The Ottawa University Gee-Gees women’s basketball team has firmly established itself as one of the top programs in the country.
Making a trip to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship tournament in four of the last five seasons, the Gee-Gees have collected quite the trophy haul in recent years.
A CIS bonze medal in 2011— the first in the 41-year history of the program— is the highlight on a list that also includes one Ontario University Athletics (OUA) gold medal, two silvers and one bronze.
All of those accolades have come with head coach Andy Sparks at the helm. Now in his fifth season with the team, the Ottawa native has completely overhauled a club that went 3-19 in the season prior to his arrival.
Fans of the Gee-Gees have been treated to nothing but success since Sparks took the reins.
To show their appreciation, they might have to send a thank-you card across the city to Carleton.
It seems like an unthinkable proposition, but if it was up to Sparks, it just might happen.
“For me it’s a friendly rivalry,” Sparks said after the two teams met in Regina during the CIS Final 8 tournament. “I know it’s difficult sometimes, but I have a strong connection to Carleton so for me it has never been an unfriendly rivalry. I love to compete with them.”
Taking a look down the Gee-Gees bench, you will find plenty of Carleton connections.
That includes assistant coach Mario Gaetano, who spent four seasons as an assistant with the Ravens women’s team beginning in 2002. Gaetano also graduated from Carleton with a BA in law and sociology in 1985.
But it all starts with the man at the top of the totem pole.
Sparks served as an assistant to Dave Smart with the Ravens men’s team in 2004-05, when Carleton captured the third W.P. McGee Trophy of their record-breaking title run.
He said he has also coached alongside Smart with “about 10 teams over a 20-year period of time.”
“I consider the guys there friends of mine,” said Sparks, who has also coached Ravens star Alyson Bush in the past during her days with the Ottawa Shock.
One of those “guys” is none other than Taffe Charles, who complimented his former colleague for the work he has done since taking over the Gee-Gees.
Charles was also an assistant to Smart in 2004—part of his nine-year stint with the men’s program, which ended when he switched over to his current role in 2007.
“He’s doing a great job in terms of recruiting good players and building a good program,” Charles said. “Hopefully the way we push each other, one of us ends up winning a national championship as a result of that.”
While the two are very complimentary of each other, those sentiments understandably disappear when their teams hit the court against one another.
It may be friendly between the coaches, but it is still a rivalry, after all.
“I’ve told [Charles] before that I want him to win nationals. But I want to win it first,” Sparks said with a laugh.
That competitive spirit has provided plenty of excitement for basketball fans in Ottawa, who have been treated to some thoroughly entertaining games between the two teams—including the most recent meeting where the Gee-Gees pulled off a miraculous comeback at the CIS Final 8 tournament.
While it will be difficult for the Ravens to swallow as they now have an entire off-season to reminisce over the loss, don’t expect Charles to let it get him down.
If anything, it will only motivate him and his team.
“Having an in-town rival pushes the bar in terms of the excellence level,” Charles said. “It makes you realize that you have to work hard, and if you don’t it’s going to show because another team in your city will be succeeding.”
That success is a good thing.
Just as long as both teams are experiencing it.
