Association Update and BIG News!

Hello Wonderful Basketball Families!

I am sending you this letter to provide a brief update as to where things are at with regards to training and upcoming programming. 
Unfortunately, any return to play is still weeks, if not months, away in terms of being in a gym.  Once the current restrictions have been lifted, we will continue to follow the guidance of Ottawa Public Health, the provincial government, and Ontario Basketball in terms of any return to basketball activities.  All of this, of course, is still contingent on getting access to gym facilities and having coaches in place to run some programming.  For all of our players, we hope to offer a March Break skills clinic and will be sharing some new training videos created specifically for our Association by Ottawa’s own, and founder of Canada Topflight Academy, Tony House.  To be clear, while we are planning for a March Break Clinic, we will only go ahead with it if the aforementioned groups have allowed for it to happen.  The reality is that “normal basketball” with games, officials, fans etc, is at least months away but we want to try to provide opportunities to keep our players skills sharp and their fitness up to speed.

Our Executive team also has some exciting news!
In light of a recent discovery about the history behind the name “Goulbourn”, we have decided to rebrand our organization to “West Ottawa Basketball Association.”   This was a decision that the Executive took quite seriously as we want our players and families to be proud to say that they are a part of our organization and to wear our name with pride.  Knowing that Henry Goulburn, (namesake of Goulbourn Township and thus the GBA), was a former slave owner, we thought it important to disassociate our membership from that legacy and to rebrand in order to maintain values that are consistent with those reflected in our community and our organization. Values of inclusiveness, equity, and diversity are those that make our community so great and those to which our organization is proud to represent. 
Stay tuned for changes to our website, apparel, uniforms etc as they continue to unfold! While much of the leg work has already been completed to make this change possible, some of the changes will continue to unfold over time. We are excited to launch into this new chapter of our association’s history with you and we look forward to continuing to be a part of our community’s basketball experience.  

Sincerely,

Dan Case
President
West Ottawa Basketball Association