Making each other better

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This article was published 28/10/2021 (1488 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

How do you assemble the ingredients of a championship contender during a pandemic?

Members of the University of Winnipeg women’s basketball team first tackled the issue during Zoom calls while their sport was in shutdown: Old teammates got reacquainted and newbies took tentative first steps in the new surroundings.

When gyms reopened, the opportunities for getting together and real basketball development took off.

That’s also when the vague idea of winning the program’s first national title in almost 30 years — bolstered by the additions of forward Keylyn Filewich and guard Kyanna Giles, a pair of all-Canadians via transfer from other schools — became something to believe in.

With this bunch, winning at U Sports title has become a concept to be embraced and talked about proudly.

“I feel like we all have a common goal, right?” says fifth-year forward Faith Hezekiah, whose squad opens its Canada West regular-season schedule Friday night in Regina against the Cougars. “We all know where we want to be at the end of the season and we’re very clear about it. I feel like not all teams are very clear that, ‘Hey, we want to do this and these are the steps we need to take to do this.’ “

While the path to a national title will be settled in Kingston, Ont., next March, there are many intermediate steps along the way. After going 7-0 in non-conference games (with double-digit margins of victory in all but one game) and earning top spot in the conference’s pre-season coaches’ poll, the Wesmen have a reduced 16-game conference schedule in which to build their case for a trip to nationals.

And they’re not planning to coast on their talent.

“We’ve had team meetings where we sit down and say, ‘What are the little steps we need to take? We need to look after each other. We need to hold each other accountable,'” says Hezekiah. “And we actually do it if we’re having a lazy practice. Maybe some people who have low energy or aren’t fully there, we’ll call each other out. It’s not just coach doing it. It’s each teammate individually calling each other out…

“I’ve been called out, too. It happens all the time.”

Third-year forward Mik Funk admits she had some trepidation about fitting in this fall. While her teammates were bonding and working out in Winnipeg during the off-season, she was at home in Winkler trying to get her game in shape as best she could.

“I am usually very shy and not outspoken at all,” says Funk, reminded of the weekly online group-building activities she had been a part of. “This year it’s felt very different. I feel comfortable talking to people and being outspoken.”

Rookie guard Marty Uwambajimana has also found a comfort level, despite being one of the new kids on the block.

The 20-year-old, who moved to Canada from Tanzania with her parents and seven siblings in 2007, recalls head coach Tanya McKay talking frequently during the recruiting process about building a national championship team.

At 5-3, she’s the team’s smallest player but her lightning quick feet and hands have quickly become a big asset off the bench.

“At the beginning I was intimidated by the older players and all the skill they had,” says Uwambajimana. “But coach was very motivating. I just eventually thought, ‘OK, this is just a great opportunity for myself to get better and to learn from these kids because when am I gonna get a chance like this again to have all-star all-Canadian players on my team? I turned that intimidation into motivation.”

Wesmen players are also learning to co-exist in ways that might, in some circumstances, create discomfort.

“We know that anything we say to each other on the court is not personal,” says Hezekiah. “It’s just to make our team better, to make each other better. So, if somebody said something to me, I would try my best not to come in a defensive manner. I mean, I would say, ‘OK, I understand why you’re saying this. You’re trying to make me better.’ I would try and rise to the challenge.”

Meanwhile, Giles not only has a superior skill set but is someone McKay can rely upon for her detailed knowledge of rival players and teams.

The Sisler High School grad is well-prepared and not afraid to be a coach on the floor.

“It’s just learning about each other, right?” says Hezekiah. “(Kyanna) has a tone of voice that she speaks in when she’s on the court. It’s very intense, but she’s not angry. She’s not trying to get under your skin. Her voice just sounds like that.”

Returning to her hometown to play and go to school has been rewarding for Giles, who skipped the 2019-20 season to rehab after a major knee injury and then lost 2020-21 to the pandemic.

The payoff has come on the court.

“After not playing for two years and then joining a new team with so many different other elements coming in, I thought that our chemistry and working together wasn’t going to be as smooth as it is already,” says Giles. “I played with Keylyn and Faith before in what was it — (a provincial team in) Grade 10? And it feels the same, if not even better.”

Giles appreciates how teammates from diverse backgrounds have come together. Although she was born in Winnipeg, her dad is Jamaican and her mom has roots in Barbados.

Hezekiah was born in Nigeria, moving to Canada as an eight-year-oldm while forward Jillian Duncan has Jamaican heritage.

“(We have) people that are from Winnipeg, born and raised in the south end, and some people that are not, and you wouldn’t be able to tell that that’s what it is,” says Giles. “In practice, we’re all so happy. We all get along, like we’ve known each other for more than 12 months. So it says a lot.”

Could this interesting combination of personalities come together to win a national title? Giles, whose best previous finish was a bronze medal with Regina in 2018, is hopeful.

“It’s hard to win one, trust me,” she says. “I’ve been to the tournament three years in a row and it takes dedication, hard work, chemistry… everything.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14