At ages 17 and 16, respectively, Nylija Pascal and Luke Vandersar stand out not just for their height but by the determined focus on their goals.
Pascal and Vandersar are members of the Bradford Bucs, the Bradford District High School’s senior boys AAA basketball team that defeated Barrie’s St. Peter's Catholic Secondary School Panthers in the recent Georgian Bay Secondary School Association championship. That secured them a spot at last week’s Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships in Stoney Creek, where they lost in the quarterfinals to Toronto school and eventual gold medallists Oakwood Collegiate Institute.
Pascal, who lives in Bradford, and Vandersar, a lifelong resident of Bond Head, also play for the Simcoe United Spartans. And both are keeping their eye on the ball with plans of joining summer programs so they can work on their game and get their names out their as they pursue their hoop dreams.
At six-feet, three-inches tall, Vandersar is a point guard. Even though basketball has been a constant throughout his life, it’s become more of a singular focus for him of late as he concentrates more on his shooting and playmaking ability during practices.
“For the last couple of years I’ve kind of considered taking basketball as a profession, maybe take it a little more seriously than just playing rep and in school,” he said during an interview in the school gym. “For the last two summers I’ve been really focusing on training, putting in the work, trying to get noticed.
“Going to the (United) States really does help to get your name out there since we live in Canada, since the States is predominately known for basketball, more than Canada.”
He sees being a team leader and controlling the pace of the game equally important as shooting. While he trains three or four times per week, he tries to play every day.
He joined the Spartans last summer which allowed him to travel to places like Ohio and Burlington. He also had a successful season playing in tournaments in the Greater Toronto Area during the winter.
But he recognizes the important role grades can play as he prepares to head into his final high school year. Last year, he managed to secure a spot on the school’s honour roll. He’d like to be recruited by an American college and continue playing basketball and knows his marks will make a difference.
He expects to play in seven tournaments this summer in the U.S. with Vaughan-based team, Red Rush.
Pascal, 17, is six-feet, one-inch tall and plays either point or shooting guard. He started playing basketball at age four while living in Scarborough.
He works out with the Spartans for two hours three times per week and spends additional time improving his fitness. He also goes to the local recreation centre almost daily to work on his shot. But harnessing the mental game is what consumes a lot of his effort.
“I usually work on facilitating the floor, finding the open person and making the right read,” he explains.
There were also early morning practices with the school team. The idea, he adds, is to outwork the other teams they face on the court.
He too plans to join a team this summer that will allow him to get experience playing in the U.S. and getting his name out.
His passion is definitely basketball, but he also has his eye on post-secondary education, perhaps studying kinesiology. But he hasn’t shut the door on other opportunities. Having completed a co-op in welding, he sees the trades as another option.
Playing and succeeding is the overall goal — they didn’t medal at OFSAA after losing out to the top-ranked team, but they’re happy with their performance and figure they’re well placed for success next year. It was the overall experience and team dynamics that Pascal and Vandersar cherished.
“We booked a hotel in Hamilton and just sharing a room with my teammates was super enjoyable, it really brought us together more,” says Pascal. “If you bring up your team mentally, they perform physically.”
“I think being me and Nylija’s first time going to OFSAA that we had an exciting and enjoyable experience being able to play high-level basketball and connecting closer to our teammates,” adds Vandersar.
The common goal of a team, adds Vandersar, helps in the collective effort to do better and succeed.
But there’s more to it than then that. Having the experience of changing teams or joining a new one every summer, Vandersar feels it important to be inclusive. Leadership, he adds, means reaching out to the other players and uniting them so they feel like equal members of the team.
Bucs’ coach Kate Walker says Vandersar and Pascal exemplify leadership in their pursuit of the game.
“They’re good at what they do, they’re good at basketball and they live it,” she says.
Both plan to return to the high school team next year as experienced seniors, joining several others who are expected to return. Walker sees other Grade 10 players moving up to round out the team next year.
“We have a very strong returning team,” says the coach already preparing for next season.
