Personal note:

 

A good friend sent me this email and I wanted to share. After a few weeks off and ‘life getting in the way’ this brief note made my day. The first part is a nice thing for a friend to say, the second part is inspiring in that the efforts and passion of one can mean something to others. Funny thing is that he entitled the email Tuesdays with Chris.

 

How is Joy's Mom doing? If there is anything I can do to help during these difficult times, just let me know. A quick note to say that many of us are looking forward to the restart of Tuesdays with Dave, something that makes our Tuesday start enjoyable. Thinking of all of you, Cheers

 

 

John Campbell….You Never Know who is watching

 


John Campbell, by any definition, is a success story. He was a two-time OUA All-star basketball player at Laurentian University. After his playing days, he has given back to the game by coaching at the College and University level in both Men’s and Women’s, winning titles and league coach of the year on several occasions. He also was a four-time coach with the Canadian teams in the Summer Universiades (formerly World University Games) and one summer John assisted with the British Basketball Under 20 team for the European Championships. Currently the head coach at the University of Toronto Men’s team, John Campbell continues his impressive journey.

 

And maybe the key moment was playing one on one at Olympia Sports Camp.

 

“I had been a coach’s kid for years as my dad (Peter) coached, but when he started coaching provincial and national team stuff in the summers he stopped going. I got a job working as a counsellor for two summers and my most poignant memory was playing one on one with Eddie Pomykala, head coach of the Men’s team at Bishop’s University, on the outdoor courts. Here I was this high school kid who thought he was pretty good, and, by local standards in small town Ontario (Woodstock) I guess I was. Eddie whipped me good and gave me lessons that stay with me to this day.”

 

Coach Pomykala taught John more than the jab step series that day. He showed this high school kid a whole new world of high-level basketball that John had to work at in order to grow as a player. and work he did, allowing him to  do all he has done in the game as a player and coach, but John’s memories of Olympia go beyond the schooling on the courts. This high school kid learned that it isn’t where you are on the journey, it’s where you’re going.

 

“As a counsellor I loved the number of coaches that you get to work with throughout a summer, all with differing perspectives and styles on the game. There might by one sentence they say or one drill they do that resonates. Helping the coaches by reinforcing their teaching points helped me grow as a player, and eventually I found my own voice as a coach.”

 

“But my favourite part of camp was that at the end of a very long day there would be pick-up games in the fieldhouse that started at 10pm and would go for hours. There would be counsellors, coaches, guys already playing university, and sometimes even the NBA pro would join in. I was forced to raise my game. The summers at Olympia helped me prepare to play at Laurentian.”

 

A cool story that John says typifies the level of play and inspiring games in the fieldhouse took place when John travelled to nearby London to watch the 1986 OFSAA basketball championships. The gold medal game that year was Runnymede from Toronto against Stamford CI from Niagara Falls. That championship game featured two Olympia coaching legends as John Petrushchak coached Runnymede and Bob Coull coached Stamford, but it was the players that a young John Campbell was watching.

 

On Runnymede was Olympia counsellor Doug Lawrie, going against Stamford’s Brian McMahon, another camp counsellor.

“It was inspiring to me to watch two good friends play at the highest level in Ontario after spending the summer playing against them. If they could be that good, with work so could I. That motivated me to work harder on my game.”

 

You never know who is watching and what impact that will have. John Campbell’s journey is case in point.

 

The link to the blog is TuesdayswithDave.blogspot.com

This blog is about the journey of the writing of the book A Hero's Journey: From Little Norway to Olympia Sports Camp. The blog will contain excerpts from the book and my personal thoughts on what the place and the people that make up Olympia's journey is all about. The title comes from the great book Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom. The blog's title is recognizing Dave Grace as Camp Director, but all content is my own. 

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