NPH Ottawa Showcase Day 2: Social Media, Nutrition, Academic and Goal Setting Seminars

Prospects @ Social network seminar
Prospects @ Social network seminar

OTTAWA–Progress was made on day two of the NPH Ottawa Showcase.

The schedule called for a full day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. First, a social media seminar was presented in the morning by Canadian National Scout, Tariq Sbiet and Senior Editor, Elias Sbiet. The early part of the day was dedicated to understanding how identity is built through social media streams. A large amount of prospects agreed that they have been representing themselves on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) in a way that does not reflect who they are. What they need to be doing is buy Facebook likes so their account can gain more followers.

Moving forward, a connection was made between the use of social media and how it relates directly to a player’s recruitment.

Yasiin Joseph, from the 2015 class who looks up to Carleton’s Philip Scrubb for his work ethic and dedication, soaked it all in. “I never knew that recruiters look at your Twitter profile,” he said. “I’m going to be more mature towards what I do.”

Jacques Lukusa, from the class of 2016, agreed. “It’s part of the recruiting process,” he said before explaining that he barely uses social media. “Most of the time, I’m either here at Carleton, or working out.”

Jacques Lukusa doing a resistance drill to increase explosiveness and maintain low athletic stance.
Jacques Lukusa doing a resistance drill to increase explosiveness and maintain low athletic stance.

After lunch, Ryan Sleigh of Sleigh Fitness preached to the young crowd the importance of a healthy diet. Nutrition plays a major  part as any of becoming a professional athlete, and this is what was reinforced. Garry Gallimore, an ex-member of St. Francis Xavier, knows first hand what it takes to become a pro with stints in Belgium and Romania so far.

“I played on the Junior National Team, and that was my first introduction to nutrition and social media. But social media now is a different beast than the social media of 2001.”

Indeed, Twitter and Facebook and replaced online forums and MSN Messenger. Ten years ago, it was fairly easy to withdraw any message posted online from the general public but those days are gone. In 2013, anything posted on Facebook or Twitter can, and will, be used against you so caution is mandatory.

Coach Dave Smart addressing student-athletes in a seminar.
Coach Dave Smart addressing student-athletes in a seminar.

Perhaps as the day’s prize, Dave Smart, head coach of the CIS National champions Carleton Ravens, addressed the young teenagers. He insisted that the sooner they decide to act like they want to reach their highest level possible in basketball is also the day where they start having a chance to.

He focused on what players have as passion, how do they approach it and what will they do moving forward.

“It’s a case of achieving what they’re capable of achieving,” he said. “There are a lot of positives in the way that social media is taking over the world but there’s a lot of negatives too because there’s a lot of talk…No matter how much hype there is, you still have to get it done.”

Event director Dion Williams, from Ottawa Hoops, explained some of the different ways that a player can play beyond high school—options include the NCAA and the CIS and, of course, different options demand different steps.

The day ended with two hours of scrimmage where execution, intensity and communication were all evidently better than the previous day. Gallimore said that, “Your off-court needs to compliment your on-court.”

The Showcase ends tomorrow; scrimmaging and seminars are on the schedule, and the NPH team is on a mission to find out which player carries the most assets.

Follow Charles Blouin-Gascon on Twitter @CeeeBG & NPH @Northpolehoops

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.