Monday, June 13, 2011

Women's Basketball - Update

Hi Folks,

Long overdue for this newsletter – so much happening, I have not had time to write about it.

Two key recruits have been added to our roster: Emma Stallwood and Jill Siemieniuk.

Jill, a member of the 2011 Alberta Provincial team, is a native of Calgary and stands 5-11 tall. A fierce competitor, Jill has developed a wide-range of skills, both in the paint and on the perimeter. A product of Western Canada High School (as is current player Sydney Kernahan), Jill is capable of handling the ball, shooting the 3 and posting up inside. Combined with her ability to crash the boards, she will be an instant asset to our program.

Emma hails from Hamilton, where she played at Westdale HS. At 5-11, Emma has great instincts around the hoop, using a long wing-span to grab rebounds. Also an accomplished 3-point shooter, she is capable of extending defenses, and then attacking hard off the dribble. Emma has demonstrated the ability to pick up and assimilate information quickly – something that will advance her game rapidly.

The OUA East/West All-Star game was last month in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. in conjunction with the OBA Championships. Three players from Queen’s were selected to play: Brittany Moore as a first-team All-Star, and Liz Boag & Gemma Bullard as members of the All-Rookie team. Unfortunately Britt was unable to make the game (away on vacation), but both Gemma and Liz played very well in a closely contested game. The West came away with a 4 point win before a good-sized crowd at RIM park.

Claire Meadows, having completed a season of video analysis with us, is off to the University of Victoria for the next two summers to complete her Master’s in Coaching. In addition to her schooling she will be gaining some valuable experience working out west during the CIS season. She is expected to return to the Gaels coaching staff for the 2012-13 season.

Former player, Sarah Barnes (2005-2008) will become the second Q’s player to work for Canada Basketball. (Erin McDiarmid, 1999-2004 spent many summers with Canada Basketball) Barnesy will be the manager for the U19 team that has qualified for the World Championships to be held in Chile in July.

We have added another home exhibition game (versus Concordia U) on Saturday, October 29th, are still putting the final touches on a road trip into Northern New York State the following weekend, and plans for a “tropical” training camp post-Christmas are still in the works. Hope to have all of this finalized in the very near future.

That’s it for now.

Cheers,

Dave.
Dave Wilson
Head Coach, Women's Basketball
Office 404 K
Athletics & Recreation Centre
Queen's University
284 Earl Street
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6
613-533-6317 phone
613-533-6324 fax
dave.wilson@queensu.ca
www.queensbasketball.net
Donate to Women's Basketball at: www.givetoqueens.ca/womensbasketball
Celebrating 100 Years of Tradition and Success (1910-2010)

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Recruits 2011

I am pleased to announce to the blogging world, our recruiting class (to date) for the 2011-12 season.

The most local of the athletes is Tyler Scheerhoorn, a 6'6" member of the Cobourg Breakers Volleyball Club and the OFSAA 'A' Quinte Christian High School. Scheerhoorn is a member of the Ontario Provincial Team and was recently recognized as the Ken Davies Memorial Awards winner by Ontario Volleyball. Scheerhoorn is enrolled in the Honours Physical Education program.

Joining Scheerhoorn in the middle will be 6'7" Scott Brunet of Calgary. Brunet has a long family tradition of coming to Queen's and is a great acquisition for the Gaels. A graduate of the Division 1 City Champion - Western Canada High High School and the Calgary Canuck Club, Brunet is a member of the Alberta Provincial Team and was recently named the Alan Taylor Award winner as the top male volleyball player in Calgary. Brunet will study Kinesiology.

Also from the west is 6'2" outside hitter and defensive stand-out, Matt Bonshor. A graduate of AAA Provincial (BC) Champion Semiahmoo High School in Surrey, British Columbia. Bonshor captained the Fraser Valley Volleyball Club team, which finished 4th at the 18U National Championships this year and he is also a leader in the the BC Provincial Team. Bonshor enters the honours Arts and Science program at Queen's.

Aaron Nusbaum, a graduate of Dr. G.W. Williams, will join the Gaels as an outside hitter as well. A member of the 18U National Champion Crush team, Aaron can play on either antenna. He and his partner Grant O'Gorman (high school) enter the 19U World Championships this summer in Croatia as both Canada #1 and the second seed in the event. Nusbaum will study Business/Economics

Rounding out the group is 6'5" lefty, Mike Tomlinson. A graduate of Stratford Central Secondary School, the Forest City Volleyball Club and the Ontario Provincial Team, Tomlinson was recently honoured as the top male athlete in Stratford. Tomlinson will study Engineering at Queen's.

As you can imagine, we are thrilled with the recruiting class! We were looking for both size and speed in the middle, ball control on the outside and a big banger for the rightside and that is exactly what we got!

With hosting the CIS National Championship in Men's Volleyball at Queen's - March 2-4, 2012 and a berth already secured, this is an exciting time to be a part of Men's Volleyball at Queen's and I am very grateful for the support our administration is providing us to make all this happen.