Saskatchewan prep school providing one of few elite women's basketball programs despite obstacles

Athol Murray College of Notre Dame is no stranger to preparing athletes for the next level.

The school, located in the small Saskatchewan town of Wilcox, is home to a storied hockey program that has produced athletes such as Wendel Clark, Rob Brind'Amour, and Curtis Joseph.

Now, its part of another elite group as one of the few schools with a prep basketball program west of Ontario, one of only three women's programs.

This year, the Hounds are competing in North Pole Hoops' first season of the Women National Preparatory Association (WNPA), a nationwide league meant to showcase athletes that want to compete at the collegiate level, whether that's at home or abroad. By the end of the season the Hounds, alongside programs from Alberta, will have criss-crossed the continent. The end goal for most of the athletes? A shot at a scholarship worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Succeeding in that mission, however, is easier said than done.

While a number of students at Notre Dame and similar programs have moved on to top Canadian and American universities, the challenges of cost, a lack of governance, recruitment, and scheduling mean that prairie prep basketball programs are continually having to adjust and evolve.

Prep and post-grad basketball programs have been a longtime fixture on the American basketball landscape, but their existence is newer in Canada. The vast majority of the country's prep teams tend to be centred in Ontario.

Notre Dame Hounds coach Marc Ffrench believes prairie prep basketball is in its infancy stage in comparison to the rest of the country. (Submitted by John Loeppky)

Marc Ffrench, the team's coach, said the program's approach to garnering attention from big-name U.S. collegiate programs and top U Sports teams is a long-term commitment.

"If people think it's kind of a flash in the pan thing, it really isn't. I know that Notre Dame and myself, we're committed to this, and we're committed to being a really great spot. To start out with, with female sport and then growing our entire basketball experience here."

'Last bastion of high school basketball'

Ffrench said that, in comparison to the rest of Canada, the prairie prep basketball scene is akin to a small child.

"Saskatchewan and the prairies is kind of unique still. It is probably the last bastion of high school basketball being thought of as the top level of the age group. The state of it is, well, it's small, it's still an infant."

This isn't the first time Notre Dame has been the home of a similar basketball team. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school offered a program on the men's side. The coach of that team, former University of Regina Cougar Adam Huffman is now the director at Calgary's CTA West. He said that the Notre Dame program was started to give Saskatchewan players who wanted to compete at the collegiate level a boost.

"We just knew that the high school level was not preparing kids to be able to play in university because of the lack of an age restriction in our Canadian universities and colleges, these guys are all really old, and our kids out of high school, they're not ready to jump into the man's game," Huffman said.

Those efforts bore fruit, as multiple athletes from the program went on to play at the Division I level — a rarity for Saskatchewan basketball talent. However, there are obstacles for prep and post-grad programs to flourish.

Eddie Richardson III, seen instructing his Calgary-based Edge School team, hopes to see a governing body to help provide stability for prep basketball in Western Canada. (Submitted by Eddie Richardson III)

One of the biggest barriers is that there is currently very little oversight, with no overarching governing body and no definitive standards for areas such as facilities and coaching certifications.

There is hope that a national or provincial sport organization might step in, but for now, Huffman likens it to the wild west and it's also a concern for Eddie Richardson III, the director of basketball at fellow Calgary program Edge School.

"I'd love to see a governing body overseeing prep basketball in Western Canada, so standards are met to protect our student athletes both on and off the court."

Like many prairie programs, regardless of the sport, transport has also posed a significant barrier for the prep programs currently operating in Western Canada. This has meant travel to the U.S., both to provide exposure for the athletes as well as to ensure top competition.

By the end of this season, all three programs will have travelled across the continent while playing in places like Florida and Utah. There have also been efforts made for the schools to host their own tournaments like the Dime Sessions and Prep West that offer an opportunity for prairie programs to compete against each other without spending thousands of dollars.

Governance structure

Huffman has previously served as part of the governance structure of the NPA — the men's arm of the association. He said that his time coaching within its confines has led him to go in another direction when it comes to scheduling.

"The reason why I'm not doing NPA now is I felt like the Western Canadian teams, we were spending so much money to go out there, and these Toronto teams were never, ever intending to come visit us. And it wasn't a two way street, you know, we might spend $60,000 to come to three sessions there, and not one team would come play us at home."

Transit isn't the only place where money comes into play for the athletes seeking out these opportunities. Unlike the public school programs of traditional high school basketball, prep and post-grad programs bring with them a hefty price tag.

Before financial aid, Edge's tuition is $21,500, plus upwards of $7,000 for being on one of the basketball teams, CTA West's fees stretch into the tens of thousands, and Notre Dame costs $23,900 for this school year if you are part of their boarding program.

Despite the steep cost, Ffrench said that he thinks the trade-offs are more than worth it for those looking to compete at the elite collegiate level, such as with an NCAA Division I school.

"Yes, we're a private school. Yes, there is a cost to it, but the potential benefits of a full-ride scholarship kind of offsets that cost pretty quickly. And I always say, is it worth trading $30,000 for $450,000? ... I'm not a rocket scientist, but that's a pretty good investment in my mind."

Programs operate in different ways. Notre Dame doesn't offer a post-grad program, preferring to keep their players entirely of high school age. Some programs are day schools while CTA West joins Notre Dame in offering accommodations. With so much on the line, part of the calculus for the coaches is making sure that they're not overselling what they can offer.

For Richardson III that means communicating clear expectations with players and their parents.

"You should not be telling a kid he's a Division I basketball player if he's not a Division I basketball player. And you should not be telling a kid he's [a] U Sport kid if he's not a U Sport kid. And I think that's where a lot of our problems are in our market. We have quite a few coaches who don't quite understand the level of what it takes, or the experience of helping kids get to that level consistently."

At the end of the day, Ffrench said that it's all about giving athletes the opportunities, even if Saskatchewan has been slow to warm to sending their kids to the school.

"Some of these players, talented players, they're still kind of comfortable going back to their high school, and it could be a really good high school program … good coaches, but Clemson isn't going to find you if you're playing at a tournament in Weyburn."