High Achievers - U13 AAA Girls

By Martin Cleary

For the 11 players and five coaches of the Ottawa South Basketball Association girls’ U13 team and family-type unit, Tuesday and Thursday were practice nights.

Everyone would head either to St. Mark High School or Vimy Ridge Public School for two hours of skill and team development, family togetherness and, of course, fun and laughter.

That strict schedule took a dramatic U-turn on the final Tuesday of April. But that was OK. It was rather welcomed and necessary.

Instead of following the normal Tuesday night practice schedule, it was time to celebrate a championship season for Ottawa South, which took a page from the Toronto Raptors’ playbook by nicknaming themselves We the South.

This final team get-together was the cherry on top of a youth basketball season, where the goal was to win the Ontario Cup Division 1 girls’ U13 title, a year after being silver medallists in the girls’ U12 Division 1 Ontario Cup.

Two parents took charge of organizing the team championship party at Vimy Ridge, which was yet another example of how the players and the parents accepted various roles to produce a winning product.

The players were dedicated at practices and games, while the parents took on positions such as fundraiser, scorekeeper, strength and conditioning coach, treasurer, player register, scheduler and registration booker for tournaments.