Going to Halifax in grade 10 with Memorial to play in a tournament during the Christmas holiday break of 1982.  I recall it well because I played basketball with 10 stitches in my chin from a skate in the face a week earlier. (Ask Brian Purchase about it). Memorial played against teams like JL Isley and Sackville. In particular, I remember a game played at Canadian Martyrs gym versus a Halifax Community YMCA team. (I think Augy Jones and Wade Smith played on the Community Y team). I recall speaking to Frank Baldwin at the game who I had met when I attended St Mary’s U Basketball Camp in 1980.  I ran in to Mr Baldwin before our game against the Y and he came to speak to our Memorial team prior to tip-off. He told us "not to be intimidated by the more athletic kids on the Community Y team". But it was  to no avail. We were intimidated by their aggressive, in your face, swarming defense and we turned the ball over multiple times as they ran up a 20 point lead. We lost by about 25 points.

It has helped immensely. I learned to manage time, to get along with others, to problem solve, how to win and lose, and if you work together well as a team you can achieve goals, regardless of the score.

I was recruited to play varsity hockey at CBU, but decided in the fall of first year that I actually preferred basketball to hockey. But it was too late to get back into basketball, so I focused on academics and playing intramurals at CBU and St FX. Good grades, not sports, earned me academic scholarships, so it all worked out. At Trinity College Dublin, I played on the university’s second basketball division team, which was largely comprised of visiting Americans, other Europeans and few Irish guys. We had a great time travelling to play other Irish university teams, which in some cases included NCAA D1 guys looking for a second chance to play and actually earn a degree (Ireland had no eligibility restrictions).