NEWS RELEASE
TIMMINS SELECTS BASKETBALL CLUB
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Timmins Selects Basketball Club was founded by Laurent Gilbert back in 2007. Since then, the club has grown to over 100 athletes. Timmins Selects was started to provide young athletes with the opportunity to play competitive Rep Basketball and bring much needed exposure to the players who might otherwise be at a disadvantage due to the remoteness of our community.
The club currently has eight rep teams starting from the U10 division all the way up to the U19 division, allowing both young girls and boys the chance to play basketball while learning important life skills on and off the court.
"Our U19 girls team is a very talented team. We have received a lot of attention from OUA (Ontario University Athletics) and OCAA (Ontario Colleges Athletic Association) teams over the last few years," said Club President and Head Coach Jamie Lamothe. "We have even had some OUA coaches approach some players from one of our U14 girls teams already."
"We have had conversations from schools like Algonquin College, St. Lawrence College, and university coaches from Lakehead, Laurentian, Nipissing, Ottawa, Queen’s and Waterloo."
"This past weekend, we received news that two of our U19 players, Amelie Bouchard and Jadyn Weltz, were selected to play for this summer's U17 Provincial Team," said Lamothe.
This is just one example of the exposure Timmins Selects Basketball provides it's athletes.
This recognition is not solely placed on one coach. It is truly a club-wide effort with the same goal in mind.
"We work very well as a club to help each other out. Often you will find coaches from various teams helping out at other team's practices. It is a great way to share knowledge and provide the players with a different voice."
"The bulk of that recognition goes to our coaches who put in the endless hours in the gym at the younger levels. Ted Weltz and Josee Belanger who started with the group Lamothe is now coaching, provided the fundamentals at an early age. "Without these two coaches dedicating their time to athletes at such an early age, I don't think we would have the success we are having now as a team."
Paul MacDonald is coaching a U11 team and Rick Cornell coaching a U11 team are two other coaches who are now developing young athletes who may have the potential to be the best Selects Teams the club has ever seen. Chris Saumur is another coach who started with a U10 boys team a few years back, and continues to coach that same group at the U13 level.
The Timmins Selects club gratefully acknowledges our provincially certified coaches who give so much of their time to developing our athletes and doing everything possible to help players receive recognition across the province and beyond. Josee Belanger, Tanneka Bierman - U14 Girls. Mark Lionello, Marcy McCarty - U14 girls. Jeff Monette - U15 girls. Mark Villars, Mitch Dumas and Megan Roy - U15 Boys.
Timmins Selects also runs Adult Men's and Women's leagues. The club also started beginner basketball leagues for grades 1 to 8 and have also brought back their Itty Bitty Ballers Program for children Kindergarten age and younger.
Over the years, Timmins Selects have helped develop athletes into CIS and OCAA caliber players. We are very proud to recognize the following athletes who had their start with Timmins Selects and have moved on to post-secondary teams as strong competitors and successful teammates.
Kayla Deschatelets - Laurentian University
Emma Weltz - Queen’s University
Brianna Dodd - Nipissing University
Desiree Groulx - Algonquin College
Arianna Gagnon - Algonquin College
Cassidy Sabourin - Sault College
Cassandra Desrosiers - Sault College
Kim Caron - Sault College
Skylar Cornell - Laurentian University/Canadore College
Christopher Lachapelle - Algonquin College
Ryan Basso - Ottawa University
Matt D'Alessandri - Bishops University
Andrew Vincent - Western University
Josh Budd - Ryerson/Laurentian University
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