"Inspirational Stories"
Wayne Dawkins is a Canadian basketball coaching pioneer. Immigrating from Jamaica as a young child before settling in Alberta and then moving to Toronto and being recruited by Eastern Michigan. Over his life, he’s helped 100s of young men and women receive scholarships and has built a school for young children in his home country of Jamaica. We thank him immensely for sitting down with us at The Jaleel Sobers Show.
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10 years ago, inspired by my work in the community, Canada’s #1 children’s author Eric Walters collaborated with Johnnie Williams
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As Evan Pellerin approaches the final stretch of his 15-year basketball career, and looks back on his journey-the highs, the
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Spending months away from home is the sacrifice most professional basketball players have to make to live their dreams. This
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When Shaquille Keith hits a basketball court, he is transformed from the reserved young man who enjoys writing poems, and
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A young Ta’Quan Zimmerman catches the basketball as it is passed to him on a basketball court in his hometown
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Ta’Quan Zimmerman didn’t have an easy life, so he didn’t expect his quest for a professional basketball career to be
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Basketball coach Tim Notke once said, “hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard,” and it is by these
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Basketball was just a fun pastime activity for Ashton Khan. Playing the game with his older brother and friends on
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A great woman is one who can motivate other women to perform to their full potential, whether it be in
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The basketball court is where many female professional athletes call their workplace, but the legitimacy of their work is overshadowed because of their gender. The sudden loss of ambassadors to the women’s game, Kobe and Gianna Bryant has been a crushing blow on so many levels. For women’s basketball the hopes is their legacy will continue to propel the talent of the athletes and the work of those trying to elevate the women’s game forward until equal footing has been achieved.
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In many cultures, it’s believed that a name connects you to your past and can predict your future. For Wumi Agunbiade (given name Omawumi), the latter would seem to be the case. The name ‘Omawumi’ literally translates to ‘a lover of children’, and what better name could there be for a woman who spends her life enlightening and empowering young women?
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Things were very different for a young Canadian baller trying to get to the NCAA in the 80’s and early 90’s. This was just before things began to erupt into what we see today. The path to the NCAA dream did not come with the proven roadmap that exists now and hoards of successful basketball peers to guide the way.
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Bobby defined our era of basketball. How we were taught to play by our peers, dictated by the tough, no- blood-no-foul style being played in the NBA. It was a time of psychological and physical basketball warfare.
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Serena Williams triumphant return to the upper echelon of professional tennis after having her daughter had us all in awe. It also reminded me of the responsibility to provide girls and boys with as many strong female role models as possible, in order to assist in bringing equality to women in sports.
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Despite only being 28 years old Chenel’s has seen many of her peers leave collegiate coaching and pursue alternative careers. Chenel has set herself apart because she has managed to find balance within the unbalance of coaching at such a demanding level.
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P.H.A.S.E. 1 is inviting you to support the 2019 All Canada Classic Alumni Charity Game on August 11, 2019 (11am Women’s
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The All Canada Classic (a.k.a. the Rumble in the T-Dot) National High School All-Star Basketball Celebration run by P.H.A.S.E. 1 still stands as Canada’s 1st and longest run national high school all-star game. From 2001-2012, the All Canada Classic consistently featured the biggest names in Canadian boy’s and girl’s high school basketball under the same roof
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At that moment I turned on the television to TSN and my life would change for ever. The broadcasters were talking about Toronto’s Metro All Star Basketball Game and the dunk competition was being being aired. The favorite in the competition was Philip Dixon from Bathurst Heights CI and he was in a heated battle with Everton Shakespeare from George Harvey CI, Wayne ‘Fridge” Robinson from Runnymede CI, and few more Toronto’s high school skywalkers.
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The team representing Canada was made up of players from Jane & Finch, Rexdale, Regent Park and Jungle as well as a few ballers from Markham and Southern Ontario. These fearless warriors, who had never been further than the east coast of North America, battled for Canada winning the silver medal. They defeated both the Argentinian and Polish National Teams before losing a close battle to a U.S.A. Jr. National Team lead by Carmelo Anthony, Sheldon Williams, Juwad Williams and 4 other high school All Americans.
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The original Canadian AAU basketball founders and alumni have since been responsible for constructing a clear pipeline for Canadian basketball talent to flood into the United States prep, college and professional ranks. Resulting in over a billion dollars flowing directly back to Canadian families and communities.
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The groundswell of energy from the older generation of Canadian basketball pioneers and long time Toronto Raptors fans is a byproduct of being forced into a forbidden love affair with basketball because hockey was the bride chosen for us.
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I am very proud of the group of talented women out of Toronto Canada, who accepted the challenge of becoming
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It has been 7yrs since P.H.A.S.E.1 ran a basketball program in Canada but we are extremely proud that 25 of
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Coming from another country to a big city is a challenge for most people. For the Raptor players many of them had never even been to Canada before. They would have to figuring out not only their new team but everyday life in Toronto as well. Knowing this I was convinced I would soon start seeing our local NBA stars on our hottest barber strip, Eglinton West, for a crash course on Toronto culture.
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The Rising Stars Showcase for middle school and high school underclassmen boys and girls was introduced in 2002 and as a key component of the All Canada Classic, it identified and rallied around the young players who would become the future of Canadian basketball.
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Like so many of the top ballers in Malton at the time, Jerome’s family came from Jane and Finch in hopes of finding a better place to raise their children. That migration brought together an amazing talent pool of young ballers equipped with the hunger of “the hood” and filled with the passion to become great.
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Andrew Hunter former Greater Toronto Area (GTA) All Star from Jean Vanier Catholic High School, in Scarborough, Ontario, had the honor, very few players get, representing Canada in 40 different countries over a span of a 10 year professional career.
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Thank you to all the teachers and administration at West Hill for the commitment to the success of these student athletes. A culture of excellence is not by accident but by design and together we can be proud of the legacy that was created.
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The last time Emerson Jay Murray from Vancouver, Canada and I crossed paths he was a part of the greatest assembly of high school talent in Canadian Basketball history.
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Chris could have easily become complacent in his early journey to becoming the 1st Canadian head coach of a men’s NCAA team.
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A year later after seeing Denham’s picture in the newspaper as a Toronto Star All-Star, wearing the Kobe’s and being guarded by Toronto Raptors Tracy McGrady, Nike Canada unloaded enough product on us to clothe a small community, not to mention the exclusive Air Jordan’s that used to mysteriously appear in my garage for him.
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From an early age he understood that people easily identified with popular logos and symbols used as trademarks. Whether it is an association like the NBA (who’s logo is the silhouette of Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West), or a company like Nike, people identify with a brand on their chest. That symbol essentially becomes a representation of their persona. To him, that was a powerful idea.
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It’s that camaraderie that allowed Alice and the rest of the team to spearhead the fundraising initiative to pay for the backboard shattered by Tristan Martin in the 2003 All Canada Classic – Dunk Contest at the Centennial College, Scarborough ON.
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As leader of my organization my responsibility is to the history of our thousands of alumni. I do hope many of P.H.A.S.E. 1’s alumni will be included in Basketball Canada’s one day however until then, these stories about our Elite 1’s will hold their place in history.
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Canadian basketball fans will always appreciate Vince Carter as the most popular “Air Canada” anyone knows. But for many of us Canadians on the ball scene, we had an actual Canadian “Air Canada” years before.
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Though Smith says he was naturally talented at both sports, he remembers watching the older kids on the basketball courts around his neighborhood for months. But he built up the courage and was able to join into the games and eventually hold is own.
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It would do no good to sit around and join in with those complaining about not being recognized or relevant anymore. Those looking at Canada Basketball’s hall of fame and keep getting upset because individuals or organization from their community are not being recognized. Or listen to the media try and convince the world the explosion of Canadian basketball started with the Toronto Raptors and Vince Carter.
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Sports for me started at an early age. During elementary school, as the seasons changed, I changed sports, mostly school yard pick up, football, basketball, soccer baseball (kickball), whatever sport was being played, I played it.
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I attended a 1 year Sports Leadership College Program and played on the women’s varsity Basketball Team where I earned a role on the team as a walk-on player and ended the year with the Females Academic Athletic award.
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It was less than 30 years ago in 1989 when one of Canada’s greatest high school player’s was the only Greater Toronto Area (GTA) representative on the Canadian Jr. National Team headed to Uruguay.
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