2010-11 CWOSSA Classifications Released

The 2010-11 CWOSSA divisions were recently released.  You can check out the entire list on the official CWOSSA website.

Of note:

1.  There are again 17 "AAAA" schools, meaning that as it stands we will again see the "two pools of three teams" format for the AAAA championships.  According to CWOSSA regulations, 18 teams is the minimum requirement for an eight-team playoff.

1b.  Two Brantford schools remain in AAAA this coming year (St. John's and Assumption), meaning that the number of teams qualifying from each league would remain the same as this season.

2.  Schools that were re-classified down from AAAA include the "suburban" WCSSAA schools, Waterloo-Oxford and Elmira.

3.  Jacob Hespeler (1225 full-time equivalent students), North Park (1225), and Huron Heights (1195 but set to gain students previously bussed to PHS) are schools on the cusp of AAA & AAAA.  All will remain AAA this season. 

Rez's Bowden Wins Mike Moser Award

Don't do a double take at the title.......we're not talking about the WCSSAA MVP here.

Yesterday, Resurrection CSS senior team captain Melissa Bowden was named the female winner of the Mike Moser Scholarship Award, an award presented annually (since 1976) by the Kitchener-Waterloo Basketball Officials to one male and one female basketball player in the K-W area who have played at a high level, shown academic excellence and made contributions to the community.

"Melissa is very deserving of the recognition," said Rez senior girls coach Matt Kras, "she has been the team captain for the last two years on the Senior Girls basketball team at Resurrection, showing great dedication, a positive attitude and excellent sportsmanship in that time. She has been a member of the Athletic Council, a leader on Phoenix Friends and was awarded the Kitchener Youth Action Council award from the city, along with a YMCA Peace Medallion for her work with our school WAYVE team, dedicated to resolving conflict and injustices in our community."

The award is a $500 scholarship that is used towards the winner's post-secondary studies.  Melissa will be attending Wilfrid Laurier University in September to study Kinesiology.

Past recipients over the past handful of years have included Jack Fleming (CHCI), Rebecca Moss (BCI), Kyle Mack (WCI) and Teddi Firmi (GRCI).

WCSSAA: KCI's Darnell Simpson Heads to OCAA

KCI 5th Year Guard/Forward Darnell Simpson, who had a breakout season highlighted by a WCSSAA All-Star selection, has committed to attend St. Clair College (Sarnia/OCAA) next season.

He enjoyed a rebirth in 1 1/2 seasons at KCI (he transferred from Resurrection midway through grade 12).  Believe it or not, Simpson was actually cut from the Resurrection senior team in both grade 11 & 12, and as such was eligible to play immediately when he transferred to KCI last season.

He threw down a few ferocious dunks during league play and had to be among the league leaders in blocked shots.  However, he definitely improved his outside shooting (and all-around game in general) which caught the eye of a few colleges ---- including St. Clair and Mohawk among others.

All the best, Darnell!

Queen's University Lands 4 CWOSSA Grads in Recruiting Class

Last week, Queen's University women's basketball coach Dave Wilson announced his recruiting class for 2010.  Interestingly enough, he was able to wrestle four quality CWOSSA players out of Southwestern Ontario.

Please click here for the news release.

"This is one of the strongest recruiting classes in Queen's women's basketball history,” said Wilson. “We were looking at addressing three specific areas through our recruiting; improving our perimeter shooting skills, improving our perimeter ball handling/play-making capability, and adding some size/scoring punch to our post play. The (recruits) have allowed us to meet these goals."

Aside from Kingston local PG Liz Boag, all other recruits were members of CWOSSA schools --- and actually four members of the KW Lightning's Division I OBA champions.  They include:


Rachael Urosevic, 5'8" PG - Kitchener CI
Queens on Urosevic:   "Urosevic, a 5'8 guard who graduated from Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate, was the floor general for the Lightning's run to the OBA Championship. A knock-down three point shooter, she also possess excellent ball handling, passing and leadership skills. Aside from winning the OBA Championship, Urosevic has twice played in the OFSAA Championship, played for the renowned A-Game program for three years under coach Yaw Afful and was a member of U15 provincial team that won the national championship in 2006.  Urosevic was also just named as one of the participants in the 10th annual All-Canada Classic high school all-star game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto."

Lisa Minutillo, 5'9" G - Brantford North Park
Queens on Minutillo:  "The third guard to join the Gaels is Minutillo, who was a graduate of North Park Collegiate in Brantford. At 5'9", she is another outstanding three-point shooter whose knowledge of the game, combined with excellent court vision play-making capabilities will make her an instant asset to the Gaels. Last year, she was a tournament all-star at the Queen's Tindall Invitational Tournament."

Gemma Bullard, 5'10" G/F - Guelph JF Ross
Queens on Bullard:  "Bullard, a 5'10 forward from John F. Ross High School in Guelph, is a current member of England's U18 National Team that will compete at the European Division B Championships in Romania later this summer. She is described by Coach Wilson as a multi-dimensional player who can handle the ball, attack the basket and knock down shots from beyond the three-point arc."

Jordan Tomas, 6'0" F - Waterloo SJAM
Queens on Tomas:  "Tomas is a 6'0 post player from Sir John A. MacDonald High School in Waterloo. Coach Wilson describes her as having a tenacious competitive spirit that allows her to be an excellent rebounder that can finish around the hoop. Tomas joined Urosevic in capturing the 2006 U15 national championship where she was the team captain for Team Ontario. She has also been involved in both the Canada Basketball Centre of Performance program and the Ontario Performance Enhancement Program."


It will definitely be interesting to keep an eye on the Queen's program over the next few years.  Congratulations to all and best wishes for the future!

National Team: 4 Locals Earn Camp Bids

Four CWOSSA-area players have received invitations to tryouts for the Canadian National U18 and U17 teams respectively.

On the men's side, 6'4" Bluevale guard Stefan Cvrkalj is one of 17 invitees competing for a roster spot with the U18 squad (junior team).  The CWOSSA area has had some good representation on the U18 team in previous years, with Rob Dewar (NEDA via JF Ross) and Murphy Burnatowski (NEDA via SJAM) making last year's team.  The last players from an actual CWOSSA high school to crack the roster were Zach Nagtzaam (Southwood) and Jon House (Centennial) back in 2006-07.

The U18 team will be competing at the FIBA Americas tournament in San Antonio, Texas later this month.

The women's U18 team has 14 invitees for roster spots, and Forest Heights' 6'2" forward Jenn Lennox is one of them.  Lennox will be heading across the border to NCAA Division I school Canisius College in September.

The FIBA Americas U18 women's tournament kicks off in Colorado Springs, CO on June 23rd.

Meanwhile, the U17 girls roster has 28 selections for training camp.  Not surprisingly, the St. John's Green Eagles, the 2009 OFSAA AAAA champions, are well represented with two selections.  5'9" guard Kelly VanLeeuwen and 6'0" wing Kelly Polischuk are two of only 8 Ontarians slated to try out.

The FIBA women's world U17 championships are to take place in France come mid-July.

For full rosters, the following are links to Canada Basketball's website:

U18 Men

U18 Women

U17 Women

WCSSAA: Bluevale, SJAM Secure Other Local Heinbuch Bids

WCSSAA's loss is the D8's gain.

After it was previously revealed that Kitchener D8 high schools St. Mary's and Resurrection received Heinbuch bids, it has been brought to my attention that the other Waterloo Region schools that will play in the prestigious tournament are a pair of Waterloo schools --- and this past year's WCSSAA finalists --- Bluevale CI and SJAM.

In years previous, WCSSAA received 3 entries but this year it appears as though only 2 WCSSAA clubs will participate.  Now, this isn't to say that WCSSAA has dropped off (this past year, 50% of AAAA semifinalists in both junior & senior were WCSSAA schools); but the other WCSSAA contenders for a spot may have just fallen short.  I'm just guessing here, but I would think Southwood, who finished 5th in WCSSAA this past year with a young squad, likely just fell short in consideration. 

The Heinbuch has gained a reputation as one of the top early-season tournaments in all of Ontario.  Last year, all three OFSAA AAAA medalists participated in the tournament.

3 CWOSSA-Area Players Selected for National High School All-Star Game

How good is girls high school basketball in the CWOSSA region?

Well, if the three medals earned by CWOSSA clubs at OFSAA [Brantford St. John's (OFSAA AAAA Champions), Guelph Bishop Mac (OFSAA AA Champions), Kitchener Collegiate (OFSAA AAA Antique Bronze)] weren't enough, three CWOSSA-area players have been selected to participate in a national high school all-star game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto to take place on Monday, June 14th at 5pm.

The local selections include:

Shelby Kurt (6'1" G/F - Waterloo CI)

Natalie Achonwa (6'3" F - Hamilton St. Mary's via Guelph, ON)

Rachael Urosevic (5'8" G - Kitchener CI)

Full rosters can be found here.  Achonwa and Urosevic are on "team red", while Kurt is on "team white".

No CWOSSA-area boys players were selected for that game, which takes place following the girls game (7pm).

Proposed Boundary Changes May Affect Several WCSSAA Clubs

In an article in the Waterloo Region Record last week, it was noted that educational consultants have suggested that local high school boundaries be "reworked" ---- and have even suggested the construction of a new high school in west Kitchener.

Not surprisingly, one of the recommendations was to see all students within walking distance of Huron Heights SS in Kitchener attend HHHS.  Currently, the boundary is strict and some who could walk to Huron are instead bussed to Preston HS in Cambridge.

It is recommended that Preston, in turn, would receive students from the current (and expanding) Jacob Hespeler encatchment area.

Meanwhile, the basketball hotbed of West Kitchener (and Waterloo) may also see some changes.

Students residing in the Westvale neighbourhood of Waterloo (currently about 250 students) would go back to attending KCI instead of SJAM.  Some of you may recall that kids in that area went to KCI until the time that SJAM was opened.

The consultants' report also suggested the board think about building a brand-new high school in west Kitchener (current Forest Heights encatchment area) to accomodate future long-term growth in the area.  If you've been for a drive out Ottawa Street lately, as I was a few weeks back to attend a friend's housewarming, plenty of "growth" has already been evidenced.

This proposed "Trussler Heights High School" (thought I'd keep the "Heights" theme) wouldn't be for a few years at the earliest, if at all.

What does this all mean for WCSSAA basketball?

Well, once these changes are implemented (probably 2011-12 at earliest), you could see KCI and/or HHHS soon make the jump up to AAAA.  It is a matter of time (in my opinion) before we see HHHS hit that AAAA mark, especially with the growth in that area.  KCI is a different story; yes, they will be getting added students but one must keep in mind that their encatchment area is seeing declining enrolment --- so these "added students" will likely be offset to some degree by this.

Still a lot of discussions to take place and work to be done; nothing is "in stone" as of yet.  It will be something to keep an eye on anyways as the proposals progress.