Off-court success for Kennedy High School basketball

Pat Osbourne and Stephen Silvaggio have been working together as basketball coaches at Kennedy High School for seven years with a common goal.

“It's kinda been our philosophy since we started together,” they said. Their philosophy is to put racialized and marginalized students in a position to succeed at the post-secondary level.

“And we use basketball as the conduit to get these kids to understand that education is really what's going to make a difference in their life.”

The philosophy is working.

“When I first came here I was just thinking about sports,” said Andrew Loyuk. “Now it's about school and sports. I want to go to University. I want to have a job. I want a career instead of just basketball. I'm more than just basketball.”

Kennedy grad Luula Ali agrees.

“This program has shaped me into a young individual that today, I'm a leader and a role model and able to give back to my community,” said Ali.

Ali is mentoring others through a girls basketball program at a local mosque. With the Kennedy looking to create a girls prep team she hopes to show others what the school has done for her.

“They're working on a girls program so hopefully those girls are able to join and be part of the Kennedy family like I was,” said Ali.

Kennedy principal Kyle Berard is in his second year at the school and has helped take the program to another level joining the elite Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association.

“We prioritized some of the needs for the program and I funded it through our school funds. Some of our community members have been tremendously generous with their time. We have partnerships with the University of Windsor, St. Clair College. The United Way sits on our board. We value them so much,” said Berard.

The cost, according to Silvaggio, is a challenge but their players don’t pay to play. “Average price for most of these teams across the province that are in OSBA is about $15,000 per student.”

Berard added, “Investment is something we are struggling with right now but I really believe with a fantastic program like this the money will come.”

Osborne, Silvaggio and Jeff Nekkers volunteered over 22-hundred hours of their lives between August and December of last year because they know it works.

Off the court in the past seven years, a hundred percent of racialized and marginalized students graduated on time. Coming into this season Kennedy won seven straight city and regional championships with multiple provincial medals. That success has carried over to their new league where they are currently 13-5.

“Down here is strong enough to compete,” Silvaggio said. “I think we’ve proven that this year and we think that kids in this area deserve that same opportunity.