Waterloo Region has long been a basketball hotbed, and with the recent success and stardom of Kitchener’s newly-crowned NBA Champion Jamal Murray, you can expect more youth than ever before will want to take up the game.

For 16 years, St. Benedict CSS in Cambridge has had the privilege of running the annual Family of Schools Basketball Spring Basketball League for boys and girls in grades four to eight.

Founded by John Malnerich, St. Benedict’s past senior boys basketball coach, the program provides members of the St. Benedict community and its family of schools a transition activity for students who will eventually attend St. Benedict.

The St. Benedict family of schools is comprised of:

This popular community program is run by current players in the St. Benedict basketball program who are interested in taking on a leadership role within the school community.

These student leaders are responsible for assisting in the delivery of the program as well as coaching their own team. This provides future Saints the opportunity to meet current students as well as get familiar with the facility.

For the current group of student coaches, it provides them the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills and give back to the community.

The program requires NO basketball experience.

The school promotes the program and encourages players to come to the league with a positive mindset, eagerness to learn, openness to meet new people and make new friends, and to gain confidence to try out for extracurricular activities when they reach high school in order to be more connected with the school and its community.

The overriding goal is not only to enhance the skills of each player but also help students feel more comfortable about their transition to St. Benedict in the future and to have an immediate sense of belonging within a school community.

What makes this program so special is that many athletes who grew up attending the program have now cycled through and have become coaches helping to run it.

This speaks to the positive experience that these students had at a young age, and the special place this program holds in their hearts.

The St. Benedict Family of Schools Basketball Spring Basketball League is a shining example of what it means to be the heart of the community, where success for each is possible and there is always a place for all!!