Niagara teen lands with Warriors after taking off with Gryphons
Greater Fort Erie graduate Louws commits to playing basketball at Waterloo
Hard work and dedication on the court has resulted in Megan Louws being able to take the next step in her basketball career.
The Greater Fort Erie Secondary School (GFESS) student has signed on to play basketball at University of Waterloo in the fall. Not bad for someone who had to be cajoled into taking up the game in the first place and who suffered a hand injury that caused her to miss a season.
Louws was just eight years old and already involved in dance, soccer and taekwondo when she learned a friend’s basketball team needed players.
“I actually wasn’t interested in basketball,” Louws said. “But my dad (Fred Louws, GFESS principal) said why not try it? As soon as I tried it, I loved it.”
As she got older, her other pursuits fell by the wayside and she focused solely on basketball, graduating to travel ball with the Welland Warriors Ontario Basketball Association rep system and finally, the Canadian Basketball Alliance Niagara regional junior elite (JUEL) team.
“I’ve worked with Megan for about five years,” said Tara Poulin, Louws’ coach with the JUEL program. “She was always one of the hardest workers on the court. She’s fit, she’s very athletic.”
Poulin said it was tough for Louws to see her friends on the team getting post-secondary offers ahead of her because of a broken hand that resulted in Louws missing game action.
“It was pretty discouraging for her,” Poulin said.
But, rather than let it hold her back, Poulin said Louws worked harder.
“It hasn’t come easy for her,” Poulin said.
Louws is more than happy to be taking her game up a notch.
“I’m super excited I can play at the next level,” Louws said. “And with all the other girls who’ll know more. I’m excited to be able to learn from them.”
In the meantime, with public facilities closed as a result of public health concerns surrounding COVID-19, she is taking part in video workouts being conducted by the university and with Poulin to keep her skills sharp and conditioning up.
“If everything was normal, I would be going up there a couple of times a week and training over the summer,” she said.
While at Waterloo, Louws will be studying kinesiology, which, like basketball, wasn’t always on her radar. “Actually, I wanted to be a teacher, because of my dad,” she said with a chuckle.