of the things that I noticed coming up was there weren't many coaches that I knew that were willing to coach at different levels in different capacities. And I'm very fortunate that I was able to start my coaching career kind of coaching guys with grassroots. And then when I came back from the U.S. i decided, hey, I really want to take this to another level of professionalization. And I signed up with the Locker. And so I got an account with the Coaching association of Canada. And that's an organization I've worked with in a number of different capacities. So shout out Isabel Caillet and Lorraine Lafontaine. But they're really big on helping grassroots coaches get to that next level. Jeremy Cross and the Coaching association of Ontario. So I would say, if you want to get into coaching, start with the organizations that exist right now and set yourself up in a way that you can actually develop your coach education. I think a lot of people want to give back, and they're like, hey, okay, maybe I could teach you how to do this. Maybe I could teach you how to do that. But there's a real process that you can shape to say, hey, here's what my coaching philosophy is, but it requires intentionality. And so that's something that I learned is it's not just about how passionate you are. How are you going to Just like we ask our players to think from the shoulders up and in between their ears. So just like we're telling them to be smarter players and not just run through a brick wall. Well, we gotta be smarter coaches. You know, sometimes it is good for them to hear a different voice.
Sometimes we do gotta take some money out and go to a coach's clinic. And so that's what I would encourage somebody to do is, you know, definitely register to be a coach officially and then network your ass off. And if you are looking for a coaching opportunity, please let me know because I'm connected with so many different groups that are often looking to bring people in and help uplift them in that way.
[01:05:34] Speaker C: Coach Leanna Jose, I can't thank you enough for joining me on the Canyon Basketball Show. Any last words? What's next for you?
[01:05:39] Speaker A: What's next? We're about to hit the AU circuit. I'm coaching with Sisters Keeper this year. We have a really talented group of kids. We're going to be playing everybody. I'm looking forward to a little bit of downtime as well. And, you know, I'm running it back at Crown. And so we say. We say bet on blue.
[01:05:55] Speaker C: Bet on blue. Coach Leanna Jose, can't thank you enough.
Amazing what you guys have done at Royal Crown. Making history in the grind session. And yeah, if you guys want to tap in, make sure to check out Liana Jose. She's telling you, reach out to her. Trying to get into coaching. But, yeah, you're listening to the Canadian Basketball Show. I can't thank you guys enough. Next week, we're going to be out in Phoenix, Arizona, covering the EYBL session. Tap in, we'll see y'all there.
