The Ottawa Islamic School basketball team is finding success even though every game it plays is an away game, Martin Cleary reports.
By Martin Cleary, The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, January 09, 2009
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Ottawa Islamic School's Ibraheem Elmi drives past Ashbury's Matt McLean for a basket during yesterday's game at St. Joseph Catholic School. Elmi finished the game with 22 points.
Photograph by: Jean Levac, The Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Citizen |
The Ottawa Islamic School senior boys basketball team is taking a unique, but fulfilling approach to playing one of the top-ranked high school sports in Ottawa.
When second-year coach Abdullaah Smith went looking for players at the 20-year-old private school with 420 students between kindergarten and Grade 12, he didn't have far to go: actually, to two classrooms only. He just had one Grade 11 class and one Grade 12 class in which to find candidates for his team, which amounted to a total of 24 eligible male students.
However, despite having a roster of players with varying abilities, practising in a small elementary school-size gymnasium and not playing other Ottawa high schools in the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association league, the Ottawa Islamic team without a nickname has found a way to drive to the hoop of success.
"I wanted to call the team Usud, which means 'Lions' in Arabic," Smith, a phys-ed teacher, said yesterday.
"But a lot of the players didn't like it. They wanted an English name."
The Ottawa Islamic senior boys' basketball team specializes in exhibition games and tournaments while the school considers becoming an
NCSSAA member in the future, which would make its teams eligible for Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association championships.
Last night, Ottawa Islamic began its first tournament of the season, the Jaguar Classic 2009, carrying the confidence from a 2-1 exhibition record against NCSSAA schools. It won against the Hillcrest Hawks, in overtime, and Merivale Marauders, but lost in extra time to the St. Pius X X-Men.
Last night, Mohammed Yousef had 23 points, including four three-pointers, and Ibraheem Elmi added 22 as Ottawa Islamic defeated the Ashbury Colts 66-62 in overtime in the first of its three round-robin games.
Ottawa Islamic plans to play a 10- to 15-game season, which also includes the Panther Classic tournament in Petawawa.
Smith, a recent convert to Islam, played football for 13 years, including two as a wide receiver with the Ottawa Sooners. He had plenty of interest from a small group of boys about form a senior basketball team, but, with only the total of 24 boys available, it still was surprising to see half of them with the talent to make the basketball team.
"We don't have many games or practices, but the chemistry is there," said Yousef, who switched to the alternative school this year from A.Y. Jackson Secondary School in Kanata, where he was part of the boys' senior basketball team that won the OFSAA AA title. "We're like brothers, a tight-knit group."
The team members also play a lot of pickup basketball, and many of them spend Saturdays playing for teams in the Somali Youth Basketball League.
"We've got a lot of talent for a small private school," said Yousef, who plays shooting guard. "We play basketball and try to do our best. We're all friends."
The Ottawa Islamic basketball program, and other sports, could get a shot in the arm in the future as the school's board of directors is studying an expansion plan for the school located on Coral Avenue in Nepean. On the school's website, a video presentation shows a proposed full high school gymnasium with an electronic scoreboard and spectator seating.
This also would give the school the option of joining the NCSSAA league since it would have a home court for games. For now, though, all of the team's matches are away games.
Ottawa Islamic also has junior boys basketball and soccer programs this year.
"We don't have a gym," Smith said. "We use the little gym at the school and play basketball going sideways. It's a tough go. If we were in a league, we'd have to play all of our games away."
Even so, the players are accustomed to being on the road, travelling to all exhibition games and tournaments. A 15-game schedule would be about half that of a Tier 1 team in the NCSSAA league.
"The guys play in the Somali Youth Basketball League," Smith said. "Some are experienced, while some have no experience at all. We don't run a complicated offence. I've talked to schools and they're good to give us exhibitions, good to give us a season.
"I'm surprised (how well they're playing). I let them go out there, they play ball and they make me look good. I'm learning from them. They're more committed this season. They're a good bunch, with good hearts and strong academically. Praise and thanks to our God."
Smith also has been blessed with a better shooting team than last year.
While Ottawa Islamic can't follow the traditional path of playing in front of their peers for a home game, shooting for a league title or hitting the road for an OFSAA championship, the players are motivated by other factors.
"They have personal goals and self-improvement goals," Smith said. "There are a couple of strong players, who have been scouted. We try to do the best we can and earn some bragging rights."
Elmi is one of the key athletes on the team and plays in the Next Level competitive program. While he attends Brookfield High School during the day, he also studies at the Ottawa Islamic School in the evenings. Since the school team isn't a member of the NCSSAA, Elmi is eligible to play for Ottawa Islamic in exhibition and tournament games.
A point guard, Elmi has caught the attention of some post-secondary schools because he's a good scorer and plays strong defence.
Unis Abdillahi has been noticed as a power forward. He not only rebounds well, but also has become a more productive scorer. Harry Yasin has improved his play from last year as a small forward, while Grade 11 student Ahmed Hussein is known for his versatility, playing either shooting guard or small forward.
Martin Cleary provides updates from the first two days of the Jaguar Classic boys basketball tournament.