Walking through Carleton University’s Athletics building on Jan. 10, the sounds of sneakers, dribbling and music filled the halls as the third annual Safe Jam Basketball Tournament brought together the Ottawa basketball community to raise money for Special Olympics.
Ten different teams gathered in the Ravens Nest to participate in a round-robin tournament led by Carleton’s Campus Safety Services.
Alongside the Campus Safety representatives, were members from Carleton University’s Student Association, Rideau River Residence Association, Foot Patrol, Oliver’s Pub, Algonquin College Security, and Ottawa Police Hoopstars who all created their own team.
For special constable Nicholas Saucier, organizer of the event, the point of the tournament is to “connect with the community in a different environment than our service,” while also spreading the word about both Campus Safety and the Special Olympics.
The decision to create the tournament two years ago was “a no brainer.”
“Working at Campus Safety, to me, this was like a simple thing. We’re at a great institution in the capital of Canada… amazing court, a lot of different departments, student groups, OPS Hoopstars,” Saucier said.
“Each year it’s progressively gotten bigger, the first year was pretty small … we raised like, $300, last year we raised about $1,600. This year we’re looking to blow by that.”
And they certainly did, between participation fees, a silent auction, raffle and general donations, over $3,500 was raised.
“In Ottawa, we have about 1,000 athletes competing weekly, weekly practices in about 19 different sports, I think we’re up to now, in 40 different clubs,” said Hussak.
“So support goes to making sure that it’s affordable for athletes and families. Registration fees are kept low in the face of constantly rising fees. And it’s just an amazing program.”
One of those athletes is Christian Schofield, who has been a Special Olympics athlete for 12 years and represented the Ottawa community at various levels of the games in multiple sports.
“Special Olympics has given me the [chance] to play sports that I love. I have also made lots of friends… and it is thanks to donations from groups like yours that we are able to play sports,” Schofield said to the crowd.
After round robins finished, the two teams in the final were the Ottawa Police Hoopstars against the No Namers, with the Hoopstars winning a thrilling game by a tight 28-26 scoreline.
Two winners from the team, Jonathan Rose and Sherrod Baltimore, happen to play for the Ottawa Redblacks and partnered with the Ottawa Police to partake in the event.
“We’re always in the community, just trying to give back to whatever we can … really trying to be involved with a good thing of positivity,” said Baltimore.
Though it was his first year attending the event, Hussak was appreciative of those who came out to support Special Olympics.
“It’s great to see [10 teams]… from what I understand it’s a pretty big jump from you know, even just two years ago, so I think this is great,” said Hussak.
“The more people that are out here and that we can reach and tell about Special Olympics, the better.”
Feature image by Spencer Colby.
