Student Voices: Royal West Academy Juvenile Boys basketball team headed to Barbados

By Alice Myers

 From April 3 to 12, Royal West Academy's Juvenile Boys basketball team will embark on its first-ever trip to Barbados. This adventure is the passion project of coach Paul Wasacz, who teaches physical education at Dawson College.

Coach Wasacz and his team.

Mr. Wasacz  comes from a basketball-loving family. His twin sons both play, as does his wife, Wanita Jones, who coaches the team alongside him. He maintains that his inspiration for coaching comes from having  really good coaches." This is one of his motivations for trying to raise enough money to fund this life-changing  trip for his players," he said. "I had coaches do that for me and I never forgot those experiences and the friendships I made on those trips. It's about giving opportunities to every player, regardless of their financial situation."

Bagging groceries at Super C.

Fundraising for the trip has been a significant undertaking. The Montreal West-based  team has spent weekends bagging groceries at Super C, hosting bake sales, and raffling off hockey tickets. The objective of these efforts is not solely to cover the entire cost of the trip ($45,000), but also, Mr. Wasacz says, to see the boys "bond and to work together towards a common goal…teams don't just work on the basketball court – they work off the court as well."

Currently, what teamwork means for the players is working together to make sure that every member of the squad is given the opportunity to go on the trip, regardless of whether or not they can afford it (the cost per person being approximately $3,400). "This is the way it should be," says the coach.

On the trip, the Wildcats will be playing four different organizations and schools and participating in two joint training sessions, which will include elementary- and high school-aged players. There is also a cultural aspect to the experience: apart from socially engaging with the other teams, the Wildcats will be exploring Barbados.

The team has already raised an impressive $10,000, although they only started fundraising in mid-October. Mr. Wasacz leads with a pay-it-forward mindset, wanting to give the Wildcats the same opportunities he was afforded at their age. He doesn't want this experience to stop with the juvenile boys' basketball team, either. "Maybe it's the juvenile girls that go next year," he notes, "or the soccer team."

 Before making future plans, though, the team must clear the hurdle of the 2026 trip's cost. Financial donations are essential, and those who want to give, along with those with access to resources such as goods or services are welcome to contact Coach Wasacz at pwasacz75@gmail.com. In his words, "it's amazing what community can do."