Female-only basketball sessions a slam dunk in Port Coquitlam

On Saturday mornings, Jeremy Neufeld heads to the gymnasium. 

When he arrives, which happens every week during the fall and winter, he flips a switch and dozens of light panels hanging from the rafters roar to life, casting a spotlight on the beige hardwood floor. 

Neufeld, who runs Riverside Secondary School’s athletic department and co-coaches the senior women’s basketball team, has been coming to the school gym on the weekend for the past five years.

He’s not here for practice. He’s not here for an early lift or film session. He’s here for the city’s next generation of basketball players.

In a matter of minutes, he’ll open the doors that feed into the gym and a handful of young girls from neighbouring elementary and middle schools will fill up the cavernous building. 

“Our school club is called JBOG, Just A Bunch of Girls, and on Saturday mornings we call it Baby BOGs,” Neufeld said. 

Initially, Neufeld and Paul Langford, who also coaches the senior women’s team, set out with a goal of getting more young girls playing basketball at the grassroots level. Similar to clubs like Coquitlam Metro-Ford, which run soccer programs for kids as young as six, the duo wanted to create a basketball academy for youth in Port Coquitlam. 

“We are huge supporters of getting tuned in with the elementary schools, middle school, all the feeder schools in Port Coquitlam,” Neufeld said. 

Five years later, their work has paid off. 

Riverside won their first AAAA senior girls basketball title in the spring, and one of the team’s star guards, Avery Sussex, committed to the University of California, Davis ahead of her senior year this fall. 

“Our current high school players, they have been a part of the JBOGs club,” Neufeld said. “We, arguably, have the best player in the province [Sussex] who was a JBOG at a young age.” 

Coupled with Terry Fox Secondary’s senior girls basketball championship in 2022, Port Coquitlam high schools have won back-to-back 4A provincial championships. 

But the same resources for youth aren’t available to high school grads who don’t pursue basketball in university. 

“We’ve noticed a void in women’s basketball once they graduate high school,” said Glenn Mitzel, the city’s director of recreation. 

“There seems to be a gap, or nothing really going on in the community.” 

Building PoCo as a basketball hub

Earlier this month, Port Coquitlam launched the first of three free drop-in sessions at the city’s Community Centre for women over the age of 18. 

Although popularity in all of the city’s female drop-in programs has risen, the city’s basketball sessions were primarily co-ed or male-only. The hope is that these sessions will give women a chance to play competitive basketball after high school without competing for court space. 

“We’re trying to provide opportunities for everyone,” Mitzel said. “Specifically, provide inclusive opportunities where people can feel comfortable within their skill sets, and not feel that sense of intimidation.” 

Port Coquitlam first started exploring the possibility of a female-only drop-in earlier in the year. 

But after two attempted sessions fell through without enough participation, the city decided to offer three free sessions in November to ramp up interest, according to Graham Danzinger, the city’s manager of sport who overlooks basketball programming. 

“It will usually take a core of five to 10 people to start showing up, once that happens, then these programs typically take off,” Danzinger said. 

Neufeld is optimistic the initiative will be popular in the city, and that it’s only a matter of time before friends start spreading the word about the drop-in program. 

“This will give them an avenue to stay with the game and play a sport they love with friends and no pressure,” he said. 

Both Mitzel and Danzinger said they’re hoping the drop-in sessions will eventually lead to an organized women’s basketball league in Port Coquitlam. 

The city knows there is strong demand for women-only basketball opportunities in Port Coquitlam, Danzinger said. He said he hopes that interest in the drop-in sessions surges and forms a community of women that are keen to work with the city to form their own league. 

“We always hope the drop-in programs bring people together, and from there, we can form other programs, Danzinger said. 

The third of the three free drop-in sessions at the Port Coquitlam Community Centre is scheduled for tonight at 5:45. 

Following tonight’s session, the drop-in will run every Wednesday with a fee.