Ottawa BlackJacks President's Newsletter: Volume 1, Issue 5

Welcome to the fifth edition of the President’s Letter and the Ottawa BlackJacks of the CEBL, Canada’s largest professional men’s basketball league! This President’s Letter is aimed at keeping our supporters in touch with noteworthy events and news that we follow closely each and every day. Feel free to share any comments you may have positive or constructive otherwise. So without further ado, let’s dive into the fifth edition of the OBJ President’s Letter.

BlackJacks 2024 Season Celebration: Thanks to all who were able to attend our Season Seat Member Watch Party at Jack Astor’s on a snowy Thursday evening in December. I was able to connect with a number of existing supporters and old friends. We had great fun with our free throw shooting contest in our newly-renovated mini basketball cage. Our team is working on ways to make our in-game experience more interactive and to that end we tested our “Check In to Win” mobile phone application as well as a trivia contest on the same platform. There is still some work required to iron out the kinks however feedback was constructive and positive. During the game, Sean Stoqua’s Oklahoma City Thunder thrashed the Raptors and fortunately I was adorned in a Thunder t-shirt courtesy of Sean’s parents Pat and Elizabeth Stoqua (see photo below with Pat and OBJ GM James Derouin).  We are also proud to share that Pat Stoqua will be inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame this coming May - an honour well deserved !  Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame   Stay tuned for more events in the new year including our NCAA March Madness event on Thursday and Friday during the first week of the tournament - your participation and input with this event will go a long way in helping us improve future events.

Carleton’s Rob Smart’s Global Basketball Journey: Most of our readers will likely associate Rob with the Ravens Men’s Basketball program as a player in the early 2000s, as head coach of Carleton’s 2016 national championship team and as a long-time Ravens assistant coach. Some may also know that Rob is an accomplished Professor in Carleton’s Sprott School of Business. In that capacity, Rob has organized and led several delegations to places including Longido, Tanzania where a team of business students helped build an underground irrigation system and facilitate financial literacy workshops. 

Future plans are underway for building a basketball court, potentially in partnership with Buckets and Borders, run by Justin Lee. The projects include “Courts for Change” where Sprott students and Carleton varsity athletes collaborate with the communities of Masset in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia and Mayo, Yukon to co-create sport and wellness programs for community youth, work with high school basketball teams to explore how art and elite sport training can support student-athlete development, develop a Girls in Sport Mentorship program, build a high performance basketball program in Mayo and explore innovative products and programs which support health and sustainable food systems. As Rob highlights,  “Our program has  been fortunate to build connections with some incredible communities in Tanzania, Mayo, and Haida Gwaii. The projects we work on change every year to meet the needs of the communities involved and the interests of the project team members. Students have an opportunity to travel, learn, and build real world connections.”  Congratulations to Rob and his team on these initiatives.



National Capital Hoops Circuit Invitational:  We were grateful to be invited to take part in the ceremonial tip-off for this tournament that took place at uOttawa run by ONL Executive Directors Jeff Wilson and Andrew DiMillo. The National Capital Hoops Circuit (NCHC) is in its inaugural season this year and has been established to provide a platform for teams from across Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec to participate in local high-level competitions. The circuit has teams from Kingston, Brockville, Renfrew, Gatineau and Ottawa participating and the first session was hosted recently by Renfrew Prep in Renfrew and was a great success. The BlackJacks were invited for the second session and we thank coaches Wilson and DiMillo for the invitation to participate.

Hoopsfest Ottawa Wheelchair Basketball:  The BlackJacks were honored to be included in the festivities at La Cite College, participating in a Hoopfest, a wheelchair basketball tournament in which our own Josh Figueredo won the free throw shooting contest.

Annual OC-Transpo Basketball Events:  Another solid initiative put together by our good friend Guled Aden with games at Lester B. Pearson where we caught up with former Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s basketball star and current Athletic Director Sarah Morris. Below is a photo that includes another fantastic supporter of BlackJacks basketball, Stephanie Plante, who refereed the game.

Post-Secondary Update: All four Ottawa-based USPORTS teams remain ranked in the most recent top 10 Coaches Poll (as of Jan. 27) with Dani Sinclair’s Carleton Ravens women ranked No. 1 in the country and Rose Joly’s Ottawa Gee-Gees No. 5. On the men’s side, Ottawa is at No. 5 and Carleton at No. 8. The Region anxiously awaits this coming Friday’s Capital Hoops Classic here at TD Place Arena.  The Gee-Gees women look to avenge an 81-59 loss at Carleton in early December - that was just Ottawa’s second loss of the season. In the men’s game, Taffe Charles’ crew aims to bounce back after the Ottawa men overcame an early deficit to defeat the Ravens - both games were played in front of a sold-out crowd at the Raven’s Nest. Both teams are coming off important, character wins over highly-ranked Queen’s Gaels contingents this past weekend …  For the first time in my memory, the No. 1 ranked teams in both women’s post secondary basketball leagues (USPORTS and CCAA) are situated in the Nation’s Capital. Jaime McLean’s Algonquin women’s Wolves earned that honour recently and have played the home portion of their OCAA schedule with a perfect 12-0 regular season record to date. Coach McLean honoured nine graduates on Senior’s Night this past Friday at home including Madison Robert - 2018-2020, 2021-2025 (5th year), Meaghan McNamara - 2019-2020, 2023-2025 (4th Year), Sydney Moore - 2021-2025 (5th Year), Dasia McDonald - 2021-2025 (4th Year), Siena Lesaux - 2021-2025 - (4th Year), Libby Hirst - 2021-2025 (4th Year), Jade Lyons - 2021-2025 (two year player, two year manager), Piper Hatherall - 2022-2025 (3rd Year) and Chloe Lapointe - 2022-2025 (3rd Year). The Wolves men’s team sits at 10-6 after a Senior’s Night win over George Brown including a sweep of cross-town rivals La Cite. Coach Trevor Costello honored his graduating seniors with a classy ceremony Wolves Earn 10th Win on Senior Night. With regard to the Coyotes men, I had a nice conversation with Head Coach Namoury Kone who is rebuilding the Coyotes. While the group dealt with some injuries and are 3-13 on the season after Saturday night’s victory over George Brown at home, Kone is optimistic with several young players including six with roots in Africa. La Cite’s top players include 5'11” point guard Cederic Habakurama (12.9 ppg), Aziz Diaby (6'7” Forward), Ricardo Jeanty (6'2” Guard) and Ahmed Sangaré (6'3” Forward) - their best three point shooter.  With six players scheduled to graduate, Kone will continue to build for the future.

St.FX Alumni/Coach Steve Konchalski Event: Now that the 2025 CEBL schedule has been released, plans are being made to celebrate some of the wonderful achievements in Ottawa basketball.  The Nation’s Capital is home to a long lineage of St. FX alumni including numerous basketball players and coaches, none more notable than legendary head coach Steve Konchalski, who spent multiple summers here in Ottawa with our National team program working with Jack Donohue, who spent 16 years as Canada’s head coach. The Donohue family hosted Coach Konchalski during many of those summers and Ottawa serves as a special place in the coach's basketball career. To that end, the BlackJacks will honor Coach Konchalski on Saturday, Aug.2 with a series of events planned that include St. FX alumni and the Donohue family. The BlackJacks host the Calgary Surge on that day - Coach K is now a Special Advisor to Calgary. Stay tuned for more information however Aug. 2 promises to be a wonderful celebration honouring one of Canada’s greatest coaches and contributors to basketball.

Black Legacy Celebration: Now that we have entered Black History Month, it is with great pleasure that we share that the BlackJacks have been working closely with community contributors including Chanda Jones from Future Paths Network, on the planning to host Black Legacy Night on Thursday, July 17 at TD Place Arena when the BlackJacks host the Edmonton Stingers. The evening is designed to highlight Black Entrepreneurship, culture and impactful members of the black community. The night will feature a special presentation to Makur Shayok, the patriarch of the Shayok family. Makur’s story of immigrating to Canada, building a family and his involvement in the Nation’s Capital basketball community is inspirational and needs to be told. Makur has been a basketball community stalwart since arriving in Canada in the mid-1990s with three of his children going on to successful post-secondary basketball careers including the Nation’s Capital first and only player thus far to play in the NBA - Marial Shayok. We will share more as the date approaches.

School Day Game: In an effort to engage our younger fans, the BlackJacks will be hosting our inaugural School Day Game on Wednesday, May 14 at TD Place Arena in partnership with Prezdential. We will follow up with more information however there is strong interest in this event. Josh Figueredo ([email protected]), our Director of Ticket Sales & Services is the point person for this event.