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Playing tough, defensive basketball
may not always grab the limelight but there is little doubt that Lasalle
Lancers guard Amanda McDonald is well-recognized both among her peers
and around the province for her notable skills on the hard court.
Ironically, the 18 year
old Grade 12 student did not make the move to basketball until just a
few years before high-school, spending much of her youth with a vastly
different past-time. “I figure skated until Grade 7…that was always my
main sport until I started playing basketball,” acknowledged McDonald.
And while the two sports
might seem to be diametrically opposite, McDonald admits that there was
plenty from her on-ice passion that she was able to translate to the
gymnasium floor. “Definitely mental toughness and mental focus. I don’t
think I would be the basketball player I am today if I hadn’t figure
skated first,” she says.
Introduced to basketball
through coach Jodi Pakkala, who was at the helm of Amanda’s first
elementary team as well as her first Lakers club team, McDonald had
mixed results in her early days with the sport.
“I was always pretty
good on defense, that always came pretty naturally to me but I really
struggled with my shooting. I think that getting a big steal gives me
more momentum than hitting a big shot,” she adds.
Success came quickly to
McDonald and her teammates, something the well-spoken teen takes only
partial credit for. “I’ve always been lucky to play with really good
players so it helped me get better a lot quicker,” she admits. “I’ve
also had really good coaches all the way through…Jodi and Chris Pakkala
taught me a lot about the fundamentals.”
Growing up in Warren in
her youth, McDonald tagged along with her mother, a teacher at Churchill
Public, in getting her elementary education in town, eventually
following in the footsteps of her older brother, attending Lasalle
Secondary and playing basketball.
A member of the
Basketball Ontario Provincial Pool for a handful of seasons, McDonald
reaped the rewards of very challenging practice sessions as well as
gaining exposure to exhibition and tournament opponents both in Canada
and the U.S.
“The tougher competition
you play against and the better people you play with, the better you
get,” explains McDonald. And while Lasalle Secondary has more or less
dominated the senior girls basketball scene during McDonald’s tenure at
the New Sudbury school, it’s with little if any regrets that she leaves
her secondary school come June.
“All of my time at
Lasalle has been amazing – I really wouldn’t change anything,” she
admits. It certainly didn’t hurt that while success was abundant on the
court, the off-court chemistry that was present during much of the
Lancers reign played a big part in McDonald’s positive memories of the
era.
“I refer to that team as
the Dream Team sometimes, because that group of girls was like no other
group I’ve ever met. And getting to play with your best friends was
special,” she says.
“To get coached by Jenn
Bourget was such an opportunity. We were all just so close that
everything we did was fun, no matter if we won or lost.” A year ago this
time, Lasalle was in the midst of yet another run to OFSAA. But while
the on-court success continued as it always had, there were some
off-court health concerns that needed to be dealt with.
McDonald was diagnosed
with mononeucleosis just two days before OFSAA 2005 and while she
acknowledges that it did not play a huge part in the team’s performance
last November, the prolonged illness made graduating in June a near
impossibility. Wanting to focus on her education before leaving for
post-secondary studies, Amanda McDonald opted to return to Lasalle for a
fifth season, a decision made easier knowing that one more year of
Lancer basketball lie ahead.
“Getting a chance to be
coached by Mitch Lalonde made coming back much easier. I mean the more
styles of coaching that you get exposed to can only help, especially
leading into university,” stated McDonald.
A few weeks back, the
storied high-school career of the constantly-smiling Lancers guard came
to an end on a basketball court in Stratford as Lasalle fell in the
bronze medal game, finishing fourth in the province.
And as was the case last
year with Lisa Furchner, Katie Goggins and herself, many in the local
basketball fraternity are anxious to find out on which home court
McDonald will next display her talents. With complete honestly, she
remains undecided at this time.
“I just want to find the
right school, no matter where it is – the door is totally open.”
While she has written
her SATs, McDonald says she has no real preference at this point about
playing in Canada or the United States. Either way, it’s extremely
unlikely that this will be the last we hear of Amanda McDonald on the
basketball court.
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