Tony House is a coach for two U19 Ottawa Elite teams with the Ottawa Youth Basketball Academy (OYBA). He is also the Founder and Director of Canada Topflight Academy and will be coaching the men’s team in this coming season. House grew up in Nepean and played a large variety of sports growing up. “I started playing basketball at six years of age with the Nepean Amateur Basketball Association (NABA) and played competitive lacrosse with the Nepean Knights organization. I played some organized baseball and football, as well a lot of tennis growing up in the summer. I was always focused on basketball, especially in high school, our St. Pius X teams were always strong and was fortunate to win a Jr. and Sr. City Championship in the early 80’s. I attended my first Canadian National team training camp at 18 years of age and ended up getting recruited by a number of Canadian university programs. I ended up enrolling at the University of Manitoba, started for three years and led the Bison’s to a Final Four appearance and a #1 National ranking in 1986. During my university years, I received an invitation to try-out for the 1988 Canadian Olympic team.” House explains. House was inspired to start coaching by his amazing coaches, who sacrificed their time and were very positive influences in his life. His coaches really made a difference in his life growing up. House was also very inspired by his father, who coached for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the 60’s. “It’s in the bloodline.” House says. “I also think it’s a great way of giving back to the game that provided me with incredible memories and friendships, it’s a way to help youth achieve their goals in sports and in life.” added House. House says his favourite thing about coaching is the everyday challenges, “the rush of the competition – I actually think it keeps me young at heart, I draw a lot of energy from my players. It’s also a tremendous escape from the real world, no matter how my day is going I look forward to running a practice and getting together with ‘my guys’.” The most rewarding thing about coaching isn’t about the championships for House. He loves running into former players and hearing their stories and memories. “The most rewarding moment is just hearing ‘Thanks Coach!’.” says House. House says the biggest challenge of being a coach is “getting a total buy-in as a team, a coach must constantly work to earn and gain trust and confidence from the coaching staff, players and parent group. You need to invest a significant amount of time cultivating relationships. This can only be accomplished by showing you genuinely care about their development, not only as an athlete but as a person. Invest in all of your players and they will invest back and play hard for you.” Do you know of or are you a coach in the Ottawa area? HESN wants to hear from you, contact us at [email protected].
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