With Olympia Sports Camp celebrating its 50th Anniversary this weekend ( May 19-22) we were all given a classic reminder of the power of the Hero's Journey on Saturday as the  WNBA held its first-ever game in Canada. The event was an exhibition game but it was so much more than that. Yes, it was a game in a city that is poised to get an expansion franchise, and the city looked great as 19,000 fans filled the arena and the atmosphere was electric, but it was the makeup of that crowd that impressed me and gave me  direction of thought as I get ready for the anniversary.

The atmosphere at Scotia Bank Arena, and the television coverage, captured the importance of mentoring and allies along our journey. I loved the look on the faces of so many young girls as they watched the professional women, especially Chatham, Ontario's own Bridget Carleton, play in front of their eyes in their hometown. And the WNBA players were in their glory, inspiring the next generation. Maybe a future WNBA All Star was in that crowd. I was thinking that every girl there could now dream of themselves someday playing on the same court, in the same league. Allies along our journey mentor us, and they inspire us. The entirety of Scotiabank Arena was inspired.

The whole event took me back, of course, to the writing process of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp, and to two Olympians who shared of their stories and their passion for women's basketball in the Soul Of Olympia chapter of the book. On Saturday they must have been thrilled to be at the game and to get ever closer to their dream of an WNBA franchise in Toronto. I speak of Leslie Potter and her daughter Kalia.

Leslie has been an Olympia camper, counsellor, coach, and now parent. She and her husband Kris have been mainstays on the week 5 basketball coaching staff. 

Kalia has been at Olympia almost since birth.  A few weeks ago I got to watch Kalia play in a tournament in Toronto. She is an outstanding player in her own right who plays the game with zeal and passion. This passion for her own game ignites her passion for women in sport and basketball specifically. Check out Kalia's story in the book and you'll see a young woman who has the confidence to stand up to promote women's sports and was shocked with the lack of WNBA swag when they went to the NBA store one time in New York City. She even wrote a letter to Ellen DeGeneres to talk about equity in sport. Now that's a hero on a journey!


Saturday's event brought out the fact that the allies we meet along our way do two main things for us. They mentor us so that we can find our path, and they inspire us to have the courage to go after that path. I'm glad that Kalia has her mom and dad ( and others) as mentors and I'm glad that Kalia got inspired by seeing Canadian superstars Bridget Carleton and Natalie Achonwa as professional athletes, and I hope she is inspired to work toward her goals. I'm also glad that Kalia finally got some WNBA swag!

Even writing this story has me pumped for this weekend. Joy and I have done 16 book presentations around the province but this weekend will be special.  To launch at the 50th Anniversary of a Camp that means so much to so many is an honour, and will be a lot of fun. 

I heard today that a woman who is the grand daughter of a Norwegian  airmen stationed at Little Norway will be there to speak at the 4pm launch. There are still spots available, and there are options for one day only. Check out the itinerary at 

 https://olympiasportscamp.com/alumni-reunion-2023/


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 Karl Svoboda began his rugby career at Belleville's Centennial Secondary School and the Belleville Bulldogs club team. When he started with the Bulldogs at 16 he was the club's youngest player. When he retired from the game he was the club's oldest, and probably most accomplished. Karl had success in rugby the world over. He won three OUA championships with the University of Toronto Blues and he first made Canada's national team in 1985. He ended up being team captain of the national team for years and played in the first three Rugby World Cups in 1987, 1991, and 1995. He also played senior rugby for the Ajax Wanderers and attended the prestigious Oxford University in England at the dawn of professional rugby in 1996. I gleaned this information from research because for a decade or more of sharing week 5 coaching duties and sitting around campfires this understated superstar would rather play guitar and talk about fishing or that day's bike ride or swim than boast
Read more
Image
In the summer of 2019,  Blaine Scatcherd  was introducing himself at the opening meeting of week 5 and told the assembly of coaches that he worked as a counsellor at Olympia for 4 ¾ years. People who knew the story, including Dave Grace, roared with laughter at the self-effacing honesty Blaine showed when recounting an incident that may have been the worst in his career, yet a defining moment that changed him forever and made him a better teacher and coach, and a better person.    Blaine Scatcherd is from Ottawa, where he was coached in football at Glebe Collegiate Institute by Olympia coach Skip Riddell. He went on to play football at Acadia University and played professionally in France for 2 years before embarking on his teaching profession.   “Skip recommended to me in grade 11 that I work at Olympia as it was a great place for an athlete and would-be coach, so I applied to Olympia with Skip’s reference. I went down to Toronto for a group interview and thought I aced it. I didn’t g
Read more
Image
They say that a picture tells a thousand words. How about two pictures? In the writing of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp I got to interview a lot of people dedicated to Olympia and to the vision of Dave Grace. Out of this process I learned three things about the 50- year journey of the staff of Olympia: 1- Olympia inspires young people 2- Staff inspire others to do the same 3- Staff move on in their lives, carrying Olympia with them, while others replace  Staff like Randy Kipfer and Kevin O'Reilly This picture of Harlem Globetrotter Curly Neal with some amazing counsellors can be found in the book at the start of Chapter 6-Allies and Ogres . It captures an Olympia moment shared by good friends and a world-class basketball entertainer, but the insert is the key element of an Olympia journey that spans decades.  There are literally hundreds of stories of staff who have graced the lands of Interlaken. Every story is unique, every story is echoed th
Read more