The Laurier women’s basketball team has gotten off to a hot start in their 2016-17 campaign thanks in large part to fifth-year guard, Kaitlyn Schenck, who leads the team in scoring.
Schenck got into the game because of her father and began playing at the age of six in the Kitchener-Waterloo Youth Basketball League.
“My dad actually played [basketball] for a lot of his life. He played at Centennial College and then at Conestoga College,” she said.
“When I was young I was put into a bunch of different sports, clubs and camps and then just having [my dad’s] influence, I guess, basketball was really the [sport] that stuck.”
Schenck then began playing at the rep level in grade five. She spoke highly of Craig Nickel, her first coach at this level and the current head coach for the University of Waterloo Women’s team.
“My first coach ever was Craig Nickel, who came up to me in one of the tryouts in grade five and asked me to play on the [rep] team. It all kind of started then, taking off with rep and I fell in love with it and stuck with it,” she said.
After years of playing multiple sports, Schenck had to make a tough decision in high school about which to continue with and potentially take to the next level.
“I’d also played rep soccer growing up and it was usually basketball in the winter and soccer in the summer. But when I got to the higher level I had to narrow it down and I think, overall, I knew that I’d be happier playing basketball,” she said.
At that point, she toured Laurier and met some of the people involved with the basketball program and knew that it was the place for her to continue her basketball career.
The team is currently 5-2 in regular season conference play and Schenck is very optimistic about the second half of her final season at Laurier.
“Right now, I’m just hoping we can finish with a great record and something that we’re proud of,” she said.
“I think it’s really important for us to just take it one game at a time and obviously, our hope is to get a home playoff game or even get to the OUA championship game.”
While it is apparent that Schenck is focused on finishing this season strong, when asked about her aspirations for the future, it became clear that she had given it some thought.
“Next year, I’m looking into going overseas and playing professionally for a year. I’m not ready to give up the game just yet,” Schenck remarked.
With her strong inner drive, leadership skills, and skills on the court, be sure to keep an eye on Kaitlyn Schenck in the coming months and beyond.