When you play basketball in Saskatchewan with just over a million people that are separated by hundreds of kilometers, you have to put in a lot of miles to continue to work on your game and reach for your goals. Most club teams have to travel to Edmonton (5 hours from Saskatoon and 8 from Regina) and Calgary (7 hours from Regina and 6 from Saskatoon) regularly for tournaments to see teams that push their athletes forward. However, when your chasing a dream of an NCAA Division 1 scholarship, you need to push the boundaries a little further. I caught up with Zach Hawley and his family to discuss how they manage all the travel and commitment to chase his goals.
David Harmon: This summer you played for Uplay West out of Vancouver on the Nike EYCL circuit. How was your experience this summer?
Zach Hawley: Â I thought it was really good, there was great exposure and high level basketball players. I was playing alongside and against some really good players, so not only improving my game but also getting some really good film everywhere we went. I loved traveling to different US cities. (They played in Memphis, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Seattle and Las Vegas)
DH: This is the 2nd year that you have played for teams that require extensive travel. You have played for Genesis (Calgary) on the Made 8 circuit, Canada Elite (Toronto) on the Under Armour Circuit and now UPlay West (Vancouver) on the Nike EYCL Circuit. What are some of the challenges that you and the family have overcome playing at this level out of Saskatoon?
ZH: Of course you need to fly on 3 planes just to get anywhere before you even head to the States for tournaments. I am always on the early morning flights so my days start at 3 a.m. when i travelling, then we usually play that day if not then early next day so I am not as well rested as I would like to be. Also playing with these teams out of Saskatchewan, you are never with them outside of tournaments, I don't like missing school so not practicing and being with the team is hard. Genesis was easier because Calgary was one short flight, but it has been hard
Scott Hawley: The biggest challenges are logistical, 2 or 3 flights to get paces and having to be super organized ahead of time. We had 3 boys playing this spring so always heading in different directions, there was a stretch were myself and Kathy were not in the same city for 12 weekends in a row. Of course there is the cost associated with it, it is a big financial commitment to fly to all these tournaments, plus hotels and rental cars. There is also the chemistry piece because you are always the drop in player joining other teams that see each other more regularly.
Â
DH: I am sure you had plenty of offers to join prep programs throughout North America for school.  What went into your decision to return to Walter Murray Collegiate in Saskatoon this year?
ZH: We talked to a lot of people who knew more than we did on the topic. They all said it is good to stay at home as long as you can so you not only develop as a basketball player but as a person, it will be good to stay close to my parents and close friends. If I can keep finding ways to improve against older and better players it is good to stay home, if I stop improving than it will come time to look at moving to keep improving.
SH: I have access to the gym and we can get in there for morning ball everyday. Also when I looked at here vs a prep school, the whole high school experience is important. The two things we really look at are development and exposure. With the development piece, keeping here as long as we can while he is still developing and improving, if he plateaus then we will send him out but he is still going upward , so we feel the development piece is well taken care of. With the exposure side, we looked at the EYCL circuit and going with UPlay West to the live period tournaments he got lots of exposure that really had coaches taking good look at him.
Â
DH: What are some of the things that you have learned this year that you will be adding to your game and working on to continue to grow as a player?
ZH: The most important thing to me is showing coaches and players new things in my game, I want to keep growing and not hit a plateau, just keep growing upwards. For me the biggest thing I added was athleticism this year, my shot continued to be a strength as I shot about 50% from 3 during the last Nike EYCL circuit stop and overall. I actually played more games this spring/summer with UPlay West than I did with my high school team, during all 30 games I was very close to 50%. Coaches and players know I can shoot, so being able to blow by defenders with a quick burst was really important. I have a quicker first step and can jump higher which has also helped defensively and been my biggest improvement.
Â
DH: With such extensive travel this summer, what are you looking forward to doing away from the court as school starts again in a month?
ZH: I already said it is important to be with family and friends as long as I can, so I am going to enjoy being home and in the school environment that I love and grew up in. I am just going to take in being in a place I am comfortable in.
Â
DH: What advice do you have for players, especially from Saskatchewan, about chasing their basketball dreams?
Â
ZH: I really think that it is important to make sure that you are always loving it, and more important than loving the games is loving the practice and work you put in. Especially from Saskatchewan it means being alone in the gym a lot or with players that don't have the same goals as you. You need to keep finding ways to push yourself that may be hard because we are in a smaller community, but you have to love doing it or you will be doing a lot of travel for nothing really.
SH: The one thing you need to understand, that took us a while to get, is knowing what moves to make and what moves not to make. Understanding everyone running a program is running a business, everyone means well and do truly want to develop kids but you need to find the right fit, and once you find that fit sticking with it. The one thing we have done is jumping around between programs, there were reasons each time, and we have truly enjoyed every program we have been apart of. The one thing we look back and see missing is the continuity and being able to build with one program throughout. We really had that with our local Greenwave team and felt the continuity, trust, and bond together hasn't been the same with his teams. We feel we have hit the reset button on that every year. I would really advise parents to do your research and understand what the programs wants from you and can also give to you.
Talking with Zach and his family, you can just feel the passion they have for basketball and the drive that Zach has to keep grinding and getting better. The sacrifices that they make to get him opportunities to both improve and get exposure are incredible. One of the things that becomes apparent when you are around the Hawley's is how humble and grounded they are, they not only want the best for Zach and his dreams, they truly want to lift the basketball community in Saskatoon so that every young basketball players can improve and chase their dreams.
I look forward to any gym I walk into and see Zach play, his positive attitude and drive are infectious and his teammates all feed off that and everyone's level of play in elevated. Walter Murray should once again be the favorites to win the provincial title and we will see them play some of the best Western Canadian team as they are confirmed to be playing in BRIT and LIT where competition is always top notch.
Be sure to be following us here on The Maple Minute and all our socials as I know we will be keeping tabs on Zach.
Yorumlar