High school basketball players from Sault Ste. Marie meet Toronto Raptors star
CBC
It was a field trip that students in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., will never forget.
A group of high school basketball players there had the chance to meet Toronto Raptors star forward RJ Barrett at a recent game in Toronto.
The kids are part of the Algoma District School Board’s Alliance Academy, a program which allows students in Grades 9 and 10 to earn a high school credit through basketball and other sports.
Nearly 50 players from Korah Collegiate, Superior Heights and White Pines bussed down for the game on Dec. 2.
Jeff Giovanatti, a vice-principal at Central Algoma Secondary School, previously coached Barrett on Team Ontario and in national team programming several years back and connected him with the academy.
Following the final buzzer of the game last week, students headed down to courtside for a meet-and-greet with Barrett.
Barrett chatted with the students about their basketball ambitions, and they took lots of selfies and high-fives.
As a big Raptors fan, Korah student Tyler Macintosh was blown away by the experience.
“It was amazing. I never thought I’d meet him or any NBA player,” he said.
For Superior Heights student Eva Robinson, it was the first Raptors game she had ever attended.
“This was definitely the best trip I’ve taken,” she said. “I actually didn’t know we were going to meet RJ Barrett. Looking at my own gameplay and looking to see how they’re playing was great.”
The local students are part of a growing Alliance Academy in the Sault.
The program has expanded from the Algoma District School Board’s Hockey Canada Skills Academy, which began in 2018, and has extended to four other sports: basketball, football, soccer and mixed martial arts.
Nearly 250 students across the city’s three public high schools spend their mornings developing skills in their respective sports.
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